Putin also sent a telegram to Gorbachev's family, calling him "a politician and statesman who had a huge impact on the course of world history". Mikhail Gorbachev died at 91 on Aug. 30, 2022. [320] Ultimately, Gorbachev promised greater autonomy for Nagorno-Karabakh but refused the transfer, fearing that it would set off similar ethnic tensions and demands throughout the Soviet Union. How did Mikhail Gorbachev differ from previous Soviet leaders? [133] Gorbachev became Andropov's closest ally in the Politburo;[134] with Andropov's encouragement, Gorbachev sometimes chaired Politburo meetings. Gorbachev was the single most important initiator of a series of events in late 1989 and 1990 that transformed the political fabric of Europe and marked the beginning of the end of the Cold War. Corrections? Both as general secretary and as president, Gorbachev supported democratic reforms. Perestroika ("restructuring" in Russian) refers to a series of political and economic reforms meant to kick-start the stagnant 1980s economy of the Soviet Union. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. This romanticism turned out to be wrong". He threatened to dismantle the communist system. When Michael Reagan attended the 2004 funeral of his father, former US president Ronald Reagan, the man sitting behind him, he recalls, was the last leader of the Soviet Union: Mikhail Gorbachev. [313] There, they agreed to a joint press conference, the first time that a US and Soviet leader had done so. In October 1988 General Secretary Gorbachev was elected to the chairmanship of the presidium of the national legislature (the Supreme Soviet). [485][487] He spoke out against the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia because it lacked UN backing, as well as the 2003 invasion of Iraq led by the US. [203] Encouraging reformers into prominent media positions, he brought in Sergei Zalygin as head of Novy Mir magazine and Yegor Yakovlev as editor-in-chief of Moscow News. [389] In September, Yeltsin presented the plan to the Russian Supreme Soviet, which backed it. [422] Gorbachev attended a session of the Russian Supreme Soviet on 23 August, where Yeltsin aggressively criticized him for having appointed and promoted many of the coup members to start with.[423]. Read about our approach to external linking. [107] Gorbachev also developed good relationships with senior figures including the Soviet prime minister, Alexei Kosygin,[108] and the longstanding senior party member Mikhail Suslov. You will edit and revise your argumentative essay and then submit a polished final draft. [486] He was critical of how the US had expanded NATO right up to Russia's borders despite their initial assurances that they would not do so, citing this as evidence that the US government could not be trusted. In his tribute, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he admired Mr Gorbachev's courage and integrity, adding: "In a time of Putin's aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all. Three years after the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnevfollowing the brief tenures of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenkoin 1985, the Politburo elected Gorbachev as general secretary, the de facto leader. [538] Doder and Branson thought that throughout most of his political career prior to becoming general secretary, "his publicly expressed views almost certainly reflected a politician's understanding of what should be said, rather than his personal philosophy. [45], At MSU, Gorbachev met Raisa Titarenko, who was studying in the university's philosophy department. [652], The historian Mark Galeotti stressed the connection between Gorbachev and his predecessor, Andropov. [24] From primary school he moved to the high school in Molotovskoye; he stayed there during the week while walking the 19km (12mi) home during weekends. ", This page was last edited on 5 June 2023, at 18:43. [171] In his first year, 14 of the 23 heads of department in the Secretariat were replaced. [227] They agreed to hold a summit in Geneva, Switzerland, in November 1985. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev closes his resignation speech after delivering it at the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 25, 1991. Glasnost Which of the following phrases best describes East Germany after World War II? WILL GIVE BRAINLIESTSelect ALL correct answer. He oversaw the expansion of irrigation systems through construction of the Great Stavropol Canal. [591] Taubman noted that he was "capable of blowing up for calculated effect". He threatened to dismantle the communist system. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [586] McCauley thought Gorbachev displayed "great tactical skill" in maneuvering successfully between hardline MarxistLeninists and liberalisers for most of his time as leader, adding, though, that he was "much more skilled at tactical, short-term policy than strategic, long-term thinking", in part because he was "given to making policy on the hoof". [397] Yakovlev had moved out of his inner circle and Shevardnadze had resigned. [541] The political scientist John Gooding suggested that had the perestroika reforms succeeded, the Soviet Union would have "exchanged totalitarian controls for milder authoritarian ones" although not become "democratic in the Western sense". [117] In 1977, the Supreme Soviet appointed Gorbachev to chair the Standing Commission on Youth Affairs due to his experience with mobilizing young people in Komsomol. [386], At the 28th Communist Party Congress in July 1990, hardliners criticized the reformists but Gorbachev was re-elected party leader with the support of three-quarters of delegates and his choice of deputy general secretary, Vladimir Ivashko, was also elected. [89], Cleared for travel to Eastern Bloc countries, in 1966 he was part of a delegation which visited