90s. Life in the nineties. Memoirs of eyewitnesses. What do you say, dear readers?
June 12 - the day of signing the "Declaration on State Sovereignty of the RSFSR", has been officially considered a public holiday for nineteen years. Pravmir's regular columnist Ksenia Kirillova recalls her 90s and invites readers to walk this path together
Since 2002, this day has received the short name "Day of Russia", after which the second, "popular" name - Independence Day - immediately stuck to it. In many respects, therefore, the attitude towards the new holiday has become ambiguous. Indeed, independence from what do we celebrate? From the memory of the past? From neighboring fraternal peoples?
In fact, the declaration adopted in 1990 directly indicated that Russia remained in the composition, and nothing was said about its independence. In fact, the document did not mark the collapse of the Union, but the beginning of that very controversial era, which is commonly called today the "dashing nineties."
Today, this “new Russia”, which appeared on paper 21 years ago, is celebrating its “English coming of age”. Nowadays, there are more and more attempts to give an assessment (and most often negative) to those years that fell on the “childhood” of this very “new Russia”. In fact, the final result of this period can only be summed up many years later.
I will only try to make a few sketches of that time through the eyes of those whose childhood coincided with the childhood of the post-union country, and who grew up and made bumps along with the new Russia.
We, the “peers of the century”, those who just went to school at the very beginning of the 90s, still found (especially in the Russian outback) school uniforms and October badges. We seemed to live in two worlds.
There was something almost fabulous in these brown dresses and black aprons, in Soviet textbooks, literally crammed with phrases about the Soviet Union and Soviet children (there were simply no other textbooks published at that time), when the country, meanwhile, was seething.
We learned to read by memorizing the verse dedicated to Lenin's decree, and at the same time we knew very well that Lenin had created in our country some kind of evil that we were not fully aware of, but unconditional.
Parents were not paid salaries, there was always not enough money, but we, sensitively adopting the mood of adults at the age of seven, rejoiced at that amazing feeling of freedom that literally hovered in the air in those years. Not knowing the experience of repression and persecution, we perceived freedom precisely as a feeling that made up the joy of life, as something obligatory and irreplaceable.
In our children's teasers, we joked on political topics, ridiculed deputy fights and somehow knew that our right to joke so fearlessly was extremely valuable.
Frightened by the coup of 1991, we clung to the TV screens and looked at the barricades that had grown up on the streets of Moscow, and adults frightened us that if the Communists came to power, we would no longer be able to speak so freely what we think. For some reason, the mere thought of this frightened me more than the sight of the barricades.
I will always remember this unchildish sense of the value of freedom mixed with childish fear - the main value of the 90s.
Primary school ended quickly, and we miraculously got straight from the third grade to the fifth, plunged headlong into a completely new world, where there were no school uniforms or decrees.
That variety and abundance of children's toys, as it is today, in which everyone chooses his own, did not exist then. In a country not weaned from totalitarianism, the fashion for everything new also entered our lives totally, forcing everyone to unconditionally obey their trends.
Probably, all my peers remember Barbie dolls and transformers, kinder surprises and magazines with stickers, stretchable springs and the same chewing gum inserts for everyone.
We all watched the same Mexican series, which became a real revelation for the Russian audience, and approximately the same cartoons. And, to be honest, many of the then children dreamed of becoming racketeers or just bandits.
With delight, we then ran up to the first orange stalls, similar to iron booths, and, not noticing their ugliness, crowded around the shop windows. On summer nights, when the windows were wide open and covered only with gauze netting from mosquitoes (there were no fumigators then), we sometimes heard real shots, and in the morning we could find bizarre burnt orange ruins in place of yesterday's kiosks.
The redistribution of property was in full swing.
We matured early, at the age of ten we already knew perfectly well what financial pyramids, scammers and, of course, MMM JSC are.
In the yards, we played not fascists and Russians, but the war with Chechen fighters, not the storming of Stalingrad, but the liberation of the Budyonovskaya hospital or, at worst, ninja turtles.
