you see the u.s.s.r. was living on credit of course but it was solvent and other states were eager to give credit even the us though the latter wasn't doing it directly but through european affiliates they all knew after all that the soviet economy was under control and that the country would pay its debts sooner or later even without high oil prices that's why they were eager to give credit to the u.s.s.r. especially to finance the purchase of high tech goods to be supplied to the soviet market the fact is though that after nine hundred thirty two a time of crisis for the us america wouldn't sell the u.s.s.r. complete production facilities like the car plant until you atty or chemical plants which the u.s.s.r. had brought for four billion dollars worth and which had played their part in its technical progress but anyway the soviet union's credit rating was quite high it has been easy for the us to take credit because of the entire system that's been built up since nine hundred forty five when the i.m.f.

in one thousand nine hundred one a group of eight top of soviet officials attempted a coup in the u.s.s.r. they did not succeed and were later imprisoned by the then soviet president mikhail gorbachev up next in our cross talk to debate peter lavelle discusses with his guests whether the soviet union could have survived if the outcome had been different. story. hello and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle the coup that failed but changed everything twenty years ago communist party hardliners attempted to derail me help out of a child's efforts to reform the soviet union in the coos aftermath the communist party was banned to be followed by the end of the u.s.s.r. could history is played out differently. to cross-talk the events of august one thousand nine hundred one i'm joined by geoffrey hosking in london he is america's professor of russian history at the university college london in oxford we have archie brown he's america's professor of politics at the university of oxford and in between overgrown we go to nikolai petro he's professor of politics at the university of rhode islan

thousand nine hundred one instead of tuning in to the soviet national anthem citizens across the u.s.s.r. woke up to a radio announcement that would start a sequence of events leading to the eventual collapse of the soviet union issued by the self-proclaimed hard line state of emergency committee in auslan stated that mikhail gorbachev's efforts to reform the soviet union have gone into a blind alley and also declared a six month state of emergency in various regions of the country by that time gorbachev had already been removed and detained in his militia in the crimea with motivated the plotters to overthrow the existing order was the new union treaty designs decentralized political power within the u.s.s.r. and indirectly weaken the position of the all powerful communist party little did they know however the coup attempt would encounter strong resistance from many in the military as well as the general public by that time and began to see or change as often happens in russia's history with when these reforms start accumulating from the top. there's a sense of. society there's obvious

soviet union in the coups aftermath the communist party was banned to be followed by the end of the u.s.s.r. could history is played out differently. and you can. still see. the cross-talk the events of august one thousand nine hundred one i'm joined by geoffrey hosking in london he is america's professor of russian history at the university college london in oxford we have archie brown he's america's professor of politics at the university of oxford and indeed we know the world we go to nicholai petro he is professor of politics at the university of rhode island are a gentlemen this is crosstalk that means you can jump in anytime you want but first let's have a look at the failed coup of one thousand nine hundred one. on august nineteenth one thousand nine hundred one instead of tuning into the soviet national anthem citizens across the u.s.s.r. woke up to a radio announcement that would start a sequence of events leading to the eventual collapse of the soviet union issued by the self-proclaimed hard line state of emergency committee the announcement stated that mikhail gorbachev's efforts

soviet union while the fell to topple the government it's widely seen as a pivotal factor in the u.s.s.r. as eventual collapse barton takes a look now at how it changed the course of soviet history. if you turned on your t.v. set in moscow on the morning of the nineteenth of august one nine hundred ninety one this is what you would have seen tchaikovsky's swan lake why are so many muscovites because on the streets this is what was really happening. there was confusion and panic even among the tent crews themselves. we were ordered to march towards moscow i thought i'd figured out when i get there as we weren't given any information as to what was happening. soviet leader mikhail gorbachev had been shot in his holiday home in the crimea a state committee on the state of emergency declared itself in charge it was made up of high ranking communist party officials including the head of the k.g.b. gorbachev's vice president and the defense minister they were terrified that gorbachev's democratic reforms and the union treaty due to be signed on the twentieth of august would give so much power

that it happened twenty years ago there are still some people out there who aren't aware that the u.s.s.r. is no more like arjen dot com for all the details of where you'll find out how some of them are in fairly high paid places or at least almost there republican presidential candidate michele bachmann believes that the u.s.s.r. still exists and continues to pose a threat to you let's. call it one line for you president will go chavez wants to bring back all the export of venezuelan gold back to the country to protect it from financial turmoil turn the possible consequences of that action that are dot com. but your feelings on the world markets continues as u.s. stocks remain volatile newly released economic data has made grim reading for american traders over the last week domestic manufacturing fell to its lowest point since two thousand and nine while the housing market is in a slump and unemployment spiraling let's cross live to new york to talk with our correspondent there in a fortnight and she joins us now we know of course that it's mayhem out there just how bad is it. well it l

that it happened twenty years ago there are still some people out there who aren't aware that the u.s.s.r. is no more i'm going to argue for all the details well you're find out how some of them are in fairly high places or at least trying to be republican presidential candidate michele bachmann believes that the u.s.s.r. still exists and continues to pose a threat to the us. all to my mind today president will go chavez wants to bring back all the export of venezuelan gold to the contrary to protect it from financial turmoil and the possible consequences of an action at r t v dot com. look now at some world news in brief for you this hour at least forty people have been killed and over one hundred were injured when a bomb exploded at a mosque in canberra region in northwest pakistan going to teenage boy detonating a device during traditional friday prayers many of the injured are in serious condition no group has admitted responsibility. and all kind of militants are active in the region. twin suicide blasts have rocked the afghan capital kabul and close to a compound run by the british

