The Struggle for Russia (1994) - Russia in early 1990s

The program presents an in-depth look at Boris Yeltsin's presidency, exploring Russia's economic and social chaos and examining what went wrong with Yeltsin's 'shock therapy' economic reforms, also looking at the battle between Yeltsin and his political opponents.
Produced by PBS Video.
#Russia
#1990s
#history

[@jamesjackovich5886]

The wealth of Russia should have been inherited by the people that fought for the country not a handful of oligarchs living in other countries

[@martinbitter4162]

Reminds me of my childhood, watching it on TV from a safe western home. It also helps to understand todays Russia.

[@PrimericanIdol]

This was Weimar Russia. This trauma is what created Putin. The west should have helped them with a Marshall plan instead of continuously sabotaging their economy and expanding NATO.

[@dobroll]

sorry for the 1st answer, that is just a stupid man.

[@xerxesix1451]

@Леон Леон i like your humor

[@allalogina]

Martin, have you ever been to Russia? Didn't you come?

[@maxheadrom3088]

Precisely. Well ... I was in Latin America but I had a safe life. From 1991 to 2001 there was an excess death among the adult Russian population estimated between 2.5 to 3 million. I think the people who also commented here did not understand your empathy, Martin. I still haven't found a good documentary about the period. For a long time I blamed the Harvard team for the economic collapsed but recently I learned it was the then US Sec. of Defense, Dick Cheney, who blocked the IMF from helpin the Russian Federation and almost all other former Soviet Republics. There's a reason why Putin's populatity has never dropped bellow 60% - he was the guy who fixed the mess. Unfortunately, the US and UK went forward with their goals of making Russia a sort client State. Germany and France took the opposite view and have, until the invasion of Ukraine, tried to help Russia. The invasion of Ukraine is clearly a crime but what the US did the Russian Federation was worse - and 2.5 million died.

[@botatobias2539]

Romania managed to avoid the worst of this. Because Ceaușescu left us with no foreign debt, because Romania was in the top 10 countries with the lowest public debt for 5 years (1990 - 1994) we got to sort of cushion our fall. We still fell, but like...on our own terms to an extent, at largely our own pace. Simply put, we managed to subsidize our economy with new debt. Or better yet put: Romania's socialist economy was a balloon that was allowed to deflate steadily, while Russia's was a balloon that was popped.

[@raybon7939]

I remember these days well.

[@TalonAshlar]

So in other words there was debt for your oligarchs to steal instead of the peoples salaries.

[@darrelldavis5018]

That's what the deep austerity in the 1980's was about. Taking the debt down. He wasn't just doing haphazard psycho stuff. He was solving the deficit, not relying on currency production, but tangible capital and less state spending in favour of mutual aid and communitarianism.

[@hammerface1682]

And a majority of your population returned to the Orthodox faith! Glory to God in the highest!

[@jakekaywell5972]

@@hammerface1682 Yeah, cuz they needed it to cope with the harsh realities of a post-Soviet world.

[@thedollbabys1073]

Love USSR old school documentaries! So hard to find good ones!

[@PrimericanIdol]

I sincerely hope this happens to the United States in my lifetime. It will be the most satisfying poetic justice.

[@Lucky-sh1dm]

@@PrimericanIdolsame. I don’t even care anymore. This place is a sick vapid hell hole Lmao

[@ihorperec4990]

@@PrimericanIdol It will never happen to the US. But keep on dreaming

[@PrimericanIdol]

@@ihorperec4990 It's already beginning to show. Plus it has already happened: it's called the Great Depression. You're probably one of those people who think the US is an invincible God-Like omnipotent empire that will last 585,642,987 years and will transcend into a Galactic civilization. What makes you so God damn confident that your shit hole of a country will last forever?

[@peteswafflemeyer5620]

@@ihorperec4990 Meh. I mean I don't have a horse in this race here, but when I look how utterly and irreconcilably divided that nation has become I doubt the USA, in this form will survive me. The political parties as well as constituents are looking at one another in utter disgust, exactly in the way they did in the early Weimaerer Republik, and the first stage of violence has already started. More and more voices are calling for a "national divorce" and plenty of people on both sides of the aisle aren't even opposed to that idea anymore, that's how much they hate each other. The right doesn't want bla bla woke-ism this, gun control that - and the left at this point is happy when they don't have to carry the economically weak, politically backwards red states anymore. Due to propaganda on both sides getting worse and worse as well as a terrible education system and the fact that everyone is staying within their bubble mostly, there is no improvement, no convergence on any front, and certainly no reconciliation in sight. The USA is spiraling out of control politically, and there seems to be no coming back.

[@rodrigovelasquez49]

Thank soy much for posting that.

[@UrbaNSpiel]

Great contribution !

[@jamesrogers8527]

The struggle for Russia will continue after a short break 1:07:29

[@grantgoodman8415]

prescient

[@stijn9957]

just what i thought, the break was 2000 till 2014?

[@mandeepsingh-pz5bt]

It makes communism look good.

[@PrimericanIdol]

​@@stijn9957It's been over since 2000. Now they're coming out ahead. AND they'll help to bring down the Dollar.