The children of the mid-nineties already firmly knew that they should not be afraid of the communists, but, but otherwise, life began to change for the better. At the very least, parents began to receive salaries, and schools began to receive textbooks of a new generation.
In those years, some of us, mainly under the influence of our parents, began to go to church, which, however, did not prevent them from practicing magic and divination. With such a growth in religiosity, I honestly admit, it was increasingly difficult for me to prove to my peers that there is no God. In this strange atheism learned from childhood, there was, perhaps, only one positive moment: I managed to avoid mass enthusiasm for the occult.
The mass dominance of that time somehow also bypassed me and my friends. We were not yet the Internet generation, we didn’t find out so quickly where children come from, and we still spent most of our lives not in front of the monitor, but in the yards.
The computer seemed then a sign of great wealth, and very few people heard about cell phones. We played mainly in the courtyard of a long five-story building with twelve entrances, in the last of which, as I understand now, two Mormons managed to settle. These unfortunates, in order to get home, had to go through the entire yard, bypassing all the other entrances.
Of course, none of us understood that the new housemates were Mormons, and none of us knew what was hidden behind this word. However, the ten and twelve year old tomboys very quickly realized that two people in white shirts with badges and backpacks were Americans, and therefore the unfortunate ones were automatically designated as spies.
I don’t know how the representatives of the “next generation”, accustomed to idolize everything American, woke up such patriotism, but foreign guests had a very hard time. As soon as they appeared at the very beginning of the yard, all the boys who were on the street at that moment instantly learned about it, and all the way from the corner of the house to the last entrance, the visiting missionaries were subjected to either sand fire, accompanied by shouts of: “Yankee, go home,” then undisguised surveillance.
On the walls of the entrance where the Americans lived, insulting inscriptions made with a marker appeared very quickly, and in the case when the missionaries left the house, a whole detachment of grubby “counterintelligence officers” followed them. As a result of such an “anti-sectarian company” unwittingly carried out by us, the Mormons quickly moved to a high-rise building, which practically had no yard.
However, the Mormon story was the exception rather than the rule. The nineties were over the middle, and we still almost blindly bowed to everything American, and many sincerely wanted to leave the country. MTV and “Cool girl” have firmly entered our lives, significantly vulgarizing the process of our growing up. However, other values began to appear in the life of our generation, for example, education and careers. For the first time during the "dashing 90s", the guys began to think that it would not be so easy to enter a university.
And then the Yugoslav War of 1999 began - perhaps the first event that marked the rise of a national self-consciousness hammered somewhere deep into the depths. We, already weaned from early childhood from news programs, again rushed to track all the events of the bombing. Those who have not yet completely immersed themselves in reading "Cool girl" and collecting portraits of pop idols, caught on the big, still BBC cassette music centers and tried to catch the meaning of English phrases in which familiar words pronounced with an accent were guessed : Belgrade, Nis, Kragujevac.
Since childhood, I loved to relax in Kislovodsk, knowing by heart every corner of the huge park smoothly turning into the mountains. The last time I was in this beloved city of my childhood was just in the summer of 1999, after graduation. Walking along the familiar serpentine, for the first time I suddenly heard a bell ringing. It was coming from somewhere behind the huge maple leaves, from the opposite mountain slope.
I immediately remembered an article from a Yekaterinburg newspaper, which said that it was with such a ring that the end of the war in the Balkans in the second largest city of Serbia, Nis, was marked.
In the 90s...
And then, childishly succumbing to this sudden association and the general joy of a summer vacation, a dazzling blue sky and golden domes sparkling through the foliage, I said what came to mind at that moment: “This is Nish!”.
It turns out that it was in this year, 99, that the central dome of the St. Nicholas Cathedral of Kislovodsk, blown up in 1936, was erected.
The St. Nicholas Church could indeed be abbreviated as "Nish" by consonance, but this strange coincidence was not even the point.
