On December 31, 1999, just as the world was about to enter the last day of the twenty-first century, Russian President Boris Yeltsin suddenly made a televised speech announcing his resignation and Putin taking over as acting president. The news quickly exploded around the world.
There has been speculation about the reason for Yeltsin's abrupt resignation. The first is health reasons, believing that Yeltsin's health is in trouble and that he has no energy to deal with Russia's domestic and foreign affairs. Second, due to the "shock therapy" carried out by Yeltsin, the Russian economy has suffered a heavy blow, and there are also chechen separatist forces making trouble, and Yeltsin is unable to solve these problems.
Putin served as acting president and then won the 2000 election to become the new President of Russia. For the exchange between Yep, there are many external evaluations. Some say that Yeltsin did only one thing right in his life: he chose Putin as his successor.
On this issue, the outside world is also concerned. After all, Putin took over as acting president, not yet a full president. If Putin cannot be elected in the presidential election, is Yeltsin not afraid of being liquidated?
Another reason for Yeltsin's resignation at that time was that his domestic support was so low that even if he ran for president again, he would not be elected. But if he chose Putin to succeed as acting president, can the Russian people accept it? Everything is unknown. It can be seen that without a certain insurance factor, Yeltsin could not have done so.
Sure enough, after Putin came to power, the first presidential decree issued was an amnesty for the former president. This stipulation not only allowed Yeltsin to land safely, but also allowed Putin to land safely after retirement. But the premise is whether the presidential decree can be repudiated after Putin's retirement. But Yeltsin could not have lived that long, but the Yeltsin family continued.
The Yeltsin family is considered unclean and corrupt. If it were not for Putin's amnesty, it would probably have been liquidated. Some people also believe that Putin was chosen by Yeltsin, and putin is ultimately a representative of the Russian chaebol oligarchic interest group. Indeed, from some sources, putin was pushed to the position of prime minister, and his contemporary president and successfully ran for office, and some oligarchs helped a lot.
As for Putin's relationship with Russian oligarchs, some people believe that Putin also represents their interests. But at the time, Putin was also forced. Because the oligarchs had already formed a powerful force in the Yeltsin era and infiltrated Russian politics. Putin knows the dangers of oligarchs entering politics, but he can't get rid of them immediately.
After Putin's presidency was secured, he also began to liquidate some oligarchs, but not all oligarchs were liquidated, and those oligarchs who disobeyed and threatened Putin's safety were liquidated, and the obedient oligarchs, Putin still retained their interests.
Some media data show that after Putin took over as president, Russian corruption is still serious, and some people think that the oath made by Putin when he was elected, "give me 20 years, and a strong Russia" cannot be fulfilled.
But Russia and the Soviet Union are already two very different countries, and when Putin took office, he faced a mess. Whether it is the economy or the international situation, it is Yeltsin who stays. It can be seen from the data that when Putin became president, he still pursued the strategy of looking west, constantly making friends with Western heads of state, and Putin even established a very good personal relationship with George W. Bush.
In doing so, Putin is also a strategy to continue Yeltsin's integration into the West. Because Yeltsin, like Putin, believes that Russia is part of Europe. And Putin believes that Russia and the United States are the same system and common interests.
But Putin's hot face is pasted on the cold ass, Putin's pro-Western strategy has not been recognized by the West, and the West is still suppressing Russia. Some argue that Putin is wrong to do so, and the West does not want a strong Russia to exist. It is hoped that Russia will be divided into several smaller countries.
In fact, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, even if Russia implements the Western system and looks at the West, the West will not accept it. Because as early as the October Revolution, Russia had withdrawn from the circle of Western imperialism and had no necessary connection with the West. Even if Russia regains its independence, it is heavily influenced by the Soviet Union in the eyes of Westerners and it is impossible to integrate into the West.
Others believe that since becoming prime minister and president, Putin has denied Soviet historical figures, especially Lenin and others, but it was Lenin and others who made the Soviet Union strong. Putin has always denied the October Revolution, and some people think that Putin's view of history determines that he is the same person as Yeltsin and will inevitably fall to the West.
In fact, Putin's denial of the Soviet Union was also a social trend of the disintegration of the Soviet Union at that time. Putin's master, Sobchak, was also an anti-Soviet figure. Judging from the circumstances at that time, whoever did not oppose the Soviet Union was a different kind. Moreover, Gorbachev took the Soviet Union into the ditch, and the Soviet Union was on the verge of extinction, and the Soviet Union became a taboo in the eyes of the people.
After Putin became president, he was close to the West and opposed the Soviet Union, which was also a helpless move. Because putin's men were all yeltsin's team at that time, many of them were pro-Western forces, and only Russia G was an opposition party. If Putin wants to be recognized by the West, recognized by politicians, and helped by oligarchs, he must be pro-Western and anti-Soviet. If Putin has a little sympathy for Russia, he may not be able to keep the presidency.
From the perspective of Putin's 21 years in power, it can be divided into three major stages, the first stage is to find the way, the second stage is to be sober, and the third stage is to survive.
The mess left by Yeltsin is too bad, putin's first task is to survive, and the way to survive is to be recognized by the West and pro-Western politicians at home. Putin did this, and when the presidential position was stable, Putin began to attack some oligarchs who controlled the lifeblood of the country and took back enterprises that should belong to the national interest.
After fighting the oligarchs, Putin's image in the hearts of Russians has become further tall, so he began to abandon pro-Western politicians and replaced himself with his own people, at this time Putin said "bye-bye" with the West, fought Georgia, returned crimea, and sent troops to Syria.
In the past two years, when Putin is in power, we will find a new situation, Putin began to regain soviet affairs, and did not deny the Soviet Union as before. Because Putin realizes the seriousness of the problem, the history of the Soviet Union is also the history of Russia, if Russia blindly negates the Soviet Union, or even negates the historical merits of the Soviet Union in World War II, then Russia will have a historical fault line and will be targeted by the West. Because the West also wants to deny the history of the Soviet Union. If Russia cooperates with the West, it will fall for the West, and many of Russia's historical things lack legitimacy.
Therefore, Putin began to have a correct and objective evaluation of the history of the Soviet Union and historical figures, and also regained some traditions of the Soviet Union, so as to unite the hearts and morale of the Russian people.
From Yeltsin's resignation to Putin's takeover, Yeltsin was able to land safely. It is not that the outside world speculates that Putin and Yeltsin are the same person, in fact, Yeltsin is pro-Western and later regretted it, but he does not have the energy to save it.
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