The Rise and Fall of Mikhail Gorbachev

Coup d'État
In August 1991, Soviet hard-liners, fearing the breakup of the Soviet Union that Gorbachev's reforms had unleashed, attempted to remove him from power by preventing him from leaving his vacation home in Crimea. Though he was able to gain release after three days, neither the Soviet nor Russian command structures would acknowledge his leadership when he returned to Moscow, and power devolved to the rising star Yeltsin, who had stood up to the hard-liners in the early moments of the coup. Yeltsin assumed the presidency of Russia, and the various republics seized the opportunity to proclaim their independence. With that, the Soviet Union dissolved forever.

• Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall