Gorbachev was named a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1971, and he was appointed a party secretary of agriculture in 1978. In 1990 Gorbachev ran without opposition for president of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned the presidency of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. This responsibility was to pass to the local soviets. New York, 1993. Gorbachev therefore transformed Soviet foreign policy. General secretary of the CPSU: perestroika to the fall of the Soviet Union, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Gorbachev, Academy of Achievement - Biography of Mikhail S. Gorbachev, Spartacus Educational - Biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, Age of the Sage - Transmitting the Wisdoms of the Ages - Biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, The Cold War Museum - Biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, RT Russiapedia - Biography of Mikhail Gorbachev, Mikhail Gorbachev - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Mikhail Gorbachev - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). His changes in foreign policy led to the democratization of eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War. Gorbachev helped take down the long-standing Iron Curtain separating Eastern communist states and Western noncommunist states. Under perestroika, some limited free-market mechanisms also began to be introduced into the Soviet economy, but even these modest economic reforms encountered serious resistance from party and government bureaucrats who were unwilling to relinquish their control over the nation’s economic life. To this end, he called for rapid technological modernization and increased worker productivity, and he tried to make the cumbersome Soviet bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. Gorbachev remained the undisputed master of the ailing Communist Party, but his attempts to augment his presidential powers through decrees and administrative reshufflings proved fruitless, and his government’s authority and effectiveness began a serious decline. Remnick, David. In the face of a collapsing economy, rising public frustration, and the continued shift of power to the constituent republics, Gorbachev wavered in direction, allying himself with party conservatives and the security organs in late 1990. He was elected general secretary in 1985. Soviet attempts to discourage Baltic independence led to a bloody confrontation in Vilnius in January 1991, after which Yeltsin called upon Russian troops to disobey orders that would have them shoot unarmed civilians. After the August Coup of 1991, Gorbachev understood that influence and support had shifted to Boris Yeltsin. He believed that the opening up of the political system—essentially, democratizing it—was the only way to overcome inertia in the political and bureaucratic apparatus, which had a big interest in maintaining the status quo. In 1987–88 he pushed through reforms that went less than halfway to the creation of a semi-free market system. Learn about Mikhail Gorbachev's efforts to reform the Soviet Union. But the Communist hard-liners who had replaced reformers in the government proved undependable allies, and Gorbachev and his family were briefly held under house arrest from August 19 to 21, 1991, during a short-lived coup by the hard-liners. That same day, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. The new policy of "reconstruction" was introduced in an attempt to overcome the economic stagn… Updates? Global Look Press. An ill-conceived, ill-planned, and poorly executed coup attempt occurred August 19–21, 1991, bringing an end to the Communist Party and accelerating the movement to disband the Soviet Union. Over the course of Yury Andropov’s 15-month tenure (1982–84) as general secretary of the Communist Party, Gorbachev became one of the Politburo’s most highly active and visible members; and, after Andropov died and Konstantin Chernenko became general secretary in February 1984, Gorbachev became a likely successor to the latter. Agreeing with Cohen's assessment of the conservative character of the Soviet population is Benn, David Wedgewood, “ Gorbachev's Progress II: Confronting the Conservatives, ” The World Today 44 (June 1988): 94 – 95 Google Scholar. Gorbachev worked with U.S. President Ronald Reagan to lessen the political and military tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. In 1979–80 Gorbachev joined its supreme policy-making body (the Politburo), and in 1985 he was elected general secretary of the CPSU. Mikhail Gorbachev was named a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1971. