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Nikita Khrushchev, who took over after Stalin's death in 1953, declared his intentions to build real communism within 20 years. Hard liners, people opposed to his reforms and policy of peaceful coexistence with the West, replaced Khrushchev in 1964 with Leonid Brezhnev. Until his death in 1982, Brezhnev orchestrated the expansion of Soviet influence in the developing world, ordered the invasion of Afghanistan, and built up the Soviet nuclear arsenal. This invasion proved to be a terrible mistake. The consequences of this invasion had a devastating impact on relations with the west and internal stability. Many millions of people lost their lives in there. Moreover, the long-term result of this invasion is the continuous civil war in Afghanistan and as a result instability in the region. When the next two leaders died in quick succession, a younger man, Mikhail Gorbachev, rose to power in 1986.
Gorbachev soon introduced the reform concepts of perestroika (restructuring) and glasnost (openness). Many of his reforms failed and the economy of the Soviet Union during its last years was deteriorating. The union quickly unraveled in 1991 after several republics declared independence. Russia's leader at the time was Boris Yeltsin.
In 1993, after Yeltsin dissolved a combative parliament, his opponents voted to impeach him and seized the "White House" (parliament building) in an attempted coup. Following street riots, the showdown turned violent and militants were forced from the building by tank fire. That victory and the approval of Yeltsin's new constitution were two highlights of an otherwise difficult term in office. Communists and ultra-nationalists mounted a strong challenge to him in the 1996 elections. Despite poor health, Yeltsin prevailed in the voting to become Russia's first ever freely elected president. A violent 21-month war with separatists in the Chechnya region tarnished Yeltsin's image at home and abroad. Finding a solution was complicated by internal rivalries, rebellious military commanders, and Yeltsin's failing health. Tens of thousands died before a cease-fire finally restored peace in August 1996. Russia withdrew its troops in 1997 and Chechens elected their own local leaders. They have de facto control over internal affairs until 200 1, when the two parties make a final decision on Chechnya's bid for independence. However, the war was not over.
The invasion of Chechen rebels to the Russian territory, Dagestan made Vladimir Putin, acting Prime Minister launch a new attack on Chechen rebels. Putin’s initial war successes brought his a success in the President’s elections in 2000. After becoming a president Vladimir Putin started a new wave of restoring the “constitutional order” in Chechnya.
Russian government made several attempts to resolve the difficulties between Russian and other Republics of CIS. In 1996, Russia and Belarus agreed to closely linking their societies without actually merging. The presidents of each nation then signed a union charter in 1997 outlining, among other things, how Russia and Belarus would cooperate and their ethnic groups. Also in 1997, Russia made peace with Ukraine, over ownership of the Soviet Union’s Black Sea naval fleet, helped a peace agreement in Tadjikistan, participated in international summits, and announced that it would no longer target nuclear weapons at former Cold War enemies.
Russia played an important role in Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Russia has peacekeeping forces in Tadjiskistan and much helped the restoration of peace in this republic. Russia helps the Tadjikistanian government to protect its borders of illegal drug and gun smuggling from Afghanistan. Russian peace keeping forces made a number of joint training with the military representatives from the Republics of Central Asia and NATO. Great Russian history shows that many times Russia had to face the difficult and challenging times and still was managed to survive as a nation and was not dissolved by foreign invaders. The problems in Russia are immese, but Russia will be able to cope with all its problems and will rise again as a great power on the world stage.
Russia’s population, the crux of Russian reform, of 148 million is shrinking annually by 0.7 percent. Ethnic Russians form 82 percent of the entire population. Other groups include Tartars (4 percent), Ukrainians (3 percent), Chuvashes (I percent), Byelorussians (almost I percent), Udrnurts, Kazaks, Buryats, Tuvinians, Yakutians, Bashkirs, and others. The capital and largest city is Moscow, with a population of more than 10 million. Other large cities (one to three million residents each) include St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Yekaterinburg, Saratov, and Samara. Most Russians still live in rural areas, but young people are moving to the cities. Russia's Human Development Index' value (0.792) ranks it 67th out of 175 countries. Serious gaps between rich and poor, skilled and unskilled, and healthy and ill are widening and threatening Russia's future development. Women earn only one-fifth of the nation's income. Migration of ethnic Russians from the republics of the former Soviet Union to Russia increased the total Russian population but not significantly enough to offset the gap between mortality and birth rates in Russia.
Реферат опубликован: 30/06/2006