How a drunk old Russian maverick helped tank the USSR and give rise to Putin

  • 📰 dcexaminer
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 61 sec. here
  • 3 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 28%
  • Publisher: 94%

United States Headlines News

United States Latest News,United States Headlines

It was the August coup of 1991, and the USSR was on its knees, inexplicably crippled by stalwart communists — a golden opportunity for a Russian politician to forward an agenda that would lead to the empire's downfall.

Climbing aboard a tank outside the Russian parliament, a champion arrived. Boris Yeltsin, who had been crusading to pull Russia out of the USSR and transform it into a free market democracy in the mold of the United States, delivered a blistering speech eviscerating the coup and calling for the rightful president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, to be released from house arrest in Crimea.

Just two months before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Yeltsin visited the United States. At one point, following a tour of a NASA facility, he took a pit stop at a grocery store in Texas to get a sense of how everyday Americans live. He was shaken to his core by what he witnessed. The U.S. system produced a level of prosperity far beyond what a layperson in the USSR had.

“When they began to talk, Gorbachev and Yeltsin, Yeltsin had phenomenal success above all because Gorbachev’s reforms were failing, so people grew angry because of a bad economy, chaos, violence, nationalist violence — they all turned to Yeltsin who, like Trump today, said, ‘If I’m in power, everything will be great,’” Zubok said. “It was a two-big-bears-in-one-cage phenomenon.”

Following the collapse of the USSR in December 1991, Yeltsin became the president of the newly independent Russia. He believed an independent Russia could develop close ties with the West and attain similar levels of prosperity. While this vision came to fruition in several former Soviet republics — such as Estonia, East Germany, and Poland, which established vibrant free market economies — Russia was not so fortunate.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 6. in US

United States Latest News, United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

To understand Putin, look to the fall of East Germany and the USSRAs the regime of his host nation fell in December 1989, Putin watched as emboldened crowds began to storm the headquarters of the secret police.
Source: nypost - 🏆 91. / 67 Read more »

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian forces enter Kharkiv, second-largest city, as Putin intensifies invasionRussian forces enter Kharkiv, second-largest city, as invasion intensifies. Follow our coverage from journalists on the ground. The Americans were the most shameless, instigating the war and making the Ukrainian people suffer. BEN SHAPIRO 'The British handed over control of Hong Kong to China in 1997 with the promise that China would maintain the area's autonomy. China lied. Ukraine surrendered its nuclear weapons in 1994, with American support, in exchange for Russia's promise not to invade. Russia l
Source: washingtonpost - 🏆 95. / 72 Read more »

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Ukraine rejects Russian offer for talks in BelarusFighting intensifies in Kharkiv, with Russia claiming Ukrainian surrenders *NEW FREE* Metro boomin 21 savage dark bounce Rate my naked photos)😘😘😘 This is bad news. Hopefully fake news
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russian forces have allegedly blocked Kyiv from the westJUST IN: The European Union is moving toward sanctioning Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov over Russia's war against Ukraine, EU's top diplomat confirms. On na siebie nic nie ma, co jasno i klarownie przekazał w filmie Nawalny, to jego otoczenie trzeba zniszczyć Now would be a good time to make this happen. NOW! The decision has not been made and requires unanimous approval by the 27 member states, diplomat Josep Borrell says.
Source: ABC - 🏆 471. / 51 Read more »

Russia partially restricts access to Facebook to 'protect Russian media'Russia is accusing Facebook of censorship. I always wondered if Facebook or other Big Tech can easily get around these blocks if they wanted to? Also known as trying to stop Russian citizens from communicating with the world, so they can distort the narrative through propaganda. Or a way to control their voice.....like typical USSR
Source: verge - 🏆 94. / 67 Read more »

Russia-Ukraine: Anti-war protests continue in Moscow, St Petersburg, prominent Russian celebrities joinProminent members of the entertainment and business sectors have joined the protests after severe crackdowns on Thursday.
Source: FoxNews - 🏆 9. / 87 Read more »