Gorbachev and Yeltsin, Part I

Gorbachev and Yeltsin, Part I

There is no other history more interesting than that of the

Russian people. So with the recent falloff in diplomatic relations

between Russia and the U.S., I thought I”d begin by reviewing

the rise and fall of both Gorbachev and Yeltsin, in my usual

“Cliff Notes” format.

Mikhail Gorbachev was a classic Communist apparatchik. Born

in 1931, Gorby rose through the ranks to become Secretary of

Agriculture and then the youngest man on the ruling Soviet

Politboro. He was a great butt-kisser, as he cultivated the

patronage of Leonid Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov in his rise to

power.

Brezhnev, who was the effective ruler of the Soviet Union from

1964-1982, died in November of 1982. His successor was a head

of the KGB and suppressor of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956,

Yuri Andropov. Little was known of Andropov in the West,

except he was seen to be a bad person. [Actually, Yuri is a very

complex character and will be the source of a future article].

Unfortunately, he was in ill health and he died less than 15

months after taking over. Before he died, however, he made it

known that he wanted Gorbachev to be his successor.

It”s now February of 1984 and the doddering old fools on the

Politboro weren”t ready to have some 53-year old run the country

so they opted one more time for a fellow who looked DOA

(dead-on-arrival), Konstantin Chernenko. This guy was truly

pitiful. Fortunately, he lasted only until March of 1985, at which

time Gorbachev had built up a group of supporters who selected

him as the next General Secretary of the Communist Party, the

position from which all power emanated.

Gorby had observed over the years how the Soviet Union was

sliding into the abyss so he immediately launched a revolutionary

reform program centered around two key principles,

“perestroika” (reconstruction and reform) and “glasnost”

(publicity and openness). [One of his first steps was to have

himself elected President of the Supreme Soviet, a fateful

mistake, as he was elected not through a popular election and

thus his future opponents were able to say he lacked legitimacy].

Gorby immediately set out to charm the world and assure

everyone that the Soviet Union was no longer a menace to world

peace. His foreign policy accomplishments were considerable.

Britain”s Margaret Thatcher had first met Mikhail in 1984 when

it was apparent that he might be Russia”s next ruler after

Chernenko”s pulse stopped. She was so taken by him that she

declared him to be a man with whom “we can do business.”

Thatcher”s impression was extremely important as President

Reagan sized up the new leader in 1985.

Reagan described the Soviet Union at that time as an “evil

empire.” And few could argue with him. But Reagan had an

open mind and the 1st Reagan-Gorbachev summit was held in

Geneva, November of 1985. The two seemed to get along very

well and hope ruled. Arms control was a major topic as

Gorbachev knew that a continuing arms race with the U.S. was

bankrupting his country.

The 2nd summit was held in October of ”86 in Rekyavik and it

was almost an unmitigated disaster. Both leaders were set to

totally eliminate all long-range weapons but Reagan refused to

give in over his Strategic Defense Initiative, SDI, or “Star Wars.”

The ending was a desultory one.

The 3rd summit in Washington, December of ”87, was much

better, even glorious, as the two sides agreed to eliminate a

whole category of nukes – land-based intermediate and short-

range missiles. The 4th and final Reagan-Grobachev summit was

held in Moscow, May of ”88. It was here that real progress was

made on what would become the first START Treaty to begin to

eliminate long-range weapons (signed by President Bush in July

of ”91).

Relations between the U.S. and U.S.S.R had never been better.

In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1991 Moscow

joined the U.N. coalition during the Gulf War. Thatcher was right,

this was a man the West could do business with.

But Gorbachev”s foreign policy legacy, almost right from the

start, was overshadowed by problems on the domestic front. It

was difficult for the West to understand this. The international

media loved Gorby (and Raisa, his wife) and he could do no

wrong. What they failed to understand was that Gorbachev was

still an unreconstructed Communist at heart and this was to prove

his downfall.

