The historian who called the conservative majority 'aggressively obedient'
27 May 1989, at the First Congress of People's Deputies, to the conservative deputies: "You here make up an aggressively obedient majority. … We are creating a Stalinist-Brezhnevite Supreme Soviet."
A historian who coined the phrase 'aggressively obedient majority' to describe the conservative bloc at the First Congress of People's Deputies in 1989. A scholar of the French Annales school, he led the de-Stalinization of Soviet historiography as rector of the Moscow State Institute of History and Archives (1986–1991) and served as co-chair of the Inter-Regional Deputies Group alongside Sakharov and Yeltsin, driving democratic reform. In 1991 he founded the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH), carving an independent intellectual space out of a former Party school, and spent his final decades openly criticizing the authoritarian drift of both Yeltsin and Putin.
Career Timeline
- 1957–66Komsomol secretary, Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric station
- 1972–81Professor and pro-rector, Higher Komsomol School
- 1983–86History editor, Kommunist journal
- 1986–91Rector, Moscow State Institute of History and Archives; leads de-Stalinization of Soviet historiography
- 1989–93People's Deputy of the USSR; co-chair, Inter-Regional Deputies Group
- 1990–92Co-founder and co-chair, Democratic Russia movement; quits CPSU
- 1991–2003Founder and rector, Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH)
Related historical events
- 1985–1991Perestroika and GlasnostHistorian who named the 'aggressively obedient majority'At the First Congress of People's Deputies his speech branding the conservative majority as 'aggressively obedient' won national fame; he became co-chair of the Interregional Deputies' Group.
- 1988–1990The Nineteenth Party Conference and the First Contested ElectionsCo-chair, Inter-Regional Deputies' GroupAs co-chair of the Inter-Regional Group, demanded abolition of Article 6 at the Second Congress.
- 1987–1991The Baltic Independence Movement and the Baltic WayMRP commission vice-chairman, Inter-Regional Group co-chairOn 14 December 1989 declared his Inter-Regional Group the 'opposition' to the Congress majority, tilting the mood toward the democrats ahead of the vote.