Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Swedenman (talk | contribs) at 14:24, 6 April 2006 (No answer from the discussion-side). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov (Template:Lang-ru), IPA: (commonly anglicized as Gorbachev), born March 2 1931, was leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. His attempts at reform led to the end of the Cold War, but also caused the end of the political supremacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.

Early life and political career

Mikhail Gorbachev was born into a peasant family in the village of Privolnoye near Stavropol. Gorbachev studied law at Moscow University, where he met his future wife, Raisa. They married in September 1953 and moved to Gorbachev's home region of Stavropol in southern Russia when he graduated in 1955.

Gorbachev joined the CPSU in 1952 at the age of 21. In 1966, at age 35, he obtained a correspondence degree as an agronomist-economist from the Agricultural Institute. His career moved forward rapidly, and in 1970, he was appointed First Secretary for Agriculture and the following year made a member of the Central Committee. In 1972, he headed a Soviet delegation to Belgium and two years later, in 1974, he was made a Representative to the Supreme Soviet, and Chairman of the Standing Commission on Youth Affairs.

In 1979, Gorbachev was promoted to the Politburo. There, he received the patronage of Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB and also a native of Stavropol, and was promoted during Andropov's brief time as leader of the Party before Andropov's death in 1984. With responsibility over personnel, working together with Andropov, 20 percent of the top echelon of government ministers and regional governors were replaced, often with younger men. During this time Grigory Romanov, Nikolai Ryzhkov, and Yegor Ligachev were elevated, the latter two working closely with Gorbachev, Ryzhkov on economics, Ligachev on personnel. He was also close to Konstantin Chernenko, Andropov's successor, serving as second secretary.

His positions within the new CPSU created more opportunities to travel abroad and this would profoundly affect his political and social views in the future as leader of the country. In 1975, he led a delegation to West Germany, and in 1983 he headed a Soviet delegation to Canada to meet with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and members of the Canadian House of Commons and Senate. In 1984, he traveled to the United Kingdom, where he met with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

General Secretary of the CPSU

Upon the death of Konstantin Chernenko, Mikhail Gorbachev, at age 54, was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party on March 11, 1985. He became the Party's first leader to have been born after the Russian Revolution of 1917. As de facto ruler of the Soviet Union, he tried to reform the stagnating Communist Party and the state economy by introducing glasnost ("openness"), perestroika ("restructuring"), and uskoreniye ("acceleration", of economic development), which were launched at the 27th Congress of the CPSU in February 1986.

Reforms and Democratization

Domestic reforms

Domestically, Gorbachev implemented economic reforms that he hoped would improve living standards and worker productivity as part of his perestroika program. However, many of his reforms were considered radical at the time by orthodox apparatchiks in the Soviet government.

In 1985, Gorbachev announced that the Soviet economy was stalled and that reorganization was needed. Initially, his reforms were called "uskoreniye" (acceleration) but later the term "perestroika" (reconstruction) became much more popular.

Gorbachev was not operating within a vacuum. Although the Brezhnev era is usually thought of as one of economic stagnation, a number of economic experiments (particularly in the organisation of business enterprises, and partnerships with Western companies) did take place. A number of reformist ideas were discussed by technocratically minded managers, who often used the facilities of the Young Communist League as discussion forums. The so-called 'Komsomol Generation' would prove to be Gorbachev's most receptive audience, and the nursery of many post-communist businessmen and politicians, particulary in the Baltic States.

The first reform introduced under Gorbachev was the 1985 alcohol reform, which was designed to fight wide-spread alcoholism in the Soviet Union. Prices on vodka, wine and beer were lifted, and their sales were restricted. People who were caught drunk at work or in public were prosecuted. Drinking on long-distance trains and in public places was banned. Many famous wineries were destroyed. Scenes of alcohol consumption were cut out from the movies. The reform did not have any significant effect on the alcoholism in the country, but economically it was a serious blow to the state budget (a loss of approximately 100 billion rubles according to Alexander Yakovlev) after alcohol production migrated to black market economy. Alcohol reform was one of the initial triggers that caused a chain of events that ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union and deep economical crisis in the newly formed CIS six years later .

