He owed a great deal of his steady rise in the party to the patronage of Mikhail Suslov, the leading party ideologue. Gorbachev served as the last general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1985–91) as well as the last president of the Soviet Union (1990–91). Mansky has known Gorbachev for more than 20 years. Learn about Mikhail Gorbachev's efforts to reform the Soviet Union. He thus pursued an economic policy that aimed to increase economic growth while increasing capital investment. Remnick, David. His efforts to democratize his country’s political system and decentralize its economy led to the downfall of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Moreover, the huge defense expenditures that characterized the Cold War years were one of the causes of Soviet economic decline. He returned to public life as an elected deputy from Moscow to the Congress of People’s Deputies in 1989. In 1989 the parliament elected from its ranks a new Supreme Soviet and made Gorbachev its chairman. 1984 Human Rights in the Soviet Union. On the other hand, Gorbachev’s policies deprived the Soviet Union of ideological enemies, which in turn weakened the hold of Soviet ideology over the people. In parliament he pilloried Gorbachev, the Communist Party, corruption, and the slow pace of economic reform. 1983 Textile and Light Industry Workers' Union. Due to senility, Brezhnev had not been in effective control of the country during his last few years, and Kosygin had died in 1980. 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. The most significant anti-coup role was played by Yeltsin, who brilliantly grasped the opportunity to promote himself and Russia. This responsibility was to pass to the local soviets. 1987 Gorbachev: October and Perestroika. 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. Gorbachev’s radical economists, headed by Grigory A. Yavlinsky, counseled him that Western-style success required a true market economy. New York, 1993. He proved less willing to release the Soviet economy from the grip of centralized state direction, however. Perestroika was an attempt to modernise and ‘rebuild’ the Soviet state. His changes in foreign policy led to the democratization of eastern Europe and the end of the Cold War. In 1979–80 Gorbachev joined its supreme policy-making body (the Politburo), and in 1985 he was elected general secretary of the CPSU. After two years, however, Gorbachev came to the conclusion that deeper structural changes were necessary. Gorbachev’s policies ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990–91. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Dallas, with its portrayals of Western wealth, success and power; may have played a role in the collapse of the Soviet Union, former leader Mikhail Gorbachev believes. 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. 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. 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. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In May 1989 Gorbachev was elected chairman of this Supreme Soviet and thereby retained the national presidency. Gorbachev sought a compromise between these two diametrically opposed alternatives in vain, and so the centrally planned economy continued to crumble with no private enterprise to replace it. Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev apparently blamed “Dallas” for the fall of his country. In so doing, Gorbachev helped end the Cold War. Throughout 1989 he had seized every opportunity to voice his support for reformist communists in the Soviet-bloc countries of eastern Europe, and, when communist regimes in those countries collapsed like dominoes late that year, Gorbachev tacitly acquiesced in their fall. 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. Mikhail Gorbachev was named a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1971. 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. 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. At that time, Boris Yeltsin was president of Russia. In part because he ended the Soviet Union’s postwar domination of eastern Europe, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1990. 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). Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeyevich mēkhəyēl´ sĭrgā´yəvich gərbəchof´ [ key], 1931–, Soviet political leader. Gorbachev helped take down the long-standing Iron Curtain separating Eastern communist states and Western noncommunist states. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev resigned the presidency of the Soviet Union, which ceased to exist that same day. Chernenko died on March 10, 1985, and the following day the Politburo elected Gorbachev general secretary of the CPSU. Even in his dotage, stooped and tissue-skinned and walker-dependent, the former (and final) Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev is an imposing, even … In foreign affairs, Gorbachev from the beginning cultivated warmer relations and trade with the developed nations of both West and East. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President Ronald Reagan at the Geneva Summit 1985. Mikhaïl Sergueïevitch Gorbatchev ou Gorbatchov1 (en russe : Михаил Сергеевич Горбачёв, [mʲɪxɐˈil sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ɡərbɐˈtɕɵf]2 Écouter), né le 2 mars 1931 à Privolnoïe (ru) dans l'actuel kraï de Stavropol, est un homme d'État soviétique et russe qui dirigea l'URSS entre 1985 et 1991. 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. In October 1988 General Secretary Gorbachev was elected to the chairmanship of the presidium of the national legislature (the Supreme Soviet). Yeltsin for the first time had a national platform. Gorbachev worked with U.S. President Ronald Reagan to lessen the political and military tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. Gorbachev eschewed the totalitarian use of power that had traditionally worked to keep the Soviet economy functioning, but at the same time he resisted any decisive shift to private ownership and the use of free-market mechanisms. The New Russians. Non-Russian representation at the top of the party and the government had declined over time. 