1. Preface
In the 1980s, due to the deep quagmire of the Afghan War, coupled with the sharp drop in oil prices, the sharp decline in fiscal revenue of and the increasingly rigid system, the Soviet Union faced a severe crisis. In 1985, Mikhail, who was 54 years old at the time, was ﹒ Gorbachev served as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union. Although he was young, he had work experience in many positions in the border areas, agriculture and economic sectors, and was highly expected to reverse the decline of the Soviet Union. After Gore took office, he implemented a series of radical economic and political system reforms. As a result, not only did not continue the life of the Soviet Union, but instead accelerated the collapse of the Red Empire. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev, who was unable to make up for the situation, announced his resignation as president of the Soviet Union, and his former superpower died.
Gorbachev, then the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, attended the event
In the impression of the world, Gorbachev withdrew from the political stage and began his peaceful retirement life. However, Goh's is not willing to be a retired elderly person. In 1996, he participated in the second presidential election of the Russian Federation, trying to regain his lost power, but ended in a crushing defeat.
2. Pre-election situation
After the collapse of the Soviet Union , the largest franchise republic Russia became the main successor of the Soviet legacy, the first democratically elected president Boris﹒ After holding power, Yeltsin was full of confidence and determined to bring Russia back to the center of the world stage. However, shock therapy caused the average people to save most of their lives to evaporate overnight. The original party and government cadres and state-owned enterprise managers took the opportunity to embezzle state-owned assets and transformed into oligarchs. One-sided pro-Western diplomacy did not receive large-scale economic assistance from developed countries in the United States and Europe. Instead, the Western camp took advantage of Russia's weakness to launch NATO's eastward expansion of , squeezing Russia's strategic space; in the First Chechen War, the slow-moving Russian army's performance was shocking... All kinds of poor governance measures disappointed the people, and Yeltsin's support rate fell below 10%, and the possibility of re-election in the second presidential election seemed to be slim.
Russian Communist Party Chairman Gennati﹒ Jiuganov was originally a middle-level cadre in the propaganda department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The disappointment that permeated Russian society and the recollection of the glory of the Soviet Union provided a suitable stage for his publicity talents and became the most competitive candidate at the time. Even European and American politicians and entrepreneurs believe that Jiuganov will become the new leader of Russia. They are worried about whether their economic and political investment will be instantly lost after the Communist Party returns to power.
In Gorbachev's view, the "ambitious group" led by Yeltsin is notorious for making huge profits during the economic transition, and the conservative forces represented by Jiuganov will only shout at the top of their lungs without help. His people-friendly style and humorous personal charm can quickly win the favor of voters and have a large number of die-hard fans among intellectuals. Since the situation is very good, it is better to give it a try.
3. Candidacy process
In March 1996, Gorbachev, who had bid farewell to politics for four years, announced his registration for the second presidential election of the Russian Federation. In order to expand his advantage, he intends to form a "third force" alliance. The important members of his conceived alliance were the liberal economist Gregory. Yavlinsky, the leader of the Workers’ Autonomous Party of the center left, Sviatoslav. Feodorov and the populist Alexander. Lebed. Yavlinsky was the drafter of the famous "500-day" market transition plan on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Feodorov called for the end of the one-party system in the early 9th year of the 1980s. Lebed refused to implement the order of the "National State of Emergency Committee" in the "August 19" incident and had broken with Yeltsin. In Gorbachev's view, if he can form an alliance with these three candidates and formulate a political program that combines market economy , social democracy and nationalism, it will attract centrist voters sandwiched between Yeltsin and Jiuganov, and thus have a certain chance of winning in the first round of voting.
However, ideals are full and reality is skinny. Gorbachev's return to politics was not smooth at the beginning.In order to reduce Gorbachev's exposure in the media, the Yeltsin government banned his campaign. Rostov University temporarily canceled the meeting between Goths and the school’s teachers because the federal government prohibited presidential candidates from "political propaganda" in academic institutions, and the decree did not apply to Yeltsin himself. Local administrative officials, newspaper reporters and radio correspondents turned a blind eye to Gorza’s appearance, and only a small private radio station sent interviewers. Mayor Rostov was called to the meeting of Moscow by "coincidence"; a few days later, when Gordon arrived at the Stavropol border region where he served as the first secretary for seven years, local government officials also "did a business trip" together. Just five or six years ago, these officials flocked to the opportunity to be received by the supreme Soviet leader. Some of them were promoted to a high position during the Gorbachev era, but their nature of seeking profit and avoiding harm made them avoid their former benefactors.
A pair of old enemies
In addition to Yeltsin's blockade, the capable generals of the economic system reform that year also ruthlessly abandoned him. Anatolly﹒ Chubais, Peter﹒ Awen and other "youth reformists" and "seven oligarchs" were either able to enter the political stage due to the favor of Goss, or they had found their first pot of gold in their business career during the turbulent period. But they are not grateful to Gorza, who creates the possibility of change. Gorbachev's stubborn personality, indecisiveness in political struggles and extremely fluctuating emotions have made the upstarts drift away from them. In order to defend their vested interests, they were determined to help Yeltsin re-election at all costs.
Go's imagined political allies also rejected his olive branch. Neither Yavlinsky, Feodorov or Lebed refused to join forces with him. It is not only the big men who disliked Goh, but the hatred of ordinary Russians towards him increased day by day because they lost most of their life savings and their sense of belonging to value in the great turmoil. In Krasnowshinsk, a small town where Gossip spent his youth, the farmers asked Gossip to give him lost power and taught him: "What Russia needs is an iron fist." In Gorky Park in Rostov, a listener shouted to him: "When Yeltsin was elected as President of Russia, you should declare the election result invalid." In Omsk, a city in Siberia, someone rushed to the stage and slapped Gossip. In the Patriotic War Memorial Hall of in Volgograd (i.e., Stalingrad ), the flowers presented by the Goss are returned. A slogan "The Holy Land of Stalingrad has no traitors" appears outside the courtyard wall.
And Goh's reaction is a typical example of crisis public relations. In Krasnowshinsk, he shouted to critics: "If you want, then crucify me. Anyway, when Jesus was sent to Calvary, people scolded him so much and asked him to be crucified." Jesus Christ, who was martyred, exposed his narcissistic and arrogant personality traits. When the Russians were desperate to get out of their predicament in the 1990s, Gotts was neither clear about what the most important issues the Russians were concerned about, nor was he able to give even temporary solutions. Although his body has entered the 1990s, his mind is still stuck in the 1980s, emphasizing that he has been trying to save the Soviet Union, which is destined to be a person abandoned by the times.
4. The end of the crushing defeat
Gorbachev only received 0.5% of the valid vote in the first round of voting, ranking seventh among the 11 candidates. His political career was too early but it was over forever, and Yeltsin still won the second round of voting.
On August 30, 2022, 91-year-old Gorbachev died at the Moscow Central Clinical Hospital due to long-term ineffective treatment of serious illness. After failing to return to politics, he lived for another 26 years, but his image was forever frozen at the moment when the Soviet Union collapsed. #History##History Knowledge#
