Boris Yeltsin
Born in 1931, died in 2007. A member of the communist party 1961-90, candidate member of the politbureau, chairman of the Moscow city committee (“major”) 1985-87; the first President of the Russian Federation 1991-99.
Boris Yeltsin was the man who had a major role to play in the peaceful demise of the USSR. The rivalry between Yeltsin and Gorbachev was to a large extent personal. It was Gorbachev who helped Yeltsin rise in the power hierarchy, promoting him to the chairmanship of the Moscow party. But Yeltsin did not observe party discipline: his critique against Gorbachev brought his dismissal from high offices.
Yeltsin did not give up though. Gorbachev's moves towards democracy gave him the chance to rise again, this time on the back of a popular vote. Yeltsin was jovial and friendly and a great man of the people; furthermore he had a much better sense than Gorbachev for what the real desires of the people were. As a critic of the slow space of Gorbachev's reforms he was elected as Moscow's deputy to the people's congress and some time later to the presidency of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR. On 12 June 1990 Yeltsin declared Russia sovereign (Estonia had done the same already on 16 November 1988). In July, he made a show of his walkout from the Party.
As a counter-weight to the President of the USSR, Gorbachev, Yeltsin established the institution of the president of the Russian SFSR. On 12 June 1991, he was elected in democratic elections with a 57% majority the President of the Russian Federation. In contrast, Gorbachev never had a popular mandate.
In order to rock the boat of Gorbachev, and with that the pillars of the USSR, Yeltsin supported the ambitions of the republics. For the Baltic States, he was a consistent ally. One can say that it was Yeltsin's agreement with the three Baltic States on 13 January 1991, which recognised their sovereignty that laid the ground for the restoration of their independence. As President of Russia, Yeltsin recognised Estonia's independence as early as on 24 August 1991.
- Estonian SSR
- Latvian SSR
- Lithuanian SSR
- Russian SSR
- Byelorussian SSR
- Ukrainian SSR
- People´s Republic of Poland
- German Democratic Republic
- Czechoslovak Socialist Republic
- People's Republic of Hungary
- Socialist Republic of Romania
- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- The Moldavian SSR
- The People´s Republic of Bulgaria