Gorbachev, Mikhail
FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS
1931–
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931, to a peasant family in the Stavropol region of Russia. He excelled in both the classroom and the local collective farm, winning admission to Moscow State University. While attending the university, Gorbachev joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and earned a law degree.
Gorbachev pursued his early career in Stavropol. Unlike other CPSU general secretaries, he never worked outside Russia, making it difficult for him to comprehend the ethnic problems that his reforms would unleash. He began his efforts in the local Communist Youth League and was eventually promoted to first secretary of the Stavropol region. Gorbachev transferred to Moscow in 1978 when he was named a secretary of the Central Committee. Two years later he became the youngest member of the Politburo. His youth proved to be an asset. Following the rapid deaths of three elderly CPSU general secretaries between November 1982 and March 1985, the Central Committee, perhaps hoping for stability, elected Gorbachev as its general secretary in March 1985.
Gorbachev sought to improve, not revolutionize, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He introduced three key domestic policy initiatives: glasnost, perestroika, and democratization, all of which quickly outpaced his original intent. He had tremendous success in foreign policy, but he was much more popular abroad than at home. Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) built a solid working relationship that led to numerous summit meetings and ostensibly ended the Cold War. Gorbachev withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan and refused to prop up other communist leaders in Eastern Europe. For these efforts, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
Glasnost (openness) encouraged broad discussion of the problems facing the USSR. Strict censorship and official secrecy eased, while newspapers and magazines began filling in the blank spots of history. But as secrets were revealed, the foundation of communist rule began to crumble.
Perestroika (restructuring) relaxed central controls on the economy to improve efficiency and encourage initiative. Gorbachev removed the "command"
SOVIET PRESIDENT MIKHAIL GORBACHEV AND U.S. PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN SIGN AN ARMS TREATY IN 1987. As Mikhail Gorbachev entered office in 1985, his policies focused on rebuilding the USSR's economic and social structures along with creating an open environment in the media and political system. (SOURCE: AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS)in the Soviet economy, but without mandated production levels, output dropped. Severe shortages and hoarding resulted.
With democratization, Gorbachev sought to shift political control away from the CPSU. This brought him tremendous criticism; hardliners claimed he was going too fast, while reformists complained he was not doing enough. In 1988 he introduced a new parliament, the Congress of People's Deputies. Elections for the new Congress were held in 1989, and although multiple parties were not permitted, multiple candidates and non-Party members were. In 1990 Gorbachev ended the CPSU's monopoly on power, but he still sought to control the reform process. He gave parliament, not the people, authority to select the new president of the USSR. Gorbachev assumed the post himself.
Elections for seats in the newly established, republic-level Congress of People's Deputies in early 1990 resulted in a legislature that called for self-determination and even independence. Gorbachev ordered the drafting of a new Union Treaty to reconfigure center-periphery relations, a process that considered extensive changes. When he submitted a document that effectively gave six republics their independence, Party hardliners seized control. The August 1991 coup attempt quickly collapsed, but momentum had shifted from Gorbachev to Boris Yeltsin (b. 1931).
Gorbachev spent the remainder of 1991 trying to cobble together a new Soviet state. With all of the republics proclaiming independence, however, Gorbachev resigned on December 25, 1991. In his retirement he established a think tank, wrote his memoirs, and became president of the Green Cross International, an environmental organization working for sustainable development.
Russia.
Bibliography
Brown, Archie. The Gorbachev Factor. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Gorbachev, Mikhail. Memoirs. New York: Doubleday, 1996.
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