The Dirty 90s

"Revolution Is a Struggle to the Death between the Future and the Past"

The person who said this is dead. Their regime was toppled in a revolution, their nation has tried something else.

The 1990s were a decade of hope for Eastern Europa, a dream that for Russians was crushed in the "Dirty 90s". In that time, many ideas grew in Ukraine, Russia, and the Balkans, as the hopes for a western, democratic future festered. Some looked back to a past of terror, of imperialism, of feudalism. Others looked back to the order and strict regulation of the Soviet Union. Even if these two misguided groups weren't a concern, the rise of the new oligarchs was an inescapable anxiety. They were like the old Slavic nobility who once ruled the area, before the Tzars, before the Mongols even. Even those aligned with one oligarch, or a few, wouldn't be in a good position if all of them were kept around. The Yankees had once said "That a divided house can not stand", but threats in the shadows were quoting the Romans with "Divide and rule". The Weimar Republic fell because three of its political factions weren't talking to each other, but the remaining two formed a coalition, the two that were most anti-republican.

If the region was mostly separate and fighting, and a handful of outside and/or inside factions decided to exploit the division and weakness of the others, what remained of any dreams were as good as dead.

After the KGB tried and failed to seize power and turn back the clock, each band of oligarchs, officers, and former party officials started organizing. There were those who wanted to return back to power, along with those who had poor memories or believed the books they were given. There were those motivated by the wrong western ideals, by the Spartans, by their hatred of the outside world. There were those who wanted to take advantage of the "shock therapy" and seize power for themselves, brush aside anyone in their way. There was a little band of those who clenched their fists and burned with fury at their dreams turning to dust, of three revolutions darkened by reality. And finally, there was a group that wanted stability, and the rule of law, so they could properly make money.

A man was selected by Yeltsin to run for office, he ran with the promise of "Law and Order".