Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. After overthrowing the centuries-old Romanov monarchy, Russia emerged from a civil war in as the newly formed Soviet Union. Russian leader Vladimir Putin was born in in St.
Petersburg then known as Leningrad. Putin rose to the top ranks of the Russian government after joining The Russian Revolution of was one of the most explosive political events of the twentieth century. The violent revolution marked the end of the Romanov dynasty and centuries of Russian Imperial rule. During the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks, led by leftist The Romanov family was the last imperial dynasty to rule Russia.
During the Russian Revolution On December 25, , the Soviet flag flew over the Kremlin in Moscow for the last time. From early Mongol invasions to tsarist regimes to ages of enlightenment and industrialization to revolutions and wars, Russia is known not just for its political rises of world power and upheaval, but for its cultural contributions think ballet, Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky, caviar and Vladimir Lenin was a Russian communist revolutionary and head of the Bolshevik Party who rose to prominence during the Russian Revolution of , one of the most explosive political events of the twentieth century.
The bloody upheaval marked the end of the Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Recommended for you. How the Troubles Began in Northern Ireland. Joseph Stalin. Vladimir Putin. By a percent majority, the voters on election day made Yeltsin the first democratically elected leader in the 1,year history of Russia.
Gorbachev congratulated Yeltsin at a ceremony held in Moscow's Palace of Congresses. Yeltsin would now begin his push for greater Russian independence from the Soviet Union. After intense negotiations, Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and other republic leaders agreed to sign a Treaty of Union granting greater independence to the republics.
On August 18, , two days before the treaty was to be signed, apparatchiks opposing the decentralization proposed in the Treaty attempted a coup. Gorbachev, vacationing on the Black Sea, was placed under house arrest.
The apparatchiks had struck at the right moment. The command structure was still centralized: The Treaty of Union had not been signed yet. Gorbachev's popularity had dipped to an all-time low. And he was away from Moscow. A coup in had toppled Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev while he was vacationing. The coup should have worked.
The apparatchiks, led by senior officials of the Communist Party, KGB secret police , and army officers, had the force of the traditional power structure behind them. To give the coup a pretence of legality, they enlisted Vice President Gennady Yanayev.
Yanayev broadcasted that due to Gorbachev's poor health, Yanayev was taking over as interim president and declaring a state of emergency. Tanks rumbled through the streets of Moscow. But the apparatchiks had failed to arrest Yeltsin. Yeltsin, standing atop a tank outside the Russian parliament the White House , gave a speech condemning the coup. He called for a general strike and for civil disobedience. Thousands of people answered his call. They gathered around the White House to protect it from attack.
When the order to attack came, the unbelievable happened. The officers refused to obey the order. Yeltsin's 11 years of presidency were filled with staggering changes, some positive and others negative. In , Yeltsin enacted dramatic and largely inflationary economic reforms.
Yeltsin envisioned a program of military spending cuts, privitization, and free trade. Inflation devalued savings and wages of most Russians.
Furthermore, low import and high domestic manufacturing taxes led to a nosedive in Russian production. Thus, Yeltsin's economic reforms became widely known as "shock without therapy. In , the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia tried to impeach Yeltsin and fell short by over 70 votes. Yeltsin soon disbanded the congress in violation of the constitution. Not long afterward, parliamentary opposition began supporting Vice President Alexander Rutskoi for president, and another military coup erupted.
Before Yeltsin's supporters suppressed the coup, the White House was bombed and set on fire and several hundred Russians were killed. In December , a new Russian constitution granting greater authority to the president was adopted. In , Russia's desperate economic situation worsened when the ruble lost one-fifth of its total value against the dollar on day that has come to be known as "Black Tuesday.
Russia's dire economic situation led to an increase in organized crime and unemployment. Education, the police force, the military industry, and health care suffered the most, further perpetuating Russia's social problems.
Yeltsin and others feared the eastward expansion of NATO , because of its Cold War role of encirclement and military intimidation. With the election approaching, Yeltsin suffered two major heart attacks.
He looked weak and tired, and Russian voters became concerned that he was not sufficiently robust to meet the demands of his job. During his campaign, however, he tried to address some of Russia's economic anxieties. He increased student grants and signed a decree restoring the value of personal savings. In addition, numerous American political consultants used U. Yeltsin narrowly won re-election before undergoing serious coronary bipass surgery. Many Russians believed that Yeltsin would die soon after his surgery.
But he survived and continued in his capacity as Russia's leader. In , he completed an extensive overhaul of his cabinet. He also experienced a humiliating defeat in the Chechen war for independence, a war that had been raging since On December 28, , Yeltsin resigned, explaining that Russia needed a new political leader to lead it into a new century. Yeltsin named Putin acting president. Soon thereafter, Putin was elected to his own term in a landslide election.
People disagree about Yeltsin's place in history. But all would agree that Boris Yeltsin led his country into a new epoch of Russian history. Yeltsin's Farewell Boston Globe. Russian Presidential Election— Information about the candidates and election. CNN on the Election of BBC: Russia at the Polls: Moscow Times St.
Mr Gorbachev subsequently resigns. January Yeltsin begins to dismantle 75 years of communist policies by lifting price controls on most goods. October Yeltsin declares a state of emergency in Moscow after supporters of a hostile parliament overwhelm riot police and seize government buildings. December A new constitution is approved, giving Yeltsin sweeping powers and guaranteeing private property, free enterprise and individual rights.
December Yeltsin sends troops into Chechnya to halt an independence bid. July Yeltsin wins re-election despite disappearing from public view for the final week before the vote. Aides cite a sore throat, though it later proves to be a renewed bout of heart trouble. September Yeltsin says he will undergo heart surgery, ending months of secrecy about his health, but raising new concerns about his ability to govern.
March Yeltsin fires the cabinet and chooses little-known technocrat Sergei Kiriyenko as prime minister. August Yeltsin ousts Kiriyenko days after his cabinet defaulted on some debts and devalued the national currency, setting off an economic crisis. October Yeltsin cancels or cuts short several foreign trips and enters a rest home to recuperate from what is described as high blood pressure and exhaustion.
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