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, however, never succeeded in making the jump from the command economy to even a mixed economy. Under Gorbachev’s policy of perestroika (“restructuring”), the first modest attempts to democratize the Soviet political system were undertaken; multicandidate contests and the secret ballot were introduced in some elections to party and government posts. In 1987–88 he pushed through reforms that went less than halfway to the creation of a semi-free market system. In December 1987 he signed an agreement with U.S. President Ronald Reagan for their two countries to destroy all existing stocks of intermediate-range nuclear-tipped missiles. When the Congress of People’s Deputies elected the Supreme Soviet as a standing parliament, Yeltsin was not chosen, since the Congress had an overwhelmingly Communist majority. In 1990 Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize for his “leading role in the peace process” in Europe. Mikhail Gorbachev became a delegate to the Communist Party Congress in 1961. 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. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 First Edition with your subscription. In July 1987, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union passed the Law on State Enterprise. Gorbachev’s bid for the presidency was unsuccessful: he earned less than 1 percent of the vote. 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. 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. The intimate, poetic and revealing documentary explores the world of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. Gorbachev quickly set about consolidating his personal power in the Soviet leadership. (From left to right) Nancy and Ronald Reagan and Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev on the Reagans' ranch near Santa Barbara, Calif., 1992. Ronald Reagan (left) and Mikhail Gorbachev in Red Square, Moscow, 1988. Mikhail Gorbachev (centre) in East Berlin, 1986. The consequences of this form of a semi-mixed economy with the contradictions of the reforms themselves brought economic chaos to the country and great unpopularity to Gorbachev. Former Soviet Union leader Michael Gorbachev has said he hopes President-Elect Joe Biden's victory in last week's U.S. election will lead to better Washington, D.C.-Moscow ties, though has … By the summer of 1990 he had agreed to the reunification of East with West Germany and even assented to the prospect of that reunified nation’s becoming a member of the Soviet Union’s longtime enemy, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He demanded the reinstatement of Gorbachev as U.S.S.R. president, but, when Gorbachev returned from house arrest in Crimea, Yeltsin set out to demonstrate that he was the stronger leader. 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.” Events outpaced him, however, and the Russian government under Yeltsin readily assumed the functions of the collapsing Soviet government as the various republics agreed to form a new commonwealth under Yeltsin’s leadership. Gorbachev launched glasnost (“openness”) as the second vital plank of his reform efforts. He did not, however, develop the power to implement these decisions. His policies were simply not put into practice. 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. The Russian parliament passed radical reforms that would introduce a market economy, and Yeltsin also cut funding to a large number of Soviet agencies based on Russian soil. Mikhail Gorbachev announces that he is resigning as president of the Soviet Union. Both as general secretary and as president, Gorbachev supported democratic reforms. This effectively undermined all attempts by Gorbachev to establish a Union of Sovereign Socialist Republics. Consequently, Yeltsin and his supporters demanded Russian control over Russia and its resources. When these superficial changes failed to yield tangible results, Gorbachev in 1987–88 proceeded to initiate deeper reforms of the Soviet economic and political system. By the summer of 1988, however, Gorbachev had become strong enough to emasculate the Central Committee Secretariat and take the party out of the day-to-day running of the economy. Capital investment was to improve the technological basis of the Soviet economy as well as promote certain structural economic changes. Omissions? 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. The life of Mikhail Gorbachev, the eighth and final President of the Soviet Union in chronological order. He became a candidate member of the Politburo in 1979 and a full member in 1980. This time is no different: Mikhail Gorbachev — yes, that Gorbachev, a.k.a. A new parliament, the Congress of People’s Deputies, was convened in the spring of 1989, with Gorbachev presiding. This had been a goal of Russian leaders since Peter the Great unleashed the first great wave of modernization and Westernization. This meant that all the republics, including first and foremost Russia, could have a similar type of presidency. He joined the Komsomol (Young Communist League) in 1946 and drove a combine harvester at a state farm in Stavropol for the next four years. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned the presidency of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. 1984 The City Where We Live: the Soviet State and Trade Unions. In March 1991, when Gorbachev launched an all-union referendum about the future Soviet federation, Russia and several other republics added some supplementary questions. Directed by Werner Herzog, André Singer. In March of that year the Congress of People’s Deputies elected him to the newly created post of president of the U.S.S.R., with extensive executive powers. His primary domestic goal was to resuscitate the stagnant Soviet economy after its years of drift and low growth during Leonid Brezhnev’s tenure in power (1964–82). After the August Coup of 1991, Gorbachev understood that influence and support had shifted to Boris Yeltsin. In 1990 Gorbachev ran without opposition for president of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev was conspicuously successful in dismantling the totalitarian aspects of the Soviet state and in moving his country along the path toward true representative democracy. Gorbachev initiated his new policy of perestroika(literally 'restructuring') and its attendant radical reforms in 1986; they were sketched, but not fully spelled out, at the XXVIIth Party Congress in February–March 1986. On March 11, 1985, Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Upon his accession, he was still the youngest member of the Politburo. He did not regard the structure of the Soviet economic system itself to be a cause of the country’s growing economic problems. 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. 