It was there, on the Caucasian serpentine, familiar from early childhood, at the age of 14 that I finally realized that I would hardly prove to my classmates that there is no God; that in this world there are some tiny islands of good, which in an incomprehensible way turn out to be stronger than all the evil that exists in the world; that our country is the most beautiful in the world, and every person must definitely hear such a ringing in life and find their Nis ...
The 1990s were coming to an end, just as our childhood ended. New Russia entered youth.
What do you say, dear readers?
Topic: RUSSIA IN THE 1990s
INTERNAL POLICY OF RUSSIA
Since the end of 1991, a new state has appeared on the international political arena - Russia, the Russian Federation (RF). It included 89 regions, including 21 autonomous republics. The leadership of Russia had to continue the course towards the democratic transformation of society and the creation of a law-based state. Among the priority tasks was the adoption of measures to get the country out of the economic and political crisis. It was necessary to create new management bodies of the national economy, to form the Russian statehood.
Continuing the course of reforms. The state apparatus of Russia at the end of the 1980s consisted of a two-stage system of bodies of representative power - the Congress of People's Deputies and the bicameral Supreme Soviet. The head of the executive branch was President B.N., elected by popular vote. Yeltsin. He was also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Higher court was the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. The predominant role in the highest structures of power was played by former deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Among them were appointed advisers to the President - V. Shumeiko and Yu. Yarov, Chairman of the Constitutional Court V.D. Zorkin, many heads of local administrations.
The activities of the state apparatus proceeded in the conditions of a tough confrontation between the legislative and executive authorities. The 5th Congress of People's Deputies, held in November 1991, gave the president broad powers to carry out economic reforms. Most of the deputies of the Russian parliament during this period supported the course of social economic reform. By the beginning of 1992, the government, headed by the scientist-economist E.T. Gaidar, developed a program of radical reforms in the field of the national economy. The central place in it was occupied by measures to transfer the economy to market methods of management (measures of "shock therapy").
The main role in the process of transition to the market was assigned to the privatization (denationalization) of property. Its result was to be the transformation of the private sector into the dominant sector of the economy. Tough taxation measures, price liberalization and increased social assistance to the poor part of the population were envisaged.
The price liberalization carried out in accordance with the program caused a sharp jump in inflation. Over the year, consumer prices in the country increased by almost 26 times. The standard of living of the population has decreased: in 1994 it was 50% of the level of the early 1990s. Payments to citizens of their money savings kept in the State Bank have ceased.
The privatization of state property covered primarily retail, public catering and consumer services enterprises. As a result of the privatization policy, 110,000 industrial enterprises. Thus, the public sector has lost its leading role in the industrial sector. However, the change in the form of ownership did not increase the efficiency of production. In 1990-1992 the annual decline in production was 20%. By the mid-1990s, heavy industry was practically destroyed. So, the machine tool industry worked only half of its capacity. One of the consequences of the privatization policy was the collapse of the energy infrastructure.
The economic crisis had a severe impact on the development of agricultural production. The lack of agricultural machinery, especially for farms, the organizational restructuring of forms of management led to a drop in the level of productivity. The volume of agricultural production in the mid-90s fell by 70% compared with 1991-1992. The number of cattle decreased by 20 million heads.
constitutional crisis. The course towards economic liberalization, the ongoing economic crisis and the lack of social guarantees caused dissatisfaction and irritation among a significant part of the population. Many officials expressed dissatisfaction with the results of the reforms. In December 1992, under pressure from the legislature, the government of E.T. Gaidar. B.C. became the new prime minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation. Chernomyrdin, who for many years was in managerial economic work. But this did not relieve tension in society and in the relations between President B.N. Yeltsin and Parliament. The lack of a clear division of responsibilities between the legislative and executive branches of power led to an aggravation of the conflict between them. Many members of the deputies were in favor of returning the country to the path of its former political development and for the restoration of the USSR. In December 1992 B.N. Yeltsin, in an address to the people, announced the transformation of parliament into a "reactionary force."
