1990 brought turmoil to the other Soviet republics as well. Goods in the shops were scarce. In February, following a massive demostration in Moscow, Gorbachev proposed an end to one-party Soviet rule. He faced two difficult tasks: reforming the economy and government, while holding the union together. The public, meanwhile, was impatient and divided: The right complained he was going too fast, the left that he was not moving fast enough.

By May, Boris Yeltsin began his rise to power, becoming parliamentary leader of the Russian republic. Popular and ambitious, the former member of the Soviet Politburo and Communist Party used economic discontent to weaken Gorbachev and the union. Over the next several months, six republics declared their soverignty. In October, both Russia and Ukraine announced that their state laws took precedence over Soviet laws -- and two divergent paths came into focus: Gorbachev and a restructured Soviet Union, or Yeltsin, Russia and the end of the union.

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