The All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR was the only all-Union referendum in the entire history of the existence of the USSR. Held on March 17, 1991. At the center of the discussion was the issue of preserving the USSR as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics.

On December 24, 1990, the deputies of the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, having held a roll call vote, decided to consider it necessary to preserve the USSR as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality would be fully ensured.

Five questions were put forward for this referendum:

Do you consider it necessary to preserve the USSR as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully ensured? (Not really)

Do you consider it necessary to preserve the USSR as a single state? (Not really)

Do you consider it necessary to preserve the socialist system in the USSR? (Not really)

Do you consider it necessary to preserve Soviet power in the renewed Union? (Not really)

Do you consider it necessary to guarantee the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality in the renewed Union? (Not really)

At the same time, no legal or legislative consequences were stipulated in case of adoption of this or that decision.

On the same day, December 24, 1990, at the initiative and insistence of the President of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev, the Congress adopted two resolutions on holding referendums on the issue of private ownership of land and on the issue of preserving the renewed Union as a federation of equal sovereign Soviet Socialist Republics. For the adoption of the first resolution voted: 1553 against 84 (abstained - 70). For the adoption of the second resolution voted: 1677 against 32 (abstained - 66). The second decision was given a move.

On December 27, 1990, the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR decided to put into effect the Law of the USSR adopted on that day "On the nationwide vote (referendum of the USSR)".

"1. To hold on the entire territory of the USSR on Sunday, March 17, 1991, a referendum of the USSR on the question of preserving the USSR as a federation of republics with equal rights.

"Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed."

"Yes or no".

The state authorities of the Union republics reacted differently to the holding of the All-Union referendum on the preservation of the USSR.

In the referendum held on March 17, 1991, out of 185.6 million (80%) with the right to vote, 148.5 million (79.5%) took part; citizens of the USSR. Of these, 113.5 million (76.43%), answering “Yes”, spoke in favor of preserving the renewed USSR.

In the six union republics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova), which had previously declared independence or transition to independence, an all-Union referendum was not actually held (the authorities of these republics did not form Central Election Commissions, there was no universal vote of the population ) with the exception of some territories (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria), but at other times independence referendums were held.

On March 21, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR considered the preliminary results of the referendum. He noted that the majority of those who voted for the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and, consequently, "the fate of the peoples of the country is inseparable, that only by joint efforts can they successfully resolve issues of economic, social and cultural development."

Separately, it was noted that despite the fact that the authorities of a number of republics (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova) did not comply with the decisions of the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on holding a referendum, more than two million citizens of the USSR living in these republics, expressed their will and said "yes" to the USSR. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR assessed such a manifestation of citizenship as "an act of courage and patriotism."

The Supreme Soviet of the USSR decided:

"1. The state bodies of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the republics shall be guided in their practical activities by the decision of the people, adopted by referendum in support of the renewed Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, proceeding from the fact that this decision is final and has binding force throughout the USSR.

2. Recommend to the President of the USSR and the Federation Council, the Supreme Soviets of the republics, based on the results of the referendum held, to work more vigorously towards the completion of work on the new Union Treaty in order to sign it in as soon as possible. Simultaneously accelerate the development of the draft of the new Constitution of the USSR.

Also, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR proposed to the Committee for Constitutional Supervision of the USSR to consider the issue of compliance with the acts of the supreme bodies of state power of the republics, which restrict the rights of citizens of the USSR, adopted in connection with the referendum, with the Constitution of the USSR and the laws of the USSR. On April 3, the USSR Constitutional Supervision Committee confirmed its statement of March 5, 1991, that any acts of the highest bodies of state power of the republics, directly or indirectly preventing citizens of the USSR from freely participating in the all-Union referendum on March 17, 1991, were contrary to the Constitution of the USSR.

At the extraordinary III Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR, a draft resolution "On the Union of Sovereign Republics (Union Treaty) and the procedure for signing it" was adopted, which took into account "the will of the peoples Russian Federation, expressed in the results of the referendum on the preservation of the USSR”, and was designated “the determination of the RSFSR to sign the Treaty on the Union of Sovereign Republics (Union Treaty)”.

In accordance with the results of the referendum, a working group authorized by the central and republican authorities within the framework of the so-called "Novoogarevsky process" in the spring and summer of 1991 developed a project to conclude a federation agreement "On the Union of Sovereign Republics", the signing of which was scheduled for August 20, 1991 .

