Encyclopedia of Russian History

Buhite, Russell D. (1986). Decisions at Yalta: An Appraisal of Summit Diplomacy. Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources. Clemens, Diane Shaver. (1970). Yalta. New York: Oxford University Press. Mastny,Vojtech. (1979). Russia’s Road to the Cold War: Diplomacy, Warfare, and the Politics of Communism. New York: Columbia University Press. Snell, John L. (1956). The Meaning of Yalta: Big Three Diplomacy and the New Balance of Power. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.

JOSEPH L. NOGEE

conviction-or his inebriation. Along with Yeltsin’s appearance atop a tank, Yanayev and his shaking hands became a central image of the putsch. Yanayev was arrested immediately following the coup’s collapse and was amnestied by the Duma in February 1994. He went on to become a pension fund consultant. See also: AUGUST 1991 PUTSCH

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gorbachev, Mikhail. (1991). The August Coup: The Truth and the Lessons. New York: Harper Collins. Remnick, David. (1993). Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire. New York: Random House.

ANN E. ROBERTSON

YANAYEV, GENNADY IVANOVICH

(b. 1937), USSR vice president, coup plotter.

Gennady Yanayev graduated from Gorky Agricultural Institute in 1959 and earned a history degree from the All-Union Law Institute in 1967. Before joining the Party in 1962, Yanayev worked in the agro-industry sector. After securing Party membership, he soon began working in the Gorky Komsomol organization (1963-1968). He was promoted to chairman of the USSR Committee of Youth Organizations (1968-1980) and later to deputy chair of the Presidium of the Union of Soviet Friendship Societies (1980-1986). He switched to working in the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions in 1986, becoming chair in 1990.

Yanayev rose following the Twenty-eighth CPSU Party Congress. In July 1990 he was named to the Central Committee and Politburo and given the Central Committee foreign policy portfolio. Following the creation of the Soviet presidency in late 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev nominated Yanayev as his vice president on December 27. The Congress of People’s Deputies approved him on the second ballot. He then resigned from his Central Committee and Politburo posts effective January 31, 1991.

Yanayev disagreed with Gorbachev’s reforms and was the public face of the group that plotted the abortive coup of August 19-21, 1991. He went on international television to claim that, as vice president, he had assumed the acting presidency of the Soviet Union. His quivering hands, constant sniffling, and stilted delivery suggested his lack of

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YARLYK

A decree or pronouncement by a Mongol khan.

The yarlyk (Mongolian jarligh; Tartar yarligh) was one of three types of non-fundamental law (jasagh or yasa) pronouncements that had the effect of a regulation or ordinance, the other two being debter (a record of precedence cases for administration and judicial decisions) and bilig (maxims or sayings attributed to Chinghis Khan). The yarlyki provide important information about the running of the Mongol Empire.

From the mid-thirteenth to mid-fifteenth centuries, all Rus princes received yarlyki authorizing their rule. Initially, those yarlyki came from the qaghan in Karakorum, but after Batu established his khanate, they came from Sarai. None of these yarlyki, however, is extant. In the mid-fifteenth century, Basil II began forbidding other Rus princes from receiving the yarlyk from Tatar khans, thus establishing the right of the Moscow grand prince to authorize local princely rule.

In the Rus metropolitan archive are preserved six yarlyki (constituting the so-called Short Collection) considered to be translations into Russian of authentic patents issued from the Qipchaq Khanate: (1) from Khan Tiuliak (Tulunbek) of Ma-mai’s Horde to Metropolitan Mikhail (Mtia) (1379); (2) from Khatun Taydula to the Rus’ princes (1347); (3) from Khan Mengu-Temir to Metropolitan Peter (1308); (4) from Khatun Taydula to Metropolitan Feognost (1343); (5) from Khan Berdibek to Metropolitan Alexei (1357); and (6) from Khatun

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RUSSIAN HISTORY

YAROSLAV VLADIMIROVICH

Taydula to Metropolitan Alexei (1354). A seventh yarlyk, which purports to be from Khan ?zbeg to Metropolitan Peter (found in the so-called full collection) has been determined to be a sixteenth-century forgery. The yarlyki to the metropolitans affirm the freedom of the Church from taxes and tributes, and declare that the Church’s property should be protected from expropriation or damage as long as Rus churchmen pray for the well-being of the khan and his family. See also: GOLDEN HORDE

DONALD OSTROWSKI

YAROPOLK I

(d. 980), son of Svyatoslav and the grandson of Igor and Olga; fourth grand prince of Kiev.