Boris Yeltsin, the one Russian who, more than Mikhail Gorbachev, is responsible for the final dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of Soviet Communism, died today in Russia:
Boris N. Yeltsin, the burly provincial politician who became the first freely elected leader of Russia and a towering figure of his time when he presided over the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the demise of the Communist Party, has died at the age of 76, the Russian government said today.
Though he was far from perfect as President, and was not consistent in removing the more authoritarian aspects of the Soviet rule, Yeltsin will always have a place in history for his role in a 1991 coup attempt that nearly returned the bad old days to the USSR:
Mr. Yeltsin became etched in the minds of the Russian people and, indeed, a world figure, in an act of extraordinary bravery that day when he clambered atop a Soviet Army tank in August 1991 and faced down right-wing forces who were threatening to overthrow Mr. Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader.
Long a thorn in Gorbachev?s side and soon to become his most powerful rival, Mr. Yeltsin on that day was Mr. Gorbachev?s most powerful and effective ally.
?Citizens of Russia,? he declared. ?We are dealing with a right-wing, reactionary, anti-constitutional coup d?etat. We appeal to citizens of Russia to give an appropriate rebuff to the putschists.?
Thousands of Muscovites came out in the street to support him. He defeated the coup and saved Mr. Gorbachev. But not long after, he became the instrument of Mr. Gorbachev?s political downfall, and with it the dissolution of the Soviet state.
But for Mr. Yeltsin’s actions, the coup might well have succeeded and the world would’ve been a very different place.