The confrontation between the authorities especially intensified in the autumn of 1993. By this time, the president and his advisers had prepared a draft of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation. However, deputies of parliament, seeking to limit the omnipotence of the president, put off its adoption. September 21, 1993 B.N. Yeltsin announced the dissolution of the representative bodies of power - the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation and the Congress of People's Deputies. Elections for a new parliament were scheduled for December 12. Some of the deputies refused to recognize the legitimacy of the president's actions and announced his removal from power. A new president was sworn in - A.V. Rutskoi, who until that moment had held the post of vice-president of the Russian Federation.
In response to the President's anti-constitutional act, opposition forces organized demonstrations in Moscow, barricades were erected in a number of places (October 2-3). An unsuccessful attempt was made to storm the mayor's office and the Ostankino television center. Several tens of thousands of people participated in an attempt to change the course of socio-economic reforms. A state of emergency was declared in the capital, troops were brought into the city. During the events, several hundred of its participants were sewn or injured.
Domestic policy. In December 1993, elections were held for a new body state power- The Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, consisting of two chambers: the Federation Council and the State Duma. Several political blocs and coalitions emerged on the eve of the elections. The blocs "Choice of Russia" and "Yavlinsky, Boldyrev, Lukin" ("Ya-B-L"), the Russian Movement for Democratic Reforms, and the pre-election association "Fatherland" gained wide popularity. Most associations and parties advocated a variety of forms of ownership, strengthening the social protection of the population, and for the unity and integrity of Russia. However, in matters of nation-building, their positions fundamentally diverged. The Ya-B-L bloc defended the idea of a constitutional federation, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation - the restoration of a union state on a new basis, the Liberal Democratic Party - the revival of the Russian state within the framework until 1977.
As a result of elections held on a multi-party basis, representatives of 8 parties entered the parliament. Largest number places were received by the "Choice of Russia", the Liberal Democratic Party, the Agrarian Party and the Communist Party.
The first Chairman of the Federation Council was V.F. Shumeiko, former director of one of the country's major industrial enterprises. The State Duma was headed by I.P. Rybkin. From the first days of the work of the State Duma, several party factions arose in its composition, the most numerous among which was the faction "Russia's Choice" (Chairman E.T. Gaidar).
federal rule of law with a republican form of government. The head of state was the President, elected by popular vote. The Russian Federation included 21 republics and 6 territories, 1 autonomous region and 10 autonomous districts, 2 federal cities (Moscow and St. Petersburg) and 49 regions. The principles of building the highest bodies of state power and administration were determined. The bicameral structure of the Federal Assembly, the permanent legislative body of the Russian Federation, was legally fixed. The following were assigned to the jurisdiction of the highest authorities of Russia: the adoption of laws and control over their implementation, the management of federal state property, the basics of pricing policy, and the federal budget. They owned the solution foreign policy and international relations, declaration of war and conclusion of peace, management of foreign economic relations. The independence of the bodies of the three branches of power - legislative, executive and judicial - was emphasized. The political multi-party system, the right to freedom of labor and the right to private property were legally fixed. The constitution created the conditions for achieving political stability in society.
Supreme authorities of the Russian Federation
(since December 1993)
head of state
President of the Russian Federation
constitutional Court Supreme Court Superior Court of Arbitration
The central place in the work of the State Duma of the first convocation was occupied by issues of economic national policy, social security and international relations. During 1993-1995. The deputies adopted over 320 laws, most of which were signed by the president. Among them are the laws on the government and the constitutional system, on new forms of ownership, on peasant and farming, on joint-stock companies, on free economic zones.
Public associations and parties went to the elections to the State Duma in 1995 with clear demands in the economic and political fields. Central to the election platform of the CPRF (chairman of the Central Committee of the CPRF - G.A. Zyuganov) was the demand for the peaceful restoration of the Soviet system in Russia, the termination of the process of denationalization and the nationalization of the means of production. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation advocated the termination of foreign policy treaties that "infringed" on the interests of the country.
Formed on the eve of the elections, the All-Russian socio-political movement "Our Home - Russia" united representatives of the executive power structures, economic and business strata. The participants of the movement saw the main economic task in the formation of a mixed economic system on the principles inherent in a market economy. The role of the state was to be to create favorable conditions for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, business activity of the population.
