The party’s top bureaucracy organized the attempted coup in August 1991, which scuttled the reforms. This bit made me laugh for some reason. Using "scuttle" ma

The party’s top bureaucracy organized the attempted coup in August 1991, which scuttled the reforms. This bit made me laugh for some reason. Using "scuttle" makes it seems like a rather whimsical take on one of the more important events of the 1990's. If anyone doesn't know what he's referring to, its the KGB and other branches of the Soviet government taking himself (Gorbachev) hostage and throwing a coup. In turn, Boris Yeltsin led protests to restore Gorbachev to power. Due to his actions, Yeltsin gained popular support and was, in effect, the leader of the Soviet Union as the president of Russia; Gorbachev had resigned a few days after the coup. And the Soviet Union was nearing its end as well; it ceased to exist just over four months later.