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Demonstrators rally against terrorism in the area next to St. Basil's Cathedral, right, on Red Square in Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2004. (AP Photo/Mikhail Metzel)
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INDEPTH: RUSSIA
A profile
CBC News Online | Feb. 28, 2005
It's a relatively new thing, this flirtation with democracy that gripped Russia in the last decade of the 20th century. And it's been a little awkward, too.
Even before Soviet times, the notion that every person should have a say in how the country is run was somewhat discouraged. Often, brutally. The job of ruling was in the hands of the czars and – to a lesser extent – a small class of wealthy landowners.
The last of the Soviet leaders – Mikhail Gorbachev – tried to reform the face of communism under his policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). Under glasnost, the government acknowledged the brutality of the era of Josef Stalin, as well as the corruption and stagnation of the Brezhnev era.
Soviet leaders eased restrictions on the media, and a period of detente opened between East and West. Gorbachev hoped that being candid about the state of the country would accelerate his perestroika program.
Perestroika was an attempt to transform the stagnant, inefficient command economy of the Soviet Union into a decentralized market-oriented economy. Industrial managers and local government and party officials were given greater decision-making authority. Gorbachev also introduced open elections in an attempt to democratize the Communist party organization.
But government change could not keep pace with public appetite. Demands for reform swept the entire Eastern Bloc and Communist governments caved in to movements for democracy.
The fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 brought down the most visible post-war barrier between East and West. That was also the year that Russians were allowed to take part in direct elections for a national parliament for the first time.
Among the big winners that year was Boris Yeltsin. The former mayor of Moscow had run afoul of Gorbachev in the past for criticizing the pace of reform as too slow.
In less than a year, Yeltsin was president of the Russian Federation. He was credited with nipping an attempt by the Soviet military to overthrow Gorbachev and install a more traditional Communist government.
The end of the Soviet Union was near. On Dec. 8, 1991, Yeltsin and the presidents of Ukraine and Belarus announced the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It would replace the Soviet Union, handling international and economic matters for the member nations.
On Dec. 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned and by the end of the month, the Russian flag had replaced the flag of the Soviet Union atop the Kremlin.
Since then, Russia has struggled to build a democratic political system and a market economy to replace the strict social, political, and economic controls of the communist period.
It has not been easy. People used to generous government subsidies have struggled to get by in a market economy on meager pensions.
Economic discontent has led to a resurgence in support for the Communists. The party took one-third of the seats in parliamentary elections in December 2003.
An ongoing guerrilla conflict in Chechnya continues to plague Moscow. President Vladimir Putin has vowed measures to increase security – measures his critics fear increase the state's authority and erode individual rights and democratic institutions.
Critics also worried about Putin's handling of the 2004 election in Ukraine. The Moscow-backed candidate – Viktor Yanukovych – emerged as the winner in a vote that was tainted with allegations of widespread fraud. The result was eventually overturned and the pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko easily won the replayed election.
On Feb. 24,2005, U.S. President George W. Bush met with Putin in Bratislava, Slovakia. He called Putin a friend and a partner. But he also urged the Russian leader not to turn the clock back on democratic reforms.
"Russia has made its choice in favor of democracy 14 years ago, independently without pressure from the outside," Putin said. "This is our final choice, and we have no way back."
He added that Russia remains committed to the fundamental principles of democracy.
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| QUICKFACTS: |
Capital: Moscow
Area: 17,075,200 sq. km
Population: 143,782,338 (July 2004 est.)
Head of state: Vladimir Putin
GDP: $1.282 trillion (2003 est.)
GDP (real growth rate): 7.3% (2003 est.)
Unemployment: 8.5% (2003 est.)
Life expectancy: 66.39 years (59.91 years for men, 73.27 for women)
Ethnic groups: Russian 81.5%, Tatar 3.8%, Ukrainian 3%, Chuvash 1.2%, Bashkir 0.9%, Belarusian 0.8%, Moldavian 0.7%, other 8.1% (1989)
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