satcher i got there were attempts at the right class noticed for the first time the echo of those intense events now a case of a century ago can still be held today both in a new russia under around the globe. the nine hundred eighty s. the height of a soviet period that was later characterized as stagnation by nine hundred eighty two the country had been led to seventeen years by leonid brezhnev who was by now a feeble and sick old man along with his allies known as the kremlin old god brezhnev's leadership strategy was to maintain the status quo. so as it is our positions became weakened in the late nineteen seventies growth rates were on the way. and drop of came to power. we had zero growth actually we had negative growth rates. and dropoff rose to the peak of

soviet leadership integration and died in november one thousand nine hundred two before the handover to the k.g.b. the most powerful and notorious of soviet institutions. in one of these speeches and drop of said this that we need to understand what kind of society with built those were his own words in the context of those diplomatic times that sounded like a dissident phrase. was also elderly and in poor health he died after just thirteen months in office his replacement constantine cheney and co was even more fragile the sequence of crimean deaths was referred to by many as the gun carriage race which usually means the race to the caribbean. in one thousand nine hundred five gorbachev was fifty four many thought he was too young to head the government the decision was made by competing influential alliances within the top brass each

with their own motives element is broken or elected karma or much as the general secretary of the c.p.s.u. something commit. a criminal going to nothing in a comfortable semi retirement they saw in gorbachev an inexperienced politician with peasant roots that they could easily manipulate. when gold was full of gold nominal power he had not yet one real authority in the party or the state. by contrast the few advocates of reform hoped that this relatively young and energetic man would be able to transform the nation. deliver to keep report on economic reform just a month after taking the nation's top post in march of ninety five. here we have a deeply developed strategy a program of perestroika that has been thought through and suffered.

it is through the. perestroika was meant to fix only the economy of the book but later the world also came to employ other issues the report was based on what had been done under and drop of. the old party leadership viewed the young leaders ideas with suspicion and such an intensely indoctrinated country popular opinion was about as insignificant as it was difficult to gauge. hearing my first days in power which it suddenly occurred to me and i must go out and listen to what people had to say. it was the first time ever that a soviet leader met with the people in such a spontaneous manner head of state face to face with the public in a country where politics had long been conducted behind closed doors it was a sensation. at least closer to the people i missed closest to be.

soviet television gave wide coverage to go off numerous trips and encounters with the people it turned into a t.v. star with his popularity overshadowing even the country's favor. the party's top and regional functionaries grew increasingly uneasy about gorbachev popularity and his determination to push for economic reform. you. know i had to put it together from scratch. by nine hundred eighty six half of the party at high level. and being replaced with younger people. to the monkeys canonize yeltsin who became head of the moscow party apparatus and a member of the powerful political road. the people supported that leader a team of reformers were sent to go ahead with the changes but there was a catastrophic shortfall in funding for a fully fledged reforms the arms race and cultural commitments accounted for the lion's share of the budget. let's get rid of the ranks of the cold.

met with american president ronald reagan in geneva in november one hundred eighty five the one on one meeting lasted around forty minutes. though the bullshit when i emerged from the reading i was asked about my impressions a veritable dinosaur i said when reagan was asked the same question he said a diehard bolshevik but a couple of days later those two diehards produced a joint statement that the whole world had expected to hear. joe matlock was an american ambassador to russia during the perestroika years he knew just how difficult it was to move from strong enemies to good friends. i think that the victory for gorbachev he was able. to in

the. with the cooperation of. the first president bush was able to in the cold war it took both of them to do it their cooperation or what did it you can't say that one was a victor over the other because every agreement we made was in the interests of both countries on january the first nine hundred eighty six the people of the two nations saw the first movie as greetings by both a u.s. president the soviet leader i'm very glad to congratulate the american people with the new year. this is ronald reagan president of the united states and speaking to the peoples of the soviet union on the occasion of the new year. the climate of relations with foreign countries was getting warmer. but domestic issues were still pressing the planned economy had become second nature to bureaucrats at all levels they could distribute things but they couldn't turn

