La Fin de l'Union soviétique

On 25December 1991, Mikhail Gorbatchev resigned as President of the USSR. He handed over the nuclear trigger to the President of Russia, Boris Eltsine. After reaching the summit of power in March 1985, Gorbatchev – in the space of less than seven years – profoundly transformed the course of history in his own country, the whole of Soviet bloc, and in the process the entire world. Caught in the crossfire of attacks by both Conservatives and Radicals, Gorbatchev found that the more his reforms led the action, the more isolated he became. As the Secretary General of an omnipotent party –whose monopoly he had however broken and whose legitimacy to govern he had called into question – and the President of a Union that exploded once the republic's rights of self-determination were recognised, Gorbatchev found himself forced to resign in December 1991. These events have all been abundantly described, analysed, chronicled and of course filmed. But to a very considerable extent, they have been seen through Western eyes, from viewpoints shaped by years of Cold War realities. The aim here is to have the story told by the protagonists, those who committed themselves to backing Gorbatchev in this unprecedented venture: what were they hoping for? Why and how did they take a particular decision