Vladimir Volfovich Zhirinovsky (born 1946) led the extreme nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia to surprising success in the Russian parliamentary elections of December 1993.

Zhirinovsky proved himself a master of the media available to Russian politicians in the December 1993 elections. A gifted demagogue, his message of extreme nationalism struck a chord among Russians suffering and fearing the hardships and uncertainties brought about by the collapse of the Soviet empire and the transformation from a planned economy to a market economy. He won support from those most vulnerable in the transformation, and from people who wanted to make an emphatic protest of the course Russia was following. His populist style and the simple solutions he proposed came in contrast to the professorial style and approaches of many of his reformist opponents. The unexpected success of Zhirinovsky's party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, was regarded by many observers inside and...