Boris Yeltsin

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin Russian Борис Николаевич Ельцин 1 February 1931 23 April 2007 was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as the first president of Russia from 1991 to 1999 He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1961 to 1990 He later stood as a political independent during which time he was viewed as being ideologically aligned with liberalism and Russian nationalism Yeltsin was born in Butka Ural Oblast He grew up in Kazan and Berezniki After studying at the Ural State Technical University he worked in construction After joining the Communist Party he rose through its ranks and in 1976 he became First Secretary of the partys Sverdlovsk Oblast committee Yeltsin was initially a supporter of the perestroika reforms of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev He later criticized the reforms as being too moderate and called for a transition to a multiparty representative democracy In 1987 he was the first person to resign from the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union which established his popularity as an antiestablishment figure In 1990 he was elected chair of the Russian Supreme Soviet and in 1991 was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic RSFSR becoming the first popularlyelected head of state in Russian history Yeltsin allied with various nonRussian nationalist leaders and was instrumental in the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union in December of that year With the dissolution of the Soviet Union the RSFSR became the Russian Federation an independent state Through that transition Yeltsin remained in office as president He was later reelected in the 1996 election which was claimed by critics to be pervasively corrupt Yeltsin transformed Russias command economy into a capitalist market economy by implementing economic shock therapy market exchange rate of the ruble nationwide privatization and lifting of price controls Economic downturn volatility and inflation ensued Amid the economic shift a small number of oligarchs obtained a majority of the national property and wealth while international monopolies came to dominate the market A constitutional crisis emerged in 1993 after Yeltsin ordered the unconstitutional dissolution of the Russian parliament leading parliament to impeach him The crisis ended after troops loyal to Yeltsin stormed the parliament building and stopped an armed uprising he then introduced a new constitution which significantly expanded the powers of the president Secessionist sentiment in the Russian Caucasus led to the First Chechen War War of Dagestan and Second Chechen War between 1994 and 1999 Internationally Yeltsin promoted renewed collaboration with Europe and signed arms control agreements with the United States Amid growing internal pressure he resigned by the end of 1999 and was succeeded as president by his chosen successor Vladimir Putin whom he had appointed prime minister a few months earlier He kept a low profile after leaving office and was accorded a state funeral upon his death in 2007 Source Article Boris Yeltsin from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA 30