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. It was replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a free association of sovereign states founded by the elected leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (Belorussia). The new policy of "reconstruction" was introduced in an attempt to overcome the economic stagn… Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Gorbachev was also the first general secretary of the Communist Party not to have served in the armed forces during World War II. The Politburo was dominated by old men, and they were overwhelmingly Russian. In 1988–89 he oversaw the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan after their nine-year occupation of that country. But, in part because his economic reforms were being obstructed by the Communist Party, Gorbachev tried to restructure the government’s legislative and executive branches in order to release them from the grip of the CPSU. TV show Dallas was the main reason behind the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union, it has been claimed. Born in the agricultural region of Stavropol, Gorbachev studied law at Moscow State Univ., where in 1953 he married a philosophy student, Raisa Maksimovna Titorenko (1932?–99). From a strictly legal point of view, this should have been done by court order, not by presidential decree. In June 1990 the Russian republic declared sovereignty, establishing the primacy of Russian law within the republic. There were increasing complaints that the “Soviets” had destroyed the Russian environment and had impoverished Russia in order to maintain their empire and subsidize the poorer republics. He enacted policies of glasnost (“openness”) and perestroika (“restructuring”), and he pushed for disarmament and demilitarization in eastern Europe. Ligachev subsequently became one of Gorbachev’s opponents, making it difficult for Gorbachev to use the party apparatus to implement his views on perestroika. 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. Global Look Press. The Congress elected a new Supreme Soviet, and Gorbachev, who had opted for an executive presidency modeled on the U.S. and French systems, became the Soviet president, with broad powers. That same day, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. 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. Mikhail Gorbachev (right) meeting with Ronald Reagan at the White House, Washington, D.C., 1987. Reagan insisted the SDI initiative should not be considered a space weapon, but merely a defensive technology. Good pages, light soiling on top edge. In 1990 Gorbachev received the Nobel Prize for Peace for his striking achievements in international relations. Dissatisfaction with the Yeltsin administration prompted Gorbachev to run for president of Russia in 1996. Yeltsin banned the Communist Party in Russia and seized all of its property. 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). Well, it turns out it might have been successful at a lot more things than just entertaining American audiences! Mikhail Gorbachev played a key role in ending the Soviet Union’s post-World War II domination of eastern Europe. In this important book, Judy Shelton, one of America's leading experts on the Soviet economy, demonstrates that rampant inflation and a huge budget deficit, theoretically impossible under Marxism, have ravaged the Soviet economy and are forcing Mikhail Gorbachev into a … Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire. Yury V. Andropov and then Konstantin Chernenko led the country from 1982 until 1985, but their administrations failed to address critical problems. 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. 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. (Scholarly.) Mikhail Gorbachev was a Soviet politician. 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. New York: Random House, 1990. With Yuri Andropov, James Baker, Leonid Brezhnev, Konstantin Chernenko. Russia systematically laid claim to most Soviet property on its territory. The CIS began operations in early 1992. Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian parliament despite the bitter opposition of Gorbachev. 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. His goal was quite plain: to bring the Soviet Union up to par economically with the West. This meant that all the republics, including first and foremost Russia, could have a similar type of presidency. He became a constitutional dictator—but only on paper. The new leaders, headed by former vice-president Gennady Yanayev have declared a state of emergency. Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart said that former Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev told him that the 1980s soap opera 'had more effect' in … When Gorbachev became head of the Communist Party in 1985, he launched perestroika (“restructuring”). Mikhaïl Gorbachev, l'ancien président de l'Union Soviétique, à Leipzig, en Allemagne, le 15 mars 2013. Smith, Hedrick. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. In 1985 Gorbachev brought Boris Yeltsin to Moscow to run that city’s party machine. Yeltsin’s politics reflected the rise of Russian nationalism. In foreign affairs, Gorbachev cultivated friendlier relations with noncommunist states, including and especially the United States. Gorbachev was the son of Russian peasants in Stavropol territory (kray) in southwestern Russia. Clearly, Yeltsin wished to rid Russia of the encumbrance of the Soviet Union and to seek the disbandment of that body. Mikhail Gorbachev delivering a speech at the 11th congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in East Berlin, 1986. He was elected general secretary in 1985. It seems that initially even Gorbachev believed that the basic economic structure of the U.S.S.R. was sound and therefore only minor reforms were needed. Gorbachev has appeared in Lous Vuitton print advertisements. The new body superseded the Supreme Soviet as the highest organ of state power. He used his newfound legitimacy to promote Russian sovereignty, to advocate and adopt radical economic reform, to demand Gorbachev’s resignation, and to negotiate treaties with the Baltic republics, in which he acknowledged their right to independence. 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. They were, and they chose Yeltsin. Glasnost also allowed the media more freedom of expression, and editorials complaining of depressed conditions and of the government’s inability to correct them began to appear. Russians began to view the Soviet system as one that worked for its own political and economic interests at Russia’s expense. At the same time, the Congress, under his leadership, abolished the Communist Party’s constitutionally guaranteed monopoly of political power in the Soviet Union, thus paving the way for the legalization of other political parties. Gorbachev also moved quickly to shift fundamental political powers to the Soviet Union’s constituent republics. However, a Siberian deputy stepped down in his favour.