On March 17, 1991, the All-Union referendum was held, at which the question of preserving the Soviet Union was raised. The people voted in favor, but as a result of the Belovezhskaya Accords signed on December 8, 1991, the USSR collapsed.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for holding a referendum were evident. Firstly, the political crisis of power, which has lost its inherent authority; secondly, the economic and ideological crisis in the country; thirdly, the opposition of the elite. The authorities needed legitimacy, which could be confirmed by a referendum. It is important to note here that the referendum is the highest form of manifestation of democracy. The problems of the state, which became obvious by the beginning of 1991, could be veiled by the conduct of a global democratic procedure. People had to think that their opinion is important, that they can influence the fate of the country.

Participating countries

Not all republics of the USSR participated in the referendum. In addition, the wording of the question varied in different republics. In the Kazakh SSR, voting took place on the question: "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the USSR as a Union of equal sovereign states." Thus, even then the idea of ​​creating the CIS was laid. In Ukraine, the question was supplemented with another one: “Do you agree that Ukraine should be part of the Union of Soviet Sovereign States on the basis of the Declaration on the State Sovereignty of Ukraine?” And this question received 80.2% of positive responses. In the six union republics (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia), which had previously declared independence or transition to independence, the referendum was not actually held, but people could still vote: local Councils of People's Deputies, public groups at enterprises and some labor collectives, as well as the command of military units, independently formed districts and districts, district and district commissions, registered by the USSR Central Referendum Commission. The referendum was also held in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria and Gagauzia.

slogans

The 1991 referendum was held in the conditions of intensive agitation. The will of the people was unobtrusively directed in the right direction. The instructions on the ground stated: “Agitation posters should be hung in stores, clinics, post offices, children’s preschool institutions, at public transport stops. Agitators worked among the population, frightening leaflets were distributed, in which the prospect of the collapse of the Union was presented in an unfavorable light: "No" at the referendum - this is 10 million refugees from the republics to Russia, "No" at the referendum - 600-900 billion additional expenses for organizing additional structures." There were also quite “creative” slogans, such as this one: “If you want to build communism, vote for “obnovism”. God forbid we, brothers, slander - Let yourself be referended!

Question of legitimacy

One of the main issues that the referendum decided was the question of the legitimacy of power. The referendum did not last long, but "justified" current government. It is interesting that there is still talk that the results of the vote in the 1991 referendum have not lost their legitimacy even now, but this is just talk. The results of a referendum can only cross out the results of another referendum. This is what happened after the popular vote on December 12, 1993 on the draft Constitution of the Russian Federation.

The Presidential Factor

On March 17, 1991, in a referendum, the people also answered the question of introducing the post of president. 75.09% of Russian citizens took part in this survey, of which 71.3% supported this proposal. This question was a "counter-move" of Yeltsin's "team". Three months later, on June 12, 1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected the first president of the RSFSR.

Wordplay

The question in the referendum was skillfully formulated. His very production encouraged people to answer in the affirmative. “Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully ensured?” So someone upvoted beautiful word"sovereign", someone for the no less beautiful word "equality", others - for "renewal", the fourth - for "rights and freedoms".

Disappointing results

The people, who wished to preserve the Soviet Union, did not rejoice for long at their choice. Already on December 30, 1991, the USSR was gone. This was facilitated by various processes that took place both at the state and at the geopolitical level. The country, which for many years was destroyed by mechanisms launched back in the early 1980s, turned out to be unable to resist, and the people, who gave a positive answer on March 17, 1991, once again felt deceived.

20 years ago, on March 17, 1991, a referendum called the "Referendum for the Preservation of the USSR" was held.

The turnout was 80.03%: out of 185.6 million citizens of the USSR with the right to vote, 148.6 million took part. Of these, 113.5 million (78%) answered "Yes" to the question about the preservation of the USSR.
Still relevant is the question of what kind of referendum it was, by whom and why it was held, and why in the end it contributed not to the preservation of the USSR, but to the exact opposite.

Counter-revolution from above

Gradually, the party elite of the USSR, as a result of their irresponsibility to the people, rotted and eventually decided to “build communism” not for all citizens, but for themselves personally. The Union interfered with this, which means that it had to be destroyed.

