But Gorbachev did not start in a position of power and had to work his way up to the top. He was the son of peasants and lived in southwestern Russia. In 1946 he joined a communist organization called Komsomol. Within six years he had proven to be invaluable to the organization and was able to get into the law school at Moscow State University.
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For the first time ever, the press had the ability to criticize the party and certain freedoms were significantly expanded. In addition to that, he introduced a policy known as perestroika which was an attempt to democratize the Soviet Union. Perestroika also attempted to introduce free markets but it met fierce resistance from the Communist leaders who were in power.
Despite the resistance, Gorbachev continued to create reforms and even signed the INF Treaty with President Reagan that would ease nuclear tensions between the two superpowers. He also oversaw the Russian withdrawal from Afghanistan. Not only that but he allowed for the Eastern European nations to become democratic societies and withdrew troops from those locations. Plus, he reunited Germany.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Gorbachev
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1990/gorbachev/biographical/
It was astounding at the time that a Russian leader was this willing to negotiate for nuclear arms reductions and regulations, as well as opening up the country to more freedoms. Unlike any of his predecessors, Gorbachev marked a new beginning (and an end, funny enough) in regards to relations between Russia and the United States. With his efforts, the Cold War was ended and the tensions with the US reduced.
ReplyDeleteI think this post greatly demonstrates how Gorbachev was unlike any other Soviet Union and introduced new reforms to the Soviet Union. He was more open to having peace talks with the United States, unlike his predecessors. As mentioned in this blog, Gorbachev signed the INF treaty. This treaty banned all of the land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of 500-1,000 kilometers and 1,000-5,500 km. By May 1991, together the nations had eliminated 2,692 missiles.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intermediate-Range_Nuclear_Forces_Treaty
This post was very informative and prompted curiosity about what Gorbachev did after the fall of the Soviet Union. After the Soviet Union ceased to exist, it was replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States, which included Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and more, beginning operations in 1992. However, Gorbachev was dissatisfied with the new Russian President, so he decided to run for President in 1996. This attempt was very unsuccessful, as he earned less than 1 percent of the vote.
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https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Gorbachev
I find it interesting that you chose to talk about Gorbachev and notably perestroika. By decentralizing power from the massive communist bureaucracy through perestroika and encouraging freedom of speech, this opened the floodgates to criticism of the whole Soviet apparatus. Perestroika, which exhibited the worst of the capitalist and communist systems through inflation and economic mismanagement, hastened this demise. The combination incited independence movements throughout Eastern Europe, fatally wounded the Communist Party, and resulted in the collapse of the Soviet Union.
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