Changes

== Early career ==

== Early career ==

Yeltsin resigned from the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] on July 12, 1990 after 29 years in the party.  His relative lack of enthusiasm for the communists even as a young man can be evaluated in part on the basis of his having not joined until six years after he began practicing his profession, [[construction engineer]], in the 1950's.  Prior to his resignation, Yeltsin had been a popular mayor of [[Moscow]] and was a powerful member of the parliament. Yeltsin was elected president of a new [[Russian Federation]] in Russia's first democratic election in June 1991.

Yeltsin resigned from the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] on July 12, 1990 after 29 years in the party.  His relative lack of enthusiasm for the communists even as a young man can be evaluated in part on the basis of his having not joined until six years after he began practicing his profession, [[construction engineer]], in the 1950s.  Prior to his resignation, Yeltsin had been a popular mayor of [[Moscow]] and was a powerful member of the parliament. Yeltsin was elected president of a new [[Russian Federation]] in Russia's first democratic election in June 1991.

== Role in last days of the Soviet Union ==

== Role in last days of the Soviet Union ==

[[Communists]] were angry and determined to stop Yeltsin’s challenge. In August 1991, they ordered the soldiers to kill Yeltsin{{fact}}. Providence must have intervened{{fact}}, because the troops refused the order. Rarely, if ever, do troops refuse orders like this. In a communist country such refusal was unheard of prior to the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] in 1989.  One example of this is exemplified by Yeltsin's trip to visit a grocery store in Texas.  On September 16, 1989, Yeltsin made a surprise visit to Randall's grocery in Clear Lake, Houston, Texas.  Yeltsin was reportedly amazed that all the shelves were stocked, shocked at free samples handed to people in the store, and curious as to if other American stores were also this way.<ref>[https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/13/how-a-russians-grocery-store-trip-in-1989-exposed-the-lie-of-socialism/ How A Russian’s Grocery Store Trip In 1989 Exposed The Lie Of Socialism]</ref>  Coming from a life in a Communist country, he was used to scarcity in grocery stores instead of capitalist abundance.

[[Communists]] were angry and determined to stop Yeltsin's challenge. In August 1991, they ordered the soldiers to kill Yeltsin{{fact}}. Providence must have intervened{{fact}}, because the troops refused the order. Rarely, if ever, do troops refuse orders like this. In a communist country such refusal was unheard of prior to the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]] in 1989.  One example of this is exemplified by Yeltsin's trip to visit a grocery store in Texas.  On September 16, 1989, Yeltsin made a surprise visit to Randall's grocery in Clear Lake, Houston, Texas.  Yeltsin was reportedly amazed that all the shelves were stocked, shocked at free samples handed to people in the store, and curious as to if other American stores were also this way.<ref>[https://thefederalist.com/2019/11/13/how-a-russians-grocery-store-trip-in-1989-exposed-the-lie-of-socialism/ How A Russian’s Grocery Store Trip In 1989 Exposed The Lie Of Socialism]</ref>  Coming from a life in a Communist country, he was used to scarcity in grocery stores instead of capitalist abundance.

Many{{fact}} explain this as occurring because by 1991 almost everyone could see the writing on the wall: the West was winning and Russia had an opportunity to embrace [[capitalism]].  By 1991 ordinary Russians were very cynical about their system of government and envied the material success of their Western neighbors.  Blaming Gorbachev for this state of affairs, more traditional Communists confined him in his dacha on the [[Black Sea]] for three days, announcing he had stepped down for health reasons.  They probably intended to kill him once things settled down{{fact}}.  Thanks mostly to Yeltsin, who brought tens of thousands of his supporters into [[Red Square]] to protect the [[Russian State Duma]], things never did.

Many{{fact}} explain this as occurring because by 1991 almost everyone could see the writing on the wall: the West was winning and Russia had an opportunity to embrace [[capitalism]].  By 1991 ordinary Russians were very cynical about their system of government and envied the material success of their Western neighbors.  Blaming Gorbachev for this state of affairs, more traditional Communists confined him in his dacha on the [[Black Sea]] for three days, announcing he had stepped down for health reasons.  They probably intended to kill him once things settled down{{fact}}.  Thanks mostly to Yeltsin, who brought tens of thousands of his supporters into [[Red Square]] to protect the [[Russian State Duma]], things never did.