Mikhail Gorbachev

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Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931, in the agricultural region of Stavropol and became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985. Embarking on a new openness with the outside world not previously seen under Soviet rule, Gorbachev became quite popular in the west.

Gorbachev attended Moscow University, where he studied law. In 1953 he married Raisa Titorenko, who was another University student. Then he returned to Stavropol, and began to move gradually upward in the Communist Party. Following the death of then communist leader Konstantin Chernenko in 1985, Gorbachev was elected General Secretary.[Citation Needed] As General Secretary, Gorbachev improved relations with the United States's president, Ronald Reagan. He embarked on an extensive mission of reforming the communist Soviet Union. He succeeded in reforming it politically, economically, and socially under the slogans of "Glasnost" which means "openness", and "Perestroika", meaning "restructuring". It is questioned to what extent he intended to bring about the wholesale changes that swept the Soviet Union and its satellites and how much events moved out of control.

He was "relieved" of office in 1991 after successfully bringing down 74 years of feared communist rule and surviving a temporary "coup" by the old communist guard that didn't take off and quickly fizzled. Although still thought of fondly in the west, Gorbachev did not maintain his popularity at home. After his "retirement" he was forced to live on a pension that deteriorated quickly in value as the Russian currency collapsed in the post communist era. Gorbachev was awarded the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.[1]


References

  1. Nobel Peace Prize