With the advent of Gorbachev to power, a complete bacchanalia began, the details of which are remembered by many, so we will not describe everything.

Since 1985, a crazy campaign has begun to brainwash the population, discredit the Soviet Union, communism and everything connected with it. Someone will say that the people were not satisfied with life. Where there! The life of the people, as it turns out now, is not much worse than in Europe and much better than now. And the pace of economic growth was good. It was just that a counter-revolution was carried out from above, nuclear propaganda strikes were inflicted on the population with fakes, fraud, American films and jeans, tons of lies and deliberate actions of discredit (like hiding consumer goods in warehouses, etc.). The whole powerful propaganda machine worked for this. External enemies, of course, helped and applauded the "fifth column" in every possible way. The people were disoriented, confused, the country was defenseless against the enemies at the very top.

Destruction under the guise of renewal

In December 1990, the elite openly raised the question of the destruction of the USSR under the guise of reorganization.

On December 3, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR supported the concept of a new draft of the Union Treaty proposed by the President of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev and submitted it for discussion at the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR.

On December 24, 1990, at the initiative and insistent demand of the Traitor of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev, the deputies of the IV Congress voted for the resolution (1677 deputies voted in favor, 32 deputies voted against, 66 abstained), which stated that

In connection with the numerous appeals of workers expressing concern about the fate of the USSR, and considering that the preservation of a single Union State is critical issue state life, affects the interests of every person, the entire population of the Soviet Union, the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR decided:

1. Hold a referendum of the USSR to resolve the issue of maintaining the renewed Union as a federation of equal sovereign Soviet Socialist Republics, taking into account the voting results for each republic separately.
2. Instruct the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to determine the date of the referendum and measures to ensure it.

So what happens. The Soviet people do not understand what is happening. He sees how his country is being destroyed, but does not know what to do, and appeals to the authorities: “What are you doing, bastards! Save the country! And what do the traitor Gorbachev and the deputies answer to the people: “Here you are, not the country! Renewed, federation, equal, sovereign… Receive.”

That is, it is clear that it was not possible to completely pollute the brains, the people demand from the authorities to save the Motherland, so the authorities decided to finish off the Motherland under the guise of the will of the people.

See how irresponsible deputies of the Armed Forces vilely shift the responsibility for the country from themselves to the people:

“Based on the fact that no one, except the people themselves, can take historical responsibility for the fate of the USSR, in pursuance of the decision of the Fourth Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and in accordance with the legislation on the referendum of the USSR” On January 16, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decided:

1. To hold throughout the territory of the USSR on Sunday, March 17, 1991, a USSR referendum on the question of preserving the USSR as a federation of republics with equal rights.

"Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed."
"Yes or no".

You, deputies of the Congress and the Supreme Council, are obliged to defend the country upon the fact of its existence, without asking anyone about it. Why referendum? This is what the Constitution requires of you:

Article 31 The defense of the socialist Fatherland belongs to essential functions state and is the business of the whole people.

However, this is the result of the fact that for the highest elected power in the USSR there was no mechanism for responsibility to the people for the results of government. If deputies at the end of their term of office could be sent to prison for poor performance, if the people were not satisfied with them, then there would be no such insanity.

What thoughts come to mind when reading this question? What is this vile wording "renewed federation of equal sovereign republics."

1. Firstly, such a question made the question of the existence of the USSR legitimate in general. Previously, people could not even think, “How is it, there will be no Union?” That's how! Such a question destroyed the USSR in the minds of people.

Imagine that during the war we had not Stalin at the head of the country, but some irresponsible bastard, such as Gorbachev or Yeltsin. The Baltic states, Ukraine, Belarus have been taken, the Germans are already near Moscow, the country is in extreme tension, inspiration is needed, but it does not sound like Order 227 “Not a step back!”, But the following: "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed." You can even add: "including German".

2. Secondly, as you have already noticed, the question is not even about the preservation of the USSR. Here he is, by the way, to lull vigilance. The point at issue is precisely the destruction (replaced by the word "renew") of the Soviet Union and the formation of something new, some kind of federation. And what is this "new"? Has it been explained to people? No, they were deceived.

