Post-communist period

The history of Russia from 1991 to the present began with the dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991, and the establishment of the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation (RSFSR) was the largest republic within the USSR, however, until 1990, it had no significant independence.

The Russian Federation was the largest of the fifteen republics that made up the Soviet Union, accounting for over 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP) and over 50% of the Soviet population. Russians also dominated the Soviet military and the Communist Party (CPSU). As such, the Russian Federation was widely accepted as the Soviet Union's successor state in diplomatic affairs and it assumed the USSR's permanent membership and veto in the UN Security Council (see Russia and the United Nations), as well as any Olympic medals won by Soviet athletes.The Russian Federation nonetheless lacks the military and political power of the former Soviet Union, as well as the territorial boundaries.

Prior to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin had been elected President of Russia in June 1991 in the first direct presidential election in Russian history. This ensured that Yeltsin would be the political leader of the Russian successor state following dissolution. This situation resulted in political turmoil as the Soviet and Russian leadership wrestled for control, which culminated in the 1991 August Putsch, where the Soviet military attempted to overthrow Gorbachev. Although the coup was ultimately averted, this situation contributed to rising instability in the Soviet Union. By October 1991, as the USSR was on the verge of collapse, Yeltsin announced that Russia would proceed with radical reforms, including market-oriented reform along the lines of Poland's "big bang", also known as "shock therapy".

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