About the All-Union referendum on March 17, 1991

The above date is deeply memorable, deeply significant, for everyone who has the Soviet Union as their homeland, for everyone who was painfully worried and worried about the destruction of our common Fatherland during the criminal counter-revolution of 1985-1993, organized and conducted by state criminals united under the nickname "Democrats." Honest Soviet people are firmly convinced of the realization of our great dream - the revival of a single, free and beautiful Soviet Motherland.

More than a quarter of a century has passed since the active phase of the counter-revolution of 1985-1993. Some important details of the events of those years were erased from memory. We have not yet comprehended sufficiently deeply the methods and essence of the entire sequence of actions of the "democrats" to destroy the Soviet Union, we do not understand everything. And we must thoroughly study the history of the tragic events of the counter-revolution in administrative, political, legal terms, objectively, without emotions, to understand - where were the "weaknesses", defects in this, it seemed, impeccably debugged, powerful design. It is necessary to objectively identify all the good that was in the experience of the Soviet Union, take this "note". At the same time, having studied the tactics of its enemies in the experience of the destruction of the USSR, tightly “putty” those “crevices” and “holes” in which the counter-revolution grew and gained strength.

In the political arena of the country, during the days of the referendum, it was simply "stormy"! This is the “rollback” of the nationalist struggle of the leadership of the Union republics with the center, and the “circus struggle” of the allied Gorbachev with the Russian Yeltsin, and a complete misunderstanding by the masses that Gorbachev-Yeltsin is the same as in the saying: “two boots are a pair”. On June 12, 1990, the Supreme Council of the RSFSR adopted the so-called Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR, which initiated the "parade of sovereignty."

What methods did the “democrats" manage to promote the "nationalist whirlwind"? Indeed, the principles of the equal rights of all nations, the friendship of peoples, and proletarian internationalism have always been at the core of Bolshevik national politics. It was on these principles, distorting them in every possible way, that the “democrats" “beat”, destroying the main bonds that connected the Soviet republics — the friendship of peoples. Cries of democrats like: "Everyone wants to take everything from Russia"; “Russia will cease to be a cash cow”; “Juices ceased to suck from us”, “All republics were like a load — Russia would be easier without them”, etc., alas, they continue to be popular among the Russian masses now. And the “democrats", in turn, said to Ukrainian, or Kazakh, or Uzbek residents: they finally got rid of these Russian colonialists who pumped cotton from us (lard, diamonds, substitute whatever you want).

In such a “dilapidated” state, the Soviet Union came to an All-Union referendum. Add to this the crisis state of the economy, inter-ethnic conflicts blazing in many regions of the country, the complete destruction of the defense system associated with the Warsaw Pact. December 24, 1990 IV Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR on the proposal of M.S. Gorbachev adopted a resolution stating: “In connection with the numerous appeals of workers expressing concern about the fate of the USSR, and given that the preservation of a single union state is an important issue of state life, it affects the interests of every person, the entire population of the Soviet Union, the People’s Congress of deputies of the USSR decides: to 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 results of voting in each republic separately. "

Finally, the question of the referendum scheduled for March 17, 1991, was formulated and published as follows: "Do you consider it necessary to maintain the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as an updated federation of equal sovereign republics, in which human rights and freedoms of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?" . The answer is yes or no. It can be seen: despite mentioning the full name of the Motherland beloved by Soviet people, a seemingly insignificant detail was left in the wording of the question - the “updated federation of sovereign republics”. The question of the referendum itself, as it were, hinted at veiled plans to use the referendum of the USSR for bourgeois reform of the country.

In the RSFSR, the Belorussian SSR, the Ukrainian SSR, the Uzbek SSR, the Kazakh SSR, the Azerbaijan SSR, the Kyrgyz SSR, the Tajik SSR, the Turkmen SSR, central republican referendum commissions were created, constituencies were formed, district and precinct commissions formed, other measures were taken to guarantee citizens the opportunity to participate in the All-Union popular vote. Thus, a referendum was held in most republics. Throughout the country, 185 million citizens were put on the voting lists, 80 percent of those eligible to vote took part in the referendum. The Central Referendum Commission of the USSR determined: 77.85 percent of citizens

The USSR said "yes" to the union state.

Summing up the results of the All-Union referendum, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, in a resolution of March 21, 1991, emphasized that the decision of the people adopted at the referendum was final, binding, and should be fully reflected in the draft new Union Treaty.

The results of the referendum were a clear and unequivocal indicator of the desire of the majority of Soviet people to live together, to preserve the Union. However, the leaders of several republics openly called for not to reckon with its results. Back in January 1991, representatives of "Democratic Russia", gathered at the Democratic Congress in Kharkov, decided to abolish the Union and replace the Federation with the Commonwealth of States. In February, shortly before the referendum, it was reported that the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan sent representatives to Minsk to consider proposals for the creation of the Commonwealth without the participation of the union leadership, which meant, in essence, the transformation of a single union state into an amorphous confederate Community of Independent States.