450 deputies were elected to the State Duma of the second convocation. The vast majority of them were employees of the legislative and executive authorities, many of them were members of the previous deputy corps. 36% of the total number of seats in the Duma was received by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, 12% by Our Home is Russia, 11% by the LDPR, 10% by the G.A. Yavlinsky (“Yabloko”), 17% - independent and 14% - other electoral associations.
The composition of the State Duma predetermined the acute nature of the inter-party struggle on all internal political issues considered in it. The main struggle unfolded between the supporters of the chosen path of economic and political reform and the opposition, in whose ranks were the factions of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, the Liberal Democratic Party and the G.A. Yavlinsky. The instability of domestic political life, caused, in particular, by tensions in interethnic relations, gave the events a special urgency and drama. One of the centers of interethnic conflicts was in the North Caucasus. Only with the help of the Russian army was it possible to stop the armed clashes between the Ingush and Ossetians that arose due to territorial disputes. In 1992, the division into two independent republics of Checheno-Ingushetia took place. The development of the separatist movement in Chechnya led to a split in the leadership of the republic and armed conflicts between the separatists and the official authorities. In December 1994, the Russian Armed Forces entered the territory of Chechnya. This marked the beginning of the Chechen war, which ended only at the end of 1996. The peace agreement signed in November 1996 between the Russian and Chechen leadership provided for the withdrawal of federal armed forces from Chechnya and the holding of presidential elections in the republic.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF RUSSIA
Principles of foreign policy. The collapse of the USSR changed Russia's position in the international arena, its political and economic ties with the outside world. The foreign policy concept of the Russian Federation put forward the priority tasks of maintaining territorial integrity and independence, providing favorable conditions for the development of a market economy and inclusion in the world community. It was necessary to achieve recognition of Russia as the legal successor of the former Soviet Union in the UN, as well as assistance from Western countries in the implementation of the course of reforms. An important role was assigned to Russia's foreign trade with foreign countries. Foreign economic relations were considered as one of the means of overcoming the economic crisis in the country.
Russia and foreign countries. After the August events of 1991, diplomatic recognition of Russia began. The head of Bulgaria Zh. Zhelev arrived for negotiations with the Russian president. At the end of the same year, the first official visit of B.N. Yeltsin abroad - in Germany. The countries of the European Community announced the recognition of Russia's sovereignty and the transfer to it of the rights and obligations of the former USSR. In 1993-1994 agreements on partnership and cooperation between the EU states and the Russian Federation were concluded. The Russian government has joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program. The country was included in the International Monetary Fund. She managed to negotiate with the largest banks in the West to defer payments for the debts of the former USSR. In 1996, Russia joined the Council of Europe, which dealt with issues of culture, human rights, and environmental protection. The European states supported Russia's actions aimed at its integration into the world economy.
The role of foreign trade in the development of the Russian economy has noticeably increased. The destruction of economic ties between the republics of the former USSR and the collapse of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance caused a reorientation of foreign economic relations. After a long break, Russia was granted the most favored nation treatment in trade with the United States. The states of the Middle East and Latin America were permanent economic partners. As in previous years, in developing countries, with the participation of Russia, thermal and hydroelectric power stations were built (for example, in Afghanistan and Vietnam). In Pakistan, Egypt and Syria, metallurgical enterprises and agricultural facilities were built.
Trade contacts have been preserved between Russia and the countries of the former CMEA, through whose territory gas and oil pipelines to Western Europe ran. The energy carriers exported through them were also sold to these states. Medicines, foodstuffs and chemical goods were the reciprocal items of trade. The share of Eastern European countries in the total volume of Russian trade decreased by 1994 to 10%.
Relations with the CIS countries. The development of relations with the Commonwealth of Independent States occupied an important place in the government's foreign policy activities. In 1993, the CIS included, in addition to Russia, eleven more states. At first, negotiations on issues related to the division of the property of the former USSR occupied a central place in relations between them. Borders were established with those of the countries that introduced national currencies. Agreements were signed that determined the conditions for the transportation of Russian goods through their territory abroad.