[@voidwalker9223]

@@PrimericanIdol No it wont lol you know it wont (And no I am not an American fanboy) we both know none western countries have very limited power and too corrupt to hold any Alliance. Who ever makes more money always wins. Its just cope man. I wish.

[@michaelfernandez3182]

This documentary is so so good. Frontline provides the single greatest investigative journalism in all the the United Stages. I am so impressed with the consistent quality and entertainment brought by Frontline. Please dont ever stop pursuing your mission.

[@siamcharm7904]

would love to see an honest doc on the1996 election when clinton sent his entire team over to rig it. putin is the real savior of his country.

[@alainportant6412]

they won't tell you that the jews did that

[@GorillaTVe]

but can they be trusted with truth ?

[@nezhinkayash]

27:20 What it didn't say was that a referendum on the future of the Soviet Union was held on 17 March 1991 across the Soviet Union. It was the only national referendum in the history of the Soviet Union, although it was boycotted by authorities in six of the fifteen Soviet republics. The question on the bulletin was "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?" 113,512,812 people (77.85% of the voters), voted "Yes". While the vote was boycotted by the authorities in Armenia, Estonia, Georgia (though not in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Latvia, Lithuania, and Moldova (though not in Transnistria or Gagauzia), turnout was 80% across the rest of the Soviet Union. The referendum's question was approved by nearly 80% of voters in all nine other republics that took part. However, the August coup attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party prevented the anticipated signing of the New Union Treaty that was due to take place the next day.

[@mrconfusion87]

Back when Murica had real journalists in the MSM that were NOT Deep State stenographers (unlike today)! 🤣🤣🤣

[@ahah1785]

I was 5 years old in 1991...i do actually remember the chaos...i did not understand what was happening but it felt horrible. My parents were away trying to scrape by and it they only sent cash for food for me and grandma. I did not see them for over 3 years..then we left russia altogether...no plan just go anywhere away from there.

[@ahah1785]

@@k.m.7351 oh its very true sadly...you could even get almost all services done for vodka...like rent a tractor to plow your field... etc

[@FhhffvFgcefhi]

The soviet Transition to market economy. After 1991, under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, the country made a significant turn toward developing a market economy by implanting basic tenets such as market-determined prices. Your just stupid calling everything propaganda and not paying attention much of the Soviet Union's GDP was military spending and the production of goods for which there was little demand. The discontinuation of much of that wasteful spending created the false impression of larger than actual economic contraction. Critical elements such as privatization of state enterprises and extensive foreign investment were rushed into place in the first few years of the post-Soviet period. But other fundamental parts of the economic infrastructure, such as commercial banking and authoritative, comprehensive commercial laws, were absent or only partly in place by 1996. Although by the mid-1990s a return to Soviet-era central planning seemed unlikely, the configuration of the post-transition economy remained unpredictable. In economics, shock therapy is a group of policies intended to be implemented simultaneously in order to liberalize the economy, including liberalization of all prices, privatization, trade liberalization, and stabilization via tight monetary policies and fiscal policies. In the case of post-Communist states, it was implemented in order to transition from a command economy to a market economy. successful market economies rest on a framework of law, regulation, and established practice, which cannot be instantaneously created in a society that was formerly authoritarian, heavily centralised, and subject to state ownership of asset. the U.S. and the IMF should have provided large-scale financial aid to Russia, which was integral to the success of the reforms.

[@jamescousino4295]

God bless you for posting this.

[@hlysnan6418]

An important historical document.

[@jiji1946]

fascinating! thank you much B of H.....

[@GaleOfPeril]

So much for ever having a Boris in the highest seat, mirite

[@PrimericanIdol]

🇬🇧🤣

[@irisenamorado]

Yeltsin was the USA man.

[@rafaelosorio2251]

They had no choice

[@GaleOfPeril]

@@rafaelosorio2251 how so?

[@jarehelt]

1:25:00 The naked guys arguing politics is hilarious 🤣

[@allalogina]

I remember well those times, the beginning of the 90s. I am a person born in the USSR

[@liberatorama2606]

do you miss ussr?? Do you miss its glory???

[@MooseMeus]

niiice thanks!

[@PowermadNavigator]

A sad reality of not only Russia, but also a large part of the former Eastern Bloc and USSR. A sad reality that has influenced the situation today, not just in Russia - it's just that Russia seems to have been hit the hardest. Now the people there are brainwashed and few have the courage to stand up like the people in those days did - though for better or for worse. The backwardness and corruption caused by the dismantling of the USSR can still be felt on the Balkans too - in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia etc. Through outside influence and internal corruption, nations were torn up and neighbors once again became enemies. Families split and were scattered across the globe and countless people have suffered and died miserably.

[@SnarkyRC]

Russia in the 90s was the terrible. I preferred the 80s.

[@maou--sama]

chernobyl?

[@spingebill8551]

The USSR in the ‘80s had its own problems, such as limited housing, and the Soviet-Afghan war (which was said to be a distraction from domestic problems). However I do agree, the 90s were the worst times in Russia in decades. I think the political turmoil and Chechen wars alone give the decade this title.

