● The Solidarity movement in Poland → leads to democratic elections there
● The fall of the berlin wall inspires the velvet revolution which leads to an ethnic-based
partition in Checoslavakia
○ There is a move away from a communist government
○ Not always peaceful: was not the case in Yugoslavia
○ The peaceful breaking away leads to better affairs (seen with cheoslovakia)
● Gorbechev sticks to the policy of restructuring as he argues that if we allow the soviets to
branch off, who are we to get involved on the restructuring of other governments
○ There are many opponents to Gorbechev’s response and to the
■ There is a similar tension to that of Brezhnev and_____
● However, what happens when soviets themselves argue for democracy
○ Soviet Union: USSR
■ Was a confederacy of 15 republics (Soviet Socialist Republics)
● The largest and most powerful was the Russian SSR
● Led by the Kremlin in Russia
■ Restructuring policy allows the republics to have more freedom to make
decisions without needing approval from the Kremlin
● March of 1990:
○ The SSR of Lithuania (under the soviet government) hold a democratic election
■ Seen in Hungary and Poland, but now it is seen within the Soviet Union
■ This results in political rallies in Vilnius
● The elections result in the communist party losing its majority and
leads to a multi-party system
● Now there is a soviet republic with a democratically elected in
parliament
○ Gorbechev abided to the restructuring policies and allow
for these democratic elections (allows them to choose their
leaders as they wish)
○ Those against him said that he was appeasing these
democratic elections
○ Lithuania votes to succeed from the Soviet Union and declare itself an
independent country
■ Gorbachev states that they can have a democratic election, but they cannot
leave the Soviet Union
■ However, despite Gorbachev’s demand, there is no intervention to stop the
parliament from succeeding
● In 1991, soviet military forces mobilize and occupied the capital
city in an attempt to shut down their government: called the
January Events
○ Soviet occupation of the Lithuanian capital
● The people who organized this were leaders within the parliament
who believed that Gorbachev was not going to do anything about
the desire to succeed
■ Gorbachev finds out that they went behind his back and orders them to
leave Lithuania (orders them to evacuate) → this is seen by many as an
implicit recognition of Lituania as independent
● This results in many countries recognizing Lithuania as
independent and starts creating direct affairs with them
■ Gorbachev then announces the recognition of Lithuania as independent
and then U.S. recognizes (didn’t before to not undermine or antagonize the
SOviets)
● Then, many republics begin to leave the Soviet Union and become
independent
● Russia has its first democratic election in the Spring of 1991 (announces that it will hold
democratic elections)
○ Russia Soviet republic have their election take place in June
■ The winner of these elections is Boris Yeltsin and he is elected president
of the Russian SSR
○ During this time, Gorbachev announces elections for the soviet union →
traditional communist party elections
■ The result is that Gorbachev wins
○ Those in Russia felt lucky that they had the choice to vote for a president and felt
that Yeltsin was a more legitimate leader than Gorbachev (he had won fairly and
people felt happy that they had a choice and could voice their thoughts)
○ Yeltsin took advantage of this legitimacy sentiment and began to challenge
Gorbachev
■ The hardliners in Moscow decide that they have had enough of Gorbachev
● One day, when Gorbachev was not at the capital, there was a coup
where the hardliners seize power and summon Gorbachev back;
however, he refuses to go back as he knows that this is a
coup(called the August Coup of 1991)
○ They then seek to put an end to the Russian republic
government under Yeltsin
■ Yeltsin is told to leave Moscow but he refuses and
gives a defying speech where he tells them that
“here I am, come and get me”
■ The soviet military realize how the Russian people
were against them and that if they decided to go
through with this civil war, they would be Russians
shooting at Russians
●
●
●
●
●
●
● As a result, both governments survive
○ Gorbachev returns to Moscow but his reputation has been
tarnished, while Yeltsin is recognized as the man in charge
and gains respect as he did not leave
■ Similar to in 1964 when Kruchev was out and there was a coup resulting