The collapse of the USSR destroyed traditional economic ties with the former republics. In 1992-1995 falling trade with the CIS countries. Russia continued to supply them with fuel and energy resources, primarily oil and gas. The structure of import receipts was dominated by consumer goods and foodstuffs. One of the obstacles to the development of trade relations was the financial indebtedness of Russia from the Commonwealth states that had formed in previous years. In the mid-1990s, its size exceeded 6 billion dollars.
The Russian government sought to maintain integration ties between the former republics within the CIS. On his initiative, the Interstate Committee of the Commonwealth countries was created with the center of residence in Moscow. Between six states (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, etc.) a collective security treaty was concluded, the charter of the CIS was developed and approved. At the same time, the Commonwealth of Nations was not a single formalized organization.
Interstate relations between Russia and the former republics of the USSR were not easy. There were sharp disputes with Ukraine over the division of the Black Sea Fleet and possession of the Crimean peninsula. Conflicts with the governments of the Baltic States were caused by discrimination against the Russian-speaking population living there and unresolved issues of some territorial issues. The economic and strategic interests of Russia in Tajikistan and Moldova were the reasons for its participation in armed clashes in these regions. Relations between the Russian Federation and Belarus developed most constructively.
The activities of the Russian government within the country and in the international arena testified to its desire to overcome conflicts in relations with states both far and near abroad. His efforts were aimed at achieving stability in society, at completing the transition from the former, Soviet, model of development to a new socio-political system, to a democratic constitutional state.
Chronology
- 1993, October 3-4 Speech by opposition forces in Moscow. Shelling of the White House
- December 12, 1993 Adoption of the new Constitution of the Russian Federation
- 1996, July Election of B.N. Yeltsin for a second term as President of the Russian Federation
- December 1994 - December 1996 War in Chechnya
- 1998 August Financial crisis in Russia
- 1999, August Beginning of the anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya
- December 31, 1999 Early departure of the President of the Russian Federation B.N. Yeltsin to resign
- March 26, 2000 Election of V.V. Putin
Russia in the 90s 20th century
The course of economic reforms in Russia in the early 90s.
It is important to note that one of the main consequences of the August events was the transfer of state-political power, which was previously concentrated in the union center, to the republics and, first of all, to Russia. Russian President, the government, the Supreme Council within a few days gained power, which they sought for almost a year and a half. The problem of implementing radical reforms arose. While the radicals had a common ideology of reform, they did not have a clear and justified program of specific economic and political transformations. The plan for economic reforms was made public only at the end of October 1991. President B.N. Yeltsin. The plan included several specific areas of Russian economic policy, which were the essence of the reform.
First major measure- one-time introduction of free prices from January 1992 - was supposed to determine the market value of goods and eliminate the shortage of goods. Second — trade liberalization- was supposed to speed up the turnover, create an infrastructure for the sale of domestic and imported products. Third- wide housing privatization, state enterprises— was supposed to turn the masses of the population into owners.
Privatization checkThe program of radical reforms was outlined by Yeltsin, but its authors were the leading ministers of the new Russian government: market economists E. Gaidar, A. Shokhin, A. Chubais. In essence, this program involved a rapid transition to market economy. The main theorist of Russian "shock therapy" Deputy Prime Minister for economic issues E.T. Gaidar
E.T. Gaidar
believed that the classical market model could be introduced in Russia without any serious consequences for social sphere. At the same time, the results were dramatic for the Russians. The release of prices in January 1992 led to their increase not by 3-4 times, but by 10-12 times, while wages and pensions increased by 70%. The savings deposits of the population, the government was unable to index. In fact, the bulk of the population of Russia was below the poverty line. The reform was popularly called "predatory", gave rise to an acute distrust of the government and generally negative attitude towards the course of reforms.