The Law on Cooperatives enacted in May 1988 was perhaps the most radical of the economic reforms during the early part of the Gorbachev era. For the first time since Vladimir Lenin's New Economic Policy, the law permitted private ownership of businesses in the services, manufacturing, and foreign-trade sectors. The law initially imposed high taxes and employment restrictions, but these were later revised to avoid discouraging private-sector activity. Under this provision, cooperative restaurants, shops, and manufacturers became part of the Soviet scene. It should be noted that some of the S.S.R's ignored these restrictions. In Estonia, for example, co-operatives were permitted to cater to the needs of foreign visitors and forge partnerships with foreign companies.

The large 'All-Union' industrial organisations started to be restructured. Aeroflot, for example, was split into a number of independent enterprises, some of which became the nucleus for future independent airlines. These newly autonomous business organisations were encouraged to seek foreign investment.

Gorbachev's introduction of glasnost gave new freedoms to the people, such as a greater freedom of speech. This was a radical change, as control of speech and suppression of government criticism had previously been a central part of the Soviet system. The press became far less controlled, and thousands of political prisoners and many dissidents were released. Gorbachev's goal in undertaking glasnost was to pressure conservatives within the CPSU who opposed his policies of economic restructuring, and he also hoped that through different ranges of openness, debate and participation, the Soviet people would support his reform initiatives.

In January 1987, Gorbachev called for democratization: the infusion of democratic elements such as multi-candidate elections into the Soviet political process. In June 1988, at the CPSU's Nineteenth Party Conference, Gorbachev launched radical reforms meant to reduce party control of the government apparatus. In December 1988, the Supreme Soviet approved the establishment of a Congress of People's Deputies, which constitutional amendments had established as the Soviet Union's new legislative body. Elections to the congress were held throughout the USSR in March and April 1989. On March 15, 1990, Gorbachev was elected as the first executive President of the Soviet Union.

"New Thinking" abroad

In international affairs, Gorbachev sought to improve relations and trade with the West. He established close relationships with several Western leaders, such as Margaret Thatcher - who famously remarked: "I like Mr Gorbachev - we can do business together" - West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, and U.S. President Ronald Reagan. On October 11 1986, Gorbachev and Reagan met in Reykjavík, Iceland to discuss reducing intermediate-range nuclear weapons in Europe. This led to the signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) in 1987.

In February 1988, Gorbachev announced the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan. The withdrawal was completed the following year, although the civil war continued as the Mujahedin pushed to overthrow the pro-Soviet Najibullah regime. An estimated 15,000 Soviets were killed between 1979 and 1989 as a result of the conflict. (See Soviet war in Afghanistan)

Also during 1988, Gorbachev announced that the Soviet Union would abandon the Brezhnev Doctrine, and allow the Eastern bloc nations to determine their own internal affairs. This proved to be the most far-reaching of Gorbachev's foreign policy reforms, with his Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennadi Gerasimov jokingly calling his new doctrine the Sinatra Doctrine. Moscow's abandonment of the Brezhnev Doctrine led to a string of revolutions in Eastern Europe throughout 1989, in which communism collapsed. With the exception of Romania, the popular upheavals against the pro-Soviet Communist regimes were all peaceful ones. (See Revolutions of 1989)

The loosening of Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe effectively ended the Cold War, and for this, Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on October 15, 1990.

Coup and collapse

While Gorbachev's political initiatives were positive for freedom and democracy in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, the economic policy of his government gradually brought the country close to disaster. By the end of 1980s, severe shortages of basic food supplies (meat, sugar) led to reintroduction of the war-time system of distribution using food cards that limited each citizen to a certain amount of product per month. Compared to 1985, state deficit grew from 0 to 109 billion rubles; gold funds decreased from 2,000 to 200 tonn; and external debt grew from 0 to 120 billion dollars.

Furthermore, the democratization of the USSR and Eastern Europe had irreparably undermined the power of the CPSU and Gorbachev himself. Gorbachev's relaxation of censorship and attempts to create more political openness had the unintended effect of re-awakening long-suppressed nationalist and anti-Russian feelings in the Soviet republics. Calls for greater independence from Moscow's rule grew louder, especially in the Baltic republics of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, which had been annexed into the Soviet Union by Stalin in 1940. Nationalist feeling also took hold in the Soviet republics of Georgia, Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Gorbachev had unleashed a force that would ultimately destroy the Soviet Union.

