Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was President of Russia from 10 July 1991 to 31 December 1999, preceding Vladimir Putin. Yeltsin was formerly a CPSU party leader and Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia from 29 May 1990 to 10 July 1991 (succeeding Vitaly Vorotnikov and preceding Ruslan Khasbulatov), and he became the leader of Russia after the failed 1991 coup against Mikhail Gorbachev led to the fall of the Soviet Union. Yeltsin advocated liberalism and nationalism, transforming Russia's economy from a socialist planned economy into a neoliberal free market. This led to economic disaster in Russia as the country's economy was taken over by foreign corporations and its government was taken over by business oligarchs, and Yeltsin became one of Russia's most unpopular leaders as a result of the economic downturn, skyrocketing corruption, and Russia's loss of superpower status. On 31 December 1999, at the end of an unsuccessful second term in office, Yeltsin prematurely resigned from the presidency, and he died in 2007. While he was widely unpopular in Russia, he was praised in the West for dismantling the USSR, transforming Russia into a representative democracy, and introducing new political, economic, and cultural freedoms to the country.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Yeltsin as a young adult
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was born on 1 February 1931 in Butka, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. His family moved to Kazan in 1932 after the government took away his family's entire harvest as a part of Joseph Stalin's failed collectivization policies, and his father was sent to a gulag from 1934 to 1937 for "anti-Soviet agitation". In 1936, his family again moved to Berezniki in Perm Krai, and he lost the thumb and index finger of his left hand when he tried to disassemble some stolen Red Army grenades with his friends. He graduated from the Ural Polytechnic Institute in Sverdlovsk in 1955 with a degree in construction, and he became the leader of the Sverdlovsk House-Building Combine in 1965. Yeltsin's involvement in the construction business would lead to his meteoric rise in Russian politics during the 1970s.
Rise to fame[]
Yeltsin in February 1989
In 1968, he became head of construction in the Sverdlovsk Regional Party Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and he served as the First Secretary of the CPSU Committee of Sverdlovsk Oblast from 1976 to 1985. On 27 July 1977, he demolished the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, where Czar Nicholas II of Russia had been executed by Bolshevik troops in 1918. In March 1981, he was elected to the Central Committee of the CPSU, and he became the head of the Construction Department of the Central Committee under Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985. On 23 December 1985, he became First Secretary of the CPSU Moscow City Committee, effectively making him Mayor of Moscow. Yeltsin became popular for taking a trolley to work and for firing corrupt officials in Moscow, and he voluntarily resigned from the Politburo on 10 September 1987 after Yegor Ligachyov lectured him on allowing for two demonstrations to be held in Moscow's streets. At a committee meeting on 27 October, Yeltsin told Gorbachev that he was considering resigning as First Secretary of the Moscow Communist Party, and he voiced his anger at Gorbachev's refusal to halt perestroika and glasnost. Yeltsin became known as an anti-establishment figure, and Yeltsin was demoted to a construction commissar. On 24 February 1988, he was booted from the Politburo, and he became a major opposition leader, and he was subjected to a smear campaign by CPSU hardliners; Ligachyov once famously told Yeltsin, "Boris, you are wrong."
President of the Russian SFSR[]
The TIME report on Yeltsin's election to office
Boris Yeltsin was elected to the Congress of People's Deputies on 4 March 1990, and he was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia on 29 May. Both the democratic and conservative members of the Supreme Soviet sought power as the Soviet Union weakened, and Yeltsin resigned from the Communist Party on 12 July 1990, with many party members shouting "Shame!" as he announced his resignation. On 12 June 1991, Yeltsin won 57% of the popular vote in the Russian presidential elections, defeating Gorbachev's ally Nikolai Ryzhkov. On 18 August, hardliners within the Communist Party attempted to overthrow Gorbachev, and Yeltsin raced to the White House of Russia in Moscow after Gorbachev was captured. Yeltsin gave a famous speech atop a tank turret in front of the presidential palace, convincing several of the Soviet Army troops to defect as the people rallied in support of Yeltsin's government. On 6 November 1991, Yeltsin banned all Communist Party activities on Russian soil, and he met with the leaders of the Ukrainian SSR and Belarusian SSR on 8 December. Yeltsin, Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk, and Belarusian president Stanislav Shushkevich announced the dissolution of the USSR, and Gorbachev resigned on Christmas Day, finishing off the dying USSR.