3. Third. Having read the question, we have already begun to think whether this “new Union” will exist or not (and why not, because the Union is better than not the Union), and here they also explain to us why this “new Union” will be better, than our Native Union, our Motherland, which is being destroyed: it will be “renewed” (meaning the Native Union is backward, outdated), it will fully guarantee human rights and freedoms (which means that in our Native Union the rights and freedoms of citizens or this was not done to the full extent, everyone was deceived), and even of any nationality (which means that we did not have any friendship of peoples in our homeland, everyone lied).

After the referendum, already in the spring and summer of 1991, the Gorbachev working group within the framework of the so-called. of the Novo-Ogaryovo process, a project was developed to conclude a new union - Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics How soft, decentralized federation .

The draft of a new treaty on the creation of the Union was initialed twice - on April 23 and June 17, 1991. The final version of the "Treaty on the Union of Sovereign States" was published in the Pravda newspaper on August 15. It stated:

“The states that form the Union have full political power, independently determine their national state structure, the system of authorities and administration, they can delegate some of their powers to other states parties to the Treaty ...”.
“The present treaty… comes into force from the moment of signing… by authorized delegations. For the states that signed it, from the same date, the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR of 1922 is considered invalid.

As M. S. Gorbachev stated, on August 20, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the RSFSR, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan were to sign a new union treaty, and in the autumn Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine and Turkmenistan could join them.

But the State Committee for the State of Emergency, on August 18-21, made an unsuccessful attempt to forcibly remove M. S. Gorbachev from the post of President of the USSR, disrupting the signing of the Union Treaty and thereby the liquidation of the Soviet Union:

“... Taking advantage of the freedoms granted, trampling on the newly emerging sprouts of democracy, extremist forces arose, heading for the liquidation of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the state and the seizure of power at any cost. The results of the nationwide referendum on the unity of the Fatherland have been trampled on.”

On September 5, 1991, the V Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR did not let up, adopting the "Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms", announced a transitional period for the formation of a new system of state relations, the preparation and signing of the Treaty on the Union of Sovereign States.

In the autumn of 1991, under the sanction of the central and republican authorities, a working group of the Novo-Ogaryovo process developed a new draft Treaty - to create Union of Sovereign States (ssg) like (already!) confederations independent states ("confederal state").

Preliminary consent to the conclusion on December 9, 1991 of an agreement on the creation of the SSG with the capital in Minsk was given on November 14, 1991 only by seven republics (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan). The two republics that held independence referendums the day before (Armenia and Ukraine) refused to join the confederal union.

However, on December 8, 1991, the heads of three states (the Republics of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine) at a meeting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, “noting that negotiations on the preparation of a new Union Treaty had reached an impasse, the objective process of secession of the republics from the USSR and the formation of independent states became a real fact, blah blah blah, concluded the Belovezhskaya Agreement on the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States - an intergovernmental and inter-parliamentary organization that does not have the status of a state.

Thus, the treacherous Belovezhskaya conspiracy of the three ghouls Shushkevich, Kravchuk and Yeltsin only got ahead of Gorbachev's team and consolidated the results of the systematic destruction of the Soviet Union. Moreover, they did as they were "asked" by the people at the referendum. Well, almost.

Did you want a "renewed federation of equal sovereign republics"? Get signed!

Article 62 A citizen of the USSR is obliged to protect ...

So, there is no doubt that this referendum was another incredibly vile subversive action of the enemies of the people against the USSR.

But there is also no doubt that the majority of the people in the referendum were for the preservation of the old Native USSR, their Motherland, and they went to vote for this.

On March 17, 1991, a referendum was held in which the majority of citizens voted for the preservation of the USSR.

In six republics (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Moldavia, Armenia), perestroika has already done everything it needs to, so the highest authorities refused to hold a referendum. That is, they committed thereby high treason and did not allow the people to express their will.

In other republics, the results were as follows.

"Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?"

Our Central Asian brothers have become an example of having a strong sense of statehood. Among them, who still retained communal traditions, their understanding of the need to live in a single and therefore strong country turned out to be much higher than among the Russians. Unfortunately, but true.

Where were the traitors more?

In terms of the level of betrayal, the capitals and the homeland of Bespaly, the Sverdlovsk Region, were ahead of everyone.

Below is a table, where the republics and regions with a share of those who voted FOR higher than the average for the Union are marked in red, and lower in blue.

As you can see, the hatred of the rest of Russia towards Muscovites is quite natural. That's where the main responsibility lies - on the capital.

