Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone
2022 · BBC iPlayer · 60 min · 1 season
S01E07 · Part Seven - 1995 to 1999
Thu, 13 Oct, 4:00 pm
A massive boom spreads through Moscow. It seems that capitalism has arrived. But suddenly the western bankers flee taking the money with them. The Oligarchs take control of a ruined society and search for a new president who they believe will make them safe. And who they can control. The Russian people turn against what they called "the curse of democracy". Both communism and democracy are finished.
About
At the start of the 1990s the Soviet Union - one the largest empires in the world - imploded.
It was not a slow collapse like the British Empire, but one that collapsed suddenly - in just a few months.
In the west we didn't really see or understand what then happened because we were blinded by victory in the cold war. In reality what the Russian people experienced was a profound disaster which left behind it deep scars and a furious anger - that led to what is happening in Russia now and in Ukraine.
This series of films is a record of what it felt like to live through that catastrophe.
It is also the story how a society of millions of people stopped believing in all politics. Not just communism, but democracy too. Something that no-one else has experienced in the modern world. Yet.
Episodes
- E01
Part One - 1985 to 1989
Thu, 13 Oct· 60 minPerestroika. The dream of saving communism. But no-one believes in anything any longer. The managers loot the system. Soldiers return defeated in the war to liberate Afghanistan.
- E02
Part Two - 1989 to 1991
Thu, 13 Oct· 60 minPresident Gorbachev still believes he can save communism. But there are no potatoes in Moscow. People travel to tiny villages to get food. Gorbachev's rival, Boris Yeltsin, decides communism is finished. Things get worse. Then they get much worse as the rational Communist plan runs out of control everywhere. But McDonald's opens in Moscow. The army and the KGB realise their power is collapsing. They have to stop what is happening.
- E03
Part Three - 1991
Thu, 13 Oct· 60 minThe empire strikes back. The hardliners bring tanks to Moscow. But power slips through their shaking hands. The Oligarchs publish their manifesto for the future. Money will replace all ideologies. It is safer. Yeltsin seizes power and abolishes communism. Parts of the old Russian empire, including Chechnya and Ukraine, demand their freedom too.
- E04
Part Four - 1992 to 1994
Thu, 13 Oct· 60 minRussia goes through the mirror. There is a new plan to create democracy overnight. Those in charge say it is rational. What it creates is a terrifying dream world where nothing is stable any more. And strange dream visions of Russia's imperial past start to rise up. While people cannot even afford food. But in Moscow women are taught to smile by American cosmetic companies.
- E05
Part Five - 1993 to 1996
Thu, 13 Oct· 60 minRussian society implodes and millions of Russian people fall into the abyss. Many turn to live underground or in the forests. The president attacks parliament with tanks saying he is saving democracy. The oligarchs move billions into offshore zones. Factories have no money. They pay their workers with the very things they make.
- E06
Part Six - 1994 to 1998
Thu, 13 Oct· 60 minThe group around the president believe a war in Chechnya will save him. Others want the war to restore the glory of the Russian empire. The Oligarchs seize control of practically everything. In the upside down world gangsters become heroes for defending democracy.
- E07
Part Seven - 1995 to 1999
Thu, 13 Oct· 60 minA massive boom spreads through Moscow. It seems that capitalism has arrived. But suddenly the western bankers flee taking the money with them. The Oligarchs take control of a ruined society and search for a new president who they believe will make them safe. And who they can control. The Russian people turn against what they called "the curse of democracy". Both communism and democracy are finished.
