Why go
This history explains why the end of Soviet rule did not produce a simple or uniform break with the past. The Russian White House became the focus of armed confrontation, while privatisation and inflation reshaped everyday life and ownership during the 1990s.
The full story
After the Soviet Union dissolved, Boris Yeltsin’s government began rapid market reforms. The removal of price controls in 1992, reduced state spending and privatisation accompanied severe economic disruption. Inflation eroded savings, living standards fell for many people, and control of major assets became concentrated among powerful private interests. Conflict between Yeltsin and parliament escalated into the constitutional crisis of September–October 1993. Tanks fired on the Russian White House in Moscow, where parliamentary opponents were based. A constitution approved by referendum that December established strong presidential powers. Conflict over Chechnya’s attempted separation also led to two wars. The financial crash of 1998 deepened the decade’s difficulties. Yeltsin resigned at the end of 1999, leaving Vladimir Putin as acting president before the election in March 2000. Dmitry Medvedev became president in 2008, and Putin returned to the presidency in 2012. These events describe the early post-Soviet period, rather than a complete account of subsequent Russian history.