Please note that even in Checheno-Ingushetia, the percentage of those who voted for the preservation of the Union turned out to be higher than the national average and almost the same as in the USSR. So much for the Chechen separatists. By that time, the Democrats had not yet led by the hand and planted scumbags at the head of Chechnya.

We know from history that capturing the minds of the capital is key.

I will give an unfortunate comparison in terms of motives and goals, but still indicative. In the elections to the Constituent Assembly of 1817, the Bolsheviks throughout Russia gained 22.4% (the first were the Socialist-Revolutionaries - 39.5%), but they won by a large margin in Moscow (47.9%), the Moscow Region (55.8%) , Petrograd (48.7%), Minsk (63.1%).

In 1991, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sverdlovsk region. were leaders who voted for the introduction of the post of president of the RSFSR, and later among the leaders who voted for Yeltsin in the elections. By the way, in the presidential elections of 1991 and 77% of the Chechens, Yeltsin really liked it.

It is clear that the propagandistic blow was directed at the capitals in the first place. More money was allocated, more bribery, more falsifications. But still, there are actually more sincere idiots who did not want to "feed unnecessary republics."

So what happens. In general, the Soviet people, some to a lesser extent, some to a greater extent, survived the nuclear attack on their consciousness and intuitively understood that they were being deceived, therefore they supported the preservation of the Soviet Union.

But it was not enough to vote, what is it like to vote for the preservation of the Union, when "the Germans are already near Moscow", or rather in the Kremlin, at the very top. It is pointless. It was necessary to fight for the Union, including with weapons in hand. After all, this was required of all citizens by the Constitution of the USSR.

Constitution. Article 62 A citizen of the USSR is obliged to protect the interests of the Soviet state, to help strengthen its power and authority.
The defense of the socialist Fatherland is the sacred duty of every citizen of the USSR.
Treason to the motherland is the gravest crime against the people.

It is clear that there were no leaders, that was not, this was not, but Yanaev's hands were shaking ... And you, so brave, why was everything shaking then? Or, worse, why didn't you care? Why did everyone forget about their main duty as a Citizen?

Aksakal from the Turkmen village turned out to be wiser than the Moscow intelligentsia. Finished.

Is there now an opportunity to atone for guilt, restore justice and prevent this.

Eat. And it consists in the introduction at a national referendum of the Law "On the People's Evaluation of the President and Deputies."

The future question of the referendum "For Responsible Power" will probably sound like this:

Do you agree to the following amendments to the Constitution, as well as the enactment of the Law providing for them:

The President and deputies of the Federal Assembly are elected by the population, they are assigned duties, given rights and powers with the sole purpose of organizing the population (currently living able-bodied citizens) by their actions to protect the people (the population and future generations) from spiritual and material deterioration of life.

For a good organization of the protection of the people of the Russian Federation, the President and deputies are awarded, for a bad one they are punished in accordance with the Federal Constitutional Law "On the assessment of the President and members of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation by the people of Russia" .

The need to reward or punish the President and deputies is recognized by the assessment of voters in the course of free elections. The assessment of voters cannot be canceled or changed otherwise than by the will of the people.

And this will be a truly popular referendum, and not a deception started by traitors at the top, because it will be held solely on the initiative from below.

And he will not hit the country, as in 1991. He will hit only potential and actual scoundrels ruining the country. And it's already hitting.

And the better we prepare, the less helpless we will be in the future.

Exactly 25 years ago, the citizens of the Soviet Union voted in a special all-Union referendum to preserve the USSR. More precisely, they believed that they were voting for this, but the reality turned out to be much more complicated. It included not only betrayal, when the Union was dissolved without regard to the plebiscite, but also a much more multi-layered lie.

A quarter of a century ago, Soviet citizens came to the polls to speak out about the fate of their country. A vote took place, which to this day is called a referendum on the preservation of the USSR. The overwhelming majority of those who voted - 76%, or 112 million people in absolute terms - were in favor. But for what exactly? Did the citizens of the USSR understand that they were actually voting not for the preservation, but for the collapse of the country?

Referendum as shock therapy

“After the dissolution of the USSR and Gorbachev's resignation of the presidency, the leadership of a number of republics was still waiting for instructions from Moscow. And it was extremely perplexing that such instructions were not received.