[@user-tn6hf2ig4y]

@@spingebill8551 The Afghan war began to be openly talked about only in the second half of the 80s, shortly before the withdrawal of troops.

[@alexanderdoneck]

@@maou--sama By the way, my mother was supposed to go to Ukraine for an internship after graduating from college, but she couldn't do it because of the Chernobyl incident

[@silveringreviews]

@@spingebill8551 Well, you don't understand that 90s was a result of 80s. What happened in 90s it wasn't because of 90s, it was because 90% of Russians in 1991 weren't ready for capitalism. Because why? Because of 80 years of communism.

[@mfitzy100]

Always loved Russia and it’s people as an Irish man. Makes me so sad to see what went on that time.

[@free_shortvideo]

oh, you have a romanticized view of russians. Deep down in they hart russians always carry imperialism, just like lot of brits do!!

[@tmoe6674]

Ditto for this American. The shift from an economy where people, although not wealthy, had enough to focus on building a family, to a true free market, controlled by the few with capital and speculators, forcing everyone to focus on money and survival instead, is dramatic and tragic. As someone who grew up in Europe and lives in the USA now I have observed and bemoaned the Western focus, to the exclusion of everything else, on money. Whereas in Europe, though they might have a little less in terms of material things, the quality of life is much better. This is not to say that Russia under communism, or communism itself, are good, but rather to point out that Western capitalist society’s have their problems that need to be addressed. And Russia in the ‘90s, because of the drastic changes and extreme conditions as a result of the speed with which they were implemented without any real plan, serves as a fantastic example of all the foibles of capitalism laid bare.

[@alainportant6412]

@@tmoe6674 The 90's were the best time to exploit young girls for sexual purposes ! Now, forget about it. Even in the remotest part of the Ukraine, the town slot has an instagram or whatever

[@ranjittyagi9354]

Me too as someone from NW India.

[@Nils.Minimalist]

Always hated Russia as a 1982 born german suffered under russian occupation. This country should have been called Mordor from the beginning.

[@archlich4489]

Will Lyman is the greatest narrator ever!

[@Intel-i7-9700k]

The 1990s were apparently quite tough for the Russian people. I'm hoping the transformation will be worth it and the Russian people will see lot of prosperity in the 21th century.

[@FhhffvFgcefhi]

The Law on Cooperatives, enacted in May 1988, was perhaps the most radical of the economic reforms during the early part of the Gorbachev era. For the first time since Vladimir Lenin's New Economic Policy was abolished in 1928, the law permitted private ownership of businesses in the services, manufacturing, and foreign-trade sectors. The law initially imposed high taxes and employment restrictions, but it later revised these to avoid discouraging private-sector activity. Under this provision, cooperative restaurants, shops, and manufacturers became part of the Soviet scene. Gorbachev brought perestroika to the Soviet Union's foreign economic sector with measures that Soviet economists considered bold at that time.His program virtually eliminated the monopoly that the Ministry of Foreign Trade had once held on most trade operations. It permitted the ministries of the various industrial and agricultural branches to conduct foreign trade in sectors under their responsibility, rather than having to operate indirectly through the bureaucracy of trade ministry organizations. In addition, regional and local organizations and individual state enterprises were permitted to conduct foreign trade. This change was an attempt to redress a major imperfection in the Soviet foreign trade regime: the lack of contact between Soviet end users and suppliers and their foreign partners. The most significant of Gorbachev's reforms in the foreign economic sector allowed foreigners to invest in the Soviet Union in the form of joint ventures with Soviet ministries, state enterprises, and cooperatives. The original version of the Soviet Joint Venture Law, which went into effect in June 1987, limited foreign shares of a Soviet venture to 49 percent and required that Soviet citizens occupy the positions of chairman and general manager. After potential Western partners complained, the government revised the regulations to allow majority foreign ownership and control. Under the terms of the Joint Venture Law, the Soviet partner supplied labor, infrastructure, and a potentially large domestic market. The foreign partner supplied capital, technology, entrepreneurial expertise, and in many cases, products and services of world competitive quality. Gorbachev's economic changes did not do much to restart the country's sluggish economy in the late 1980s. The reforms decentralized things to some extent, although price controls remained, as did the ruble's inconvertibility and most government controls over the means of production.

[@mrathleticrunner]

Love this documentary! I now understand completely how Putin was able to rise to power from the chaos shown in the documentary from the 1990’s.

[@nezhinkayash]

27:20 What this documentary didn't say was that a referendum on the future of the Soviet Union was held on 17 March 1991 across the Soviet Union. It was the only national referendum in the history of the Soviet Union, although it was boycotted by authorities in six of the fifteen Soviet republics. The question on the bulletin was "Do you consider it necessary to preserve the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as a renewed federation of equal sovereign republics, in which the rights and freedoms of a person of any nationality will be fully guaranteed?" 113,512,812 people (77.85% of the voters), voted "Yes". While the vote was boycotted by the authorities in Armenia, Estonia, Georgia (though not in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Latvia, Lithuania, and Moldova (though not in Transnistria or Gagauzia), turnout was 80% across the rest of the Soviet Union. The referendum's question was approved by nearly 80% of voters in all nine other republics that took part. However, the August coup attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party prevented the anticipated signing of the New Union Treaty that was due to take place the next day.

