Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2 1931 in Stavropol in southern Russian. His parents worked on farms and growing up Gorbachev worked with them, operating combine harvesters as a teenager.
He went onto Moscow State University where met his future wife Raisa who would play a significant role in his life with her influence described as a ‘humanising factor’ in his life. Post graduation, Gorbachev returned to Stavropol and joined the Communist Party.
When the Soviet leader Konstattin Chernenko died in 1985, a year after taking office, the Soviet Union was in a bad shape economically. Mikhal Gorbachev became the youngest leader of the USSR.
As a leader he adopted a two pronged strategy – one being ‘perestroika’ (restructuring) and the second, ‘glasnost’ (openness). The other change he brought was the introduction of democracy and consequently, for the first time there were free elections for the Congress of People’s Deputies. Internationally he was seen as a reformer but in the USSR, his policies were questioned over their impact and success.
In 1985 he met US President Ronald Reagan to resume diplomatic relations between the US and Russia and also discuss the possibility of limiting nuclear missile production. Later in 1987, Gorbachev went to Washington DC to sign the treaty which limited presence of land-based missiles globally and by May 1991 over 2,500 missiles had been eliminated due to these efforts by the USSR and the US.
However, his policies at home yielded mixed results. His reforms of privatisation and introduction of democracy, meant that by 1991, the USSR broke.
In 1999, his wife Raisa who had been a constant presence by his side, passed away due to leukaemia. His was a huge loss and one that he never overcame.
Gorbachev had been battling a long illness and died aged 91.
He went onto Moscow State University where met his future wife Raisa who would play a significant role in his life with her influence described as a ‘humanising factor’ in his life. Post graduation, Gorbachev returned to Stavropol and joined the Communist Party.
When the Soviet leader Konstattin Chernenko died in 1985, a year after taking office, the Soviet Union was in a bad shape economically. Mikhal Gorbachev became the youngest leader of the USSR.
As a leader he adopted a two pronged strategy – one being ‘perestroika’ (restructuring) and the second, ‘glasnost’ (openness). The other change he brought was the introduction of democracy and consequently, for the first time there were free elections for the Congress of People’s Deputies. Internationally he was seen as a reformer but in the USSR, his policies were questioned over their impact and success.
Globally his legacy was formed on the basis of concluding the Cold War and then the Soviet-Afghan war. Both wars cost the USSR heavily; financially billions of dollars were being spent annually as the country tried to keep up with the US as it spent on its military. And in Afghanistan, countless lives had been lost in the long war which had commenced in 1979.
In 1985 he met US President Ronald Reagan to resume diplomatic relations between the US and Russia and also discuss the possibility of limiting nuclear missile production. Later in 1987, Gorbachev went to Washington DC to sign the treaty which limited presence of land-based missiles globally and by May 1991 over 2,500 missiles had been eliminated due to these efforts by the USSR and the US.
However, his policies at home yielded mixed results. His reforms of privatisation and introduction of democracy, meant that by 1991, the USSR broke.
In 1999, his wife Raisa who had been a constant presence by his side, passed away due to leukaemia. His was a huge loss and one that he never overcame.
Gorbachev had been battling a long illness and died aged 91.