USSR 1924
-‐
2000
Communism
-‐ Karl Marx : The Communist Manifesto & Das Kapital; idea that History is determined by economics; linear or teleological vision of History
-‐ WW1: Biggest army but poorly equipped, Brest-‐Litovsk.
-‐ Lenin: a pragmatic version of communism: ‘What is to be done’; the party as the ‘vanguard of the proletariat’.
-‐ Trotsky: more radical, wants World Revolution
-‐ Maoism: agrarian revolution (not workers but peasants), perpetual revolution -‐ USSR: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Pre-‐Stalin Russia
-‐ Very agricultural-‐ Empire, diverse ethnically and religiously. Attempts at “Russification”. -‐ Anti-‐Semitism: pogroms.
-‐ Inefficient government/bureaucracy -‐ Very small middle class
-‐ Series of military humiliations: Crimean War (1850s); Russo-‐Japanese War (1905). -‐ Political resistance: communists, socialists, anarchists. Tsar Alexander II assassinated in
1881.
-‐ 1905 Revolution crushed; small concessions given: constitution, parliament (“Duma”). -‐ CCl: Russia 2 centuries behind other countries.
-‐ Tsar Nicholas II: poor judge of character + circumstance.
-‐ WW1 disaster: Russia beaten by German army, gained nothing. Part-‐way through the war, the Tsar took personal command of the troops. Continue to loose.
-‐ Lenin allowed by Germany to go back to Russia.
-‐ March 1917: Bread riots leads to demonstrations. The Tsar forced to abdicate, a Republic was declared with a provisional government. Yet, it failed to stop the war, restore the food supplies, land reform and hold election. 1 reform they did introduced was freedom of speech.
-‐ July 1917: failed Bolshevik coup d’état.
-‐ November 1917: largely peaceful Bolshevik revolution.
-‐ 1917: RSFSR (had lost Finland, Baltics, Ukraine, Poland, Belarus, Caucuses).
-‐ 1917-‐21: Civil War, many factions fighting each other (foreign intervention + divided opposition against Trotsky’s Red Army which was well equipped + organized). Also about suppressing ethnic separatism. Stalin’s first job was Commissar for Nationalities: goal was to suppress nationalism. Paradox as he was Georgian.
-‐ 1918-‐21: Russo-‐Polish war.
-‐ March 1918: Brest-‐Litovsk. Germany takes most of Russian agricultural land, industry and 1/3 of population. Portrayed as a humiliation in the West. Yet most of the Russian Empire was disintegrating, no serious negotiations by Russians.
Chronology
-‐ Late 1920s: Stalin has full power -‐ 1934: joins League of Nations -‐ 1936: interferes in Spanish War
-‐ 1936: people can vote but only to 1 communist candidate -‐ 1936-‐39: great terror.
-‐ 1937: census: 40% of people say they are religious -‐ 1939: Nazi-‐Soviet Pact
-‐ 1939: ‘Winter War’: Finland defeats USSR but forced to be non-‐aligned. -‐ 1940: Baltic states force to join USSR
-‐ 1941: Operation Barbarossa. USSR poorly equipped. War of attrition, equipment moved away, ‘Scorched Earth Policy’
-‐ 1942-‐43: Battle of Stalingrad. Turning point in the war. -‐ 1943: Tehran
-‐ WW2: 25 million casualties for Russia (1/2 of all), Stalin appears as hero. Germany surrenders in May 1945, Japan August 1945.
-‐ 1945: Yalta (Feb) and Potsdam (August) -‐ 1946: Iron Curtain speech
-‐ 1947: Poland rigged elections
-‐ 1947: Cominform: stir up communist revolts overseas e.g.: Greece, France, China… but not very successful.
-‐ 1948: takeover of Czechoslovakia.
-‐ 1948: only Greece and Turkey non-‐communist states in EE. Both supported by Marshall P -‐ 1949: atomic bomb
-‐ 1949: Comecon: Stalin’s version of Marshall Aid, real aim is to force EE to trade w/ Russia -‐ 1950: Sino-‐Soviet Friendship treaty bw Stalin & Mao. Boycott UN à Korean war voted -‐ 1953: Stalin dies. Troika: Khrushchev, Malenkov, Beria. Relations w/ West get better bc
end of Korean War and Eisenhower.