A large period of time from the referendum to the events commonly referred to as the State Emergency Committee (August 1991) was filled with a fierce, largely “undercover” struggle of such different groups as those connected with Gorbachev and Yeltsin, but, as we now understand, they had only global goals - to destroy socialism, destroy the USSR. The market struggle has caught the eye of ordinary people. The main object of disagreement of that time was - which Union treaty to conclude? After March 17, the President of the USSR led a double game. Meeting on April 23 in Novo-Ogaryov with the leaders of nine republics, he signed with them the so-called “9 + 1 Statement”. A new body, which was not stipulated by the Constitution and actually opposed to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, was formed and began to operate - the Novo-Ogarevsky conference of leaders of the republics. Despite the loud statements, in fact, from the very beginning of the negotiations in Novo-Ogaryov, it was a question of a community, not a federation. The President of the USSR tried to play the role of an arbiter at the meeting, but essentially gave up one position after another, departing from the federation’s demand fixed in the referendum. That is why on July 12, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted another Decree, which indicated that the Treaty could be signed only after serious revision and coordination between the republics with the participation of the plenipotentiary union delegation formed at the session of the Supreme Council. This delegation again, for the third time, was instructed to proceed, first of all, from the results of the All-Union referendum. In giving the commission of the Union delegation, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR unambiguously determined the procedure for signing the Union Treaty, indicating that it meant "to sign it at the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR."

At a secret meeting on July 29 and 30 in Novo-Ogaryov, which Gorbachev held with Yeltsin and Nazarbayev, firstly, the text of the Union Treaty was significantly changed towards de-federalization - the concept of union property disappeared from the project, and annexes on the mechanism for implementing the Treaty were removed. But the most important thing: after the signing of the Treaty, the Constitution of the USSR was supposed to cease to be in effect, and in a significant part - the Constitution of the RSFSR. Secondly, the signing of the Union Treaty was postponed to August 20, 1991. Thirdly, the signing was planned to be carried out in several stages by representatives of individual republics, and not at the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, which was seen as a hindrance to the implementation of the intended plan.

All of this together - global betrayal, deception of the population and deputies, monstrous (then not yet commonplace) violation of the rule of law and the will of the people, expressed in a referendum on March 17 - and became the reason for the creation of the State Emergency Committee. And finally, after the August counter-revolutionary coup two weeks before the Bialowieza conspiracy, on November 27, 1991, Gorbachev unveiled his latest document - the draft “Treaty on the Union of Sovereign States”. It no longer mentions the referendum of March 17, and the state system of the union says the following: “The Union of Sovereign States (GCC) is a confederate democratic state ... The states that make up the Union retain the right to independently resolve all issues of their development .. . ". As we see, the peoples of the Soviet Union were offered, instead of the federation for which they voted, even if they were not fully aware of its meaning, an amorphous confederate entity.

Now we understand that the negative course of events that led to the collapse of the Union was the result of the actions of those forces that, having lost all sense of proportion, sought to seize power in any way. It is the thirst for power that explains the extreme intolerance and aggressiveness of the national elites in the Union republics, which sacrificed the interests of their peoples, vitally interested in preserving the union state, to their own ambitions. In fact, the referendum of March 17, 1991 became a referendum on the "reformatting" of the country.

A special place in adventure
The "democrats" of "destruction" of the USSR played a criminal disregard for the law "On the Procedure for Solving Issues Related to the Exit of the Union Republic from the USSR" adopted by the Supreme Council of the USSR on April 3, 1990 (No. 1409-1). The Law says: The decision on the withdrawal of a Union republic from the USSR is made by free expression of the will of the peoples of the Union Republic through a referendum (popular vote). A decision is considered adopted if at least two-thirds of USSR citizens who permanently reside in the republic by the time the question of withdrawal is voted for it. If it is established that the referendum has been held in accordance with the law, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR submits the matter for consideration by the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR establishes a transitional period not exceeding five years, during which issues arising in connection with the republic’s withdrawal from the USSR must be resolved. During the transition period, the Constitution of the USSR and the laws of the USSR remain in effect on the territory of the outgoing republic.

During the transitional period, the fate of all-Union property located on the territory of the republic (enterprises and complexes of basic industries, space research, energy, communications, sea, rail and air transport, communication lines, trunk pipelines, property of the USSR Armed Forces, defense and other objects), as well as the property of all-Union public organizations; financial and credit settlements of the leaving republic with the USSR were settled, and bank relations; regulated property and financial-credit relations of this republic with other union republics, autonomous entities; coordinated the status of territories that did not belong to the leaving republic at the time of its entry into the USSR (remember the Crimea!); guarantees have been provided for the maintenance of historical and cultural monuments and burial sites in the territory of the outgoing republic; the outgoing republic compensates all the costs associated with the relocation of citizens from the borders of the republic.

Absolutely unconstitutional is the recognition of the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev, which followed on September 6, 1991 and was formalized by a resolution of a certain USSR State Council. Further more. Here is the notorious Decree B.N. Yeltsin No. 1400 of 1993 and much, much more.

With the advent of "democrats", we live in a world of absurd "virtual" constitutionality, generated by liberal pro-Western doctrine, to which the Soviet people have never had anything to do.

Fighting for the reconstruction of our homeland - the USSR, we, the Bolsheviks, are obligated to pay priority attention to exposing the lies that the "democrats" diligently sow in the media, the Internet, speeches and speeches. The truth will win!

S.V. Khristenko