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 me an impression if it 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 nine hundred seventy s. growth rates were on the way. when a 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 head of 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 kremlin deaths was referred to by many as the gun carriage race which loosely 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. is broken or an elected government mikhail gorbachev as the

general secretary of the c.p.s.u. soon to commit. criminal go into nothing more than a comfortable semi retirement they saw in gorbachev an inexperienced politician with peasant troops that they could easily manipulate. or by sheer force of 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. delivered a key 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 true that the. perestroika was meant to affect only the economy of the book

but later the world also came to employ other issue is 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 in such an intensely indoctrinated country popular opinion was about as insignificant as it was difficult to gauge. that their shit together during 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 saudi had a leader of the people in such a spontaneous manna head of state face to face with the public in a country where politics had long been conducted behind closed doors it was a sensational. please listen to the people i'm a supposed to be. soviet television gave wide coverage to go but numerous trips and encounters with the people turned into a t.v.

star with his popularity overshadowing even the country's favor. the party's top echelon and regional functionaries grew increasingly uneasy about gorbachev popularity and his determination to push for economic reform. you had a new team it's all i had to put it together from scratch. by nine hundred eighty six half of the party at high level had been replaced with younger people. to the monkeys can rise. to became head of the moscow party apparatus and a member of the powerful politburo. the people supported that leda a team of reformers were set 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.

met with american president ronald reagan in geneva in november one thousand nine hundred five the one on one meeting lasted around forty minutes. those are in a emerge 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 wants 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 over a gun and the first president bush was able to in the cold war it took both of them

to do it their cooperation was 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 one thousand nine hundred six the people of the two nations saw the finest movies greetings by both a u.s. president and a 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 in a profit new economic programs were not working. as far as.

a torch of pennies or closest associates played a big. part they realized lincoln was really the neck of the qualities. they knew they should draw. 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 we can further that when somebody at the top suggests that people should no longer be sent to prison the labor camps and should be given a measure of freedom that was it but that was their decision spall the stamp of approval by millions of people but some point things began breaking out of control .

eleanor o'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 for my western colleagues western reporters we would sit in those meetings and sort of look at each other and kind of pensioners selves 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 are people at the grassroots a presence a sign. we 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 kamerad 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 do you remember how many people were there. the demons out 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 going to

we didn't before. 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 know if you're over there decided to launch perestroika ok let's do it together and you're right mr guber shelf you start from above and we'll start from miller going to. 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. that will 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 your interest calls came here to face people from all over this town his facial expression abruptly changed we both did realise that hey we're 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 is pretty new you have to say something to them what to say. well think about it and make a decision. he said. and 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 who will have no other chance. that. the differences seem to defy solution only so if you don't for printers 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 family of miners. would tell them would start selling coal at a high price and will introduce innovations in the coal mines in the long 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 for the little more than five hundred dollars for example could get you a computer like this one it took some five days to bring the computer into the country will 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 the 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. culture is that so much about the taxpayers' money meant it is a charade even a lot of people at area watch what you say for some political correctness is understood as a form of etiquette for others it is a clumsy attempt at thought control. would be soon which brightened if you knew about it soon from finest impressions.

these clues start totty dot com. 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 in strictly limited quantities nobody could buy more than two hundred grams of butter at a time no more than ten packs of cigarettes a long queues and empty shelves with a whole lot of the times a wave of strikes and spontaneous malaise denying prices swept the country back that sudden it's people are dying. a communist country to be preaching friendship and the tea among its people for nearly seventy years sorts first serious ethnic disturbances these turned into a massive leap from the soviet model that eventually broke the massive empire mishearing one of the soviet republics was by nationalist demonstrations and unrest

. book form. 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 you know and many people couldn't sing because they were crying but the. they knew something was changing there was more openness the world war that there was a glimpse of freedom people could now talk freely without fear. intent is landsberg 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 you we warn embarrass troika to 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 order. glasnost the russian word

for openness proclaimed by gorbachev looked ever more like a genie let out of the bottle for the first time infighting among the soviet elite 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 leaders initiate more vigorous and thorough transformations sensing a potential rival booted yeltsin from the politburo and stripped him of his seat at the top of the moscow party organization for he who claims that he can solve everything for the better when he comes to power is a political crook. in the old days this would have spelled 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 yeltsin as

a political martyr and man of the people yeltsin vigorously backed any democratic initiatives such as freedom of speech and market reforms the vent prime minister nicholai rushkoff not to rush with the political reforms in the country. i used to tell which of many times we have to stop all of that we will loose the country tomorrow i will resign and to morrow you will be left only with nelson and the same team you won't last for long but he lost it for a year. december nine hundred ninety by that time. and 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. and basic knowledge boris yeltsin always was a sporting man with a fighting spirit one who kept himself fit that was especially true of tennis it

made freezer account with his party colleagues. by nine hundred ninety two ninety vocalists had become the right hand man. and in government yeltsin appreciated people's fighting spirit many of his associates had to learn to play tennis. they discuss politics and. 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 four town to slams bogus was elected chairman of the with you and me and 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 that the soviet constitution 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 less we rejoin the soviet union with . a detachment of ahmed vehicles and special forces units and to vilnius lithuania and started 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. there's a barbed wire symbolizes the oppression. the prisons the 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 most. of you know 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. a bachelor 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 i hastily drafted a 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 you know 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 and 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. of the most symbolic sign of the coup. tanks on moscow streets a coup in the world's biggest nuclear state. cnn's moscow correspondent allen 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 nineteenth one thousand nine hundred one the final meeting with jules 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 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. like to call home. moscow almost nine hundred ninety one boris yeltsin was one of the most active opponents of the state emergency committee. the committee itself twenty first. landed in. the uk. 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. december the eighth one thousand nine hundred one so the last chapter in the history of the soviet union with the appearance of the better 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 misrepresenting 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 much perestroika one country gave way to fifteen each of them subsequently followed its path.

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a. sort of mapping out of partnership the venezuelan. plans for close ties with russia. in an interview with a news channel present speaks about the problems as he sees it faced in america right now. there's more and more aggression in the area and behind not aggression at the hands of the yankee empire. also in the program tonight a developing news story the russian capital is about to get a new mayor as president. for moscow's top job we've got the latest details. on the post-war. life opens in berlin just days after a new poll reveals one in ten germans want to see a return to

a ruling. ten pm friday night here in moscow you're watching our team very good to have you with us kevin with the top story another chavez is in moscow as russia and venezuela aim to boost cooperation in areas from nuclear power to arms deals and oil production the venezuelan leader made president medvedev and prime minister putin sealed some key deals are. the story. very fruitful before. they can. go there are a large number of deals to somebody to take me to bed and shout out next step of the green. plant which i'll like it's called the recent wall street caracas with the next four years.