It probably would have been better for Russia if his vision of a democratic socialist future for the nation had been pursued, than the cowboy capitalism Yelstin unleashed.
Gorbachev passes
- Thread starter evince
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It probably would have been better for Russia if his vision of a democratic socialist future for the nation had been pursued, than the cowboy capitalism Yelstin unleashed.
evince
Truthmatters
evince
Truthmatters
If you remember the right we’re pushing for Yeltsin
He was an old drunk pawn who Putin wrapped around his finger
evince
Truthmatters
https://www.history.com/.amp/this-day-in-history/gorbachev-elected-president-of-the-soviet-union
Some history on his rise to power
Some history on his rise to power
For me, Yelstin gets credit for thwarting a Communist coup, and then decisively defeating the communists in an open and free election in 1994.
The hardline communists were very close to acquiring power again, and Yelstin hammered the last nails into the coffin of Soviet Communism.
So before he became drunk and incoherent, Yelstin played a powerful historical role.
evince
Truthmatters
1990
March 14
Mikhail Gorbachev elected president of the Soviet Union
The Congress of People’s Deputies elects General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev as the new president of the Soviet Union. While the election was a victory for Gorbachev, it also revealed serious weaknesses in his power base that would eventually lead to the collapse of his presidency in December 1991.
Gorbachev’s election in 1990 was far different from other “elections” previously held in the Soviet Union. Since coming to power in 1985, Gorbachev had worked hard to open up the political process in the Soviet Union, pushing through legislation that eliminated the Communist Party’s monopoly on power and establishing the Congress of People’s Deputies. The public at large elected the Congress by secret ballot. By 1990, however, Gorbachev was facing criticism from both reformers and communist hard-liners. The reformers, such as Boris Yeltsin, criticized Gorbachev for the slow pace of his reform agenda. Communist hard-liners, on the other hand, were appalled by what they saw as Gorbachev’s retreat from Marxist principles. In an attempt to push forward his reform program, Gorbachev led a movement that amended the Soviet constitution, including writing a section establishing a new and more powerful presidency, a position that had previously been largely symbolic.
March 14
Mikhail Gorbachev elected president of the Soviet Union
The Congress of People’s Deputies elects General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev as the new president of the Soviet Union. While the election was a victory for Gorbachev, it also revealed serious weaknesses in his power base that would eventually lead to the collapse of his presidency in December 1991.
Gorbachev’s election in 1990 was far different from other “elections” previously held in the Soviet Union. Since coming to power in 1985, Gorbachev had worked hard to open up the political process in the Soviet Union, pushing through legislation that eliminated the Communist Party’s monopoly on power and establishing the Congress of People’s Deputies. The public at large elected the Congress by secret ballot. By 1990, however, Gorbachev was facing criticism from both reformers and communist hard-liners. The reformers, such as Boris Yeltsin, criticized Gorbachev for the slow pace of his reform agenda. Communist hard-liners, on the other hand, were appalled by what they saw as Gorbachev’s retreat from Marxist principles. In an attempt to push forward his reform program, Gorbachev led a movement that amended the Soviet constitution, including writing a section establishing a new and more powerful presidency, a position that had previously been largely symbolic.
They led their nations as you described, let's not forget that the Russian people followed.
They have a propensity for authoritarian rule.
Half the posters on this board were cheering Trump's attempts to overturn an election, so affinity for authoritarianism is pretty widespread in the human condition.
evince
Truthmatters
https://www.britannica.com/event/th...tsin-and-the-foundation-of-post-Soviet-Russia
Under Yeltsin all the declarations independence from Russia began
He shrank the nation in his haste
Under Yeltsin all the declarations independence from Russia began
He shrank the nation in his haste
evince
Truthmatters
evince
Truthmatters
Many left and declared independence
evince
Truthmatters
After the coup the republics moved rapidly to claim their independence. In a vain attempt to preserve its power, the Communist Party of Belarus led the rush by declaring independence on August 25, just 72 hours after Gorbachev’s return to Moscow. On August 27 the parliament and Grand National Assembly of Moldavia, renamed Moldova, proclaimed the republic’s independence and initiated the process of leaving the union. In September all three Baltic states formally left the Soviet Union and were admitted to the United Nations as the independent countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Georgia and Armenia each went their own way, and Kazakhstan and Kirgizia (renamed Kyrgyzstan) took control of their republics’ resources and began economic reform and privatization. The other Central Asian republics tended to support continued union, but they lacked the economic and political influence of their neighbours.
In November seven republics, including Russia, agreed to form a new “Union of Sovereign States,” but it remained a shell. On December 1 Ukraine voted overwhelmingly for independence, and, a week later, on December 8, representatives from the three Slavic republics—Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine—met in Brest, Belarus, and declared that the Soviet Union no longer existed. They proclaimed the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), an international association of sovereign countries whose administrative centre would be located in Minsk, Belarus.
It was a purposeful coup to remove Gorbachev from office and render him powerless.
Yelstin and the leaders of the Ukraine SSR and the Belarussian SSR collectively decided to dissolve the Union, thus sidelining Gorbachev, with the intention of maintaining a future East Slavic coalition through the CIS.
Guno צְבִי
We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
evince
Truthmatters
The people of Russia need the coup
By 1991, hard-liners who once enjoyed absolute power had become restive as they saw their and their party’s control start to slip. In a desperate move to regain control, they seized Gorbachev and mounted a coup. On August 19 they announced that Gorbachev was “indisposed” and unable to govern. But this dramatic move proved to be a miscalculation with disastrous consequences for their cause.
The plotters were horrified by the subsequent uproar, with protests erupting in major cities throughout the Soviet Union. They turned to a traditional totalitarian solution and sent in the army to restore order. When soldiers refused to fire on their fellow citizens—as dramatically symbolized by pictures of future Russian leader Boris Yeltsin addressing a Moscow crowd from the top of a tank—the coup was over. This failure proved terminal for the hard-liners. Instead of restoring the Soviet Union to its former centralized strength, the attempted coup all but ensured that the U.S.S.R. would fall apart and that Russia would lose its influence over Eastern Bloc states such as East Germany. Gorbachev returned to Moscow on August 22, 1991, after the coup had failed. The Soviet Union came to an end on December 31, 1991.
Correct
