RussiaWho was Mikhail Gorbachev?
Mikhail Gorbachev was born to a peasant family in the Stavropol region, studied law at Moscow University and rose through the Communist Party, becoming the youngest full member of the Politburo in 1980 and General Secretary in March 1985. He launched economic restructuring, known as perestroika, and greater openness, known as glasnost, and in 1989 was elected executive president by a new parliament. After a failed hardline coup in August 1991 he resigned as party leader, and on 25 December 1991 he resigned as president as the Soviet Union dissolved.
Political views
Called for continued democratization and a new constitutional structure turning the Union into a genuine, free and voluntary federation.
Source: nobelprize.orgArgued for a move toward a mixed market economy based on a new system of property relations.
Source: nobelprize.orgWanted to open the Soviet economy to the world through ruble convertibility and membership of international economic bodies.
Source: nobelprize.orgProposed new thinking in foreign policy based on freedom of choice and a balance of interests among states.
Source: nobelprize.orgNegotiated nuclear arms reductions with the United States and withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
Source: nobelprize.orgArgued that perestroika would not produce a copy of the West and that the country would find its own path.
Source: nobelprize.orgDid not intervene to stop the 1989 revolutions in Eastern Europe or German reunification.
Source: nobelprize.org
Legacy
In the West and among many reformers, Gorbachev is credited with ending the Cold War peacefully, allowing Eastern Europe to choose its own path and opening Soviet society to free debate. In Russia he is often blamed for economic hardship and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and many polls there have rated him unfavorably. Critics in the Baltic states and the Caucasus point to the use of force against independence movements in 1989-1991, while hardliners in his own party opposed his reforms and attempted the August 1991 coup.
In their words
Life is much richer and more complex than even the most perfect plans to make it better.