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Mikhail Gorbachev was general secretary of the Soviet Union Communist Party from – He was also the first democratically elected President in
Mikhail Gorbachev played a key role in dismantling the Communist grip on power in both the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. His aspirations for democracy and reform opened up the way for the end of the Cold War and the bringing down of the Berlin Wall.
He was removed from Presidential office in , during a failed coup attempt. Since leaving office, Gorbachev has worked tirelessly promoting new efforts at social justice and concern for the environment through his own organization, the Green Cross.
Mikhail Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in October
Gorbachev was born in March in Stavropol, the North Caucasus to a poor peasant family.
At the age of 11, the district was occupied by the Germans for three years, a tough time for all in the village. In he enrolled at Moscow University where he became a member of the Soviet Union Communist Party. It was here that Gorbachev met his future wife, Raisa Maxima, and they married soon after meeting.
After gaining a degree in law, Gorbachev made much progress within the Communist party.
Gorbachev gained a reputation for being hard-working, honest and a good loyal Communist member. Unlike his other colleagues, he was moderate in drinking and not interested in gaining financial benefits. His dynamism achieved some notable achievements and the respect of party bosses, but he also became aware of the limitations of the Communist system and how the vast bureaucracy was so difficult to change.
Gorbacheve believed in socialism but he wished to see it become more efficient and better directed to improving people&#;s lives.
In he was the youngest Politburo member and in he was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party. The relatively youthful Gorbachev stood in marked contrast to the previous ageing and fossilised leaders of the Soviet Union.
President gorbachev biography book He met his future wife, Raisa Gorbachova , there. Other offices held. Archived from the original on 22 October As the scale of the disaster became apparent, , people were evacuated from the area around Chernobyl.The KGB were happy to see Gorbachev elected as they felt he had the capacity to improve the Soviet Union. They were not aware of how much Gorbachev would change Communism and the Soviet Union. Later some KGB sources said their biggest mistake was Gorbachev.
On becoming leader of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev announced two key policies, Perestroika and Glasnost.
- Perestroika involved reforming the economy and opening it up to market forces.
- Glasnost involved political reform.
This involved freedom of religious expression and individual liberties; it paved the way for democracy and for many political prisoners to be released.
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It was particularly significant for the Eastern Block. When eastern European economies made calls for democracy, the Soviet Union no longer stood in their way (as they had previously in Hungary and Czechoslovakia).
A year after becoming leader, there was a massive explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station.
The multiple failings and efforts to cover up serious safety breaches only reinforced Gorbachev&#;s view that the Communist system needed serious reform.
&#;The Chernobyl disaster, more than anything else, opened the possibility of much greater freedom of expression, to the point that the system as we knew it could no longer continue.
It made absolutely clear how important it was to continue the policy of glasnost, and I must say that I started to think about time in terms of pre-Chernobyl and post-Chernobyl.&#;
&#;Turning point at Chernobyl&#;, Japan Times (21 April )
On the international scene Gorbachev aspired to end the arms race as he said:
&#;We need Star Peace, not Star Wars.&#;
He built up good relations with US leader Ronald Reagan and especially with UK leader Margaret Thatcher.
He surprised the world by offering to make big concessions in the abolition of nuclear weapons. He has been credited with playing a major role in ending the Cold war, in both the East and also the West. In his Nobel Address of June , he offered an optimistic view of how countries might work together to build a better world.
&#;I am an optimist and I believe that together we shall be able now to make the right historical choice so as not to miss the great chance at the turn of centuries and millenia and make the current extremely difficult transition to a peaceful world order.&#; (Nobel Address)
In conservative military forces attempted a coup to overthrow Gorbachev to save the Soviet Union and Communist system.
President gorbachev biography facts: Among the Communist Party conservatives who organized the coup was Prime Minister Pavlov, whom Gorbachev had hired to help him balance power with Yeltsin. Profiles in Power. Reagan refused to terminate the SDI program and no deal was reached. Retrieved 29 January
The life of Gorbachev was in serious jeopardy. The Coup eventually failed but on returning to Moscow, political power had shifted from the Politburo to modernisers such as Yeltsin. Gorbachev resigned and never made a successful return to Russian politics.
Raisa Maximova, Gorbachev&#;s wife died of Leukaemia in They had one daughter, Irina.
Although unpopular in Russia for his perceived role in the breakup of the Soviet Union, he remains an influential voice.
Although he had previously supported Putin, In Gorbachev criticised his third term as Russian President. He was also critical of the democratic deficit in the elections. Gorbachev has also warned that in Russia. &#;Politics is increasingly turning into imitation democracy&#; &#; with all the power in the executive branch.
Gorbachev has also warned against a new &#;cold war&#; and argued that America and the West need to be careful in interfering in Russian affairs and Russian spheres of influence.