that it happened twenty years ago there are still some people out there who aren't aware that the u.s.s.r. is no more i can't argue dot com for all the details or find out how some of them are in fairly high places republican presidential candidate zell bachman believes that the u.s.s.r. still exists and continues to pose a threat to think. of my life here today president over chavez wants to bring back all the export of venezuelan gold to the country to protect it from financial turmoil and the possible consequences. our team. turbulence on the world markets continues as u.s. stocks remain volatile newly released economic data has made grim readings for american traders over the week domestic manufacturing fell to its lowest point since two thousand and nine while the housing market is in a slump and unemployment is spiraling or just more important i reports now from new york. the bad forecast the most recent one is coming from morgan stanley goldman sachs and j.p. morgan chase all three banks in the past day have released reports slashing their expectations for u.s. and global growth no

with their ideas of socialism brought an estimated twenty thousand americans and canadians to the u.s.s.rbetween one thousand twenty and nine hundred twenty five many of them found though are here the luckiest were disillusioned by the regime quickly enough to go home before the stalin's repressions of the 1930's many of those who stayed. to the gulags russian families of the foreigners couldn't escape the same fate in one nine hundred forty seven cross border marriages were completely prohibited by soviet rule it was difficult to break the law since or a few soviets were allowed to go abroad after it was a bore wished on stalin's death things didn't become any simpler for those russians but firm in love with foreigners foreigners were in the course supervision by the k.g.b. even the rived in russia their loved ones who were regarded as potential spies and suspicion was enough for a person to lose their job and exulted to among true germans it was not until the one nine hundred seventy s. that immigration was allowed russians had to realize that once they married a foreigner and went abro

become the center of resistance to the two boris yeltsin the president of the russian part of the u.s.s.r. had convinced some of the tank crew to switch sides people flocked to join him and demanded to prove the chops return. if yeltsin tells you that was a yes of in your command of traitors and enemies whose always will you have be as night fell on the twentieth of august the curfew ordered by the cool denies is raised fears of an assault on the white house when armored vehicles began moving through the rotunda night protesters disillusioned with the communist party rose up to defend their hopes of democracy. of kamaz son dimitriy was killed in one word police are now down to the right where he is friendly demand tried to drag him away while the machine rodela my sons had and killed lead to marriage wow. failed and what's more it destroyed trust in the communist party which was then back russia and november one nine hundred ninety one by the end of the year the very system they sought to keep alive the soviet union had ceased to exist dumbarton. well despite the fact it happened twenty y

do you after the collapse of the u.s.s.r. . stand a former soviet republic became independent in one thousand nine hundred ninety one . that were an independent state is important but it's only good as long as it's backed by economic performance. unemployment is the greatest issue in this independent central asian country nearly one and a half million migrant workers flock to russia from tragic to stand alone they have left their country to feed their families. after the breakup of the soviet union we had a very hard time but then we somehow learned to take things in stride. the situation got even worse following the devastating civil war that broke out during the first years of independence the nation still healing its wounds even a decade on the problems are numerous from drug trafficking from neighboring afghanistan to acute shortages of electricity and drinking water. ensuring a camel appears on this road running through the hills drive is paused to sign the animal to feed it. now it needs something to eat. local say the ca

after the collapse of the u.s.s.r. this military facility became part of independent ten tickets down to day military men live in the garrison with their families and is effectively a part of the russian territory. for the commanders are to report on where the weapons and personnel are in complete order standard seize the weapons and ammunition and personnel of the command center are present and correct. the arraign which tracks objects in outer space is situated in the foothills of the permian range at an altitude of two thousand two hundred meters above sea level. there are unique telescopes in these very cool domes they scan the universe in three dimensions military people call this reconnaissance center the eyes of russian space force. the station is unique in the during the night it can spot space objects at a range of eighteen to thirty five thousand kilometers. it's been built here because visibility in the sky is much better than anywhere else most of the nights are clear with no precipitation or dust. the elec

well there are some people who are nowhere that the soviet union the u.s.s.r. doesn't exist anymore in fact some of them are in pretty high places including presidential candidate michele bachmann she believes that the u.s.s.r. still exists and that it poses a threat to the u.s. . find out more information online at r.t. dot com including president hu go chavez wants to bring back all the export of venezuelan gold to the country to protect it from financial turmoil and the possible consequences of that action at our to dot com. moscow's ever popular international air show continues to soar opening its doors to thousands of new spectators on friday some of the most spectacular aerobatic displays are still ahead at mocks twenty eleven before the show closes in two days time and it's not just about entertainment many major contracts are being signed as well. is there. there are sounds of jet ten propeller engines in the skies school or soft various times of the aircraft on the ground it means the must two thousand and eleven air show has opened its doors to the pu

state security martial of ranty beriah used to supervise the u.s.s.r. gulags and the entire repression machine of the soviet union. many episodes of his life and the circumstances of his death are still couched in mystery. this army bunker in central moscow is more than ten meters underground plenty beriah found himself here soon after his arrest in the kremlin there was no chance of escape or help from the outside. area was interrogated by none other than the soviet union's prosecutor general. one of the initial charges put against him was for his participation in widespread political repression. this list contains the names of thirty six people in beers your instruction everybody there is also a first category which. i confess that all those resolutions were approved by myself in person. of the bay area case would fill a couple of such shows thank you. for some reason most of these materials have not been declassified the beria case is a peculiar one. to be found normally prisoners have their pictures taken from the front and side. case on the other h