Soyuz (Russian: Союз, translated as 'Union') was a faction in the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR. The faction was critical of

Perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

and liberal reforms; it was opposed to de-centralization of the Soviet Union. The group was founded on 14 February 1990, and its leaders included

Viktor Alksnis Viktor Imantovich Alksnis (russian: italic=yes, Виктор Имантович Алкснис, lv, Viktors Alksnis; born 21 June 1950) is a Russian politician and former Soviet Air Force colonel of Latvian descent. He is the chairman of Russi ...

(from Latvian SSR),

Yegor Ligachev Yegor Kuzmich Ligachyov (also transliterated as Ligachev; russian: Егор Кузьмич Лигачёв, link=no; 29 November 1920 – 7 May 2021) was a Soviet and Russian politician who was a high-ranking official in the Communist Party ...

, Nikolai Petrushenko, Yevgeny Kogan (Estonian SSR), and Anatoly Checkoyev (Georgian SSR, South Ossetian autonomous region). The faction claimed to have 500 members in the USSR Supreme Soviet. The group managed to oust Soviet foreign minister

Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე}, romanized: ; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia for ...

for 'giving up' Eastern Europe. In February 1991, it asked for a 'state of emergency' to be introduced in the USSR. The Soyuz faction did not formally support the

August Coup August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

of 1991, an event that had devastating consequences for the faction. Many of the group leaders joined

Sergei Baburin Sergey Nikolayevich Baburin (russian: Серге́й Николаевич Бабурин, born 31 January 1959) is a Russian nationalist politician, member of the State Duma of the first, second and fourth convocations where he served in the ...

's movement

Russian All-People's Union The Russian All-People's Union (ROS; russian: Российский общенародный союз; РОС; ''Rossiyskiy obshchenarodnyy soyuz'', ''ROS'') is a Russian conservative political party formed in October 1991. In 2001, it merged into ...

and the related Rossiya faction in the RSFSR parliament (sometimes called the sister faction of the Soyuz group). An organization with the same name continued to exist as a political movement in the post-Soviet Russia, featuring communist/

Neo-Stalinist Neo-Stalinism (russian: Неосталинизм) is the promotion of positive views of Joseph Stalin's role in history, the partial re-establishing of Stalin's policies on certain issues and nostalgia for the Stalin period. Neo-Stalinism over ...

views. That organisation took part in the 1995 legislative election within the bloc Power to the People, led by Baburin and

Nikolai Ryzhkov Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov ( uk, Микола Іванович Рижков; russian: Николай Иванович Рыжков; born 28 September 1929) is a Soviet, and later Russian, politician. He served as the last Chairman of the Counci ...

. In the 1999 legislative election, the Soyuz movement, then led by Georgy Tikhonov, took part within the Stalin Bloc — For the USSR coalition.

See also

References

Further reading