In the 1930s, Gorbachev's grandfather was arrested for being a revolutionary. His grandfather was tortured and imprisoned for 14 months, leaving Gorbachev with trauma. After this experience, in 1933, the USSR faced famine, leaving many people starving and even dying due to famine. Later, during World War 2, his father would be drafted into the military. His father would become back wounded. As a result, Gorbachev's experiences would make him focus on food production and the government's influence throughout the countryside.
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| A photo of the Moscow State University |
Even though Gorbachev grew up being poor, he loved learning. Throughout high school, Gorbachev had amazing grades so he was considered to be a promising member of the Komsomol, a communist youth organization. Later he was admitted into Moscow State University, where he would meet his wife. Gorbachev graduated with a degree in law and move back to his hometown with his wife.
After he moved back, he worked at his hometown's prosecutor’s office, however, some of Gorbachev's acquaintances offered him a position as the secretary of the Stavropol City Komsomol Committee. After working for 5 years as a secretary, Gorbachev became a party delegate to the party congress. During this time, Gorbachev learned more about political positions, agriculture, and economics. Through his hard work, Gorbachev became the regional agricultural administrator and party leader. After 20 years of working as the regional agricultural administrator, he became an official member of the Political Bureau of the Central Agency. In 1985, he became the general secretary of the Communist Party. During this time period, Gorbachev was seen as an energetic and progressive leader. He represented the new generation of political leaders, ones who did not experience Stalin's regime. As a result, Gorbachev was the start of a new Russia.
I really enjoyed reading your post! I found it interesting that you focused a lot on Gorbachev's early life before he became the leader of the Soviet Union. He was born in the village of Privolnoye, about a hundred kilometers from Stavropol which is where I lived as a kid! (I asked my dad about him, and turns out my dad's school counselor/leader went to school with Gorbachev) As you mentioned, Gorbachev served on the Stavropol Komsomol Committee and he also oversaw the construction of the Nevinnomysskiy Canal.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Gorbachev
I like how you provided a detailed description of Gorbachev's early life. As for some other successes reached later in his life, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for ending the Cold War, and following his 1991 resignation as president of the USSR, founded an environmental organization called Green Cross International, which he served as president of from 1993 until 2000. However, despite these achievements and presentation of progressive ideas to the Soviet Union as you mentioned, Gorbachev only received a 1% vote when he ran for re-election in 1996.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Mikhail-Gorbachev