20th Century. Putsch. Collapse of the USSR. The Wild 90s. Russian History. Historical Project.
By the late 1980s, reforms across various spheres of life were in full swing in the USSR. Free elections were introduced. But the country's petrodollars had run out. The population was rapidly impoverished. Crime was on the rise. In 1991, the government's weakness led to an attempted coup.
In this episode, you'll learn how Mikhail Gorbachev defeated the putschists but was unable to preserve the USSR. When the first oligarchs emerged in Russia, and why the communists could well have regained power in 1996. And how profoundly the 1998 default affected the domestic economy.
This and much more is covered in the new episode of the "Russian History" project.