Radical reforms caused and broad opposition in the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR. This opposition was headed by the Chairman of the Supreme Council R.I. Khasbulatov. Resistance to radical reforms received broad support in society, primarily in the sectors of the military-industrial complex and the public sector, where the majority of the population was employed.
Was it great in the 90s? Author, are you stubborn?
1. An inspiring feeling of freedom.
What freedom was lacking before, to shit on the streets?
Very well about that "freedom" is shown in the movie "kill the dragon", the video is attached. In Nizhny Novgorod they shot at night, the brothers shot each other. On the right, Kalash is scribbling, on the left, they are populating from Makarov. Fucking freedom!
2. Easy money.
We put on shoes on the streets, we boys didn’t go to Moscow less than 4-5 people, because local groups of scumbags, now called “gopniks”, were spinning at the stations and near the metro. Only they acted more brazenly and out of bounds, because impunity and, read above, freedom! In the markets and stalls, frank, low-quality leftists came true, low-quality expired products. Easy money is great?!
3. Imported goods.
Foreign junk flooded into the market. Everyone rushed to buy TVs, VCRs and so on. A lot of fakes, a lot of Chinese shit. Was it great to ruin the country because of imported shit?
4. Everyone was in his place.
Everyone tried to make money as best they could, because salary delays were terrible. I, an officer of the Russian Army, did not receive a monetary allowance for several months and dug a copper cable at night, because there was nothing to eat. Was I in my place? During the day, the commanders told us that it was necessary to protect the Motherland, and at night they worked on loaders at the local factory, loading vodka. Because the family had to eat. The cops were disenfranchised from the word in general, as a result, they quickly realized and squeezed their "business" from the bandits, at the same time greatly thinning their ranks. Were they there too? Teachers went to collective farms, because even their beggarly wages were not given out, were they in their place?
5. We had the most cheerful president in the world.
If this is a joke, then it is extremely unfortunate. When we watched a drunken Borka jumping around the stage or "leading" the orchestra, we did not laugh, we were extremely ashamed. He ruined the army, ruined the country, Pindos "consultants" were allowed to strategic facilities, enterprises were sold for a penny, the people lived in extreme poverty. Funny? We were not fucking funny.
6. People have hope.
What??! All my memories of the 90s are in shades of grey. There was a terrible unemployment, no money was paid, hence so many "merchants" who tried to somehow earn a living. There was a terrible hopelessness, no gap was visible. Reforms ruined everything in the bud. One day we became impoverished, there were 6 thousand per family on a book, and in one day it was no longer possible to buy anything with this money. I still remember the insane Georgian who ran around the Kursk railway station with a suitcase of 500 rubles, scattered them and yelled "why the hell do I need them now?!". Hope?? In the USSR, everyone knew that after graduating from the institute he would go to work in his specialty, he knew that he would get an apartment, etc. There was STABILITY. In the 90s, no one knew what would happen tomorrow and even tonight.
7. Everyone was a millionaire.
What's fun? Money depreciated. Yes, we joked that we became millionaires, but it was laughter through tears.
8. Ability to travel abroad.
Yeah. Everyone was able to see for themselves that in foreign stores there really are more than 40 types of sausage for sale. The mass of people, having decided that everyone was waiting for them over the hill, was dumped from the country. Units got out into people. How many of these returned after 2000? All this anarchy that was going on in the country was not worth such pleasure.
9. Nostalgia for childhood and youth.
It's just childhood memories. For example, we collected bottles, handed them over, went to VDNKh and, if we were not shod by local "free boys" who "were in their place", bought a couple of posters with Bruce and Schwartz, or bought "Donald" or "Turbo" chewing gum . The latter are less common, because they cost 3 times more than "Donald". And, if we were not put on shoes on the way back, they brought all this to the house.
10. "Fashionable" clothes.
Low quality junk from Turkey and China. Everything that was bright and colorful was fashionable. We, like natives who reacted to mirrors and beads, bought low-quality shit from Adadis, etc.
I do not know a single person who found the "dashing 90s" who would like to repeat them. No one! Young brats who didn't cook it themselves, but read about that "romance", don't count.
