Concerto for democrats with orchestra. (post-communist Russia)

After changing the flags at the White House, the Supreme Soviet stopped its democratic activities and turned back to the old regime.

Many Russian intellectuals are nostalgic for the first days after the unsuccessful August 1991 coup. They remember those days with tears in their eyes; it was a time when the whole nation seemed to be united against the threatened return of totalitarianism. This was a real opportunity to be part of a noble impulse, these defenders of democracy say. It was an incredible feeling to stand in the living chain, hand-in-hand, fighting for democracy; this was the high point of their lives.

This is an illusion. The White House--the nickname for the headquarters of the Russian Supreme Soviet in Moscow--was not protected by the whole nation. A few thousand people gathered on the White House steps to defend it against the putchists. Now, a year and a half later, everyone knows that it would have been very easy to capture Yeltsin's shelter--if the army had wanted to. A human chain is a feeble weapon against tanks. The putchists are still in prison and there will be a trial soon. But according to what laws will they be tried?

In November, the Communist Party itself was on trial. One side (representing Yeltsin) was trying to prove that the party took over power and formed a state of its own. The other side (representing the top party bureaucracy) said that it was not true. Gorbachev refused to testify in this circus; if he testified, he would have been pilloried by both sides. Finally, the court did without Gorbachev's help and passed a strange verdict, that the Communist Party was over, but it could be started up again on the local level. The question of the party's property (there are zillions of rubles and buildings and publishing houses and cars and so on) is unclear. If the Communists make a come-back--which seems unlikely--they could claim the property back.

For many others, nostalgia for the heady days after the failed coup are gone. It has been replaced by frustration. The Russian character will never accept the idea that it is impossible to change things overnight. People want improvement now, and the government encourages them by promising changes in a few months. But so far, democracy has not improved life for most Russians.

Last August, there was a celebration of the poetically named "victory of democratic revolution." Some of …