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[[Communists]] were angry and determined to stop Yeltsin’s challenge. In August 1991, they ordered the soldiers to kill Yeltsin{{fact}}. Providence must have intervened{{fact}}, because the troops refused the order. Rarely, if ever, do troops refuse orders like this. In a communist country such refusal was unheard of prior to the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] in 1989.  Many{{fact}} explain this as occurring because by 1991 almost everyone could see the writing on the wall: the West was winning and Russia had an opportunity to embrace [[capitalism]].  By 1991 ordinary Russians were very cynical about their system of government and envied the material success of their Western neighbors.  Blaming Gorbachev for this state of affairs, more traditional Communists confined him in his dacha on the [[Black Sea]] for three days, announcing he had stepped down for health reasons.  They probably intended to kill him once things settled down{{fact}}.  Thanks mostly to Yeltsin, who brought tens of thousands of his supporters into [[Red Square]] to protect the [[Russian State Duma]], things never did.

[[Communists]] were angry and determined to stop Yeltsin’s challenge. In August 1991, they ordered the soldiers to kill Yeltsin{{fact}}. Providence must have intervened{{fact}}, because the troops refused the order. Rarely, if ever, do troops refuse orders like this. In a communist country such refusal was unheard of prior to the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] in 1989.  Many{{fact}} explain this as occurring because by 1991 almost everyone could see the writing on the wall: the West was winning and Russia had an opportunity to embrace [[capitalism]].  By 1991 ordinary Russians were very cynical about their system of government and envied the material success of their Western neighbors.  Blaming Gorbachev for this state of affairs, more traditional Communists confined him in his dacha on the [[Black Sea]] for three days, announcing he had stepped down for health reasons.  They probably intended to kill him once things settled down{{fact}}.  Thanks mostly to Yeltsin, who brought tens of thousands of his supporters into [[Red Square]] to protect the [[Russian State Duma]], things never did.

Although the attempted [[coup d'etat]] failed, it and Yeltsin's response demonstrated Gorbachev's irrelevance to the future of Russia.  He promptly resigned as head of the Communist Party, and then [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]] and other Soviet republics declared their independence as [[Lithuania]] had. On [[Christmas]] Day, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president of the [[Soviet Union]], which formally ceased to exist on the same day.<ref>http://www.conservapedia.com/World_History_Lecture_Thirteen</ref>

Although the attempted [[coup d'état]] failed, it and Yeltsin's response demonstrated Gorbachev's irrelevance to the future of Russia.  He promptly resigned as head of the Communist Party, and then [[Latvia]], [[Estonia]] and other Soviet republics declared their independence as [[Lithuania]] had. On [[Christmas]] Day, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president of the [[Soviet Union]], which formally ceased to exist on the same day.<ref>http://www.conservapedia.com/World_History_Lecture_Thirteen</ref>

American [[liberal bias|liberal media]] sources persistently favored maintaining Communist domination in Soviet Russia under Gorbachev over the aspirations of a popular movement led by the democratic reformer Yeltsin.<ref>[http://www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2007/cyb20070424.asp#4 Liberal Media Favored Communist 'Reformer' Gorbachev Over Yeltsin]</ref>

American [[liberal bias|liberal media]] sources persistently favored maintaining Communist domination in Soviet Russia under Gorbachev over the aspirations of a popular movement led by the democratic reformer Yeltsin.<ref>[http://www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2007/cyb20070424.asp#4 Liberal Media Favored Communist 'Reformer' Gorbachev Over Yeltsin]</ref>