Fall of the Soviet Union Effects of an Independent Media The CPSU no longer controlled the media The media began to.
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Transcript Fall of the Soviet Union Effects of an Independent Media The CPSU no longer controlled the media The media began to.
Fall of the Soviet Union
Effects of an Independent Media
The CPSU no longer controlled the media
The media began to expose severe social and
economic problems the Soviet government had
long denied and actively concealed:
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Poor housing
Alcoholism & drug abuse
Pollution
Outdated Stalin era factories
Wide spread corruption
Crimes committed by Stalin and the Soviet regime –
gulags
– The ongoing war in Afghanistan
– Mishandling of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster
Break-up of the USSR
Throughout 1990 the 15 republics began having
independent elections
– Yeltsin elected President of Russia in June 1991
Independence came first in the Baltics
Gorby was set to sign a treaty turning the USSR
into a federation of independent republics with a
common president, foreign policy and military.
A coup of his own leadership had him arrested
Popular support of this coup was limited
The break up (cont)
Boris Yeltsin gained popularity by condemning
the coup against Gorby
– Yeltsin elected as president as a result
The coup collapsed after 3 days
Yeltsin issued a decree condemning the CPSU
December 8, 1991 – CIS is agreed upon by
Russia, Belarus, & Ukraine
On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned as
president of the USSR
– declaring the office extinct
– ceding all the powers still vested in it to the president
of Russia: Yeltsin
Creation of the CIS
12 of the 15 FSR join
between 1991 – 2000
Turkmenistan withdrew its
membership in 2005, but
remains an associate
member
Loose confederation
Cooperate on matters of
– economics
– defense
– foreign policy
Boris Yeltsin
Not exactly democratic (he was the president
and Prime Minister)
Economy got worse (hyperinflation) and
poverty increased
Coup attempts try to get rid of him
– Rise of communist opposition parties
He had his opponents who were gathered in
the Parliament building fired on by Russian
tanks
Dec. 1994 – he orders the invasion of the
break away province of Chechnya
Reelected in 1996 – barely winning a run
off with the Communist opposition leader
Opposed NATO intervention in Yugoslavia;
he and the Americans also disagreed on
the Chechen issue
Resigned at the end of 1999; allegations
of alcoholism & poor health
Yeltsin chose his successor as Vladimir
Putin
Vladimir Putin
KGB agent during Soviet era
Prime Minister & Acting President (Aug.
1999 – May 2000)
Elected President in May 2000 and
reelected in 2004
Has enjoyed improving economic conditions
and improved political stability in Russia
(Time’s Person of the Year ’07)
Very wealthy – mainly from ownership in oil
companies
Putin has made Russia very powerful once
again with his consolidation of Russia’s oil
resources
Began limiting democratic freedoms in the name
of combating terrorism
14 journalists, who have been critical of Putin’s
government, have died under questionable
circumstances
In 2007, he cracked down on civil society and
freedom of assembly
According to the constitution, the Russian
president can only serve two consecutive terms
– Putin cannot run in 2008, but he could in 2012
Dmitry Medvedev has been chosen as
Putin’s successor for the United Russia
Party
Medvedev, who will win the 08 election,
nominated Putin for Prime Minister
Putin has pledged not to change the
distribution of authority between president
and PM
– many analysts are expecting a shift in the
center of power from the presidency to the
prime minister post should Putin assume the
role of PM under a Medvedev presidency
Dmitry Medvedev
Elected March 2008
Received 70% of vote
Seen as Putin’s puppet