HIST 236 Lecture Notes - Lecture 27: Yegor Gaidar, Boris Yeltsin, Anatoly Chubais

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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
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
Pensions stopped being paid
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)
§
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
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
§
Your region would become a state apparatus
§
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
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