[@allencushmen8352]

I remember when all this happened. It was extremely difficult for the Russian Government and it's people to transition into a capitalist economy.

[@dungeon_masster.]

@@dennistheredmenace4537 вали в коммунистическую корею клоун

[@dungeon_masster.]

@@dennistheredmenace4537 езжай на дрезине

[@spiderknight9893]

Capitalism is a product of Christian society. It was never an option for a nation that erased God to succeed under capitalism. The west is learning this now.

[@TripleAlfafa]

It did. Straight to classic robber-baron style of crony capitalism.

[@RevolutionarySM]

The Russian government did not care. Yeltsin was drunk most of the time and his henchmen all became rich at the expense of working class people. These free market fundamentalists were all told by western commentators that capitalism was their new god and they agreed. Vladimir Putin ended the wide west of Russian capitalism. This is why Russia has not collapsed as the western world hoped it would after sanctions. Russia is not a fully capitalist society, the state remains a lot of economic power which it now uses to turn the country away from the western world.

[@kaimcloughlin8981]

The narrator from Elwynn Forest is what makes it for me 🤣

[@gustavbabic5004]

The demise of the Soviet Union has to be one of the most mismanaged blunders in modern history. Instead of creating the Commonwealth of Independence States, they should have turned the USSR into a federal republic, and they should have created economic free trade zones, similar to Hong Kong. Over time these zones could have been expanded, and the taxes from these zones could have been used to at least partially subsidize reforms in other parts of the country.

[@panv1ch]

Of course someone from the Internet has a better solution to major political catastrophies. They probably would've done what you said if they really cared about the best possible outcome, but the only thing they cared about was money and how much of it was possible to steal

[@TheBebel10]

That was technically Gorbachev's plan but Yeltsin wanted otherwise and decided, with the help of Reagan, to sign the agreement between Ukraine, Russia and Belarus being independant behind Gorbachev's back. Anyway, Russia struggled during the 90's, but has been able to rebuild itself since the 2000's.

[@zenarcade64]

Coulda, shoulda, woulda: the worst 3 words in the English language

[@GaleOfPeril]

@@zenarcade64 except those words don't exist

[@daddy_1453]

@@panv1ch This isn't some rando internet dweebs idea ya goober. This is literally what Communist China did to become a Superpower. A methodical approach to adopting Capitalism over a period of time.

[@SaltyChip]

I was a kid that was just getting used to finding and learning the USSR on the map as a kid when all of a sudden they started calling g it Russia. I remember there being a 5-8 yr hangover where there was still old maps being used and it was fine to call it either and then around 2000 or 9/11, it was russia everywhere.

[@royale7620]

Same in Romania with Yugoslavia till like 2010.

[@AltairEgo1]

Street Fighter 2, remember that? We were still calling it USSR, even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. We still associated Russia with communism, even in 1992 and '93.

[@papadocsamedi2544]

I look at those people and wonder what has become of them?

[@zenarcade64]

All the ones who spoke of democracy have left Russia or are in gulags...if they survived. But good news: the monster Zhirinovsky dropped dead on 6 April 2022 and is now in heck.

[@soderfraga]

@@zenarcade64 tf you talking about, what gulags? Man you crazy

[@anemoiatrippin]

I always wonder this when I see old documentaries. I wonder what happened to the people, in their lives.

[@silveringreviews]

@@dennistheredmenace4537 Yes, and became only USSArs until now

[@maksim05makarov]

@@zenarcade64шизофрения

[@mfitzy100]

This handled terribly and we are paying the price still today.

[@amacca2085]

Who is ?

[@mrconfusion87]

​​@@amacca2085 Global geopolitics! Even Ukraine's current war is a political blowback from this messy period (late 80s-early 90!

[@nae6ix]

“A proud beggar, with an atomic bomb” Excellently said 👏

[@aanakrukavi]

Same as Pakistan

[@MattyBottles1]

I related to the car conversation.

[@juanf5391]

I took two graduate courses on 20th-century Russia and was fascinated with its history and the Cold War. This is a fantastic documentary and I'm adding it to my "Russia" KZbin playlist. To see the transformation of Russian society is incredible and do sympathize with them, but Yeltsin and his government only do so much. Both Gorbachev and Yeltsin were trying to steer the ship from one direction and do a 180. (15:23) "Fascism won't succeed!" Putin would disagree. (41:05) My first car was a pre-owned 94 Ford Taurus. My parents bought it for me when I got my license to drive in 1999. It was a good car.

[@brasidas33]

When Yeltsin looked into a mirror, all he saw was an opportunistic bottle of vodka staring back at him

[@MH-jt3lx]

Yes Russia needed production to go with regulated speculation.

[@levvicky]

The Republics were neglected when the Soviet collapsed. Should have been thought through and consulted to each with Identification of any potential wars. 30 Year + and we still have war going with new ones being created today.

