USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -On 25 December, Gorbachev resigned and turned over his presidential powers-including control of the nuclear launch codes-to Yeltsin, who was now the first president of the Russian Federation. That evening, the Soviet flag was lowered from the Kremlin and replaced with the Russian tricolor flag.

Detailed explanation-2: -The 1991 Soviet coup d’état attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party to forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was Soviet President and General Secretary of the Communist Party at the time.

Detailed explanation-3: -Faced with a changing political climate, Gorbachev abandoned the Brezhnev Doctrine. In 1988 he withdrew troops from Afghanistan, and later that year he refused to intervene as a wave of democratization swept through Eastern Europe. In 1991 the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

Detailed explanation-4: -The unsuccessful August 1991 coup against Gorbachev sealed the fate of the Soviet Union. Planned by hard-line Communists, the coup diminished Gorbachev’s power and propelled Yeltsin and the democratic forces to the forefront of Soviet and Russian politics.