During the first 4 years of perestroika, the Soviet economy was

stagnant. Inflation did remain low until 1989 when signs of a

systemic breakdown became increasingly frequent. But for all of

the new “openness” the Soviet people saw little, if any,

improvement in their lives. By mid-1990, over 1,000 basic

consumer goods were rarely available in state shops. “Queing

up” (waiting in line) became the national past-time. Rationing of

most goods was widespread. Troops were sent out to help with

the harvest because of incredibly inefficient farming methods

and policies.

So why couldn”t Gorbachev have the same sort of success that he

had on the foreign policy stage? At the National Party

Conference in June of 1988, Gorbachev was given a clear choice:

Either advance and transform perestroika into a ”genuinely

popular democratic revolution, go all the way and afford society

total freedom,” or pull back, remain a communist reformer, and

stay within the well-known milieu of the bureaucracy. The

choice was between genuine or controlled democracy.

Gorbachev was a very stubborn politician. He couldn”t

understand that his beloved communist party was history.

Whereas reformers like Boris Yeltsin, ex-Communists, were

emerging on the scene with radical reform ideas, Gorbachev

thought if he could tweak things here or there, economic success

would follow. He kept calling for reform and renewal of the

party, but on the other hand he revived Lenin”s slogan of “all

power to the soviets.”

In November of 1988 the Supreme Soviet established a new

institution, the Congress of People”s Deputies (CPD) which in

turn was to elect a new U.S.S.R Supreme Soviet. In March of

1989 the first elections were held, over 80% of the candidates

were Communist Party members. But prominent radicals such as

Andrei Sakharov and Roy Medvedev were elected. This was a

watershed event. Boris Yeltsin (who had been appointed to the

Central Committee in July of 1985 and later that year was named

first party secretary of Moscow) won a land slide victory in

Moscow. Yeltsin had a popular base of support (remember,

Gorby didn”t have this) and Boris promised to free Moscow from

the ”mafia of bureaucrats.” Gorbachev had failed to support

Yeltsin which led to the two falling out. Yeltsin was then elected

to the Supreme Soviet, giving him a national platform for the

first time, which he used to promote the Russian Federation and

to attack party privilege, the failings of perestroika, the need for

market-oriented reforms and Gorbachev himself. While Gorby

was elected head of state of the CPD, Yeltsin became a

counterweight and began to speak of forming a loose

confederation of independent states.

In 1990, Gorbachev was elected head of state by the CPD. In

June of ”90, Yeltsin”s Russian Republic declared that laws

passed by its legislature could override those of the Soviet

Union. Lithuania unilaterally declared its independence from the

Soviet Union. Gorbachev cracked down, refusing to give up the

primacy of the Communist Party. The crackdown on nationalist

movements led to the resignation of Edouard Shevardnadze, his

popular foreign minister. The West was beginning to see another

side of Gorby. The man who had real vision on the international

scene certainly was lacking in it domestically. In December of

”90, Shevardnadze gave an impassioned speech warning of a

return to dictatorship.

Yeltsin was now a liberal reformer and harbored grave doubts

that the Soviet Union would survive. When reactionary

Communists attempted to unseat Yeltsin as chairman of the

Russian Parliament, he received a show of support from several

hundred thousand Mosovites.

In January of 1991, Gorbachev approved an attempt to overthrow

the democratically elected government of Lithuania, the clumsy

plot failed miserably costing 13 lives. The next month Yeltsin

called for Gorby to resign in a nationally televised speech.

Gorby responded by ordering Soviet troops to surround the

Kremlin in a show of force against the more liberal Yeltsin.

By April, Gorbachev”s retrenchment had ended. He abandoned

his commitment to preserving the Soviet Union at all costs and

accepted the idea of autonomy for the republics. In June, Yeltsin

was elected President of the “Russian Federation.” The

Communists now had little support. Gorby tried to hang on and

announced a new Communist Party platform, which eliminated

Marxism and Leninism in favor of “humane and democratic

socialism.” He just didn”t get it. Then he went on vacation.

[Next Thursday, the attempted coup (parts are hilarious) and

Yeltsin”s shining moment].