MARCH 14th, 2022 – Who was Mikhail Gorbachev? If you don’t know the answer to this, you may need to brush up on your history lessons. March 14th, 2022, is the 32nd anniversary of his election to the presidency of the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Gorbachev served as the president of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991 and served as secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. He also had a huge role to play in ending the Cold War and had a direct hand in the downfall of the Soviet Union.
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Who Was Mikhail Gorbachev?
Who was Gorbachev, really? Sure, we all know now that Gorbachev was president and secretary of the Soviet Union. However, his titles are only a small part of his legacy.
As he rose through the ranks during his early tenure in government, Gorbachev was mostly concerned with getting the Soviet Union’s economy back on its feet and spearheading a rapid modernization of technology.
After failed attempts at both, Gorbachev enacted his famous perestroika policy, or a policy of restructuring politico-economic systems in the Soviet Union. Under this policy, Mikhail Gorbachev introduced measures that opened up trade across Eastern and Western countries, alike.
Post-perestroika, Gorbachev introduced glasnost, or a policy of openness and transparency, which many of his constituents used to tell him that they wanted out of the Soviet Union. This policy of openness also contributed to the end of the Cold War, a period of political hostility (but not outright battle) between Soviet countries and Western powers, by allowing him to form tighter bonds with other countries.
Mikhail Gorbachev and the Wall
Many of you are likely familiar with Ronald Reagan’s quote “tear down this wall,” directed towards Gorbachev in reference to the Berlin Wall, which divided East Berlin, which was under Soviet control, from West Berlin, which was relatively free of Soviet influence.
In his near half-hour-long speech, Ronald Regan demanded Gorbachev tear down the wall dividing Europe, which was stagnating prosperity and peace for the European population.
So, did Gorbachev tear down the wall? Well, the wall did come down, as we all know, but it took two more years after Reagan’s inspirational speech for it to happen. During those two years, Reagan and Gorbachev began building a better relationship between their countries, and democratization started to spread through Europe, making the Berlin Wall effectively useless.
The wall “fell” on November 9th, 1989.
You can find the entire “tear down this wall” speech transcript here.
Mikhail Gorbachev’s Legacy
Gorbachev didn’t want the Soviet Union to dissolve, but nationalist sentiment made it obvious that the Soviet Union would not last long after Gorbachev was elected president on March 14th, 1990. The Cold War was over, and the Berlin Wall was only a memory. This meant that the Soviet Union didn’t have much ground left to stand on.
Without the Soviet Union, Gorbachev was lost as a leader, with no group left to govern. On November 25th, 1991, he resigned his position and stood steadfast in his achievements during his time as secretary and president of the Soviet Union.
You can read the entire Mikhail Gorbachev resignation speech here.
So then, who was Mikhail Gorbachev? He was a revolutionary leader that, though he definitely made and admitted to his fair share of mistakes, ultimately did a lot of good for the people of Europe and worked hard to build a better relationship with the U.S.
UPDATE – August 2022
Mikhail Gorbachev Death
On August 30, 2022, the last Soviet Leader, Michael Gorbachev, passed away in the hospital following a long battle with illness. Despite his pariah status at home, many abroad, including President Joe Biden, praised him as a “rare leader” who risked it all to make the word a safer and better place. At the time of his passing, he was 91 years old.
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