On December 25, 1991, the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), Mikhail Gorbachev, resigned, leaving Boris Yeltsin as president of the newly independent Russia. ... On 4 April 1985, Yeltsin received a call from Gorbachev summoning him to take up position as Head of the Construction Department of the Party's Central Committee. ... Unlike Gorbachev who hoped to change the Soviet Union, Yeltsin wished to dissolve it. ...

• Word Count: 1863
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Summary of Evidence On December 25th of 1991, the Soviet Union officially fell apart under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, a newly elected President after a fail coup d'etat, after which Gorbachev resigned. ... With the reform of all structures, Yeltsin attempted to transform a centrally planned economy to a capitalist order. ... Yeltsin introduced a free-market economy and a new spending plan that cut government spending and was intended to shrink inflation by as much as 12%. ... Yeltsin introduced the shares-for-loans program which was meant to sell off government property. ... Yeltsi...

• Word Count: 1763
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

A citing from shockingly one of Gorbachev's rival, Boris Yeltsin, was a truth that even he could not refuse when he said, "everything Gorbachev has initiated deserves much praise. ... He started by climbing a mountain whose summit is not even visible" (Yeltsin 402). ...

• Word Count: 1666
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In September 1997, a former Russian general, and top security advisor to Boris Yeltsin, Alexander Lebed, told CBS program 60 Minutes that ten suitcase sized nuclear bombs were missing from the nuclear arsenal. ...

• Word Count: 1452
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

THE COLLAPSE OF THE SOVIET UNION The main reason for the decline, and ultimate collapse, of the Soviet Union was the failure of the economic system. The need to improve economic performance led to wide-ranging changes in the economy and politics. The failure of the economic system was due to inherent weaknesses that were escalated by external factors. In particular the Cold War (1945-1989) led to enormous spending on the arms race and the space race. This hastened the demise of the Soviet Union. ...

• Word Count: 1987
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School

Why Was Official Revolutionary Rhetoric No Longer Able To Conceal The Reality Of The Authoritarian One-party State In Eastern Europe In The Late 1980s? On the night of November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall-the most potent symbol of the cold war division of Europe-came down. Earlier that day, the Commun...

• Word Count: 2359
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

1. Introduction The collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 sparked a wave of marketization in Russia Federation and Eastern Europe during which the term ˜transitional economy' was coined. Economic liberalisation in Russia was initiated by Boris Yeltsin who was given special power by the Rus...

• Word Count: 1874
• Approx Pages: 7
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate