Boris Yeltsin

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin {{Audio|ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg|listen}} (Russian: ????? ?????????? ??????, Boris Nikolaevi? El'cin; b. 1 February 1931, Butka (Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia, Soviet Union), was president of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was the first democratically elected leader in the country's history.

President of the RSFSR

In March 1989, Yeltsin was elected to the Congress of People's Deputies and gained a seat on the Supreme Soviet. In May 1990, he was appointed speaker of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic (RSFSR). On June 12, 1990, Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR adopted a declaration of sovereignty and, in July, Yeltsin quit the CPSU.

Related Topics:
1989 - Supreme Soviet - 1990 - Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic - June 12

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On June 12, 1991, Yeltsin won 57 percent of the popular vote in democratic presidential elections for the Russian republic, defeating Gorbachev's preferred candidate, Nikolai Ryzhkov. Yeltsin took office on July 10.

Related Topics:
June 12 - 1991 - Nikolai Ryzhkov - July 10

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On August 18 1991, a coup against Gorbachev was launched by hardline communists headed by Vladimir Kryuchkov. Gorbachev was held in the Crimea while Yeltsin raced to the White House of Russia in Moscow to defy the coup. The White House was surrounded by the military but the troops defected in the face of mass popular demonstrations, Yeltsin making a memorable speech from the turret of a tank. By August 21 most of the coup leaders had fled Moscow and Gorbachev was "rescued" from the Crimea and then returned to Moscow. Yeltsin was subsequently hailed by his supporters around the world for rallying mass opposition to the coup.

Related Topics:
August 18 - 1991 - Coup - Vladimir Kryuchkov - Crimea - White House of Russia - August 21

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Although restored to his position, Gorbachev's powers were now fatally compromised. Neither union nor Russian power structures heeded his commands as support had swung over to Yeltsin. Through the fall of 1991, the Russian government took over the union government, ministry by ministry. In November 1991, Yeltsin issued a decree banning the Communist Party throughout the RSFSR.

Related Topics:
1991 - November

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In early December 1991, Ukraine voted for independence from the Soviet Union. A week later, on December 8, Boris Yeltsin met with Ukrainian president Leonid Kravchuk and the leader of Belarus, Stanislau Shushkevich, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha residence, where the three presidents announced the dissolution of the USSR and that they would establish a voluntary Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in its place.

Related Topics:
December - Ukraine - December 8 - Leonid Kravchuk - Belarus - Stanislau Shushkevich - Belovezhskaya Pushcha - Commonwealth of Independent States

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On December 24, the Russian Federation took the Soviet Union's seat in the United Nations. The next day, President Gorbachev resigned and the USSR ceased to exist (see Collapse of the Soviet Union), thereby ending the world's largest and most influential communist regime.

Related Topics:
December 24 - United Nations - Collapse of the Soviet Union

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