a profit new economic programs were not working. but that was as far as. a short shelf and is closest associates played a big. part they realized lincoln was really the neck of the qualities. they need. in one thousand nine hundred nine yes it was put in charge of the state commission for economic reform a rank on a par with government ministers he served in that position up until the collapse of the soviet union today he's the president and founder of the highest school of economics if gainey still hold seminars to train economic experts in modern russia it would infer that when somebody at the top suggested people should no longer be sent to prison the labor camps and should be given a measure of freedom that was it but the more fair decision spall the stamp of approval by millions of people but some point things began breaking elders control of.

ellen and connor became a c.n.n. correspondent in russia during the second year of perestroika she watched the radical changes unfold in the mass media very closely topics that had never been raised before started to appear on the pages of soviet newspapers people were no longer afraid to speak their mind or attend many informal meetings that were taking place across the country a member with my phone my western colleagues western reporters we would sit in those meetings and sort of look at each other and kind of pinch ourselves and say i'm sitting at with the founding fathers just like it might have been two hundred years ago in this country at the continental congress it watching people debate what country they're going to have the topics were not only achievements and prospects the endless problems were also on everyone's minds. it's too bad that more people in civil society more people at the grassroots of russian society are

not really as economically benefited or politically benefited as as i think many people hoped so i think that's a disappointment and i where to put the blame who knows. the kemah of a region in central siberia is one of russia's major coal producing areas people going down the mines every day have a particularly strong feeling of camera. the soviet union's first mass strikes began in the coal mining areas on one occasion half a million workers in various parts of the country went on strike almost simultaneously. no one was working they said go back so we took a bus and went to the square yes to remember how many people were there. at the top of a retired miner remembers the events of those days frequently with his former

colleagues his team was the first to go on strike. when you were to go we didn't perform. we didn't try to change the system we did want was to change the attitude of the party bureaucracy for us the workers is that they now if you're over there decided to launch perestroika ok mr together all right mr gorbachev if you start from above i will start from miller been. many coal mines were given a measure of independence now the cash available to the miners directly depended on coal sales basically that's what compelled them to strike. then we'll stand until the final decision is made. prime minister nick clegg which calls to himself came from a mining family went to negotiate with the miners the negotiations involve some very hard words. that we don't risk of came here to face people from all over this

town his facial expression abruptly changed we both did realise that here were the people he was supposed to be working for it wasn't just a faceless small. i would have liked to see you facing coal miners and talking to them i can tell you it's not a pleasant experience but. it would be if you knew you had to say something to them . well think about it and make a decision. he said. at that moment the black faced masses of people with coal dust all over their overalls breathed out as one would agree. that enough is enough. this was all first slogan enough thinking speak up now you'll have no other chance. that. the differences seem to define a solution only soviet entrepreneurs could find

a common language with the miners. first private companies were called cooperatives and businessmen operators. were against the column it were against the resellers who were there with it but we're not against the corporate sort of. the cooperators were ready to take the responsibility upon themselves and pay the salaries of famines of miners. would tell them would start selling coal at a high price and will introduce innovations in the coal mines you know. the wrong cooperatives was the first timid attempt to allow private entrepreneurs ship in the soviet union. was the first soviet millionaire his co-operative made its money supplying computers given that foreign currency exchange was banned in the soviet union some of his first dollars from prostitutes working in hotels for foreigners is a bit more than five hundred dollars for example could get you a computer like this one it takes him five days to bring the computer into the

country we're officially sold it to an enterprise willing to buy it so a five hundred dollar computer faced us nearly five hundred thousand troops nearly one hundred and seventy thousand dollars. by that time the so-called new russians were lucky co-operative workers quickly and huge sums of money while the vast majority of their countrymen faced growing hardship. the close up team has been to the saucer lane region where the biggest russian salmon caviar processing factory is located now no argy goes to northern paradise where many still live off the land. new ways are being found to fight a common term mode. and let russia's first free elections railroad. thousand years