-‐ 1953: Khrushchev calls for agricultural and industrial reforms: Collective farms ineffective -‐ 1955: Friendly tasks bw Khrushchev and Eisenhower at Geneva Conference.
-‐ 1956: Warsaw Pact: communist version of NATO. Real aim: USSR takes control of the armies of the satellite states.
-‐ 1956: Secret speech -‐ 1956: Hungary invaded -‐ 1957: Sputnik
-‐ 1959: Camp David visit + friendly talks with Eisenhower -‐ 1960: U2 spy plane accident, talks cancelled.
-‐ 1961: Kennedy much tougher. Vienna conference leads to Berlin Wall -‐ 1961: Yuri Gagarin in space
-‐ 1962: First women in space from USSR -‐ 1963: Test ban treaty
-‐ 1963: “Ich bin ein Berliner” – Kennedy in West Berlin
-‐ 1964: Khrushchev dismissed bc lost support of party and army. -‐ 1964: Chinese A-‐Bomb
-‐ 1966: Kosygin mediates in Indo-‐Pakistani War -‐ 1968: Invasion of Czechoslovakia, ‘Prague Spring’
-‐ 1970: Solzhenitsyn wins Nobel prize but not allowed to go to Norway to receive it -‐ 1972: Nixon visits China, hence forces Brezhnev : SALT I: cut down in armament -‐ 1974: Solzhenitsyn exiled for writing Gulag Archipelago
-‐ 1976: Den Xiaoping: “socialism w/ Chinese characteristics”, more moderate, allows China to westernize, private property, keep profit
-‐ 1979: Afghan invasion –turning point, living standards fall -‐ 1979: SALT II, but not ratified by Congress
-‐ 1979: Sino-‐Vietnamese border war: Proxy war. China punishing Vietnam for invading Cambodia, + USSR for supporting Vietnam.
-‐ 1980: Reagan -‐ 1985: Gorbachev
-‐ 1986: Reykjavik meeting fails: talks on cutting military weapons -‐ 1987: Iran-‐Contra scandal
-‐ 1987: Geneva INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty -‐ 1988: private property restored
-‐ 1988: Gorbachev addresses UN: end of Brezhnev doctrine, withdrawal of Afghanistan -‐ 1989: 40th anniversary of GDR, Gorbachev makes it clear he’ll give no support to EE gov. -‐ 1989: Austro-‐Hungarian border opened: gap in iron curtain
-‐ 1989: Berlin Wall falls
-‐ 1989: Ceausescu overthrown in Romania
-‐ Peaceful transitions in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary -‐ 1988-‐94: Armenia-‐ Azerbaijan war
-‐ 1991: coup d’état by hardliners but Yeltsin brings back Gorbachev -‐ 1991 Christmas day: Gorbachev resigns, Yeltsin takes over
-‐ 1993: Parliament opposition. Yeltsin uses force and reinforces presidential powers -‐ 1999: Yeltsin resigns, followed by former PM Vladimir Putin.
Lenin’s legacy
-‐ One party, centralised state, no debate, persecution of the church, police state. -‐ Lenin pragmatic: communist society not possible w/o bourgeois stage. Hence tries to
accelerate history by launching NEP: temporary capitalist incentives. This is perestroika 70 years b/f it.
-‐ 1922: Treaties negotiated with satellite states to create USSR. Disguised dictatorship (countries were forced to join)
-‐ 1924: Constitution, centralized federation of 12 republics. -‐ Poor foreign relations : civil war, war with Poland
-‐ Treaty of Rapallo?
-‐ Soviet Union only communist state -‐ Testament
-‐ Lenin invalid from 1921/22, dies in 1924.
-‐ 2 tragedies in Russia: Lenin coming to power and Lenin dying.
For what reasons was Stalin able to acquire absolute power in the USSR after the death of Lenin in 1924?
1924-‐28: Rule by Politburo, with serious disagreements on economic policy
-‐ Lenin’s work on creating an absolute state (ban on factionalism, democratic centralism…) -‐ Stalin was hardworking and loyal to Lenin
-‐ Stalin’s position within the party when Lenin died. Stalin was: v People’s Commissar for Nationalities (1917)
v Liaison Officer between the Politburo and Orgburo (1919) v Head of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Inspectorate (1919)
v General Secretary of the Communist Party (1922). Had power of patronage, controlled appointments, had information on all party members.
