State Committee on the State of Emergency Mug

On 21 August 1991, the collapse of a hard-line Communist coup against Mikhail Gorbachev effectively ended the three-day attempt to preserve the Soviet system. Led by the State Committee for the State of Emergency, made of of party officials and members of the military and KGB, it came to be known as the August Coup. The coup exposed the weakening of the Communist Party’s authority when military forces and political institutions failed to sustain the hard-liners’ seizure of power. Boris Yeltsin and Russia’s democratic forces emerged strengthened, while the Communist Party’s political dominance rapidly disintegrated across the Soviet Union. Although the USSR did not formally dissolve until December, the failed coup fatally weakened the centralized authoritarian order that had governed the Soviet Union for seven decades. It was the beginning of the end.

Perfect for coffee or tea in the morning, or vodka most any time of day. Za zdorovye!

• Ceramic
• 11 oz mug dimensions: 3.79″ (9.6 cm) in height, 3.25″ (8.3 cm) in diameter
• Colored rim, inside, and handle