RURUSSSSIAIA*The red, white and blue tricolor has been used in great numbers by pro-democracy countries…

*Star is a symbol of the Red Army

*Hammer and Sickle: Unity between the PROLITARIATE and the PEASANTRY -or- INDUSTRIAL and AGRICULTURAL workers.

Lessons From Gorbachev Lessons From Gorbachev

• The paradox of the Gorbachev era continues. While the West generally united in its appreciation for his role in ending the Cold War and the Soviet empire, at home feelings remain mixed. The generation that accompanied him through the demise of their superpower position still doesn’t forgive him for his inability to hold the Soviet Union together and the resulting economic and ethnic rubble that has yet to be fully sifted through and carried away.

– The Moscow Times

Post SovietPost Soviet Russia:Russia: Part I Part I (the wild 90’s)(the wild 90’s)• 1985: Gorbachev elected as Soviet Leader

– Institutes Glasnost (openness) & Perestroika (Economic Reform)

– 1991: Gorbachev said his reforms “gave people political and economic freedoms, as well as freedom of conscience and freedom of speech. We ended the Cold War, making a turnover in the entire world history”

• 8/18/1991: Gorbachev was ‘kidnapped’ by Communist hardliners.

• 8/19/1991: Communists staged a Coup in Moscow, surrounding the Parliament building with tanks….

– Boris YeltsinYeltsin stood atop the tanks and spoke for Democracy.

– He became a symbol of hope and freedom!

• 8/24/1991: Russia Independence

• 12/25/1991: Gorbachev resignedGorbachev resigned

• PROBLEMS AFTER THE FALL?PROBLEMS AFTER THE FALL? (See readings)• Early in 1992: Yeltsin was elected president

– “The economy needs Shock TherapyShock Therapy in order to improve. If we do not take [this] step, we will doom ourselves to poverty”

• 3.11.1993: Russian People’s Congress imposed sharp limitations on Yeltsin’s power

– STRUGGLE BETWEEN YELTSIN AND CONGRESS

• 9.21.1993: Yeltsin dissolves Congress because they didn’t “represent the people”

– World Support• MEMBERS REFUSED TO LEAVE PARLIAMENT• Yeltsin sent in tanks: 147 people killed, 30 opposition leaders arrested.

– Some saw as the last dismantling of the Soviet Empire. Others as a democratic setback

• 12.12.1993: New constitution approved• 1996: Yeltsin Re-elected• 12.31.1999: Yeltsin resigned, appointing Vladimir Putin President…• IN PICTURESIN PICTURES

Boris YeltsinBoris Yeltsin will be indelibly linked to the

creation of democracy in Russia. By facing

down the tanks outside the Russian

Parliament, he showed that popular opinion

could conquer authoritarianism.

The Putin The Putin YearsYearsTo be continued.