Political and Diplomatic Efforts to Reshape the Soviet Political Landscape (1991)

The defeat of the coup of 19 - 21 August 1991 would provide an opportunity to strengthen the Russian SFSR, ban the activities of the CPSU and the Communist Party in the union republics, and mark the beginning of the proclamation of independence by the constituent republics of the Soviet Union. On 22 August 1991, President Boris N. Yeltsin signed the Decree on Ensuring the Economic Basis of the RSFSR’s Sovereignty, so that, in accordance with its provisions, all enterprises and institutions under (pan-)Union jurisdiction came under the jurisdiction of the Russian SFSR. The Russian Government ceased funding all-Union ministries, with the exception of the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Atomic Energy and the Ministry of Transport. On 28 August 1991, the Russian SFSR took control of the State Bank of the USSR and the Foreign Trade Bank of the USSR. On 24 August 1991, the Supreme Soviet in Kyiv proclaimed Ukraine’s independence, with a referendum to be held on 1 December 1991 in order to confirm Ukraine’s Declaration of Independence through a public vote. In the new political situation within the Soviet Union, the sovereign republics were taking steps to bring the Ministries of Internal Affairs and the local KGBs under their jurisdiction.