Its territory spans 1 1 time zones, including dozens of different nationalities. From the map, it seems that understanding such a huge and complex "Russia" as a country is not comprehensive, but more like a geographical concept (although many places have been robbed).
At the same time, the national characteristics of Russians are not obvious. After defeating Germany, the Soviet authorities really boasted that it was "the victory of the Russians". But more often, these descendants of Eastern Slavs are only regarded as one of the many nationalities in the Soviet Union, with the same status as Kazakhs, Ukrainians or Armenians, and even lower sense of existence.
This is obviously a deliberate result. In the ruling logic of the Soviet Union, Russians are Soviets, and there is a natural complementary relationship between them: after the October Revolution, the concept of the Soviet Union covered Russian land, and the existence of "Russia" made the concept of the Soviet Union substantive. The boundary between "Russia" and "Soviet Union" is thus deliberately confused.
In Gorbachev's era, "Russianism" sprang up suddenly and its sense of existence became stronger and stronger. The same thing happened in East Germany. The official propaganda of frederick the great increased, and the Germanic spirit began to recover. When this happens, it often means that the country is in decline, the mobilization ability of political slogans is getting worse and worse, and the public's sense of nationalism is getting stronger and stronger.
At the same time, nationalism has become the best and safest form of political confrontation for the opposition. In the Soviet Union and East Germany, people who directly criticize politics are often persecuted, while those who make a fuss about nationalism are not suppressed, and their remarks may be beneficial to the authorities. Therefore, it is not surprising that there will be a revival of "greater Russian chauvinism" in various media at the end of the Soviet Union.
This is the background of Yeltsin's sudden emergence. Before he became the secretary of the Central Committee, he was a serious official under Brezhnev, in charge of industrial construction. Yeltsin rose step by step until 1987 was punished for criticizing his superiors for exceeding their authority.
After suffering losses, Yeltsin instinctively turned himself into a "Russian" (not a Soviet) politician with his unique political vision and thorough understanding of the current situation. In the March election of 1990, he first emerged as a political representative of the Russian Federation, and then became the chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet (Russian Parliament).
From the moment he ascended the throne of power, Boris Yeltsin transformed himself into a reformist leader and announced his resignation from the Party in July 1990. He took "Moscow, Russia" as the power base and targeted comrades in "Moscow, Soviet Union". Now, his main target is Gorbachev himself, although he was once the strong backing of the Soviet President.
The Soviet leader became less and less successful, and his popularity declined rapidly. In particular, his strategic mistakes in the reform not only failed to appease the Soviet States, but also created a highly independent Russia. Yeltsin and his partners soon discovered that the new Soviet under Gorbachev was about to become a punching bag for people to vent their dissatisfaction. So Yeltsin dug the corner of his old club and made extensive alliances with countries dissatisfied with the Soviet Union, with the intention of turning the Soviet Union into a one-man army.
Gorbachev is not stupid. He is not unaware of the threat of this alliance to the Soviet Union. But what can Gorbachev do at this time? It is too late. Now, he can only unite with conservative officials who miss the good old days of the Soviet Union, and this group is the stumbling block he has been trying to remove.
While Gorbachev was still struggling to maintain a "controllable federation", Yeltsin enthusiastically promoted the independence of the three Baltic countries. 1991April, Gorbachev was forced to recognize the right of free separation of Soviet States, which further damaged his rights and convinced his conservative political opponents that the old man was not far from stepping down!
In the opinion poll on June 199 1, Yeltsin surpassed Gorbachev in popularity and was elected as the first elected president since the founding of the Russian Soviet Republic. His election broke the balance of power and made the conservatives in the Soviet Union more and more desperate. In desperation, they decided to put all their eggs in one basket: replace the incompetent Gorbachev and save the situation!