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24.04.07
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History Passing
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Comment by Paul Abelsky
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Boris Yeltsin’s life bridged a definitive era in Russian history.
Born just as the Stalin era began to gather force, Boris Yeltsin came of age during the years of the Soviet Union’s deepest political and economic stagnation. He forged his democratic credentials as Russia was already on the cusp of a sweeping transformation and then ruled over a period of rapid overhaul in every vital aspect of society. He personified the hopes and the aspirations of the 1990s, but also came to embody the many failings and disappointments of that decade. With his last presidential decree on New Year’s Eve 2000, he inaugurated yet another Russia by passing the reins of leadership to Vladimir Putin. Yeltsin passed away from a country that was – yet again – a different one from the Russia he left behind, at once more assured and more anxious.
More than any other living Russian politician, Yeltsin’s persona channeled the paradoxes of his background and the yearnings for change. His passing vividly closes a certain historical chapter. Many will remember where they heard of his death – the so-called flashbulb memory that comes into effect when personal emotions register a sudden event of indelible importance.
In a way, his muted and inconspicuous presence in recent years still conveyed a symbolic continuity between the heady years of perestroika and today’s more cynical sentiments. It may no longer be fashionable to regard history as just a “biography of great men,” but Yeltsin’s life was a testament to the personal factor in the revolutionary transition his country had experienced. His ambitions, ideals and shortcomings affected everyone – even those far outside Russia.
Most remarkable about the torrent of reactions to his death yesterday afternoon was the degree to which people from all walks of life attributed to Yeltsin a decisive contribution to what mattered most to them. While Mintimer Shaimiyev, president of Tatarstan, praised him for helping consolidate the political identity of Tatarstan, Metropolitan Kirill, head of external relations for the Moscow Patriarchate, eulogized the late president for the revival of the church and its wider standing in the society. In a statement, German Chancellor Angela Merkel called Yeltsin “Germany’s loyal friend,” and Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich lauded his friendship to the Ukrainian people
Although Yeltsin belonged entirely to present-day Russia, full of flaws and promise, his world-historical character summoned up a different age when the vast stakes required leadership on a grand scale. Unlike others before and after him, he did not just find himself at the right place at the right time. He carved out a place for himself within the Soviet hierarchy that never countenanced such a challenge and then became an almost unwitting pioneer and founder, if only by virtue of standing up to dilemmas that few people in Russian history ever faced.
His legacies are many, but peace may be the foremost among them. For all the great gambles he took and the errors he made, the worst case scenario of what could have been far outweighs the downsides of Yeltsin’s policies. Many of his solutions were in hindsight feeble, impulsive and unsound – from shelling the parliament to the Chechen campaign – but they usually represented, sadly, the best choices among a selection of truly catastrophic options.
Keeping the centripetal forces of disintegration in check, Yeltsin was particularly commended yesterday for preserving Russia’s territorial integrity, through compromises and coercion, at a time when the threat of further collapse might have unleashed unthinkable havoc and carnage. Yesterday’s accolades once again paid tribute to his ability to consolidate the key parties at decisive moments. With Russia trapped perpetually at the crossroads of history, the day of Yeltsin’s death showed a remarkable consensus of today’s powers that be and their unyielding rivals. Yeltsin’s historical inheritance may be the last point on which President Putin and the exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky could agree.
If yesterday seemed like the end of the epoch, it is because of such a rare accord of opinions and accolades. Whether Boris Yeltsin planted the seeds for the strains that pull at Russia today, having surmounted problems with provisional measures that later backfired, he represented the country’s collective will and imagination to an extent that no longer seems possible today.
In many ways, Yeltsin represented a breach and defiance of Russia’s traditions, and his death similarly altered the scheduled routine. This Wednesday has been declared a day of mourning, forcing President Putin to move his annual address to the nation to Thursday. Tomorrow Yeltsin will lie in state at Christ the Savior Cathedral, and he will be buried the same day at Novodevichy cemetery. |
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