Moscow, December 25th, 1991 (57 page)

Thatcher, Margaret

Thieves World (Vorovskoy Mir )

Totalitarianism

Transfer of power

aftermath of

CNN

and criminality, secret documents of

and flags, switching of

and military

and nuclear suitcase

and nuclear weapons

terms of

Turner, Ted.
See also
News media

Ukraine

and nuclear strike

and Russia

UN General Assembly

UN Security Council

Union Treaty of

See also
New union treaty

United States

and August coup

as Cold War victor

and food donations

and Gorbachev

and Russia

and Yeltsin

USSR State Bank

Varennikov, Valentin

Vlasov, Alexander

Vodka, shortage of.
See also
Shortages

Vorontsov, Yury

Vorovskoy Mir (Thieves World)

Weapons arsenal.
See also
Nuclear weapons

Worner, Manfred

Yakovlev, Alexander

and August coup

and Gorbachev, attempts to discredit

and Gorbachev, resignation speech of

resignation of

and Stalin Archives

and transfer of power

Yakovlev, Yegor

and Gorbachev documentary

and Yeltsin, newspaper interview by

Yanayev, Gennady

and August coup

Yaroshenko, Viktor

Yavlinsky, Grigory

Yazov, Dmitry

and August coup

Yeltsin, Boris

achievements of

and alcoholism

and August coup

and Baker

and Baltic republics

and bodyguards/militia men

books by

and Bush

and Bush, and August coup

and Bush, praise by

and Bush (Barbara)

and capitalism

as chairman of Russian parliament

and Chechnya

childhood of

and Clinton

and Commonwealth of Independent States, creation of

and Communist Party

and Communist Party conference speech (1988)

and Congress of People’s Deputies

as Congress of People’s Deputies candidate

and constitution, change in

as construction department supervisor

and corruption

death of

and demonstrations

and disloyalty, suspicions of

and economic reform

education of

as engineer

family of

as first deputy chairman of state committee for construction

as first secretary of Moscow

as first secretary of Moscow, dismissal of

as first secretary of Sverdlovsk

and glasnost

and Gorbachev

and Gorbachev, alliance between

and Gorbachev, and economic reform

and Gorbachev, conflict between

and Gorbachev, difference between

and Gorbachev, expulsion from presidential office of

and Gorbachev, first meeting between

and Gorbachev, harassment of

and Gorbachev, hiring by

and Gorbachev, at Middle East conference

and Gorbachev, power loss of

and Gorbachev, and resignation from Politburo

and Gorbachev, resignation speech of

and Gorbachev, and Soviet republics

and Gorbachev, and suicide attempt

and Gorbachev, television interviews between

and Gorbachev, and town hall meeting

and Gorbachev, and transfer of power

and Gorbacheva, death of

health of

and Honecker

impeachment of, call for

international goodwill of

and KGB, disbanding of

lecture tour of

marriage of

and nationalism

and new union treaty

New Year’s message of

and news media interviews

and newspapers

and nuclear button

and nuclear suitcase

and nuclear weapons

and parliament, dissolution of

and party privilege

and perestroika

and personal security

and personnel and state property, transfer of

physical appearance of

and Politburo, resignation from

and popular base, growth of

as president (first term)

as president (second term)

and presidential campaign

and presidential perks

and presidential powers referendum

presidential reelection campaign of

resentment toward

residences of

resignation of

and river incident

at Russian White House

and Sakharov, death of

and “secret speech,”

and shock therapy(see also Economic reform)

and sovereignty, declaration of

and Soviet republics

and state assets, appropriation of

and storming of bureaucracy

suicide attempt by

takeover by

and television, control of

and three-state union

and transfer of power

and transfer of power, aftermath of

and Twenty-seventh Party Congress

and Ukraine

and Belovezh agreement

and United States

and United States, visit to

and Western leaders

and White House, storming of

at White House in Washington

Yeltsina, Naina

and August coup

marriage of

and Yeltsin, suicide attempt of

Zaikov, Lev

Zaslavsky, Ilya

Zhirinovsky, Vladimir

Zucconi, Vittorio

Conor O’Clery lived and worked in Russia during the final years of the Soviet Union as Moscow correspondent for the
Irish Times.
He won journalist of the year in Ireland for his reporting from the Soviet Union, and again in 2002 for his firsthand accounts of the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. In thirty years with the
Irish Times
he also served as correspondent in London, Beijing, New York, and Washington. He is GlobalPost’s Ireland correspondent and is the author of several books, including
The Billionaire Who Wasn’t,
a biography of the American philanthropist Chuck Feeney, named a 2007 best book of the year by the
Economist
and
BusinessWeek.

PublicAffairs is a publishing house founded in 1997. It is a tribute to the standards, values, and flair of three persons who have served as mentors to countless reporters, writers, editors, and book people of all kinds, including me.

I.F. STONE, proprietor of I. F.
Stone’s Weekly,
combined a commitment to the First Amendment with entrepreneurial zeal and reporting skill and became one of the great independent journalists in American history. At the age of eighty, Izzy published
The Trial of Socrates,
which was a national bestseller. He wrote the book after he taught himself ancient Greek.

BENJAMIN C. BRADLEE was for nearly thirty years the charismatic editorial leader of
The Washington Post.
It was Ben who gave the
Post
the range and courage to pursue such historic issues as Watergate. He supported his reporters with a tenacity that made them fearless and it is no accident that so many became authors of influential, best-selling books.

ROBERT L. BERNSTEIN, the chief executive of Random House for more than a quarter century, guided one of the nation’s premier publishing houses. Bob was personally responsible for many books of political dissent and argument that challenged tyranny around the globe. He is also the founder and longtime chair of Human Rights Watch, one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world.

For fifty years, the banner of Public Affairs Press was carried by its owner Morris B. Schnapper, who published Gandhi, Nasser, Toynbee, Truman, and about 1,500 other authors. In 1983, Schnapper was described by
The Washington Post
as “a redoubtable gadfly.” His legacy will endure in the books to come.

Peter Osnos,
Founder and Editor-at-Large

Copyright © 2011 by Conor O’Clery

Published in the United States by PublicAffairs™,
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All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address PublicAffairs, 250 West 57th Street, Suite 1321, New York, NY 10107.

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Excerpt from “Goodbye Our Red Flag” from
Don’t Die Before You’re Dead
by Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Copyright © 1995 by Yevgeny Yevtushenko. Permission requested.

O’Clery Conor.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

eISBN : 978-1-610-39012-5

1. Moscow (Russia)—History—20th century. 2. Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeevich, 1931—3. Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich, 1931-2007. 4. Soviet Union—History—1985—1991. 5. Soviet Union—Politics and government—1985—1991. 6. Moscow (Russia)—Politics and government—20th century. 7. Moscow (Russia)—Social conditions—20th century. 8. Moscow (Russia)—Biography. I. Title.

DK601.2.025 2011
947.085’4—dc23

2011020511