Title: Boris Yeltsin - HISTORY
Headings: Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Contents
Boris Yeltsin’s Early Years
Did you know? Boris Yeltsin was the first freely elected leader in Russia’s 1,000-year history.
Boris Yeltsin’s Political Comeback and the Collapse of the Soviet Union
Boris Yeltsin as President
Russia After Boris Yeltsin
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Content: He lost both of his posts in late 1987 and early 1988, however, after clashing with Gorbachev over the pace of reform. Boris Yeltsin’s Political Comeback and the Collapse of the Soviet Union
Having been exiled to a relatively obscure position in the construction bureaucracy, Yeltsin began his political comeback in 1989 by winning election to a newly formed Soviet parliament with nearly 90 percent of the vote. The following year he won a similar landslide victory in a race for Russia’s parliament, became its chair and then renounced his membership in the Communist Party. With his momentum building, Yeltsin began calling for Gorbachev’s resignation. He also submitted himself to elections for the Russian presidency, winning 59 percent of the vote in June 1991, compared to just 18 percent for his closest competitor. Yeltsin’s stature rose even further in August 1991 when he climbed atop a tank to denounce a coup attempt against his rival Gorbachev. The coup, led by conservative Soviet officials, failed after three days. Immediately thereafter, Yeltsin set about dismantling the Communist Party, and all 15 of the Soviet Union’s republics moved to secure their independence. Gorbachev, who with his “perestroika” and “glasnost” program had hoped to change but not destroy the Soviet Union, resigned on December 25, 1991. Six days later the Soviet Union officially dissolved and was replaced by a politically weak Commonwealth of Independent States that Yeltsin had established along with his counterparts in Ukraine and Belarus.