Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone

What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy.

2022 HD 60min United Kingdom English

Adam Curtis Mikhail Gorbachev Boris Yeltsin Vladimir Putin

Documentary History

soviet union history politics trauma society russia ideology democracy communism societal collapse

S1E1 - Part One - 1985 to 1989 2022-10-13

Perestroika. The dream of saving communism. But no-one believes in anything any longer. The managers loot the system. Soldiers return defeated in the war to liberate Afghanistan.

S1E2 - Part Two - 1989 to 1991 2022-10-13

There are no potatoes in Moscow. Things get worse. Then they get much worse as the rational Communist plan runs out of control everywhere. But McDonald’s opens in Moscow.

S1E3 - Part Three - 1991 2022-10-13

The empire strikes back. Hardliners attempt a coup. Power slips through their shaking hands. Oligarchs publish a manifesto. Money will replace all ideology. Yeltsin seizes power.

S1E4 - Part Four - 1992 to 1994 2022-10-13

Russia goes through the mirror into a chaotic dream world where nothing is stable any more. Dream visions of Russias imperial past start to rise up. People cannot afford food.

S1E5 - Part Five - 1993 to 1996 2022-10-13

Russian society implodes. Millions of people fall into the abyss. Many live underground or in forests. The president attacks parliament with tanks saying he is saving democracy.

S1E6 - Part Six - 1994 to 1998 2022-10-13

The group around the president believe a war in Chechnya will save him. Others want the war to restore the glory of the Russian empire. The Oligarchs seize control of practically everything. In the upside down world gangsters become heroes for defending democracy.

S1E7 - Part Seven - 1995 to 1999 2022-10-13

Suddenly the western bankers leave. Oligarchs take control and search for a new president to be their puppet. They choose Putin. Russians turn against “the curse of democracy".

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