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Article: Thermidor: the beginning of the end of the second Russian revolution?(Thermidor marked the historic end of the French Revolution)
- Article from:
- Quadrant
- Article date:
- June 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Quadrant Magazine Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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HAVE YOU wondered what Mikhail Gorbachev is thinking now as Boris Yeltsin, his policies in tatters, clings to life? Maybe he said, "I told you so!" as the parliament reasserted itself against Yeltsin's imperial presidency, and as a liberal-democratic reformer, Galina Starovoitova, was recently assassinated. Perhaps Gorbachev is muttering, "If only ...", as another secretary of the former Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Yevgeny Primakov, has taken up the reins of state.
Some say history is always written from the victors' perspective. I beg to differ. Reminding ourselves of the history others forget helps put current events in Russia into perspective.