-‐ The Lenin enrolment (members of party rising from 340,000 in 1922 to 600,000 by 1925). -‐ Lenin’s funeral (Stalin gave the oration, seen as leading figure).
-‐ Suppression of Lenin’s testament (Lenin criticized Stalin & members of Politburo in general) -‐ NEP – Leftists (Anti NEP) and Rightists (carry on NEP) in CPSU (Com. Party of the Soviet
Union)
v Stalin defeats Trotsky (unpopular) by isolating him and playing on fear of party members. He says Trotsky’s policy of international communist revolution is putting the USSR at risk. Trotsky expelled from Politburo
v Trotsky, Kamenev and Zinoviev form left opposition bloc. They are outvoted bc Stalin controlled (see above) the party.
-‐ Stalin implements Collectivization but Rightists do not agree (irony: adopts leftists’ economic policies). Stalin uses the weaknesses of the Right Opposition
v Plays again on fear of party members (dangerous times hence USSR needs to be strong and force peasants to work)
v Stalin controls party (see above!) Tomsky, Bukharin and their colleagues wanted to persuade party members + Stalin portrays Rightists as weak and irresponsible
v Only support of Rightists could come from trade unions and CPSU. Stalin arrested right supporters and named his supporters instead at the posts.
à This leads to the collapse of the right:
v Tomsky no longer national trade union leader v Rykov replaced by Molotov as premier v Buckarin had lost his place in Politburo
Conclusion: Stalin has full power, like Tsar. New Vozhd (leader).
USSR under Joseph Stalin (1924-‐53)
Ideology
Consistent Inconsistent
Religion Atheism is taught in schools,
discrimination against religious citizens (even worse under Khrushchev), worship regulated.
1939 census reveals 40% said themselves religious (in the middle of the purges). Persecution relaxed after 1941. Post-‐1945, orthodox church allowed privileged position in return for controlling dissent.
Family USSR originally introduced easy divorce, easy abortion, collectivised agriculture, and patterns of work.
Later passed new laws to make divorce harder, abortion made illegal.
Education Means of enforcing a cult of personality: wise, infallible. Russian history seen in Marxist terms (pejorative).
“Russification” reintroduced after WW2. Praise Russian language, art, science, industry.
Foreign
affairs World revolution -‐ Close relationships w/ foreign communist parties. Told them to not take part in any government. -‐ Publish all secret treaties and embarrasses western countries.
-‐ Illegal intervention in Spanish Civil War to support communists.
-‐ Create 6 satellite states post-‐WW2, Austria had to promise to be non-‐ aligned, Finland and Sweden couldn’t either.
-‐ Change of policy to PCF in 1936 (allow PCF to cooperate with socialists to keep French extreme right out of power). -‐ “High diplomacy” abandoned in 1934 when USSR joins LN. -‐ Security alliances: revival of French security pact in 1935. -‐ Nazi-‐Soviet Pact 1939 (actual purpose of each side is to destroy the other, unbelievable alliance). Soviet propaganda changes to say Germany is an ally.
-‐ Didn’t support communism in Greece as little strategic value and chance of success.
Economic Fairly consistent from 1928. -‐ Between 1924 and 1928, complete inconsistency (NEP, not NEP) to remove opposition.
-‐ “Socialism in one country” (just like Nazi autarky).
-‐ Private property allowed to come back on very small scale.
Policies introduced by Stalin
-‐ Personality cult (everything good is thanks to Stalin, seen as a god, wise. Guide during the ‘Great Patriotic War’ against Germany from 1941 to 1945. Everything bad is due to Trotsky and traitors).
-‐ Patronage, had files on most members to put pressure on them. -‐ Rewriting history (newspapers, photographs)
-‐ ‘ Second Revolution’ : Collectivization & Industrialization à fill the gap, modernize to become as powerful as western countries
-‐ ‘Socialism in one country’ à focus on internal affairs
-‐ 5 year Plans à unrealistic, people faked statistics, the gov always said the plans were a success, goods of poor quality
-‐ Propaganda, Brainwashing, indoctrinate people with communism, atheism -‐ Violence : Purges : remove all real or imagined opposition
-‐ Show Trials, under Stalin led by Vyshinsky -‐ Purges : remove all real or imagined opposition
§ 1934-‐6: internal party purges
§ 1936-‐9: ‘Great Terror’ 1/8th of population arrested, kulaks, people encouraged to denounce
§ Before WW2: purge of the army, inexperienced new leaders -‐ 1933: All police forces centralized under NKVD. Secret police head of police, led by
Yagoda. Power to torture, kill, imprison.