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the Geneva Summit 1985. At that time, Boris Yeltsin was president of Russia. This had been a goal of Russian leaders since Peter the Great unleashed the first great wave of modernization and Westernization. Gorbachev’s bid for the presidency was unsuccessful: he earned less than 1 percent of the vote. (Perceptive journalistic account.) Good pages, light soiling on top edge. The most significant anti-coup role was played by Yeltsin, who brilliantly grasped the opportunity to promote himself and Russia. Reagan insisted the SDI initiative should not be considered a space weapon, but merely a defensive technology. He did not, however, develop the power to implement these decisions. Accordingly, under changes made to the constitution in December 1988, a new bicameral parliament called the U.S.S.R. Congress of People’s Deputies was created, with some of its members directly elected by the people in contested (i.e., multicandidate) elections. As the U.S.S.R.’s economic problems became more serious (e.g., rationing was introduced for some basic food products for the first time since Stalin) and calls for faster political reforms and decentralization began to increase, the nationality problem became acute for Gorbachev. Omissions? He proved a promising Komsomol member, and in 1952 he entered the law school of Moscow State University and became a member of the Communist Party. At the age of 54, he became the youngest man to head the government of the Soviet Union since Joseph Stalin had come to power in the 1920s. The reemergence of Russian nationalism seriously weakened Gorbachev as the leader of the Soviet empire. In foreign affairs, Gorbachev from the beginning cultivated warmer relations and trade with the developed nations of both West and East. Gorbachev’s policies ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990–91. Gorbachev was the son of Russian peasants in Stavropol territory (kray) in southwestern Russia. In parliament he pilloried Gorbachev, the Communist Party, corruption, and the slow pace of economic reform. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. From a strictly legal point of view, this should have been done by court order, not by presidential decree. 1987 Gorbachev: October and Perestroika. Chernenko died on March 10, 1985, and the following day the Politburo elected Gorbachev general secretary of the CPSU. In 1985 Gorbachev brought Boris Yeltsin to Moscow to run that city’s party machine. In 1988–89 he oversaw the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan after their nine-year occupation of that country. As democratically elected, noncommunist governments came to power in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in late 1989–90, Gorbachev agreed to the phased withdrawal of Soviet troops from those countries. In July 1987, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union passed the Law on State Enterprise. Gorbachev launched glasnost (“openness”) as the second vital plank of his reform efforts. 1984 Human Rights in the Soviet Union. As the economic and political situation began to deteriorate, Gorbachev concentrated his energies on increasing his authority (that is to say, his ability to make decisions). Mikhail Gorbachev delivering a speech at the 11th congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in East Berlin, 1986. Gorbachev’s radical economists, headed by Grigory A. Yavlinsky, counseled him that Western-style success required a true market economy. In response, Gorbachev used military force to suppress bloody interethnic strife in several of the Central Asian republics in 1989–90, while constitutional mechanisms were devised that could provide for the lawful secession of a republic from the U.S.S.R. With the CPSU waning in power and steadily losing prestige in the face of the mounting impetus for democratic political procedures, Gorbachev in 1990 further accelerated the transfer of power from the party to elected governmental institutions. Ligachev subsequently became one of Gorbachev’s opponents, making it difficult for Gorbachev to use the party apparatus to implement his views on perestroika. His team was more heavily Russian than that of his predecessors. Due to senility, Brezhnev had not been in effective control of the country during his last few years, and Kosygin had died in 1980. Gorbachev realised military spending had to be reduced and this meant ending the arms race with the USA. Gorbachev understood that the defense burden, perhaps equivalent to 25 percent of the gross national product, was crippling the country. Limited force was used in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and the Baltic states to quell nationality problems, though Gorbachev was never prepared to use systematic force in order to reestablish the centre’s control. When he took office, Yegor Ligachev was made head of the party’s Central Committee Secretariat, one of the two main centres of power (with the Politburo) in the Soviet Union. The New Russians. Entering into an unavoidable alliance with Yeltsin, Gorbachev quit the Communist Party, disbanded its Central Committee, and supported measures to strip the party of its control over the KGB and the armed forces. Yeltsin for the first time had a national platform. One of the Russian questions was whether the voters were in favour of a directly elected president. Gorbachev was also the first general secretary of the Communist Party not to have served in the armed forces during World War II. Since his involuntary retirement, Gorbachev has raised money for … Well, it turns out it might have been successful at a lot more things than just entertaining American audiences! Moreover, the huge defense expenditures that characterized the Cold War years were one of the causes of Soviet economic decline. His policies were simply not put into practice. Mikhail Gorbachev played a key role in ending the Soviet Union’s post-World War II domination of eastern Europe. