"At noon, smiling and relaxed, he joined a huge throng in Red Square to listen to the National Symphony Orchestra from Washington, conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich, once a dissident here. The orchestra played Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the composer's death. Church bells rang and cannons -- used in the 1812 victory over Napoleon -- were fired under sunny but cold weather."
"After the concert, about 15,000 pro-Yeltsin demonstrators gathered nearby and then marched a few blocks to Moscow City Hall. Bearing red, white and blue Russian flags and carrying pictures of Mr. Yeltsin, they shouted 'Yeltsin, Yeltsin' and 'down with Communism.'"
"Olga Savelyeva, a 46-year-old engineer, said that if Mr. Yeltsin's opponents -- now holed up in the Russian Parliament's White House -- prevailed, civil war would follow."
"'I'd go and fight myself,' said the slender woman, who looked 20 years older than her years. 'Those who support the parliament and are there now are party functionaries who have lost their privileges and old people who took part in the Second World War. The ideals they fought for have been destroyed. Now they live in the past, and find some small consolation by standing outside the White House.'"
"A pensioner, 63-year-old Yulia Yerokhina, said the only reason the Yeltsin crowd was not larger was that the president had already won."
"'He doesn't need us today,' she said. 'When he does, we'll be there.'"
The rest of this historical article is here.
As detailed here, my roommate and I saw a concert on Red Square and then attended a pro-Yeltsin political rally. After words, we walked to the White House where Alexander Rutskoi (Yeltsin's opponent) was holed up.
The foundation of the crisis started in 1992 with Yeltsin's economic reforms. The reforms were a "shock therapy" of introducing capitalism to the former soicalist state. GDP fell drastically and inflation exploded.
By September 24, 1993, the battle lines had been drawn. President Boris Yeltsin unconstitutionally dissolved the legislature. In response, the parliament declared that Yeltsin's decision null and void, impeached Yeltsin, and proclaimed vice president Rutskoi to be acting president.
Mobs of people had just finished a festive rally in support of Yeltsin, but the mood at the White House was completely different. Hundreds of ill-kept people were literally camping around the White House. They flew white, yellow and black striped flags and some even wore swastikas. Seeing the swastikas was a dead give away that these people did not share my world views.
I tried as hard as I could to hide that I was an American, as I was certain that we would not be welcome.
Someone was giving a speech, and the tone of his voice was violent. The reaction of the crowd was very odd. It was lethargic. It seemed that the opponents of Yeltsin were losing their resolve and were ready to leave. It did not take long for me to be ready to leave too.
Our next weekend was going to be grand! We were going to Nizhni Novgorod to see my rommates family!
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