The USSR’s (Almost) Civil Wars

The Soviet Union was, for all intents and purposes, established through a civil war. In 1922, the Bolsheviks seized the far eastern port of Vladivostok (near Japan) before launching a campaign throughout the rest of the world’s largest country to root out all opposition. In the decades that followed - particularly the earlier ones under Stalin - the USSR was an extremely stable country, banning not only opposition parties but also trade unions, the Orthodox Church, and any other organisation with the capability to supersede the Communist Party’s authority.

But most people don’t realise the Soviet Union nearly ended in not one, but two, civil wars as well - despite hostilities flaring as recently as the 1990s.

Source: Associated Press

Before the Union collapsed in 1991, the country was in dire straits. Then-chairman Mikhail Gorbachev attempted to address serious internal issues (stagnation, supply shortages, and corruption) through a series of reforms. These reforms were, however, far more wide-reaching and devastating to the communist system, leading to a rapid (roughly two years) collapse in the country’s ability to project power into eastern Europe and Central Asia. Nationalism -which changed people’s self perception from “Soviet” to “Russian” - brought down the Soviet Union in Moscow soon after.

On August 18th, however, a group of hardline communists made an enormous gamble, placing Gorbachev under house arrest in Crimea, and sending tanks towards the parliament building (perhaps ironically named the White House). However, between defiance from protestors and a lack of support from almost everyone imaginable - the military, broader political forces, and external powers including the US - the coup never fully materialised, and the leaders were arrested only days later. Regardless, the USSR had been vastly weakened - partially by the attempted coup - and Gorbachev had little choice but to resign.

History outdid itself two years later.

Source: National Security Archive

Russia became an “independent” country (despite de facto leading the USSR previously), one of its key reforms was the election of a president independent of its elected parliament to take over from Gorbachev: Boris Yeltsin. To say Yeltsin disliked Parliament is to say the very least - in fact, he openly stated to his German counterpart Helmut Kohl that it was “full of fascists”. In an attempt to shut them out, Yeltsin slowly attempted to consolidate power, before an attempt to impeach him broke out in 1993 - twice, failing both times.

In response, Yeltsin ordered tanks to, once again, descend on government buildings. Lawmakers were swiftly arrested, and Yeltsin was able to rule by decree for six years. While democracy in Russia had failed, largely self-serving and wholly un-cooperative members of Parliament were removed. When Yeltsin resigned over accusations of corruption, he was able to hand off power to a man that instantly protected him: Vladimir Putin.