ABSTRACT
The Yeltsin affair may in the future be seen as a minor episode in Mikhail Gorbachev’s quest to modernize Russia, but it was the first major domestic political crisis of the Gorbachev era. The plenum’s important item of business was to be Gorbachev’s report about his planned speech to a November 2 meeting of the Central Committee that would include members of the Supreme Soviet and many foreign guests. Boris Yeltsin’s statement was met with stunned silence and astonishment. After he finished and returned to his seat in the first row of the hall, Gorbachev got up and asked whether any of the comrades at the meeting wanted to take the floor. Gorbachev began by saying that Yeltsin’s declaration was a surprise to everyone, and a bitter one at that. Gorbachev called the unanimity of all members of the Central Committee who had spoken gratifying. The Yeltsin affair was the first major political crisis of Gorbachev’s administration.
