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I have been lately reading about the 1993 consitutional crisis in Russia, which ended in the victory of Yeltsin and the adoption of the new Russian constitution. Could this crisis have ended differently? I’m interested in two separate questions:

1. Which POD(s) could have led to the victory of the Russian parliament?

2. What sort of effects this would have had?

While we have probably members who have much better knowledge about these events than I do, I’ll throw few ideas here.

Firstly, Yeltsin and the Russian army were quite slow to act against the parliament even when the situation became worse. Yeltsin and his government seems to have been unwilling to use much force at first which greatly helped the parliament and its supporters. The army also seems to have been somewhat divided. There existed unwillingness to act, a sort of reverse trauma cause by events in 1991, and Alexander Rutskoy and Ruslan Khasbulatov had been also able to gather at least some support inside the army by spreading their propaganda. Even after the army had started to move forces towards Moscow, they weren’t particularly quick at it. Maybe Yeltsin could have acted slower and given the parliament and its supporters more time to consolidate their position. The army is very much the key so it must be made to believe that the parliament is winning.

Secondly, somewhat related to the ideas above, I propose a more precise POD: the parliament’s supporters take Ostankino TV center. If the parliament had gained the control of television center, they could have broadcasted their message much more efficiently, especially important as their communications outside Moscow were somewhat limited. This would have had certainly some sort of effect on morale on both sides. Forces supporting Yeltsin had taken control of the TV station only one and half hour earlier. If pro-parliament forces had acted quicker, or Yeltsin’s supporters slower, the TV center could have very well transferred to the hands of the parliament.

Are there other possible things which might have achieved the victory of the Parliament?

And what about the second question? What sort of rulers would have been the new leaders of Russia? The group seems to have been quite diverse ranging from the far-left to far-right.
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