[@estatesales9818]

37:02 lol that guy ran for his life

[@Kevin-ps9yf]

I wonder what happened next after new union treaty ratification was complete. With hard liners plan was failed before it begins.

[@jray1429]

Do you have a video for the years after?

[@jaribuuri2711]

FANTASTIC DOCUMENT !!! THANK YOU FROM FINLAND !!!

[@heathcliffearnshaw1403]

Or Animal Farm , last chapter. The horses looking through Farmer Jones’s kitchen window couldn’t tell the difference between the Oligarchs Pigs and the Oligarchs Farmer Jones’s men in a brawl over a double Ace card. But this tendentious CNN type stuff glosses over that ofcourse as usual.

[@nadya671]

Полагаю, что вы пишите из России. Тем ее менее. Когда 70 лет народы СССР жили, полагаясь, что это лучшее, что они могли извлечь из той эпохи, позже, с развалом СССР они за короткое время поняли, что у них забрали нормальную жизнь. Но они забыли тот путь, который прошли за 70 лет: коллективизация, голодомор, лагеря, Массовый террор. И те, которые улизнули от моральной ответственности, я о коммунистах, первые взяли камень в руки, чтобы ударить. Они первыми не простили демократию и либералов. Хотя в олигархах были управляемые бывшие комсомольцы. Разве это не заметили на Западе. Разве не поняли, что это маскарад.

[@user-tn6hf2ig4y]

It is not necessary to see Yeltsin as a kind of kind uncle who drinks a little, who will close everyone with a mighty back. In fact, he is an unscrupulous and very cruel person. The Russians believed in him, and he betrayed them. He is not a democrat, but a tyrant. Gorbachev, for all his shortcomings, was a Democrat, but not Yeltsin

[@bidenwearstrumpscrappypamp1829]

Gotbachev should've stayed in power.

[@user-tn6hf2ig4y]

@@bidenwearstrumpscrappypamp1829 In my opinion, the KGB is to blame for the collapse of the USSR. This structure is completely out of control of the CPSU. Gorbachev was just a media personality who signs documents. Even if Yeltsin were arrested and Gorbachev remained in power, the country would still collapse in three or four years. It would be a country like Czechoslovakia from 1989 to 1992, where there is a union President (Vaclav Havel/Mikhail Gorbachev) and Republican separatist leaders

[@Hhfrhe1]

Gorbachev failed his country and sold it for western merchandise such as Pizza Hut and Pepsi when his citizens needed him the most

[@dungeon_masster.]

@@bidenwearstrumpscrappypamp1829 а толку от этого горбачева? Ельцин хотя бы реформы провел, а горбач своей нерешительностью лишь усугубил ситуацию. И да не такой Горбачев уж и добрый, достаточно вспомнить Тбилиси 1989, Баку 1990, Литву 1991 и августовский путч вероятно тоже его рук дело

[@allalogina]

But now, the head of state is a monster

[@johnjacob442]

If this isn’t America in the next couple years I’d be surprised

[@hammerface1682]

34:00

[@tmoe6674]

This is an excellent excellent excellent documentary. As an American who takes a keen interest in the world, politics, and economics, I must say this documentary does an excellent job of laying bare Russia’s transition from a centrally controlled state economy to a free market economy and a people’s struggle to adapt, from one to the other.

[@user-st1uy5wz2t]

why is joe biden a cancer on the world

[@Mr.Cerera69]

As lithuanian being born in soviet union I hope they will carry on suffering. Barbaric nation they were, are and will be.

[@andrewnlarsen]

For people so used to suffering and hardship...if felt like they were truly in hell during this time period. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

[@mrconfusion87]

Only exceeded by that hellish period between 1914 to 1953 that killed many MILLIONS of Russians prematurely! Had that not happened, Russia prolly would have at least 300 million people today!

[@shainemaine1268]

Notice it's not anyone of them talking solutions to the issues, just arguing about who to blame...

[@joeanthony7759]

Like America, North and South

[@randylahey1822]

Yep, bad Russia

[@user-zx9wv5gz2g]

​@@randylahey1822?

[@johnmeredith522]

1:42:52 is prophetic to the events of 2014 and beyond.

[@riwnodennyk]

Zhirinovsky filmed in this documentary has died this year in 2022, while his ideas turned into the mainstream of Russian ideology of superiority and ethnic hatred

[@drgeorgek]

Poor Russia… always taking the moral high ground to “liberate” countries that want nothing to do with them…

[@jessiejb4684]

Strange, I didn’t hear him speak about the u.s. backing a nationalist coup in Ukraine and that coup gov turning the military on the citizens who oppose the overthrow of their gov and rip the country apart. Not sure what is the prophecy you speak.

[@cryptocsguy9282]

@johnmeredith522 Yep , people act like it's just Putin's crazy idea but some have agreed with it for years

[@seanabbas7053]

1:42:45

[@josephbacon7493]

I don’t believe democracy would break up Russia today. Although thousands of local languages and cultures exist they all have Russian in common.

[@daddy_1453]

Yeltsin got a massive state funeral. In his own state. Gorbachev got a small ceremony of a funeral. In a foreign state that isn't the original nation he lead.