The author is either a fat troll or stubborn. If this is such a joke, then I never understood it.
Now at least get down..
All the issues facing sovereign Russia in the 1990s boiled down to two major problems: to bring the country out of the economic crisis and continue the democratic transformation of society.
To overcome the economic crisis, the country's government is transitioning to market methods of management. The transition to market prices, privatization, land reform with the right to buy and sell land, reform of the banking system, etc. were announced. In January 1992 prices were liberalized. If before that the prices for all types of products were set by the state, now they were formed under the influence of supply and demand in the market. Liberalization had two important consequences: once-empty stores began to be rapidly filled with a variety of goods, but at the same time, prices for goods and services began to grow very rapidly: by the end of 1992, they had increased 100-150 times (against an expected level of 3- 4 times). Inflation began, the standard of living of the population decreased: in 1994 it amounted to 50% of the level of the early 90s. Since the end of 1992 privatization of state property began. By the fall of 1994 it covered one third of industrial enterprises and two thirds of trade and service enterprises. The first stage of it was carried out on the basis of privatization checks issued free of charge to all citizens of Russia; since autumn 1994 the second stage of privatization begins - the free sale and purchase of private and joint-stock enterprises on the stock exchanges at the market rate. There was a transformation of collective farms into industrial share partnerships and farms. However, the economic crisis continued to deepen, until the end of the 90s, production was reduced and only at the end of 1999. there has been a slight recovery in the economy.
The democratization of Russia continued in the 1990s. The rights and freedoms of citizens became real, a multi-party system was formed, elections began to have a real character and be carried out on the basis of competition of several candidates for the post. The president, elected by popular vote, became the head of the executive branch. The highest judicial authority is the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation.
In autumn 1993 there is a constitutional crisis: the clash of the executive and legislative powers of the country. All those dissatisfied with the ongoing reforms in Russia united around the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation and opposed President Boris N. Yeltsin, who personified the new course of the country. October 2-3, 1993 the opposition organized demonstrations in Moscow, stormed the mayor's office and the Ostankino television center. Troops were brought into the capital, the opposition was suppressed, and the Supreme Council was dissolved. had a number of consequences:
1. a presidential republic has taken shape in Russia (as opposed to a parliamentary republic);
2. there was a de-Sovietization of the country, the Soviets were abolished as authorities; de-Sovietization of the country, after its decommunization in 1991. as a result of the suppression of the GKChP putsch and the dissolution of the CPSU, it put the last point in the process of destroying the communist regime, the Soviet form of power created by the Bolsheviks;
3. created a new supreme legislative body of Russia - the Federal Assembly, which consists of two chambers: the upper - the Federation Council and the lower - the State Duma. Elections to the State Duma have already been held 3 times (in 1993, 1995 and 1999) on a multi-party basis. The winning parties create their own factions in the Duma, the largest of which are the factions of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Yabloko, the Liberal Democratic Party, etc.
One of difficult problems domestic policy Russia is a national issue. It has become especially acute in the North Caucasus. The separatist movement in Chechnya led to the need to bring federal troops into the territory of this republic. The result of this were two Chechen wars: in 1994-1996. and in 1999-2000. The Chechen Republic remained part of the unified Russian Federation.
The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is of a peaceful nature, it is aimed at preserving the territorial integrity and independence of the country and at maintaining friendly relations with all countries of the world. Russia achieved recognition as the legal successor of the USSR in the UN, as well as assistance from Western countries in pursuing a course of reforms. Great importance is attached to the development of relations with the countries of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), which, in addition to Russia, includes 11 more former Soviet republics. The Russian government sought to maintain integration ties between them. Relations between the former Soviet republics are complicated by issues related to the division of the property of the former USSR, the unresolved, in some cases, border issue, as well as discrimination against the Russian-speaking population in a number of republics.
The transformations taking place in Russia in the 90s of the XX century are an attempt to return to the European path of development after the Bolshevik (Asian) period of the country's existence.