ago. welcome to the road region russia close up. wealthy british style. markets finance scandals find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cause or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our. russia was introduced in the soviet union in one thousand nine hundred nine for the first time since the end of the second world war some items were sold instructing limited quantities nobody could buy more than two hundred grams of busser at a time no more than ten packs of cigarettes long queues and empty shelves with

a whole lot of the times a wave of strikes and spontaneous malaise did not occur prices swept the country. itself its people are dying. a communist country to be preaching friendship and among its people for nearly seventy years soar its first serious ethnic to step says these turned into a massive suppose that eventually broke the massive mishearing one of the soviet empire. exposed by nationalist demonstrations and unrest. there was a platform put up for the first mass rally in june one thousand eight speakers talked about freedom and then everybody started singing the lithuanian national anthem but many people couldn't sing because they were crying but the more they knew something was changing there was more openness there was a glimpse of freedom people could now talk freely without fear.

lansberg a says a composer and professor at the vilnius conservatory he always pictured himself at the head of an orchestra not the head of a nation he became the rallying point for a host of disconnected new political forces in lithuania which united in an association. with. strike at a go through to the end yes we wanted to see changes in the economy more glasnost and more freedom of expression but we also wanted to be free in decision making. glasnost the russian word for openness proclaimed by gorbachev looked ever more like a genie out of the bottle for the first time infighting among the soviet and became a matter of debate in the media boris yeltsin was unhappy about the slow half hearted progress of reforms he publicly demanded that the party's new does initiate more vigorous and thorough transformations sensing a potential rival gorbachev booted yeltsin from the police and stripped him of his

seat at the top of the moscow party organization. that he who claims that he can solve everything for the better when he comes to power is a political croak. in the old days this would have spell the end of a political korea. and i can forgive myself for being too liberal and didn't send boris yeltsin where i should have that was my mistake. the liberal press now saw a political and man of the people. backed any democratic initiatives such as freedom of speech and market reforms. the vent prime minister. not to rush with the political reforms in the country. and. i used to tell which of many times we have to stop all of that we will lose the country tomorrow i will resign and to morrow you will be left with yeltsin in the same team you won't last for long but

he lost it for a year. december nine hundred ninety by that time gold plummeted by contrast boris yeltsin became the people's favorite politician. he was the first time profile russian official to show his hobbies in public. the basic knowledge of boris yeltsin always was a sporting man with a fighting spirit one who kept himself fit that was especially true of tennis it may freeze or it counteracts with his party colleagues. by nine hundred ninety two ninety vocalists had become nelson's right hand man both on the court and in government yeltsin appreciated people's fighting spirit many of his associates had to learn to play tennis. they discuss politics in the locker room. there was no getting away from that yeltsin himself played tennis quite well political tennis

was another of his strong points he was good at attacking and counter-attacking his opponents by exploiting their weaknesses he conflicted with the kremlin's position by backing republics when they bid for independence. in one nine hundred ninety fatalities landsberg is was elected chairman of the nephew anian parliament under his leadership the body immediately proclaimed the baltic republics independence. in january nine hundred ninety one we received an ultimatum from gorbachev demanding that lithuania should admit it to soviet constitution it was again in force in our country that's to say he recognized the fact that it was already known for here he threaten to use military force in must we rejoin the soviet union with. a detachment of ahmed vehicles and special forces units and to film me as the list un in stone to building fortifications around the building of the new parliament using concrete blocks and bombs while. later part of

