What if the 1991 Soviet coup succeeded?

In our timeline, a group of hardliners in the Communist party who were opposed to Gorbachev's reforms attempted a coup to gain control of the government in order to stop the reforms from further weakening the country and saving the USSR. This failed, and only hastened the dissolution of the Soviet Union. But what if the coup was successful and returned the USSR to it's pre-1985 self and reversing the decentralization that was occurring with the other republics in the Baltic's and Central Asia?

Mr Trolldemort wrote:In our timeline, a group of hardliners in the Communist party who were opposed to Gorbachev's reforms attempted a coup to gain control of the government in order to stop the reforms from further weakening the country and saving the USSR.  This failed, and only hastened the dissolution of the Soviet Union.  But what if the coup was successful and returned the USSR to it's pre-1985 self and reversing the decentralization that was occurring with the other republics in the Baltic's and Central Asia?

I think the USSR would have went on more but it would have prolonged the life of it, but I'm sure the United States would still win the cold war.

You end up with a very similar structure of government to the one you have in Russia today, but perhaps with more republics in a union with her. For example, Belarus and Kazakhstan may never have broken away from the union in the first place, though Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and other countries would have had much of the same success in liberalizing.

I don't think it would have changed much in the end, since the Soviets had long term weaknesses in their economy and society. The Warsaw Pact had already dissolved months before the attempted coup, and most of the Soviet republics were already declaring independence. The new hardline communist government still wouldn't have seen the next millennium.

DuceMoosolini wrote:I don't think it would have changed much in the end, since the Soviets had long term weaknesses in their economy and society. The Warsaw Pact had already dissolved months before the attempted coup, and most of the Soviet republics were already declaring independence. The new hardline communist government still wouldn't have seen the next millennium.

Yeah if anything if they tried to stop the independence movements, it would just create a civil war throughout the country and the USSR and its breakaway republics would be even weaker than in our timeline.

Mr Trolldemort wrote:
Yeah if anything if they tried to stop the independence movements, it would just create a civil war throughout the country and the USSR and its breakaway republics would be even weaker than in our timeline.

Now that would be an interesting scenario just on its own. By December of 1991 (when they left the Union), 90% of the Ukrainian population wanted independence, which was a problem for the Soviets because a full third of their nuclear arsenal was on Ukrainian soil. If the Soviets tried to invade and prevent their secession, how desperate could the Ukrainians have become?

DuceMoosolini wrote:

Mr Trolldemort wrote:
Yeah if anything if they tried to stop the independence movements, it would just create a civil war throughout the country and the USSR and its breakaway republics would be even weaker than in our timeline.

Now that would be an interesting scenario just on its own. By December of 1991 (when they left the Union), 90% of the Ukrainian population wanted independence, which was a problem for the Soviets because a full third of their nuclear arsenal was on Ukrainian soil. If the Soviets tried to invade and prevent their secession, how desperate could the Ukrainians have become?

Oh yeah it would be very interesting indeed. I might come up with a possible scenario later on for the second Russian Civil War later so be sure to keep an eye out for it

Gorbechev was so loved by the media in most of the world that I don't think any government the coup might have installed would have had any credibility. I think the whole thing would have dissolved within a few months, but that would not have prevented a civil war, especially in Ukraine. In fact, a series of Soviet Republics might have experienced count-counter-counter-revolutions... Wow... That would have been fun to watch.

I was so disappointed when the coup failed with hardly any bloodshed. Does that make me a sick man? Well... I guess so. But the funnest parts of history are the bloodiest.

Thorfinn Karlsefni wrote:Gorbechev was so loved by the media in most of the world that I don't think any government the coup might have installed would have had any credibility. I think the whole thing would have dissolved within a few months, but that would not have prevented a civil war, especially in Ukraine. In fact, a series of Soviet Republics might have experienced count-counter-counter-revolutions... Wow... That would have been fun to watch.

I was so disappointed when the coup failed with hardly any bloodshed. Does that make me a sick man? Well... I guess so. But the funnest parts of history are the bloodiest.

Ever seen this 1998 German television mockumentary called World War III (Der Dritte Weltkrieg)

World War III (Der Dritte Weltkrieg)