Gorbachev's response to growing republic separatism was to draw up a new treaty of union which would have created a truly voluntary federation in an increasingly democratised USSR. The new treaty was strongly supported by the Central Asian republics, who needed the economic power and markets of the Soviet Union to prosper. However, the more radical reformists, such as Russian SFSR President Boris Yeltsin, were increasingly convinced that a rapid transition to a market economy was required and were more than happy to contemplate the disintegration of the USSR if that was required to achieve their aims.

In contrast to the reformers' lukewarm approach to the new treaty, the hard-line apparatchiks, still strong within the CPSU and military establishment, were completely opposed to anything which might lead to breakup of the Soviet motherland. On the eve of the treaty's signing the hardliners struck.

Hard-liners in the Soviet leadership launched the August Coup in 1991 in an attempt to remove Gorbachev from power and prevent the signing of the new union treaty. During this time, Gorbachev spent three days (August 19 to 21) under house arrest at a dacha in the Crimea before being freed and restored to power. However, upon his return, Gorbachev found that neither union nor Russian power structures heeded his commands as support had swung over to Yeltsin, whose defiance had led to the coup's collapse. Furthermore, Gorbachev was forced to fire large numbers of his Politburo and, in several cases, arrest them. Those arrested for high treason include the "Gang of Eight" that had led the coup.

Gorbachev had aimed to maintain the CPSU as a united party but move it in the direction of social democracy. The inherent contradictions in this approach - praising Lenin, admiring Sweden's social model and seeking to maintain the annexation of the Baltic states by military force - were difficult enough. But when the CPSU was proscribed after the August coup, Gorbachev was left with no effective power base beyond the armed forces. In the end Yeltsin won them round too with promises of more money. Gorbachev eventually resigned on December 25 1991 as the USSR was officially dissolved.

Gorbachev is generally well regarded in the West for having ended the Cold War. However, in Russia, his reputation is very low because he is perceived to have brought about the collapse of the country and is held responsible for the economic misery that followed. Nevertheless, polls indicate that a majority of Russians are pleased with the result of the individual aims of perestroika, Gorbachev's chief legislative legacy, and the freedom that came about as a result.

Nor is he considered by all to be the sole reason the Cold War ended as it did. The war in Afghanistan had been going on since the late 1970's draining Soviet resources. This and many revolutionary movements in Soviet satellite states (well funded and supplied by clandenstine operations from the West), most notably Afghanistan and Poland, took a huge toll on the Union's ability to keep order and operate as a government. Some insist that armament buildups in the West also prompted likewise military expenditures that, when added to expenditures in Afghanistan, could not be maintained. Soviet economy infrastructure was in serious decay by 1985 (when Gorbachev took office) and these events would have had a huge impact on Gorbachev's decisions to liberalize. In the end, these attempts to "open" the Soviet Union were too little too late, and satellite nations responded accordingly, ending a nearly 50 year stalemate between East and West.

Conversely, others, especially in the former Soviet Union, believe that the USSR was not in as serious of an economic crisis as claimed and view Gorbachev as an incompetent politician who initiated the wrong kind of reforms.

Political activity after resignation

Gorbachev founded the Gorbachev Foundation in 1992. In 1993, he also founded Green Cross International, of which he was one of three major sponsors of the Earth Charter. He also became a member of the Club of Rome.

In 1996, Gorbachev re-ran for President in Russia, but only received about 1% of the vote, most likely due to animosity following the Soviet Union's collapse.

In 1997, Gorbachev starred in a Pizza Hut commercial made for the USA to raise money for the Perestroika Archives.

On November 26 2001, Gorbachev also founded the Social Democratic Party of Russia—which is a union between several Russian social democrat parties. He resigned as party leader in May 2004 over a disagreement with the party's chairman over the direction taken in the December 2003 election campaign.

In early 2004, Gorbachev moved to trademark his famous port wine birthmark, after a vodka company featured the mark on labels of one of their drinks to capitalize on its fame. The company now no longer uses the trademark. Gorbachev to Trademark his Forehead

In June 2004, Gorbachev represented Russia at the funeral of Ronald Reagan.

In September 2004, following Chechen militant attacks across Russia, President Vladimir Putin launched an initiative to replace the election of regional governors with a system whereby they would be directly appointed by the President and approved by regional legislatures. Gorbachev, together with Boris Yeltsin, criticized Putin's actions as a step away from democracy.

In 2005, Gorbachev was awarded the Point Alpha Prize for his role in supporting German reunification. He also received an honorary Doctorate from the University of Münster.