[@PrimericanIdol]

It's the same state. The USSR was the legal successor of the Russian Empire. The Russian Federation is the legal successor of the USSR. By your logic, every Soviet leader besides Gorbachev died in a state different from the one they were born in. Most countries in the world have had multiple regime changes in the past 100 years. Most of Europe (except the UK) is like this. Most of Latin America (except Mexico since they've managed to keep their 1917 constitution ratified after the 1910 revolution) is like this too.

[@nesirosern8596]

Well, to be fair all of Russia's problems started with Gorbachev He was a traitor and the main reason for everything that happened Yeltsin was a drunk and certainly didn't deserve that massive funeral; but he was the first democratically elected president and the problems started with Gorbachev not with Yeltsin, so...

[@4Deadserious]

​@nesirosern8596 "All the problems started with Gorbachev" is a wildly inaccurate statement.

[@vincentas1]

@@PrimericanIdol wrong, only russian empire got succeeded by soviet union, since soviet union was a federation it had many successors

[@Barricade379]

@@nesirosern8596 Well to be fair, it started with Stalin and his inhuman purges, persecutions and repressions of millions. His successors until Gorbachev have done the same. Russians themselves said that Gorbachev made the fear disappear. People could finally speak free. Before Gorbachev, if anyone did that, they would be arrested and thrown in jail if not a nameless grave. Leonid Brezhnev started the fateful Soviet-Afghan War which destroyed Soviet military might and Gorbachev ended it and brought the troops home Yeltsin gave way to Putin and the oligarchs of this day. But Yeltsin had more manners in a gallon of vodka then Stalin had in a whisker

[@user-yf7nd6hs8w]

Could you upload news about Romania too?

[@StayBasedJesus]

Never , this is probably cause everyone is programmed to criticize Russ

[@hammerface1682]

1:34:02

[@humblesoviet]

🎵 We didn't start the fire It was always burning, since the world's been turning We didn't start the fire No, we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it 🎵

[@skitzochik]

great song

[@eetfuk4664]

1:42:30 this is the main answer for whats happening in Ukraine.

[@FINNIUSORION]

Soviet Era leaders get such a hard time from absolutely everyone, and likely most of it is deserved but I couldn't imagine doing that job. Trying to hold together a crumbling system that was set for failure from the very beginning. And that's kind of the point, they must have been doing something right or it would have collapsed decades sooner.

[@herrgolf]

RIP to a beautiful country

[@zloisloi]

the Russians themselves are to blame, they are personally to blame for everything: at first they sold their empire for abstract Western ideals, they could not agree and carry out reforms. And now they have staged a war at all and threaten the WHOLE WORLD with nuclear weapons and want to RETURN THE EMPIRE BACK. But aren't they idiots?

[@dungeon_masster.]

ussr?? beautiful????

[@Rihardololz]

@@dungeon_masster. it died 2022

[@maksim05makarov]

@@dungeon_masster.да да и еще раз да

[@ironsugar8690]

@@dungeon_masster. the most beloved one for sure

[@raybon7939]

The coup was something Yelstin never psychologically recovered from. Similar to when of our baseball players Get hit in the head.

[@somechannel2461]

Thats a fate of a dog which he deserved

[@KronStaro]

i dont think its the coup that affected him, its the realization of what and who controls Russia and what was expected of him, and the realization that he will never be able to give Russians what he promised and that he must become the monster in order to at least save his own skin. He knew that he destroyed everything and couldn't rebuild anything, and eventually just drowned his sorrows in vodka.

[@zenarcade64]

But no one in Russia understands baseball (according to this show)

[@allalogina]

Yes, you are right about baseball. But in Russia, there is a similar game. It is called LAPTA

[@irisenamorado]

No. He never recovery because USA dictated Russia should be permanently poor. I heard an advisor from Harvard that he spoke about the economic help that Russia need it for the transition and he said NO!

[@marcocunego3326]

Somebody betrayed.

[@said-fo5vw]

It turns out that in that year conflict did hit the world

[@davor9217]

Lenin watching: “Look how they massacred my boy”

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

From superpower to poor country

[@skywillfindyou]

and back

[@DevinNixonDavis]

Nope

[@brinjoness3386]

Rich country, poor population

[@urdnotwrex6969]

@@brinjoness3386 somehow everybody who didnt even left their home town are saying this. Truth is, they get paid less then in central Europe. But what everybody is missing is that houses, food and other stuff are much much much less pricey then in west or in east europe. Also, Russia is superpower. You can clearly see it how USA and collective west is fucking dying because of Russians. USA cant even build their jets and planes without Russian titanium. 35% of titanium which is USA buying is from Russia....Not to mention other resources. Russia was Europe lungs. Russia was USA legs. And both of those continents fucked up by listening the the most stupidest ppl. USA.

[@Saui1299]

@@skywillfindyou nope russia has the economy from italy. Dont know about you but that for me isnt a superpower

[@kabeloselaelo2671]

The Soviet Union never “collapsed” , Mr Gorbachev got over excited and thought maybe we can have a world with equality between all countries and maintain peace. Instead the US started doing whatever they wanted since they felt like they defeated the Soviet Union instead of looking at the bigger picture, Gorbachev himself admits that he regrets making that decision, and many other people feel like he sold them out

[@GaleOfPeril]

Making what decision? To not bomb the RF & other newfounded republics' headquarters into submission?