President of Russia[]
Crushing the opposition[]
Yeltsin with President Bill Clinton of the United States
Yeltsin became the leader of a democratic Russia, and he decided to end the socialist planned economy of Russia and fully replace it with capitalism. On 2 January 1992, Yeltsin - who had also assumed the powers of head of government (Prime Minister) - ordered the liberalization of foreign trade, prices, and currency, and interest rates were raised to extremely high levels to tighten money and restrict credit. Throughout the 1990s, Russia's GDP fell by 50%, and incomes fell as inequality and unemployment grew. Vice President Alexander Rutskoy described Yeltsin's economic programs as "economic genocide", and he would fight against Rutskoy and the Supreme Soviet of Russia for control of the government, policy, banking, and property. On 20 March 1993, he announced that he was assuming special powers to implement his reform programs, and the Supreme Soviet called for his impeachment. His opponents gained 600 votes, but they were 72 votes below the required two-thirds majority for the impeachment vote, and Yeltsin breached the constitution on 21 September 1993 by announcing that he was disbanding the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies. This led to a constitutional crisis and a political standoff from 21 September to 4 October, and demonstrators took over the Moscow mayor's offices and attempted to take over the local television station. The Russian Army, hitherto a neutral organization in the conflict, was deployed to crush the resistance, and it killed 187-2,000 people as it stormed the Supreme Soviet and arrested the opposition leaders. In December 1993, the State Duma was established as the new parliament.
Chechen War[]
Aslan Maskhadov meeting with Boris Yeltsin
In December 1994, Yeltsin decided to order the Russian army to invade the breakaway Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in the Caucasus, which was led by Aslan Maskhadov and several democratic Muslim leaders. Yeltsin was no longer seen as a democratic hero by the West, but as an "old-style communist boss" or a "befuddled, out-of-touch chief" as TIME magazine wrote; the West feared that he could possibly lead a dictatorial coup against his own government due to Yeltsin associating with supporters of militarism and nationalism. Mounting losses in Chechnya would lead to Yeltsin losing popularity, and his ailing health led some to believe that he would be forced to end his political career.
Re-election[]
Yeltsin in 1996
In February 1996, Yeltsin ran for re-election as President of Russia, but his popularity was close to zero at the time of this announcement. Gennady Zyuganov's Communist Party of the Russian Federation grew in power as Yeltsin lost the popularity that he once enjoyed, and Yeltsin was weakened by a series of heart attacks. However, with the help of Anatoly Chubais and his own daughter Tatyana Yumasheva, Yeltsin managed to recruit several business oligarchs such as Boris Berezovsky to assist him with re-election, and he was given favorable media coverage by Channel One, Russia's main television channel and Berezovsky's most important asset. The media portrayed the election as a vote for a return to totalitarianism or a vote for Yeltsin, and the oligarchs even stoked up fears of a civil war with the communists if they took power. Yeltsin won 53.8% of the vote, defeating Zyuganov's 40.3%.
In 1998, Russia defaulted on its debts, leading to an economic crisis, and financial markets panicked as the ruble collapsed. During the 1999 Kosovo War, he warned the West of possible Russian military intervention if NATO deployed ground troops to assist the Kosovo Liberation Army against the Serbian government, and Russia-West relations soured as a result of the NATO bombing of FR Yugoslavia. On 9 August 1999, Yeltsin fired his entire cabinet, and he appointed Vladimir Putin as his Prime Minister at Roman Abramovich's suggestion; Yeltsin groomed Putin as his successor. In late 1999, the Russian FSB intelligence agency arranged for several bombs to explode in apartments across Russia in a "false flag" operation, blaming the attacks on Chechen separatists. This led to Yeltsin again going to war with Chechnya in the Second Chechen War, and President Bill Clinton of the United States pointed a finger at Yeltsin and ordered him to stop bombing the Chechens, as many innocents were killed in the bombing.
Resignation[]
Yeltsin's resignation
On 15 May 1999, the democratic and communist opposition in the State Duma accused him of unconstitutional activities such as the dissolution of the USSR, the 1993 constitutional crisis, and the invasion of Chechnya, although the Duma would not succeed in gaining a quorum. At 12:00 PM on 31 December, however, Yeltsin announced that he was resigning as President of Russia, and that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would serve as acting President. Yeltsin asked the Russian people for forgiveness, as many of his dreams did not come true, and he told them that they deserved happiness and peace. He left office with an approval rating of 2%, and he endorsed Putin as Russia's leader during the 2000s. Yeltsin died of congestive heart failure on 23 April 2007 at the age of 76.