in Brezhnev taking power
The January events end when Gorbachev orders the soviet military to leave Lithuania
By December of 1991, only 3 republics of the 15 remain in the soviet union
○ The leaders of these 3 republics meet and agree to succeed from the Soviet Union
jointly and announce it on Christmas day
○ The next day, Gorbachev is the leader of a country with no one to govern and he
resigns
■ The Russian republic flag goes up in Moscow and the Soviet Union flag
goes down
● This now results in the end of the Cold War; however, there is still
much tension
● Yeltsin now is solely president of the Russian Republic
Spring of 1992:
○ President Bush and Yeltsin maintained a respectful relationship (kept each other at
arms distance)
○ Confusing time as the Soviets were our enemy, but now Russia was our friend
When Clinton was elected, Clinton and Yeltsin (first president of Russia) have a very
good relationship
○ Yeltsin was loud and boisterous
A reporter had asked Yeltsin about the economic disaster that Russia was facing as a
result of the transition to democracy from communism
○ Economic problems include Inflation, homelessness, poverty was increasing
■ By the time he leaves office, his approval rating was 5% (means that many
Russians did not think he was doing a good job) → he coped with his job
with alcohol, which in turn affected his ability to do the job even more
■ Yeltsin knows he needs to leave off; however, he knew a vacuum of power
would not do good, so he tries to make a smooth transition
● The prime minister had resigned, so he has to appoint a new prime
minister until the next election
○ He appoints Vladimir Putin
On New Year’s Eve of 1999:
○ He resigns and writes an apologetic letter to the Russian people, saying that
Russia deserves better than him
■ He names Putin as acting President and calls on him to hold elections as
soon as possible → to avoid a vacuum of power
● Putin had served as a KGB agent for the Soviets, was Prime Minister, had served in the
military, and Yeltsin had seen Putin’s ability to rally people together and convince them
→ he thought that would be useful
● Putin puts together an election for April and is legitimately elected President in 2000
● The Russian constitution was modeled after the U.S. Constitution ( Two four-term limits)
○ Wins reelection and is in power from 2000 to 2008
○ When it comes time for him to leave office, he promotes Demitri Medvedev to be
the next president of Russia and he does win the elections (2008-2012)
■ When Medvedev becomes President, Putin becomes Prime Minister of
Russia (does not leave politics)
● The head of state of a country can either be the president or prime minister depending on
the country and who is in control of the executive branch
○ In Russia, it is clear that Putin is the one who runs things → the prime minister is
in charge when he is prime minister
■ He pushes to rewrite the constitution as prime minister
○ He changes the term limit from 4 to 6 years
○ They clarify what is meant by term limits: what is not
allowed is consecutive terms!! Meaning that once you sit
out, you can run again
● After 4 years of Medvedev (2008-2012), Putin announces that he will be running again
and Medvedev supports him and doesn't run again
○ Putin and his allies suppress opposition and he wins a third term as President
■ There is voter suppression → therefore, the election was not legitimate
○ Medvedev becomes Prime Minister again
● Putin is currently in his fourth term
○ According to the constitution, after 2024, he must step down and wait 6 years
until he can run again
○ However, he pushes to revise the constitution to reflect what the “people” want to
say that there can only be 2 term limits; however, previous term limits do not
count moving forward
■ This means that in 2024, Putin can run for a “first” term, meaning that the
can be in office until 2036
○ Putin is the longest-ruling leader of Russia (longest-serving leader)
● To what extent do Gorbachev’s policy contribute to the fall of the Soviet Union:
○ Gorbachev's intent was to help the soviet union modernize to be competent (more
economically stable), but wanted to remain communist and united as the Soviet
Union
○ Democratize the soviet union and remain it intact (independent states all linked)
→ like the Germans
○ He intended to dismantle the soviet union because he knew it would not survive in
the 20th century → his way of undermining it without having to say that they
were wrong