the barricades were put on the glass walls and turned into the museum for the republic's independence. and their barbed wire symbolizes the oppression. the prison camps and the borders. the kremlin hoped a demonstration of force would be enough to compel the young republic to make concessions. we said we had no right we've not been elected to have the country rejoin the soviet union it was a massacre followed. the television center was attacked in the early hours of january the thirteenth the building was soon counted on the work of independently viewing in television shut down. i know hello mark i feel we have been attacked. we can hear shots coming from all

sides there with wayne in radio station has already been captured we're still. is still an anchor on a state run television channel that was the report which sealed her fame as a young journalist. i knew that they broke the door with their axes this batch has been left here. as a reminder of. the bella. back in the kremlin some of the top brass was still in denial hastily drafted new human treaty was designed to keep the u.s.s.r. together. it was the result of joint work by delegates representing nine out of fifteen republics the treaty was shared tool to be signed on august the twentieth one thousand nine hundred one but unexpected events that broke out in moscow a day earlier buried all hopes for the preservation of what was left of the soviet union. we really didn't let them sign the soviet union agreements on august the

nineteenth that's right but its creators could sign it the next day. after toppling gorbachev from power eight elite party officials designated themselves as the state emergency committee all television programming was replaced with tchaikovsky's ballet swan lake and committee members addressing the nation. their proclaimed political program has faded into memory but the trembling hands of state emergency committee chairman get now d.n.i. if with the most symbolic sign of the coup. tanks on moscow's streets a coup in the world's biggest nuclear state. cnn's moscow correspondent ellen o'connor had taken that day off she spent a whole year gathering the correct paperwork to adopt a russian girl called marina from

a moscow orphanage on august the nineteenth one thousand nine hundred one the final meeting was shuttled in the meantime of course there were tanks. all over the streets and there was a huge line between me and the office so i was literally ran that story had a happy ending marina lived in russia with her new moment till she was nine then the entire o'connor family moved to the us marina remembers well the primary school she attended in russia and dreams of visiting her native country after she graduates from an american university. do you consider russia home. i don't really have or. it's still like that now like right now i'm living. like well like. moscow almost nine hundred ninety one boris yeltsin one of the most active opponents of the state

emergency committee. the committee itself has to pass the twenty first. go up. no doubt the way to solve it the union collapsed was a sad event it was a tragedy but when that happened the soviet treasury was empty there was a dislocated economy and there was a real threat of famine more importantly its governance had broken down with unpredictable consequences from a bloody civil war to nuclear weapons landing in the hands of uncontrollable forces but we've managed to prevent all that there are. december the eighth one thousand nine hundred one so the last chapter in the history of the soviet union with the appearance of the bella veggie cream and they confirmed the statehood of the former soviet republics and the emergence of a new political entity the commonwealth of independent states the agreements were

signed by two top ranking officials representing each of the republics yeltsin misrepresented russia. and the commune that document there is a masterpiece of twenty first century diplomacy. empire crammed with nuclear weapons and an enormous backlog of deep seated problems that had piled up over more than seventy years broke up almost peacefully. december the eighth one thousand nine hundred one was also the soviet sufficient last day but also not the perestroika one country gave way to fifteen each of them subsequently followed its path. hungry for the full story we've got it first hand the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers.

paternal friendship in full force as venezuela's president gets down to business in moscow. corporations are on the table its president mean that it's true that. the relationship really it's just like it's. one in ten germans want to return a. poll shows there's one me right xenophobia. close up team brushes ancient city of north korea to discover how people there are making the most of nature's bounty. and investment experts warn of global economic doomsday less than any events of the last three years i'll have more in

the business bulletin in about twenty minutes time. costing live from moscow this is our top story now russia and venezuela are focusing their energies on getting closer and that includes a raft of ties ranging from nuclear power to military development here chavez continues his ninth visit to the country with a meeting with president medvedev later on friday. has more. it's been a recurring theme in this visit of kools been cheering previous ones that president chavez in the dead of it we use rates of the importance with which they recall the closeness of the venezuelan relationship if we look back to the polls for example in two thousand and nine venezuela was one of the very few.