Reform and rivalry

In this film, Dr Edwin Bacon (University of Lincoln), examines the political and economic repercussions of Gorbachev’s reforms. Dr Bacon reflects upon the dire state of the Soviet economy in the late 1980s/early 1990s and how that led to change but also unrest. In particular he addresses the way that democratisation provided Yeltsin with the opportunity to become the chair of the newly established Russian parliament. How this early form of democracy led to tensions between the Soviet centre and the new republics.