He currently resides in Moscow.

Trivia

In the West, Gorbachev was colloquially known as 'Gorby', in part because of a perception that he was less austere than his predecessors.

Due to various Reforms of Russian orthography, the ё letter is often replaced by е in writing, hence Gorbachev is a common English transliteration even though it's universally spelled as Gorbachyov.

In 1987, Gorbachev acknowledged that his liberalizing policies of glasnost and perestroika owed a great deal to Alexander Dubček's "socialism with a human face". When asked what the difference was between the Prague Spring and his own reforms, Gorbachev replied, "Nineteen years".

In 1989, on an official visit to China during the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, shortly before the imposition of martial law in Beijing, Gorbachev was asked for his opinion on the Great Wall of China: "It's a very beautiful work", he replied, "but there are already too many walls between people". A journalist asked him, "would you like the Berlin Wall to be taken down?" Gorbachev replied very seriously, "Why not?"

Gorbachev was ranked #95 on Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.

Gorbachev is the mascot to a small, unorthodox support group in Virginia known as KAJN, and serves as a symbol of their unity and love for Mother Russia. He is also a recurring cameo in many of their short independent films.

Gorbachev makes a bizarre cameo in the arcade game Street Fighter II, in Zangief's victory sequence. Gorbachev congratulates Zangief on his victory, and then leads everybody present in a cossack dance.

Religious affiliation

Baptized in the Russian Orthodox church as a child, Gorbachev is an atheist. He maintains respect for the faiths of people of all religions, as evidenced by his leading role in the establishment of freedom of religion laws in the former Soviet Union.

Naevus flammeus

Gorbachev is the most famous person in modern times with visible naevus flammeus. The crimson birthmark on the top of his bald head was the source of much satire among critics and cartoonists. Contrary to some accounts, it is not rosacea.

See also

• Soviet Union
• Earth Charter
• Raisa Gorbacheva, wife of Mikhail, died of leukemia 1999
• Yuri Gorbachev, famous Russian-American painter and sculptor, nephew of Mikhail Gorbachev
• Alexander Nikolaevich Yakovlev, key Gorbachev advisor and ally
• Eduard Shevardnadze, senior Gorbachev minister and ally
• Naevus flammeus, the birthmark Gorbachev has on his forehead

External links

• MikhailGorbachev.org
• The Gorbachev Foundation
• Public Opinion about Gorbachev
• The Encyclopedia of Marxism, from which parts of this article have been taken.
• Green Cross International official site
• Mikhail S. Gorbachev Biography, in Russian
• Out in the Cold Guardian interview March 8, 2005
• TIME 100 for 2004: Mikhail Gorbachev
• CNN Cold War - Profile: Mikhail Gorbachev from the 1998 series
  • September 1997 interview
• Biography, talks, tributes and quotes
• 'My Ambition was to Liquidate Communism' interview with Gorbachev in Ankara
• Mikhail Gorbachev's Project Syndicate op/eds
• Commanding Heights: Mikhail Gorbachev PBS interview April, 2001

Further reading

Primary sources

• Mikhail Gorbachev, Perestroika: New Thinking for Our Country and the World, Perennial Library, Harper & Row, 1988, ISBN 0-06-091528-5
• Mikhail Gorbachev, Memoirs, Doubleday, 1996, ISBN 0-38-548019-9
• Mikhail Gorbachev Moral Lesson of the Twentieth Century with Daisaku Ikeda (2005)

Secondary sources

• Anders Aslund, Gorbachev's Struggle for Economic Reform Cornell University Press, 1991
• Archie Brown, The Gorbachev Factor, Oxford University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-19-288052-7
• Marshall Goldman, What Went Wrong with Perestroika? W.W. Norton, 1992
• Jack Matlock. Reagan and Gorbachev: How the Cold War Ended (2004)
• Jack Matlock. Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador's Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union (1995)
• Robert Strayer; Why Did the Soviet Union Collapse?Understanding Historical Change M. E. Sharpe. 1998

Template:Link FA

• March 2 births
• 1931 births
• Atheists
• Heads of State of the Soviet Union
• Living people
• Nobel Peace Prize winners
• Humanitarians
• Party leaders of the Soviet Union
• Russian Nobel Prize winners
• Russian politicians
• Time Magazine Person of the Year