[@herrgolf]

It’s funny-the Iranians feel like Khomeini and his crew sold THEM out. It’s not apples to apples but in each case people were given something other than what they were promised. Both instances resulted in decades of backsliding. I feel great sympathy and sadness for Russians.

[@jx_1132]

This is an underrated opinion

[@user-qe5ko2ss2w]

😭

[@HikikomoriDev]

1:34:17 oof.

[@kras_brothers2128]

If this continued happend back then would ussr would have been back?

[@virginiagould3167]

Did I understand correctly that Russia dissolved the Soviet Union so that Yeltsin could get rid of Gorbachev? If so, that's crazy.

[@exstazius]

You did not understand

[@iljaoblomov]

5/5

[@irisenamorado]

Putin was around the corner.

[@brinjoness3386]

He already had his nose in the lenningrad budget by the early 90s

[@cd4429]

This program is so relevant to today's world. How did this all come to this? Watch this documentary...

[@jerryjerrylahngenhairy4724]

Us is on a slippery slope

[@marcocunego3326]

I was the beginning of the tragedia. A vetrate.

[@aseemsaigal3116]

What was life in Soviet Union as compared to current regime.

[@dungeon_masster.]

now better

[@user-qm9bk3bv9m]

It's much worse now

[@Qingep]

Much better now compared to the Russia USSR. However in places like Ukraine and Moldova it's much better back then than now

[@mrconfusion87]

It would be interesting how the generation of Russians who grew up in that turbulent era (those born in the 1970s and 1980s) will run things when they take over the reins of power there!

[@obiwanobiwan13]

The lady at 1:30:50 gets it: being forced to choose between two all-or-nothing blocs of oligarchs and tryants, two "central committees," INSTEAD of the true freedom of liberalism and democratic debate, is part of what brought down Russia and what is bringing down America and other countries in favor of oligarchical autocracies today.

[@dadgbe4834]

true freedom of liberalism does not exist. you have oligarchs and tyrants just as well, you're just too dumb to notice, and your leaders exploit the third world to make your life pleasant enough that you don't revolt.

[@steelrain9159]

At least we have weapons to defend ourselves

[@christiankalinkina239]

Rip zhirik

[@egorthedude7219]

"-Why is Russia is not democratic?" Democratic Russia:

[@joshualifetree5398]

Well Yelzin was a drunk anyway and in no way can you go from A to B just by clicking your fingers.

[@amacca2085]

What

[@daniellysohirka4258]

They got to see Metallica in 1991.

[@neilreynolds3858]

Thanks for putting this up. I had forgotten or missed most of this but it's personally important. It's when my sweetheart decided that she and her daughter had to leave Russia. It took two more years to finish the paperwork and move to the Netherlands. I have to say that the economic theories of Russia in 1991 sound a lot like what we hear from our WH in 2023. Don't worry, inflation is transitory. There will be a slight disruption and then everything will be perfect. You will own nothing and be happy. Don't complain, you're not starving...yet.

[@dutchschultz3076]

He said a ford Taurus 😅

[@decentrifytech]

LOL This aged well.

[@ronparks8875]

That one Lady hit the nail on the head. Her were these people can go to USA and Israel! HUM

[@pennyAustralia1]

Putin sent them to Israel.

[@mwl5]

Crazy about a Ford Taurus 😂

[@cryptocsguy9282]

1:04:47 At the casino to win money buy gambling instead of buying the dip and shorting stocks on the Moscow stock exchange to take advantage of the terrible economy as a gen z person I have no idea how a normal person would go about buying shares in 90s Russia but as a retail trader knowing what I know now I would have loved to of been there at the time. Normal Russians like everyone else live in a capitalist society but do not understand capitalism the way oligarchs do. 1:08:33 I spoke too soon lol :P

[@wot1fan885]

Russian capitalism sounds like the USAs capitalism lol . Am i wrong ??

[@zoewhite897]

In America Russia is POCCNR. POCCCCNRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[@skaczezbalkonuvlog1919]

What

[@mastersafari5349]

@@skaczezbalkonuvlog1919 РОССИЯ

[@PrimericanIdol]

To anyone wondering why the Russians are fed up and DONE with the west, and why they HAD TO do what they're doing now, show them this.

[@nickjohnson3619]

Sometimes I think the wrong side won the cold war

[@KnowMe327]

Usa - everything is under our plan But there was Putin to fix it

[@simon-wr9ru]

I was in Moscow in October 1993 i was terrific experience.

[@John-dh1gh]

Deregulation should have started at the point of extracting basic commodities allowing the costs and benefits to ripple through to the consumer. Then the next layer down the supply chain. The free for all in a corrupt society from communist times was always going to be problematic. Even in today's Russia they should have a special force of 10,000 who go around purging the nation of racketeers and corporate thieves. It would be in the communist spirit to ensure the vulnerable were not aggrieved by these wrong doers.

