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staged the most remarkable comeback in Soviet history. His

reputation as an advocate of democracy and economic reform had

survived his fall, and he now became the people's champion in

Moscow, winning a multicandidate election to the U.S.S.R. Congress

of People's Deputies (i.e., the new Soviet parliament) in March

1989 by a landslide. A year later, on May 29, 1990, the parliament

of the Russian S.F.S.R. elected him president of the Russian

republic against Gorbachev's wishes. In his new role, Yeltsin

publicly supported the right of Soviet republics to greater

autonomy within the Soviet Union, took steps to give the Russian

republic more autonomy, and declared himself in favour of a

market-oriented economy and a multiparty political system.

In July 1990 Yeltsin quit the Communist Party. His victory in the

first direct, popular elections for the presidency of the Russian

republic (June 1991) was seen as a mandate for economic reform.

During the brief coup against Gorbachev by hard-line Communists in

August 1991, Yeltsin defied the coup leaders and rallied

resistance in Moscow while calling for the return of Gorbachev.

When the coup crumbled a few days after it had begun, Yeltsin

emerged as the country's most powerful political figure. In

December 1991 he and the presidents of Ukraine and Belarus

(Belorussia) established a new Commonwealth of Independent States

that would replace the foundering U.S.S.R. When the Soviet Union

collapsed after Gorbachev's resignation as Soviet president on

December 25, the Russian government under Yeltsin's leadership

then assumed many of the former superpower's responsibilities for

defense, foreign affairs, and finance.

As president of an independent Russia, Yeltsin set about the

formidable task of transforming his country's decaying command

economy into one based on free markets and private enterprise.

Early in 1992 he ended government price subsidies and controls

over food and other consumer goods, while also allowing the

unhindered growth of free markets in the cities. In

September-October 1993 Yeltsin's leadership was severely tested

when hard-line legislators staged a coup after Yeltsin had

dissolved parliament. Although the coup was suppressed, Yeltsin's

supporters fared poorly in elections held in December.

EUROPE ADRIFT AFTER THE COLD WAR: Relations with Russia.

20th-Century International Relations Relations with Russia.

Even the prospect of a unified Europe could not ensure peace and

prosperity unless two other issues were addressed: the future of

NATO and the relationship among the EU, the United States, and the

struggling democracies of eastern Europe, above all Russia.

Western relations with the new Russia began auspiciously. In early

1992 Yeltsin toured western Europe and signed friendship treaties

with Britain and France in exchange for aid and credits. On Jan.

3, 1993, Bush and Yeltsin signed the START II pact, promising to

slash their long-range nuclear arsenals by two-thirds within a

decade. After a personal appeal from former President Richard

Nixon, the Bush administration also approved an economic

assistance package for Russia, and Congress voted funds to help

Russia dismantle its nuclear weapons. On April 4, 1993, at a

summit meeting with Yeltsin at Vancouver, Clinton pledged an

additional $1,600,000,000 in aid. It remained unclear, however,

how much the Western powers could influence Russia's future. Did

outside assistance hasten Russia's progress toward capitalism, or

just help it to subsidize old, inefficient industries? Should

Western leaders urge "shock therapy" to propel Russia quickly into

capitalist modes even at the risk of high unemployment, or should

they advise Yeltsin to reform slowly? Should NATO stand firm

against signs of Russian assertion in foreign policy, or might

accommodationist policies boost Yeltsin's popularity at home?

Such questions became paramount after September 1993 when a

coalition of Yeltsin's opponents in the Russian Congress of

People's Deputies challenged his reforms and emergency powers and

called for the President's ouster. On September 21 Yeltsin

dissolved the parliament, and the latter promptly impeached him in

favour of deposed Vice President Aleksandr Rutskoy. Violence soon

erupted between security forces and mobs of Communist and

nationalist sympathizers marching in support of the insurgent

deputies. On October 4, Yeltsin ordered army units to attack the

parliament with heavy weapons, resulting in an estimated 142

deaths. He clearly was acting in "undemocratic" fashion, but he

did so to suppress opponents of democracy who had been elected

under the Communist constitution. When fully free elections were

held in December 1993, however, ex-Communists and extreme

nationalists led by Vladimir Zhirinovsky won stunning victories.

Clinton's expert on Russian affairs, Strobe Talbott, immediately

called for "less shock, more therapy" in Russian economic policy,

and Yelstin proceeded to dismiss his more liberal ministers. He

also took a harder line in foreign policy in hopes of deflecting

the criticism that he was too eager to please his Western

benefactors.

This ominous turn of events called into question the fundamental

assumption of Russian partnership that underpinned Clinton's

foreign policy.

Copyright (c) 1996 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. All Rights