-‐ 1936: Constitution: marks ‘the end of class war’, bill of rights, directly elected Parliament. Effectively a charade, propaganda, no one believed it.
-‐ Religion: churches are closed, religious authorities arrested, purge of religious imagery, religion used to support state in war. After the 1937 census, Stalin realises he cannot suppress religion hence he makes a deal with the church. At some point church portrayed Stalin as son of god.
-‐ Minorities: state promotion of the Russian language, nationalism suppressed, deportations of non-‐Russian ethnic groups during Great Patriotic War. -‐ Conservative: role of women as mothers, difficult for them to obtain divorce
-‐ Censorship of artists who must follow ‘social realism’ ex: Solzhenitsyn, Pasternak (Dr Zhivago), Eisenstein (film director), Mandelstam, Shostakovich. Intellectuals try to leave the country. In the end Stalin severely damaged Russia’s intellectual life. Some say Russia still has not recovered from the purges.
-‐ More education : literacy increases
Yalta (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin) Feb 1945 Potsdam (Truman, Churchill than Attlee, Stalin) -‐ USSR gains 22 million people + land
-‐ UN veto for USSR
-‐ free elections in Eastern Europe
-‐ Soviet POWs sent back to USSR where Stalin sends them to Gulags.
-‐ War in Japan kept going
-‐ borders of Poland fixed
-‐ USSR refuses Western influence in EE.
-‐ Allies refuse USSR involved in Japan and taking territories.
-‐ Denazification: unpractical -‐ Reparations: take on territory
Problems
-‐ Demoralisation of society: no profit, why work? -‐ Corruption
-‐ Poor foreign relations.
Stalin’s foreign policy
-‐ Multiple meanings to ‘security’. Russia only communist state (except Mongolia) -‐ About Paranoia and Isolation
Provocation
-‐ 1917 Revolution: new gov publishes all secret treaties made b/w tsar and western countries: ‘Open diplomacy’. Aim: mock western countries for being hypocrites. Ends after Treaty of Rapallo with Germany.
-‐ 1927: League Disarmament Commission: diff views. Litvinov asks for full disarmament. Aim: denounce hypocrisy
-‐ Countries refuse to send ambassador to Moscow at first, but with time had to as USSR became superpower.
-‐ China: Chiang Kai-‐shek massacres communist. -‐ Buffer zone, US replies with Marshall Plan -‐ Berlin Blockade, Airlift 1948-‐49
Military involvement
-‐ Civil War against foreign countries (1917-‐21)
-‐ Military involvement (gain back territories which had belonged at one point to the Soviets): occupation of Eastern Poland, Baltics, bits of Eastern countries. Attempted occupation of Finland in 1939-‐40 Winter War which ends in a stalemate.
-‐ Indirect military aid in Spanish Civil War, doesn’t respect LN. Preserving USSR’s integrity
-‐ Repression of the Caucuses -‐ Ukrainian famine 1930s
-‐ Divide and rule: resettlement: e.g. moving Jews in Asian part of Russia, people in Kazakhstan. They fight against each other instead of against the state.
Alliances
-‐ Sino-‐Soviet Friendship Treaty 1950 -‐ Joins LN in 1934
-‐ Attempt until August 1939 to get alliance w/ France/UK.
-‐ 1939 – Nazi-‐Soviet Pact late August. Did Stalin believe the deal would last? NO. Soviet influence
-‐ Propaganda. E.g. newspaper ‘Pravda’ = Truth. -‐ Supporting communist parties overseas. Cominform
USSR under Nikita Khrushchev (1955 -‐1964)
-‐ Khrushchev gets rid of 2 others by forcing them to resign; Molotov was removed from his position and sent as ambassador to Mongolia.
-‐ Foreign relations:
• Coexistence with USA
• Geneva Conference: USSR agrees to withdraw troops from Austria under the
condition that Austria stays ‘Non-‐aligned’.
• 1959: Camp David visit, Khrushchev goes on state visit to USA and has
friendly talks with Eisenhower.
• 1960: Talks cancelled bc U2 spy plane accident.
