In 1937 Stalin began another series of purges. This time his targets were the tens of thousands of old Bolsheviks. ibid.
It was a vision of a planned Utopia. Everything in the new Russia was to be designed and controlled from the centre of Moscow. ibid.
By the early ’50s vast reconstruction projects had changed the face of Soviet cities. ibid.
A new elite was beginning to emerge who snapped up vast sections of Russian industry: they became known as the Oligarchs. Adam Curtis, The Trap III: We Will Force You to be Free
Boris Yeltzin was the president of the new Russia. He had promised to turn the country into a mass democracy. Yeltzin appointed a group of young technocrats and they set out to do this through what they called shock therapy. Advised by Western bankers and economists. They believed they had to move fast because the communists might try to take power again. Adam Curtis, Can’t Get You Out of My Head IV: But What if the People are Stupid? BBCiplayer 2021
The geopolitics of money, a force that had already enslaved the American people and now wanted to bend the Russia people to its will. ibid.
In Russia the democracy experiment had gone out of control. The president Boris Yeltsin had lost all power. It had been seized by a small group called the oligarchs who were using it to loot Russia. There was massive inflation. Millions of people were reduced to selling what they owned on the street. ibid.
Yeltzin responded by dissolving parliament; he cut the phone lines and sealed the building off. But a group of protesters broke through and fighting began around the parliament and then spread to the television station. ibid.
The geopolitics of money, a force that had already enslaved the American people, now wanted to bend the Russia people to its will. ibid.
In Russia President Yeltzin had lost all control. He was drunk most of the time. ibid.
In Russia that same dream seemed to have led to disaster … Russia had been taken over by a small group called the oligarchs who had looted the country of much of its wealth … No-one believed in communism or democracy any longer … They had been promised a democracy but what they got was chaos and corruption on a vast scale. Adam Curtis, Can’t Get You Out of My Head VI Are We a Pigeon? Or Are We Dancer? *****
Since Putin had come to power, the global price of oil had increased drastically. And money had poured into Russia … ibid.
Vladimir Putin, whose power in reality was becoming increasingly fragile at home in Russia, became in the eyes of the West a dark malevolent force, which made him seem far stronger than he really was. ibid.
What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy. Adam Curtis, Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone I, BBCiplayer 2022
The Kremlin 1985: Awaiting the arrival of the new leader. When Gorbachev came to power he immediately got reports from across the Soviet Union that showed the communist system was near collapse. The giant industries were falling apart. And thousands of the bureaucrats who ran the system could no longer be trusted. ibid.
Gorbachev still believed in communism as the future of the world. But he knew that radical reform was necessary. ibid.
A new alliance between crime and communism began to rise up. ibid.
In April 1986 there were two giant explosions in the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine. Vast amounts of radiation spread across Ukraine and Russia. ibid.
By 1987 it was clear that Perestroika wasn’t working. So much was being stolen from the factories that there were shortages in all the state shops. ibid.
Poland 1987: Demonstration demanding democracy and independence. ibid.
The Soviet army began its retreat from Afghanistan. ibid.
Perestroika had also given power away to the countries that made up the Soviet empire. It opened the way for a return of old nationalisms and demands for independence. ibid.
In Poland and Germany the borders to the west were about to collapse. ibid.
Yeltsin believed the only way to save Russia was to end the communist system completely and replace it with democracy and capitalism. ibid.
The aim of the Soviet system had been to create a rational organised society. Every factory was told what to make by Gosplan in Moscow. It was the centre of The Plan. The plan decided scientifically what everyone in Russia needed .. But now the system was becoming absurd. Adam Curtis, Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone II: No Potatoes in Moscow
The Berlin Wall had collapsed. And the Eastern European countries had broken free of Moscow’s control. But Gorbachev still believed he could rescue communism and hold the Soviet Union together. ibid.
In July 1990 Yeltsin announced that he was leaving the communist party. He would serve instead ‘the will of the people’. ibid.
As the plan collapsed a shadowy new system began to emerge. Cooperatives started to buy oil cheaply from the subsidized state industry. They bribed officials to smuggle it out of Russia. And sold it for a fortune on the world market. Then they used the money to buy personal computers cheaply in America. And sold them for a fortune in Russia. ibid.
Shops in thousands of towns and cities were empty. ibid.
The attempt to reform The Plan with computers was failing. ibid.
The old guard had decided it was time to save communism. ibid.
A group of hardliners in the party, the KGB and the army, had mounted a coup. They wanted to stop Gorbachev’s reforms destroying communism. Adam Curtis, Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone III: The Empire Strikes Back
The coup leaders flew to the villa and arrested Gorbachev. They sealed him off from all contact with the outside world. ibid.
Over 100,000 people had come to defend the White House. ibid.
The crowd began to pull the soldiers out of the tanks. ibid.
In the midst of the chaos the oligarch’s power continued to grow. ibid.
Gorbachev returned to Moscow. He went to the Russian parliament to thank them for their support. And to reclaim his power. But Yeltsin turned on him and blamed him for the coup. ibid.
Boris Yeltsin promised he would bring a market economy to Russia. ibid.
Boris Yeltsin decided it was time to finally abolish the Soviet Union. ibid.
The effect of shock therapy had stunned the Russian people. Overnight prices soared. People could no longer afford even food. And their savings had been wiped out by hyperinflation. Adam Curtis, Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone IV: 1992-1994
The next stage of shock therapy was to sell off everything that had been owned by the communist state. ibid.
The shock therapy experiment had created an economic disaster. People across Russia were selling their possessions on the streets. ibid.
The vouchers were then bought up by the oligarchs. ibid.
The free market experiment was no longer working. ibid.
President Bush said it would lead to democracy spreading across the world. ibid.
The Supreme Council impeached Yeltsin and elected a new president. ibid.
Yeltsin then sent armed police to seal off the parliament building. ibid.
President Yeltsin had sealed off the parliament building in Moscow because the Congress was trying to stop his economic reforms. Adam Curtis, Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone V: 1993-1996
The protesters moved on to try and take over the TV station. ibid.
Most of the army supported Yeltsin. The next day he ordered tanks to attack parliament. ibid.
Crime was soaring in all the Russian cities. And the police and KGB were incompetent. ibid.
The economy was in freefall. Millions of people could not afford food or heating. ibid.
Boris Yeltsin was now ruling by presidential decree. More and more Russians blamed him for the disaster. ibid.
The corruption in Russia had now reached the heart of government. ibid.
Yeltsin began to drink more and more. His bodyguard said he spent evenings staring at the wall, saying, They are stealing Russia. ibid.
Russia began the attack on Chechnya in December 1994. Adam Curtis, Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone VI: 1994-1998
‘They are just bombing and bombing. There is no rest.’ ibid. Chechen woman
Seven men were about the get hold of the great mineral wealth of Russia for almost nothing. The basis of the country’s power and security was now in the hands of the oligarchs. ibid.
As well as being responsible for the horror in Chechnya, Russians saw Yeltsin as running a ‘mafia government’ that was destroying Russia. ibid.