The program proclaimed by Mikhail Gorbachev's team almost immediately resulted in an acute state crisis. Since 1986, bloody conflicts on interethnic grounds have constantly flared up in the USSR. First, Alma-Ata, then the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabad, massacres in Kazakh New Uzgen, massacres in Ferghana, pogroms in Andijan, Osh, Baku. At the same time, nationalist movements in the Baltics that appeared as if from nowhere were rapidly gaining strength. From November 1988 to July 1989, the Estonian, Lithuanian, and Latvian SSRs successively declared their sovereignty, followed shortly by the Azerbaijan and Georgian SSRs.

The bulk of Soviet citizens under these conditions assessed the processes taking place in the country - and this must be recognized! - totally inadequate. It almost never occurred to anyone that the conflicts flaring up on the periphery could mean the imminent collapse of the country. The union seemed unshakable. There were no precedents for secession from the Soviet state. There was no legal procedure for secession of the republics. People were waiting for the restoration of order and the normalization of the situation.

Instead, on December 24, 1990, the IV Congress of People's Deputies suddenly put to a vote the following questions: "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the USSR as a single state?", "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the socialist system in the USSR?", "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the renewed Union Soviet power? Following the congress, at the request of Mikhail Gorbachev, it decided to submit the issue of preserving the USSR to an all-Union referendum.

In the resolution on its holding, the only question to the Soviet people was formulated as follows: "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed." And the answer options are yes or no.

Some assessments of this document have been preserved, which is interesting - from the side of the anti-Soviet-minded democratic public. For example, People's Deputy of the USSR Galina Starovoitova spoke of "a heap of contradictory and even mutually exclusive concepts." And a human rights activist, a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group Malva Landa, argued: “The question is crafty, it is calculated that people will not be able to figure it out. This is not one, but at least six questions.” True, human rights activists and democrats at that time believed that this confusion was specially created by the communists to hide in the fog the vague formulations of the upcoming “unpopular and anti-people actions” to stifle free thought and return back to the Brezhnev era.

They were not mistaken in one thing - the vague formulations really served to hide the upcoming "unpopular and anti-people actions." But with the exact opposite sign.

For what (or against what) were the citizens of the country asked to vote? For the preservation of the USSR? Or for a new state structure - a renewed federation? What is it and how to relate to the phrase "federation ... of sovereign republics"? That is, the Soviet people simultaneously voted for the preservation of the USSR, and for the "parade of sovereignties"?

The referendum was held in nine Soviet republics. Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia sabotaged the holding of the referendum on their territory, although the vote did not bypass them either - South Ossetia, Transnistria, Gagauzia, northeastern regions of Estonia, for example, joined the expression of will "privately". Not everything was smooth and where the plebiscite was carried out in full. So, in the Kazakh SSR, the wording of the question was changed to: “Do you consider it necessary to preserve the USSR as a Union of equal sovereign states?” In Ukraine, an additional question was included in the bulletin: "Do you agree that Ukraine should be part of the Union of Soviet Sovereign States on the basis of the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine?" In both cases (and obviously not by chance), the new state was called the Union of Sovereign States (USS).

Reassembly - the result of restructuring

The question of the reorganization of the USSR was raised in the late 1980s. Initially, it was about amending the Constitution with the aim of restructuring life "on a democratic basis." The riots that began in the country, followed by the “parade of sovereignties” with the announcement of the priority of republican legislation over federal legislation, caused a largely paradoxical reaction. Instead of suspending the reforms until order was restored and the rule of law established throughout the country, it was decided to speed up the reforms.

In December 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR generally approved the draft of a new Union Treaty proposed by Mikhail Gorbachev to replace the document that had been in force since 1922, uniting the country into a single whole. That is, in the context of the growing disintegration of the state, the first president of the USSR decided to disassemble the country and reassemble it again on new principles.

What was the basis of this Union? The draft Union Treaty was finalized in the spring and summer of 1991 during numerous meetings and conferences with republican leaders in Gorbachev's country residence in Novo-Ogaryovo. The President of the country actively discussed the reassembly of the state with the growing national elites. The final version of the Treaty on the Union of Sovereign States (SSG - an amazing coincidence with the Kazakh and Ukrainian bulletins, isn't it?) was published in the Pravda newspaper on August 15, 1991. In particular, it said: "The states that form the Union have full political power, independently determine their national state structure, the system of authorities and administration." The jurisdiction of the states, and not even the “sovereign republics” (the masks were dropped), was transferred to the formation of a law enforcement system, their own army, they could independently speak in the foreign policy arena on a number of issues.