• 1961: Kennedy tougher than Eisenhower, Vienna conference goes badly
hence Berlin Wall
• 1962: Cuban missile crisis: Khrushchev seen as incompetent by his own party
+ China. Kennedy victorious.
• Khrushchev’s legacy: poor relations with China.
• 1963: Test ban treaty signed by Kennedy and Khrushchev
-‐ Destalinization:
• Retire people who worked for Stalin
• More free speech e.g. Solzhenitsyn’s book ‘One day in the life of Ivan
Denisovich’ is published.
• 1953: Appoints Nagy (popular) and dismisses Rakosi in Hungary
• 1956: Secret Speech: Khrushchev criticises Stalin. Applauded in the West but
loss of support/power of Khrushchev as the speech is criticizes by the party; China says Khrushchev is ‘revisionist’ and the satellite states think they can do a personal type of communism (e.g. demonstrations in Poland, Gomulka appointed, Hungary).
• Less collectivisation
• More consumer goods produced eg Lada car
BUT:
• Khrushchev won’t let the USSR fall apart/is tough e.g. Strikes in East Berlin in
1953 à sends Red Army
• Lets criticism of Stalin but not of him • Bans modern art
• Religion: destruction of churches, bans bible. Children should join Young
Pioneers and Komsomol.
• Khrushchev criticised by own party members so has to get tougher. • 1955: Nagy sacked, Rakosi again
• 1956: Hungary invaded
o Demonstrations
o Nagy returns
o Hungary said it would leave the Warsaw pact and ask the West for help.
o Hence Kadar new PM.
The West did nothing because of Suez War + Algerian crisis for France -‐ Successes in space:
• 1957: Sputnik
• 1961: Yuri Gagarin in space • 1962: women in space
-‐ Poor standard of living because space race
USSR under Leonid Brezhnev (1964-‐82)
-‐ Destalinization reversed
• Dissidents exiled, gulag
• Solzhenitsyn (1970) wins Nobel Prize but forbidden to go to Norway to
receive his prize. (1974): exiled for having written ‘Gulag Archipelago’
• 2 writers sent to Siberia for having published outside USSR • Nuclear physicist Andren Sakharov locked up for criticising gov. • Ballet dancers exiled
-‐ Economy
• Continues Khrushchev’s reforms
• Living standards rise in 60s, fall again in 70s • Lack of government money
• Life expectancy falling bc drinking problem, domestic violence
-‐ Foreign policy
• 1964: Chinese A-‐Bomb
• 1966: Kosygin mediates in Indo-‐Pakistani war • 1966: Cultural revolution: fear of Russian spies
• 1975-‐79: Sino-‐Vietnamese border war: Cambodia ruled by extreme Pol Pot,
Vietnam invades Cambodia, proxy war bw China and USSR During Cold War, incredible splits between communists
• Brezhnev doctrine: If you are communist, you stay communist; if not invasion
(e.g. Czechoslovakia); you cannot leave Warsaw Pact
• Anti-‐Soviet attitudes by Yugoslavia, Albania, Romania
• Criticism and resistance from Dubcek (Czechoslovakia) , Ceausescu
(Romania), Walesa (Poland) à see Poland essay (Solidarity…Poland warned against invasion, imposes its own dictator: Jaruzelski, John Paul II implies he supports Solidarity movement
• Nixon plays ‘divide and rule’: visits China (1972), allows E&W Germany in UN
• Ostpolitik: W Germany adopts détente policy towards E Germany (1969) • Late 70s: stagnation, both sides re-‐arm, US: weak presidents: SALT 2 rejected
by Congress
• 1979: Afghan invasion turning point, miscalculation: war cannot be won. • 1980s: decrease in living standards bc increase in spending on Afghan war • 1980s: Reagan the ‘Great Communicator’
o Launches arms race to bankrupt USSR
o Puts missiles again in Europe: Cruise missiles
o Intimidates + puts pressure on USSR
o SDI or ‘Star Wars’ project: destroy missiles in the air to avoid MAD. Not very realistic but puts pressure on USSR
USSR under Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-‐91)
-‐ Generational change: The gerontocracy (old leaders): Andropov (1982-‐84), Chernenko (1984-‐85) gives way to Gorbachev:
• intellectual, lawyer, 55y old
• added glamour b/c of wife Raisa Gorbacheva • popular in West, not that much in USSR
Issues/Causes:
-‐ Military spending out of control: Afghanistan, arms race
-‐ Stagnation: poor living standards, shortages of consumer goods. The worker’s paradise didn’t exist.