[@FhhffvFgcefhi]

The soviet Transition to market economy. After 1991, under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, the country made a significant turn toward developing a market economy by implanting basic tenets such as market-determined prices. Your just stupid calling everything propaganda and not paying attention much of the Soviet Union's GDP was military spending and the production of goods for which there was little demand. The discontinuation of much of that wasteful spending created the false impression of larger than actual economic contraction. Critical elements such as privatization of state enterprises and extensive foreign investment were rushed into place in the first few years of the post-Soviet period. But other fundamental parts of the economic infrastructure, such as commercial banking and authoritative, comprehensive commercial laws, were absent or only partly in place by 1996. Although by the mid-1990s a return to Soviet-era central planning seemed unlikely, the configuration of the post-transition economy remained unpredictable. In economics, shock therapy is a group of policies intended to be implemented simultaneously in order to liberalize the economy, including liberalization of all prices, privatization, trade liberalization, and stabilization via tight monetary policies and fiscal policies. In the case of post-Communist states, it was implemented in order to transition from a command economy to a market economy. successful market economies rest on a framework of law, regulation, and established practice, which cannot be instantaneously created in a society that was formerly authoritarian, heavily centralised, and subject to state ownership of asset. the U.S. and the IMF should have provided large-scale financial aid to Russia, which was integral to the success of the reforms...

[@GorillaTVe]

i really want to know about the 90s Russia but not from Americans.

[@neilreynolds3858]

Have you tried to find history books written by Russians that have been translated into English? I can't find any except from the time when the Soviet government was producing them and those have obvious bias. There's no market in the West for histories of Russia that don't repeat the same old propaganda that we've been producing for centuries.

[@FhhffvFgcefhi]

The soviet Transition to market economy. After 1991, under the leadership of Boris Yeltsin, the country made a significant turn toward developing a market economy by implanting basic tenets such as market-determined prices. Your just stupid calling everything propaganda and not paying attention much of the Soviet Union's GDP was military spending and the production of goods for which there was little demand. The discontinuation of much of that wasteful spending created the false impression of larger than actual economic contraction. Critical elements such as privatization of state enterprises and extensive foreign investment were rushed into place in the first few years of the post-Soviet period. But other fundamental parts of the economic infrastructure, such as commercial banking and authoritative, comprehensive commercial laws, were absent or only partly in place by 1996. Although by the mid-1990s a return to Soviet-era central planning seemed unlikely, the configuration of the post-transition economy remained unpredictable. In economics, shock therapy is a group of policies intended to be implemented simultaneously in order to liberalize the economy, including liberalization of all prices, privatization, trade liberalization, and stabilization via tight monetary policies and fiscal policies. In the case of post-Communist states, it was implemented in order to transition from a command economy to a market economy. successful market economies rest on a framework of law, regulation, and established practice, which cannot be instantaneously created in a society that was formerly authoritarian, heavily centralised, and subject to state ownership of asset. the U.S. and the IMF should have provided large-scale financial aid to Russia, which was integral to the success of the reforms

[@dima-ty3td]

this is the time when the whole soviet nation was robbed and led to whatever we have now

[@kelarens7856]

Maybe they made up beforehand🎉wink wink

[@arthurduvald9233]

This horde has never had and will never have a normal leader in the world.

[@thebasedspectre3048]

The bigotry is strong in this one

[@davehoward8998]

In America, when they have elections, do they fire on the Whitehouse???? They do now!!😂

[@user-gh1ki1hu7y]

Реформы нужны были. Но не такой ценой. Беда в том что тупые правитиле тех времён

[@dimastershok6091]

Когда правители были умные хоть где-то?) нигде) всегда кто-то недоволен.

[@daddy_1453]

USSR fell apart peacefully.... it just took 30 years for the wars to break out.

[@user-bz9sj8mh5d]

No, it did not. Azerbaijan-Armenia were pretty much at war before the fall of the USSR, and some rather bloody wars broke out quite soon after. The fall of the USSR was anything but peaceful.

[@Qingep]

- Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict since 1990s - Kyrgyzstan-Tajikistan conflict since 1990s - Moldova & Transnistria conflict 1990-current - Ukrainian government being overthrown by the west 2013 Don't see how it got anymore peaceful

[@eamonwright7488]

@@Qingep Abkhazia/Georgia, The Ossetian conflicts, Chechen, Dagestan, Ingushetia...

[@richardmoloney689]

We shudda broke it up while we cud

[@neilreynolds3858]

That's exactly what the neo-cons who are trying to get us into a war with Russia think. Unfortunately for all of us, that ends with both the US, Russia, and Europe in ashes and China picking up the pieces of civilization that are left.

[@hernancortez5995]

They r certain people who love to see russia weak all the time no matter what

[@neilreynolds3858]

Yes - the West...

[@user-oi9tg2qp7h]

Большее половины сказанного в фильме о нашей стране неправда.

[@thesceptic1018]

Which half?

[@MH-jt3lx]

They should have went a ways off and too ten cows and two bulls and started their own farm then get a tractor from somewhere else.