The new Union of Sovereign States was thus only a relatively civilized form of divorce.

But what about the referendum? He perfectly fit into the logic of the ongoing processes. Recall that in December 1990, the draft of the new Union Treaty was approved for work, on March 17 a referendum "on the preservation of the USSR" was held with a very vague wording of the question, and already on March 21, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a resolution in which it stated no less casuistically: “The preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was supported by... 76% of those who voted. Thus, the position on the issue of preserving the USSR on the basis of democratic reforms received support. Consequently, "the state bodies of the USSR and the republics (should) be guided by the decision of the people ... in support of the renewed (!) Union of Soviet Socialist Republics." On this basis, the President of the USSR is recommended to "work more vigorously towards the completion of work on the new Union Treaty in order to sign it as soon as possible."

Thus, the new Union Treaty and the strange formation of the SSG through simple manipulations were legitimized through a 1991 referendum.

Paternalism that came at a high cost

The signing of the new Union Treaty was thwarted by the August 1991 coup. It is characteristic that in his address to the people, speaking of certain forces (but not naming them directly) that headed for the collapse of the country, the GKChP contrasted them with the results of the March referendum "on the preservation of the USSR." That is, even high-ranking statesmen did not penetrate into the essence of the multi-way manipulation that took place before their eyes.

After the failure of the putsch, Gorbachev prepared a new draft of the Union Treaty - even more radical, already about a confederation of states - the former Soviet republics. But its signing was thwarted by the local elites, who were tired of waiting and dissolved the USSR in Belovezhskaya Pushcha behind Gorbachev's back. However, it is enough to look at the text of the treaty, on which the President of the USSR worked, to understand that he was preparing for us all the same CIS.

In December 1991, another referendum was held in Ukraine - this time on independence. 90% of those who took part in the vote were in favor of "independence". Today, a shocking video of that time is available on the Web - journalists are interviewing Kiev residents at the exit from polling stations. People who have just voted for the collapse of the country are completely sure that they will continue to live in a single Union, with common industrial and economic ties and a single army. "Independence" was perceived as a kind of eccentricity of power. Absolutely paternalistic citizens of the disintegrating USSR believed that the leadership knew what it was doing. Well, for some reason he wanted to hold several referendums (democratization in the country, maybe this is really necessary?), We do not mind, we will vote. In general (and there was iron confidence in this regard) nothing fundamentally will change ...

This ultra-paternalism and extremely detached view of politics had to be treated for many years and through a lot of bloodshed.

The surrealism of what was happening was confusing not only ordinary people. After the official dissolution of the Soviet Union and Mikhail Gorbachev's resignation of the presidency of the USSR, the leadership of a number of republics continued to wait for instructions from Moscow. And it was extremely perplexing that such instructions were not being received, cutting off phones in an attempt to contact the no longer existing allied center.

Much later, in 1996, The State Duma The Russian Federation adopted a resolution "On the legal force for the Russian Federation - Russia of the results of the USSR referendum on March 17, 1991 on the issue of preserving the USSR." And since no other referendum was held on this issue, it declared illegal the decision of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR of 1991 “On the denunciation of the Treaty on the Formation of the USSR” and legally recognized the USSR as an existing political entity.

That is, even the deputies of the already Russian State Duma, five years after the referendum, still believed that it was "about the preservation of the USSR." Which, as we saw at least from the wording of the question, is not true. The referendum was about "reformatting" the country.

This, however, does not at all cancel the paradoxical fact that people - citizens of the country, in spite of everything, without delving into the wording, voted precisely for the preservation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. That's just all 112 million who voted subsequently cynically deceived.

By the beginning of the 1990s, the disintegration processes in the USSR had become critical.

In the spring of summer 1990, the so-called "parade of sovereignties" began, during which the Baltic, and after them other republics of the USSR, including Russia, adopted Declarations of National Sovereignty, in which they challenged the priority of all-union laws over republican ones. They also took steps to control local economies, including refusing to pay taxes to the federal and federal Russian budgets. These conflicts severed many economic ties, which further worsened the economic situation in the USSR.

Under these conditions, one of the most important tasks was the problem of reforming the USSR and the conclusion of a new Union Treaty, in which the rights of the republics were significantly expanded.