-‐ Repression: even in the middle of the purges there was vandalisation, jokes.
-‐ Ronald Reagan’s confrontational policy: launch an arms-‐race to bankrupt the USSR. SDI project; puts missiles back in Europe.
-‐ Poland 1981: The Communist System was already breaking down. The ‘Solidarity’ movement.
Policies Introduced:
-‐ Perestroika: reconstruction, stop corruption, property à NOT ACHIEVED
o Big industries did not change, small industries could make profit
o 1988: private property restored
o Tried to tackle/reform absenteeism, drunkenness, alcohol abuse, corruption à hence organised crime, alcohol trafficking, inflation
-‐ Glasnost: openness, more debate on USSR’s problems à ACHIEVED
o 1986: Chernobyl (Ukraine), Gorbachev opened dialogue
o Much less censorship, you can import things
o Lifted religious restrictions
o Dissidents were released
o More artistic freedom
-‐ Demokratiskaya à ACHIEVED BUT CORRUPTION, DOESN’T WORK.
o Choice of candidates in local elections
o 1989: New parliament: Congress of People’s Deputies. First free elections, televised
o 1990: one party state abolished
o 1991: 15 Republics were allowed to choose presidents
o Free speech doesn’t work
Consequences
-‐ No economic boost. Small businesses smothered by corrupt bureaucracy, price/wage controls. Half-‐hearted reforms: No large scale privatisations.
-‐ Divisions in party: (hardliners, reformers, Boris Yeltsin). Gorbachev loses control + has less power.
-‐ Higher taxes (e.g. alcohol) + Less Repression + Poverty leads to organised crime. -‐ Debate and openness (Glasnost) leads to division/deadlock: everyone had an opinion.
AND unleashes nationalism.
-‐ Later Yeltsin privatised the big companies in an attempt to complete Gorbachev’s reforms. This led to a kleptocratic system where a huge wealth was owned by few businessmen.
Foreign:
-‐ 1986: Reykjavik meeting fails,: talks on cutting military weapon -‐ Gorbachev asks for end of ‘Star Wars’ project, Reagan refuses
-‐ 1987: Reagan loses Congress, Iran Contra Scandal, recession starting à no Star Wars. -‐ 1987: Geneva INF (Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty)
-‐ 1988: Gorbachev addressed the UN
o End of Brezhnev doctrine
o Withdraw from Afghanistan
• 1989: 40th anniversary of German Democratic Republic (GDR). Gorbachev
makes it clear he will give no support to east European governments. -‐ Change
• 1989: Austro-‐Hungarian border opened, hence gap in iron curtain • 1989: Fall of Berlin Wall: E Germany leader Egon Krenz gives ambiguous
message on whether people can pass the border
• 1989: Romania: Ceausescu doesn’t want to give up power, overthrown • 1989: Velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia, peaceful transition to Vaclav Havel • 1990: Ostmark – Deutschmark, WG exchanges ate 1 to 1 rate
• 1990: Walesa elected president, smooth transition • Hungary: peaceful hand-‐over of power
-‐ Free speech had unleashed nationalism, hence secessions. -‐ 1988-‐94: Armenia-‐Azerbaijan war over Nagorno-‐Karabakh region
-‐ Gorbachev tries to regain power. Appoints vice president Yannaev, tries to be friend w/ hardliners.
-‐ 1991: coup d’état (August) by committee of hardliners BUT Yeltsin stood up against it and brings back Gorbachev. Gorbachev doesn’t understand the situation.
-‐ 1991: Christmas day, Gorbachev resigns. -‐ 1991: December: Dissolution of USSR
-‐ 1991: CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) looser association of ex-‐soviet states -‐ States have no experience of democracy, corruption
Russia under Boris Yeltsin (1991-‐99)
-‐ Political opponent of Gorbachev -‐ Head pf state after Gorbachev resigns -‐ Kleptocracy, i.e. corruption in gov.
-‐ Economic shock therapy: open market, privatise industries
-‐ Led to most of wealth falling in the hands of few very quickly à oligarchy
-‐ 1993: power struggle w/ parliament. Yeltsin shelled Russian White House, reinforced presidential powers
-‐ Ethnic calls for democracy: e.g. Chechnya -‐ Sphere of influence: Ukraine
