were attempts at the right class then just for the first time the echo of those intense events now all of a century ago can still be heard today both in russia under around the globe. the early one nine hundred eighty s. marked the height of a soviet period that was later characterized as stagnation by nine hundred eighty two the country had been led for seventeen years by me an impression of who was by now a feeble and sick old man along with his allies known as the kremlin old god i have leadership strategy was to maintain the status quo. so says 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 drop over rose to the peak of soviet leadership in britain 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 his speeches and drop of said this that he what we need to understand what kind of society with built those were his own words in the context of those dick medic times that sounded like a dissident phrase. was also elderly and in poil thought he died after just thirteen months in office his replacement constantine cheney and co was even more fragile the sequence of criminal deaths was referred to by many as the gun carriage race which usually means the race to race. in one thousand nine hundred five was fifty four many thought he was too young to head the government the decision was made by competing influential. says within the top brass each with their own

lives. is broken or elected karma. but as the general secretary of the c.p.s.u. central committee. the criminals go into nothing in a comfortable semi retirement they saw in gorbachev an inexperienced politician with peasant roots that they could easily manipulate. when gold which of gold nominal power he had not yet won a real authority in the party or the state. by contrast the few advocates of reform hope 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 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 fax 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 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 man a 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'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 favorite performers the party's top echelon and regional functionaries grew increasingly uneasy about gorbachev popularity and his determination to push for economic reform. it was kind of 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 of canton among his canonized yeltsin who became head of the moscow party apparatus and a member of the powerful politburo. the people supported that leda a team of reformers were sent to go ahead with the changes but there was a catastrophic shortfall in funding for fully fledged reforms the arms race and cultural commitments accounted for the lion's share of the budget. let's get

rid of the threats of the cold. met with american president ronald reagan in geneva in november nine hundred eighty five the one on one meeting lasted around forty minutes. though the bush era 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 die hard bolshevik but a couple of days later those two diehards produced a joint statement that the whole world that expected to hear. 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. two in

the. with the cooperation of 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 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 it was as.

a tool itself and is a clear system played a big. part they realized lincoln was really the neck of the qualities that. they need. for. 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 that was their decision spall the stamp of approval by millions of people but some point things began breaking out of control .

and in a coma 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 form my western colleagues western reporters we would sit in those meetings and sort of look at each other and kind of pension or 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 more people at the grassroots

a 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 camera 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 and to remember how many people were there. in 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 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 know if you're over there decided to launch perestroika ok through it together we won't just a good show if you start from above then we'll 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. that will stand until the final decision is made. prime minister nick clegg which kind of to himself came from a mining family went to negotiate with the miners the negotiations involve some very hard words good 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 full it wasn't just a faceless small. yeah 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. if you have to say something to them what are the same. will 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. what the differences seem to define a solution only soviet on for printers could find a common language with the miners. first private companies were called cooperatives

and businessmen cooperators. were against the coleman who were who were against the resellers were there with me but we're not against the corporate sort of we're never going to air the cooperators we're ready to take the responsibility upon themselves and pay the salaries of families of miners you know what's going to tell them would start selling coal at a high price and we'll introduce innovations in the coal mines you know. 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 and brought some of his first dollars from prostitutes working in hotels for foreigners is a bit for bo 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 we're officially sold at an enterprise willing to buy it so a five hundred dollars 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. the question is that so much about the taxpayers' money meant it is a charade if you watch 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. the close up team has been. so the cycling region where the biggest russian salmon caviar processing factory is located not argee goes to northern paradise

where many still live off the land. new ways are being found to fight economic turmoil. and russia's first free elections red. thousand years ago. welcome to the region russia close up. 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 pounds of butter a time no more than ten packs of cigarettes long queues and empty shelves with the times a wave of strikes and spontaneous malaise did not occur prices swept the country. sunday its people are undone in. a communist country that has been preaching friendship and among its people for nearly seventy years sorts first serious ethnic

to step says these to the masses something that eventually broke the massive mishearing one of the soviet public school by nationalist demonstrations and unrest . there was a platform put up for the first mass rally in june one thousand eight. and then everybody started singing the lithuanian national anthem but many people couldn't sing because they were crying but. they knew something was changing there was more openness there was a glimpse of freedom people could now talk freely without fear. intent as landsburg a says a composer and professor of 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 wanted perestroika 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 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 halfhearted 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. that 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 papal yeltsin vigorously backed any democratic initiatives such as freedom of speech and market reforms. the vent prime minister nicholai rich gulf not to rush with the political reforms in the country. i used to tell the 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 and the same team you won't last for long but he lost it for a year. december one thousand ninety. plummeted by contrast boris yeltsin became the people's favorite politician. he was the first russian official to show his hobbies in public.

nobody boris yeltsin always was a sporting man with a fighting spirit one who kept himself fit that was especially true of tennis it made through easier 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 four towns as landsburg is was elected chairman of the if you any 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 bob 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 prison it's 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 shutdown. i know hello. i feel we are being attacked. we can hear shots coming from all sides of the swing 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 who 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 nucleus date. cnn's moscow correspondent allan 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 why 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 a home. i dont really have like one hive homes and it's still like that now like right now i'm living in three places. like iowa who like to call me. 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. iraq. no doubt the way to solve its

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 to 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 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 of perestroika one country gave way to fifteen each of them subsequently followed its path. question is that so much about the taxpayers' money and it is a showcase baby bottom if i hear you 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.

first. russia signs up to build venezuela's first nuclear power plant as president hugo chavez talks business in moscow on the sidelines you spoke to r.t. in an exclusive interview where the president outlined some of the problems that he believes face the world. will not know so many. lines are one of the reasons for the many conflicts going on in the world today but take a look at the war in iraq thousands of people are talented women and children were cute but the whole war was based on the lives of the iraqi government and the weapons of mass destruction that's the only reason the yankee empire invaded the country but then didn't they didn't know there hadn't been any such weapons so they designed that law to bring war children with it that's the politics of the yankee empire. moscow might soon be getting

a new mayor as deputy prime minister sergei so but so gets the presidential nod for the capitals top job could be said to replace harry luzhkov who was dismissed by medvedev last month after almost two decades in office soviet instead it is seen now has to be approved by moscow lawmakers. former prisoners claim they were abused at a secret jail inside america's bob graham air base in afghanistan by the open society foundation says it mates were subjected to sleep deprivation and extended periods of isolation this comes as the u.s. revamped its detention facilities in the country. political correctness was to us was supposed to smooth out society's intolerance but as peter lavelle's guests now discuss it's actually polarizing people into being angrier than ever crosstalk coming your way in less than a minute here on r t four. and.