Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin dies at 76

The_Zergling

Junior Member
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MOSCOW (AP) - Former President Boris Yeltsin, who engineered the final collapse of the Soviet Union and pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy, has died, a Kremlin official said Monday. He was 76.

Kremlin spokesman Alexander Smirnov confirmed Yeltsin's death, but gave no cause or further information. The Interfax news agency cited an unidentified medical source as saying he had died of heart failure.

Although Yeltsin pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy, many of its citizens will remember him mostly for presiding over the country's steep decline.

He was a contradictory figure, rocketing to popularity in the Communist era on pledges to fight corruption - but proving unable, or unwilling, to prevent the looting of state industry as it moved into private hands during his nine years as Russia's first freely elected president.

He steadfastly defended freedom of the press, but was a master at manipulating the media.

He amassed as much power as possible in his office - then gave it all up in a dramatic New Year's address at the end of 1999.

He really was quite a guy in his prime...
 

Violet Oboe

Junior Member
Only very few people in Russia are feeling real sorrow in their heart about the death of a man who promised to lead Russia towards freedom and prosperity but only achieved to create chaos and misery for the embittered russian people.

The pathetic obituaries by western politicians and journalists (" a beacon for democracy and freedom ..." :roll: , yes crushing the duma in the Moscow ´white house´with T-80 tanks indeed has shown that instructively) are the final proof that he was popular in the west because he was simply an inept alcoholic thoroughly incapable of leading a nation in her deepest crisis. At the end of his reign he was emblematic for the ´new Russia´: a feeble and hapless man giving the impression that he could collapse after his next step.

Exceptional was only one of his decisions, indeed Yeltsin was able to choose (after some failed attempts like Stepashin) a surprisingly able successor: Vladimir Putin. Russia has made awesome progress in the last seven years with Putin at the helm but as the next decade will show her resurgence has just begun. (Obviously russians are very robust people able to survive even guys like Stalin, Gorbachev and Yeltsin!:D)
 

Gollevainen

Colonel
VIP Professional
Registered Member
yah, Jeltsin hit the power around same time I begun to be aware of our neighbours&other important foreing presidents...So in the way, it closes a chapter in world history, both subjectively and objectively thougth as well...
It migth trigger the bigger consensus to evaluate this as a year 1 in new Russia - rest-of-the-world relations, later years beeing labeled as a transistional phase...ofcourse the changes have been seen for some years after now, as Putin have set his pace, but world history writing seems to need landmarks:D
 

Schumacher

Senior Member
...........
Exceptional was only one of his decisions, indeed Yeltsin was able to choose (after some failed attempts like Stepashin) a surprisingly able successor: Vladimir Putin. Russia has made awesome progress in the last seven years with Putin at the helm but as the next decade will show her resurgence has just begun. (Obviously russians are very robust people able to survive even guys like Stalin, Gorbachev and Yeltsin!:D)

Although Putin has certainly brought some stability to Russia after Gorbachev & Yeltsin, I think Russia's recent revival has much more to do with high oil prices than his policies.
 

speculator

New Member
Although Putin has certainly brought some stability to Russia after Gorbachev & Yeltsin, I think Russia's recent revival has much more to do with high oil prices than his policies.

no, Putin has quite a lot of policies that are good for russia, for example, he limited the drilling for oil and minerals around the arctic circle, hoping that when the oil in the middle east runs out, russia would control most of the worlds energy reserves.

however, by that time, @50 years or so, our dependence on oil might be drastically reduced.
 

Neutral Zone

Junior Member
Yeltsin certainly had his achievements, he showed great courage in opposing the coup in 1991. Apparently he and his advisors expected to be killed by KGB special forcesafter he made that famous speech on top of the tank. I doubt that the majority of western leaders would show such courage in a similar situation.

Sadly though he will be most remembered for the economic mismanagement that spawned a generation of oligarchs and his erratic personal behaviour. Most notoriously his failure to appear to meet Irish PM Albert Reynolds at Shannon airport. I've heard many versions of what really happened, the most common being that he was either drunk or had had a heart attack. As a result of this episode, diplomats have adopted the phrase "Circling over Shannon," as a code for a leader being temporarily incapacitated!
 

ahho

Junior Member
kind of hard to say if he mismanaged the country economy after what was left of soviet union. I have just finished watching a PBS documentary commanding height and it talked about why soviet collapse. At least without Yeltsin, we would never what Russia look like right now
 

Kilo636

Banned Idiot
Although Putin has certainly brought some stability to Russia after Gorbachev & Yeltsin, I think Russia's recent revival has much more to do with high oil prices than his policies.

At least Putin did not drunk until like a fool and utter rubbish. At least Putin did not make a mess of Chechen war for Russians. But Russia military wise is still chaotic. Hazing is still common among Russian conscript. Many were forced to have sex or beaten like dogs. Yet Putin did nothing and side with his defense minister Ivanov...
 

The_Zergling

Junior Member
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Apparently this is indeed how many remember him...
 
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