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. In 1989 the newly elected Congress of People’s Deputies elected from its ranks a new U.S.S.R. Supreme Soviet that, in contrast to its predecessor of that name, was a real standing parliament with substantial legislative powers. This had led to cuts in expenditures in education, social services, and medical care, which hurt the regime’s domestic legitimacy. The reign of Peter I (the Great; 1689–1725), The reign of Catherine II (the Great; 1762–96), Government administration under Catherine, Education and social change in the 18th century, The Civil War and War Communism (1918–21), The Gorbachev era: perestroika and glasnost, Ethnic relations and Russia’s “near-abroad”, Consolidation of power, Syria, and campaign against the West. A new parliament, the Congress of People’s Deputies, was convened in the spring of 1989, with Gorbachev presiding. Clearly, Yeltsin wished to rid Russia of the encumbrance of the Soviet Union and to seek the disbandment of that body. This time is no different: Mikhail Gorbachev — yes, that Gorbachev, a.k.a. The coup was carried out by hard-line Communist Party, KGB, and military officials attempting to avert a new liberalized union treaty and return to the old-line party values. The Russian government under Yeltsin assumed many of the responsibilities of the former Soviet Union. Shortly thereafter Gorbachev restructured the Soviet government to include a bicameral parliament. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Mr Gorbachev famously stated: “The most puzzling development in modern politics is the apparent determination of western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in western Europe.” The Politburo was dominated by old men, and they were overwhelmingly Russian. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Overview of Mikhail Gorbachev, including a discussion of his policy of perestroika. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Mikhail Gorbachev (centre) in East Berlin, 1986. He graduated with a degree in law in 1955 and went on to hold a number of posts in the Komsomol and regular party organizations in Stavropol, rising to become first secretary of the regional party committee in 1970. With Yuri Andropov, James Baker, Leonid Brezhnev, Konstantin Chernenko. Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire. In 1988 Gorbachev became Soviet president and chief of state. 1984 The City Where We Live: the Soviet State and Trade Unions. Please select which sections you would like to print: Corrections? Under his new policy of glasnost (“openness”), a major cultural thaw took place: freedoms of expression and of information were significantly expanded; the press and broadcasting were allowed unprecedented candour in their reportage and criticism; and the country’s legacy of Stalinist totalitarian rule was eventually completely repudiated by the government. He proved less willing to release the Soviet economy from the grip of centralized state direction, however. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. (Scholarly.) Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev apparently blamed “Dallas” for the fall of his country. In the later Gorbachev years, the opinion that the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and establishment of the U.S.S.R. were mistakes that had prevented Russia from continuing along the historical path traveled by the countries of western Europe and had made Russia more economically backward vis-à-vis the West gained greater acceptance. They were, and they chose Yeltsin. After two years, however, Gorbachev came to the conclusion that deeper structural changes were necessary. Yury V. Andropov and then Konstantin Chernenko led the country from 1982 until 1985, but their administrations failed to address critical problems. TV show Dallas was the main reason behind the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union, it has been claimed. After the coup foundered in the face of staunch resistance by Russian President Boris Yeltsin and other reformers who had risen to power under the democratic reforms, Gorbachev resumed his duties as Soviet president, but his position had by now been irretrievably weakened. Mikhail Gorbachev, in full Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev, (born March 2, 1931, Privolye, Stavropol kray, Russia, U.S.S.R.), Soviet official, the general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1985 to 1991 and president of the Soviet Union in 1990–91. Gorbachev was the single most important initiator of a series of events in late 1989 and 1990 that transformed the political fabric of Europe and marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. This meant that all the republics, including first and foremost Russia, could have a similar type of presidency. This effectively undermined all attempts by Gorbachev to establish a Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics. Upon his accession, he was still the youngest member of the Politburo.