Timeline in past

Question

I cannot make sense of the timelines and flashbacks in the following Yeltsin’s drunkenness symbolized the self-loathing shambles to which the former superpower had been reduced. Russia was a defeated nation. It had lost the Cold War, and along with it millions of square miles of territory, as imperial possessions dating to the czarist era declared their independence. The country’s economy collapsed, impoverishing most everyone except the insiders who looted public assets. Alcoholism and prostitution boomed. Life expectancy shrank Exlplain please where is the main timeline and what are the flashbacks and to what timeline they relate

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Vladv... in the following Yeltsin’s drunkenness ... shrank Exlplain please ...

It is easier to read if you write a period and start a new line before and after the passage you are looking at, thus separating it from the questions you are asking about it.

Vladvtimeline

1. Russia had lost the Cold War.
......... Here's how we know:
... 1a. The country’s economy collapsed.
... 1b. Alcoholism ... boomed.
... 1c. Life expectancy shrank.
(The three points above don't need to be past perfect because they are sub-points under 1, which is already past perfect. Because of their close association with the statement in 1, we take 1a, 1b, and 1c to be situations that are concurrent with each other and and culminate in 1.)

2. The former superpower had been reduced to shambles.
.... This is another way of saying 1.

3. Yeltsin’s drunkenness symbolized the shambles.

4. Russia was a defeated nation.
... This is a summary of the previous points.

Vladvwhat are the flashbacks

It's too complex to trace any specific flashbacks. It's simply a matter of seeing that the claims in 1 and 2 are about events and situations that came before the situations described in 3 and 4.

CJ

Timeline in past

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