HIST 236 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Yegor Gaidar, Boris Yeltsin, Anatoly Chubais
The Russian Presidency
In a 1990 referendum, the Russian people were asked if they supported
the creation of the presidency (they largely voted yes)
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Boris Yeltsin was elected President of Russia in June 1991
He had been declared the Chairman of the Presidium of the
Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR the year before
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He was president at the time of the USSR collapse
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Boris Yeltsin
Yeltsin came from a working-class family near Sverdlovsk and worked in
the construction industry
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He joined the party in the late 1960s and worked his way up
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He was elected to the Central Committee in 1981
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He supported Gorbachev's reform program in the mid-1980s
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He lets there be little protests in Moscow
Brings him into confrontation with the hardliners in the party
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"Shock Therapy"
Days after the collapse of the USSR, Yeltsin pushed through radical
economic reforms
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Neoliberal reformers, such as Yegor Gaidar argued that the USSR needed
to go through a painful period of economic adjustments, which would
eventually lead to affluence
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Shock therapy involved:
The release of price and currency controls, fiscal discipline,
austerity and tight public spending, no more price subsidies, the
liberalization of trade and release of state-owned assets
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Comes from the Chicago school of economics
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Privatization and the Rise of the Oligarchs
Privatization involved the transfer of state assets into private hands
It was overseen by Anatoly Chubais
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Citizens were given privatization vouchers entitling them to their share of
the national wealth
These vouchers were brought up by enterprising individuals
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State enterprises were privatized through rigged auctions ("loans for
shares" program)
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Oligarchs managed to acquire profitable industries and quickly became
extremely rich
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Gave himself emergency powers and these were due to expire so he
decided to have a referendum
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The 1993 Constitutional Crisis
Yeltsin's policies, which he pushed through by special decree, sent the
economy into crisis
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Yeltsin entered into a bitter conflict with the parliament, who tied to
block his constitutional reforms and impeach him
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After protests erupted and protestors barricaded the White House,
Yeltsin authorized troops to fire on them in the Fall of 1993
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As a result of the constitutional referendum in 1993, Yeltsin consolidated
his power and a new constitution was written and approved by 60% of
the population
Clarified the role of the president (head of state) and has a 4 year
term with a maximum of 2 term limits (Putin changes this)
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Parliament tries to impeach him, but this fails
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Dissolves the Supreme Soviet (communist body)
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Poverty and Inequality
Shock therapy and the collapse of the welfare state caused passive
poverty and suffering
Prices skyrocketed and inflation wiped out savings
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Pensions stopped being paid
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Unemployment tripled - in the 1930s it was illegal to be
unemployed
People's jobs became irrelevant after the collapse of
Communism such as political commissar (Brezhnev's role)
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Many people emigrated
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A demographic crisis ensued ("The Russian Cross" - the death rate was
higher than the birth rate until 2009/2010)
Alcoholism rose to catastrophic levels, people drank themselves to
death and the suicide rate went up
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Another financial crisis hit in 1997-1998 as the ruble collapsed and the
Russian state was forced to default on its debt
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Black marketeers made lots of money because they were able to sell
things that they smuggled from over the border
Creates an opening for protection brackets
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There are back and forth violence
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Western companies move in during this time period but the only people
who could afford to buy products from them are the black marketeers
and the oligarchs
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Ethnic minorities and Grievances
In 1992, the law on federative subjects was signed (many ethnic
minorities negotiated special statuses) - this is why it is called the Russian
Federation, not just Russia
They wanted the protections they have enjoyed under Soviet
nationality policy continued
Language rights
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Your region would become a state apparatus
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The only regions not to sign were Chechnya and Tatarstan
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Tatarstan eventually signed a separate law granting Taratstan autonomy
in 1994 (expired in 2017)
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The Chechen War
Chechen separatists declared independence in 1991 and again in 1993
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Opposition forces fought the separatists
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In 1994, Yeltsin ordered both sides to put down their arms; the
separatists refused and a war broke out between Russian forced and
Chechen separatists
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The war was bloody and unpopular
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In 1996, the Russian government declared a ceasefire
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The second Chechen war broke out in 1999 until 2009
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Many civilians die because most of the fighting was aerial bombing
campaigns
Government is keeping information about this, keeping
information about how many people are dying
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The 1996 Election
Boris Yeltsin's first term was up in 1996 and he ran in that year's election
as the incumbent
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His popularity ratings were very low, however, and many expected his
communist rival, Gennady Zyuganov, to win
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The election was dirty and featured underhanded tactics
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Yeltsin managed to win but remained extremely unpopular
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US interference in the election, gave Yeltsin money to launch a Western
campaign attack on his opponent
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Yeltsin's Resignation and The Rise of Vladimir Putin
Yeltsin remained unpopular in his second term
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His health declined
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Lecture 27 -Russia in the 1990s
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
11:33 AM