By Caden Wilcox
As September 1991 reached its end, whatever cohesion the Soviet Union still had was increasingly giving way to disunion. Across all newspaper reports and editorials, writers openly dissented with government officials and criticized government processes. From September 25 to October 1, 1991, both The Moscow News and Pravda compiled a narrative of widespread political strife.
From the opening headline in its September 28 issue, Pravda highlighted the main message of that week. Claiming that troops were armed and prepared in Bucharest alongside a note about the rising political “temperature” in Georgia, the reporters provided an intense and insightful viewpoint that connected developments within the disintegrating USSR to those in Eastern Europe after 1989. Furthering these statements, Pravda discussed the strife in multiple other regions of the Soviet Union. The widespread message of this central government newspaper was about shifting leadership, civil assemblies, and calls for sovereignty, all emphasizing the continued drama one month after the failed coup.
On September 21, 1991, Armenia held a referendum on independence. As Avet Demuryan and Armen Khanbabyan wrote in a piece for The Moscow News, 99.31% of all adults in the republic voted for independence and political autonomy. The authors went on: “Independence has long been a fait accompli in mass consciousness–the point at issue now is what to do about this freedom gained through much suffering.” They analyzed the recent plebiscite in terms of how best to formulate Armenian political rights as an independent state. Although they expressed the dramatic implications that this vote imposed, they argued that independence would not lead to significant changes in the short term. Demuryan and Khanbabyan argued that there would be no substantive economic adjustment as the weakening Soviet Union would continue to offer more efficient opportunities than attempting to find new partners. Furthermore, they noted that their connection to the Russian currency, military, and language would remain mostly unchanged. As the USSR broke apart, Demuryan and Khanbabyan’s article offered a sober reminder that independence might not end Moscow’s influence in the region.
The same issue of Moscow News continued with this theme. The weekly “In Detail” segment featured an article by Asal Azamova and Timur Klychev reporting on the state of emergency in Tajikistan. In it, the authors captured the widespread political strife in that came after that republic declared independence on September, 9, 1991. Afterwards, the Communist Party of Tajikistan voted to rename itself as a socialist party during an emergency session held on September 21. Thousands of protesters called for the complete dissolution of the Communist Party in Tajikistan and fought for the renationalization of the institution’s property. Addressing these developments, the Chairman of the Dushanbe Municipal Executive Council, Makaud Ikramov, came forward and addressed the public. In his statement, he announced that he planned to remove the statue of Lenin in Freedom Square, which had recently been renamed from Lenin Square. Two cranes tried to pull the statue off its pedestal, but ended up toppling it and splitting the figure in half. The “assassination” of Lenin, as the article reported, led to further protests. In response, the government declared a state of emergency starting at midnight on September 23. Azamova and Klychev concluded by reporting they were writing their post at the time the curfew took effect, noting that at least two demonstrations continued on. Their last words capture the moment well: “Confrontation between the opposition and the communists has reached danger point.”
One month after the failed coup, it was vividly clear that the Soviet political system was disintegrating. With civic unrest and continued dissidence dominating, demands for rapid and substantive change grew louder. From overwhelming support for independence in Armenia to a destroyed statue of Lenin in Tajikistan, the USSR witnessed intense political battles as September turned to October.
Caden Wilcox is a junior majoring in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies
Resources
Moscow News Weekly,No. 39. (1991, September 29). pp. 1–16. Retrieved September 25, 2021, from dlib.eastview.com/browse/doc/49796553.
Pravda, No. 227. (1991, September 28). p. 1-8 Retrieved September 25, 2021, from dlib.eastview.com/browse/doc/21572951.