The failure of the 1991 August Coup, when Soviet government and military elites tried to overthrow Gorbachev and stop the "parade of sovereignties", led to the government in Moscow losing most of its influence, and many republics proclaiming independence in the following days and months. The secession of the Baltic states, the first to declare their sovereignty and then their full independence, was recognized in September 1991. The Belovezha Accords were signed on December 8 by President Boris Yeltsin of Russia, President Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine, and Chairman Stanislav Shushkevich of Belarus, recognising each other's independence and creating the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The remaining republics, with the exception of Georgia, joined the CIS on December 21, signing the Alma-Ata Declaration