He claims Gorbachev actually believed he was saving socialism. Is this true? Was he actually just an idiot? It feels possible but I have always just considered him to be evil

  • TrustedFeline [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    12 hours ago

    Its ahistorical to say gorbachev dissolved the USSR on purpose. it was a coup. Perestroika and glasnost were doomed reform attempts

    The herzog documentary Meeting Gorbachev is OK. He expresses regret that he didnt imprison yeltsin and throw away the key.

    Yeltsin was a demon tho

    • PKMKII [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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      12 hours ago

      One of my biggest irks about the Western perception of post-Soviet Russia is the depiction of Yeltsin as a bumbling but amusing and harmless drunk. In reality he was just as bad as liberals think Putin is.

      • Yeltsin was a callous, cruel, dangerous, greedy and violent man. The fact that he was an alcoholic only made him more threatening, not less.

        Of course, he chose to direct his aggression within the borders of the RF, so everyone who was terrified of Russia only saw him being the bubbling fool.