1990: Boris Yeltsin elected as President of Russia

DATE:May 29, 1990

DESCRIPTION: Boris Yeltsin was originally a supporter of Gorbachev; he was someone who was truly interested in reform and eventually emerged as one of Gorbachev’s most powerful political opponents. On May 29, 1990, Boris Yeltsin was elected as chairman of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). During the attempted coup d’ etat on August 1991, he emerged as the effective leader of the USSR while Gorbachev was on vacation. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev dissolved the USSR and resigned, and Yeltsin took his place as the new president of Russia.

BLAME: This event was mainly caused by Gorbachev and the reforms he put in: Glasnost and Perestroika. Even though the reforms raised the hope of the people, it didn’t really solve their problems; the reforms also clashed with the ideals of the Communist Party. The Party’s power was weakened and many people lost confidence in it; this led to the coup d’ etat event that, in turn, led to Yeltsin taking power. Therefore, we place the main blame of this event on Gorbachev.

TENSION INCREASE: This event lowered tensions from the West, as Gorbachev abolished communism and the USSR when he resigned, changing the country back to the capitalist state of Russia. Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine created a new alliance called the CIS, which succeeded the Soviet Union and dissolved the USSR. This effectively ended the Cold War with the US, since the main Communist force they were fighting was now abolished. -3

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