On issues of economics, he has called for a new perspective on economic issues &#; arguing the financial crash showed the limitations of the &#;Washington Consensus&#; &#; on free-market economics. Gorbachev has also founded the Green Cross International &#; one of the principal sponsors of the Earth Charter &#; a movement to encourage greater concern for the planet and environment.
&#;We desperately need to recognise that we are the guests, not the masters, of nature and adopt a new paradigm for development, based on the costs and benefits to all people, and bound by the limits of nature herself rather than the limits of technology and consumerism.&#;
&#; hev, Extraordinary Environmentalists ()
Religion and spirituality
Gorbachev has officially stated that he is an atheist.
However, at the same time, he has been open to religious influences.
He has admired the life of St Francis of Assisi, Pope John Paul II and cultivated a friendship with Indian spiritual teacher, Sri Chinmoy. Speaking of his own beliefs, he said:
&#;I believe in the cosmos. All of us are linked to the cosmos. Look at the sun. If there is no sun, then we cannot exist. So nature is my god.
To me, nature is sacred. Trees are my temples and forests are my cathedrals.&#;
&#; hev, &#;Nature Is My God&#;
What did Mikhail Gorbachev do to change the world?
When Gorbachev came to power in , there was a very real threat of nuclear war. The Soviet Union and the US were at loggerheads and the rhetoric of the opposing leaders left no doubt about the bitter ideological divide between east and west.
In the Soviet Union, the Communist Party had maintained a totalitarian grip on the country ever since the revolution of In , there seemed no hope for the vast power and reach of the Communist party to be challenged &#; let alone transformed.
Mikhail gorbachev biography Yet, when he set out his programme of reforms in , his sole intention had been to revive his country's stagnant economy and overhaul its political processes. Bunce, Valerie Archived from the original on 10 June Gorbachev was critical of US hostility to Putin, arguing that the US government "doesn't want Russia to rise" again as a global power and wants "to continue as the sole superpower in charge of the world".Gorbachev was a committed socialist, but he was also interested in the truth and from his own career in the Communist bureaucracy was aware of the Soviet Union&#;s limitations.
After the Chernobyl disaster of , Gorbachev&#;s resolve to reform Communism began in earnest. His ideas of glasnost and perestroika were truly revolutionary. Glasnost involved openness and moves towards individual freedom and openness.
It was Gorbachev who sought to free political prisoners and allow greater press freedom.
President gorbachev biography wikipedia Moscow State University. Main article: Death and funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev. The Wall Street Journal. Gorbachev was one of a new generation of party activists who became increasingly impatient with the ageing figures at the top of the Soviet hierarchy.He also started the transition to a market economy. The changes that Gorbachev initiated began to snowball and soviet satellites in Eastern Europe gained a taste of freedom. Previously, attempts at liberation in Eastern Europe (Hungary , Czechoslovakia () had been met with Soviet tanks and Soviet repression. But when borders started to crumble in the late s, Gorbachev was not willing to use force against his own people.
Some say, the grip of Soviet Communism power was weaker &#; but it was weaker because Gorbachev was a different type of leader who did move the country in the direction of freedom.
In foreign policy, Gorbachev frequently surprised the west at the intensity and urgency with which he urged nuclear disarmament and an end to the arms race.
This was despite some belligerence on the behalf of President Reagan. At the start of the s Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as the &#;evil empire&#; but after a few years, even this staunch anti-Communist saw Gorbachev was different. UK premier Mrs Thatcher famously remarked &#;this is a man with whom we can do business&#;
The end of Communism, the freedom of eastern Europe and the end of the cold war, may all seem inevitable with the benefit of hindsight.
But, a different leader may not have been willing to relinquish power, allow press freedom and move the economy towards democracy. It was not just Gorbachev who ended the Cold War. Other figures played important roles, Pope John Paul II, Reagan, Thatcher, Kohl, and many ordinary people of Eastern Europe who literally smashed the Berlin Wall.
President gorbachev biography The Soviet Union failed to release a full report until more than two weeks after the event. He would stop to talk to civilians on the street, forbade the display of his portrait at the Red Square holiday celebrations, and encouraged frank and open discussions at Politburo meetings. Chien-Shiung Wu. Later years.But, Gorbachev more than anyone else was the crucial piece of the jigsaw. It was only through Gorbachev that the grip of Communism slipped and changed the world more than anyone in the twentieth century.
Mikhail Gorbachev initially welcomed President Putin for offering some stability after a period of turmoil.
However, he became increasingly critical, especially of Putin&#;s wish to censor the Russian people. Despite offering support for the annexation of Crimea in , Gorbachev was said by a family friend to be deeply upset by the invasion of Ukraine which severely undermined his life&#;s work.
After a long illness, Mikhail Gorbachev was pronounced dead on 31 August , aged
Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan.
“Biography of Mikhail Gorbachev”, Oxford, UK. 23rd May Updated 1 September
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