On April 3, 1990, a special Law of the USSR "On the procedure for resolving issues related to the withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR" was adopted, in article 2 of which it was established that "the decision on the withdrawal of a union republic from the USSR is made by the free expression of the will of the peoples of the union republic through a referendum (people's voting).

On December 3, 1990, the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, reacting to the "parade of sovereignties", adopted a resolution "On the general concept of the new Union Treaty and the procedure for its conclusion". The concept provided for the transformation of a multinational state into "a voluntary equal union of sovereign republics - a democratic federal state."

However, the rapid growth of the processes of disintegration prompted the leadership of the USSR, headed by Mikhail Gorbachev, to hold an all-Union referendum.

The decision to hold a referendum was made at the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, when 1665 delegates out of 1816 present voted for the preservation of the USSR. On December 24, 1990, the Congress adopted the Decree "On Holding a USSR Referendum on the Question of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics".

In pursuance of the decision of the IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and in accordance with the legislation on the referendum of the USSR, proceeding from the fact that no one, except the people themselves, can take historical responsibility for the fate of the USSR, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on January 16, 1991 adopted a Resolution " On the organization and measures to ensure the holding of a USSR referendum on the question of preserving the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

The question was put before the citizens of the Soviet Union: "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?"

A referendum on this issue was held in the RSFSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Byelorussian SSR, the Uzbek SSR, the Azerbaijan SSR, the Kirghiz SSR, the Tajik SSR, the Turkmen SSR, in the republics that are part of the RSFSR, the Uzbek SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR, in the Abkhaz ASSR, which is part of Georgian SSR, as well as in districts and in areas formed under Soviet institutions and in military units abroad.

In the Kazakh SSR, voting at a USSR referendum was held on the question formulated by the Supreme Soviet of the republic: "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the USSR as a Union of equal sovereign states." At the same time, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR officially requested that the voting results be included in the overall results of the USSR referendum.

In the six union republics (Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia, Moldova, Armenia), which had previously declared independence or transition to independence, an all-union referendum was not actually held. The authorities of these republics did not form the Central Election Commissions for the referendum, but some of the citizens living in the territory of these republics were still able to vote. A number of local Soviets of People's Deputies, labor collectives and public associations at enterprises, institutions and organizations, as well as the command of military units, guided by paragraphs 3 and 5 of the resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "On the implementation of the resolution of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the organization and measures to ensure the holding of a referendum USSR on March 17, 1991", independently formed districts and precincts, district and precinct commissions, registered by the Central Referendum Commission of the USSR. The referendum was also held in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria and Gagauzia.

The Central Commission of the USSR referendum found that the absolute majority of citizens voted for the preservation of the union state in an updated form.

According to the commission for the USSR as a whole: 185,647,355 people were included in the lists of citizens entitled to participate in the USSR referendum; 148,574,606 people, or 80% percent, took part in the voting. Of these, 113,512,812 people answered "Yes", or 76.4%; "No" - 32,303,977 people, or 21.7%; Recognized as invalid - 2,757,817 ballots, or 1.9%.

In the RSFSR, 105,643,364 people were included in the voting lists; 79,701,169 (75.44%) took part in the voting. Of these, 56,860,783 answered "Yes" (71.34% of those participating, 53.82% of voters), "No" - 21,030,753 (26.39%). 1,809,633 ballots were declared invalid.

In Lithuania, where the referendum was held only at polling stations in military units and enterprises, about 16% of the republic's residents who have the right to vote voted for a "renewed Union." In Latvia, where an all-union referendum was not officially held, at polling stations organized by enterprises and military units, approximately 21% of the total number of Latvian residents with the right to vote voted in favor of a "renewed Union." 21.3% of Estonian citizens who have the right to vote gave a positive answer to this question.

In Moldova, where no referendum was held by decision of the parliament, about 21% of voters voted for the Union at polling stations organized at enterprises and military units. (Kommersant weekly, Moscow, 03/25/1991.)

Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which took part in the All-Union referendum, voted for the preservation of the USSR. According to the Central Commission for the Referendum, in particular, in the Abkhaz ASSR, 52.3% of the number of citizens included in the voting lists took part in the voting, of which 98.6% answered "yes".

However, in the future, the will of citizens was ignored by a number of politicians and the Union ceased to exist as a result of the Belovezhskaya agreements signed on December 8, 1991.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from open sources