East Germany, and in 1969 and 1974 visited Bulgaria. [533], According to Doder and Branson, Gorbachev also wanted to "dismantle the hierarchical military society at home and abandon the grand-style, costly, imperialism abroad". [102] For overseeing a record grain harvest in Ipatovsky district, in March 1972 he was awarded the Order of the October Revolution by Brezhnev in a Moscow ceremony. Over the course of Yury Andropovs 15-month tenure (198284) as general secretary of the Communist Party, Gorbachev became one of the Politburos most highly active and visible members; and, after Andropov died and Konstantin Chernenko became general secretary in February 1984, Gorbachev became a likely successor to the latter. Al-Qaeda leaders believe that only they and their followers know the truth about God.D. [555] Throughout the 1960s, he struggled against obesity and dieted to control the problem;[87] Doder and Branson characterized him as "stocky but not fat". [514], Following the death of former president George H. W. Bush in 2018, a critical partner and friend of his time in office, Gorbachev stated that the work they had both accomplished led directly to the end of the Cold War and the nuclear arms race, and that he "deeply appreciated the attention, kindness and simplicity typical of George, Barbara and their large, friendly family". [221] A major issue facing his leadership was Soviet involvement in the Afghan Civil War, which had then been going on for over five years. [396] By this point, Gorbachev was isolated from many of his former close allies and aides. [376] Polls indicated that 90% of Soviet citizens disapproved of the award, which was widely seen as a Western and anti-Soviet accolade. is the Russian word that was used to describe the increased openness in Soviet society in the 1980s. Mr Gorbachev took power in 1985, before the Soviet Union collapsed by 1991. [436][437] On 20 December, the leaders of 11 of the 12 remaining republicsall except Georgiamet in Kazakhstan and signed the Alma-Ata Protocol, agreeing to dismantle the Soviet Union and formally establish the CIS. [603] Also in 2014, Gorbachev underwent oral surgery. During his career, Gorbachev attracted the admiration of some colleagues, but others came to hate him. [51] Raisa discovered that she was pregnant and although the couple wanted to keep the child she fell ill and required a life-saving abortion. [124], In 1978, Gorbachev was appointed to the Central Committee's Secretariat for Agriculture (25th term), replacing his old friend Kulakov, who had died of a heart attack. Gorbachev eschewed the totalitarian use of power that had traditionally worked to keep the Soviet economy functioning, but at the same time he resisted any decisive shift to private ownership and the use of free-market mechanisms. Unlike countries in which a president or prime minister is the designated head of state, the leaders of the USSR. [204] He made the historian Yury Afanasyev dean of the State Historical Archive Faculty, from where Afansiev could press for the opening of secret archives and the reassessment of Soviet history. A former journalist recalls Ukraine's 1991 vote for independence and how its resilience endures. [268], Although the next party congress was not scheduled until 1991, Gorbachev convened the 19th Party Conference in its place in June 1988. [222] He thought that the "socialist camp" of MarxistLeninist governed statesthe Eastern Bloc countries, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cubawere a drain on the Soviet economy, receiving a far greater amount of goods from the Soviet Union than they collectively gave in return. [59] In this position, he visited villages in the area and tried to improve the lives of their inhabitants; he established a discussion circle in Gorkaya Balka village to help its peasant residents gain social contacts. [307], The third summit was held in New York City in December. [407] A referendum on the issue brought 76.4% in favor of continued federation but the six rebellious republics had not taken part. Under his new policy of glasnost (openness), a major cultural thaw took place: freedoms of expression and of information were significantly expanded; the press and broadcasting were allowed unprecedented candour in their reportage and criticism; and the countrys legacy of Stalinist totalitarian rule was eventually completely repudiated by the government. [415], Yeltsin, now President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, went inside the Moscow White House. [17] After his December 1938 release, Gorbachev's maternal grandfather discussed having been tortured by the secret police, an account that influenced the young boy. [463] In 1995, his foundation held a conference on "The Intelligentsia and Perestroika". [172] Doing so, Gorbachev secured dominance in the Politburo within a year, faster than either Stalin, Khrushchev, or Brezhnev had achieved. In response, Gorbachev used military force to suppress bloody interethnic strife in several of the Central Asian republics in 198990, while constitutional mechanisms were devised that could provide for the lawful secession of a republic from the U.S.S.R. With the CPSU waning in power and steadily losing prestige in the face of the mounting impetus for democratic political procedures, Gorbachev in 1990 further accelerated the transfer of power from the party to elected governmental institutions. [414] The coup plotters publicly announced that Gorbachev was ill and thus Vice President Yanayev would take charge of the country. [316] In 1987, Crimean Tatars protested in Moscow to demand resettlement in Crimea, the area from which they had been deported on Stalin's orders in 1944. [428] Yeltsin stated that he would veto any idea of a unified state, instead favoring a confederation with little central authority. [485] He declared that since the fall of the Soviet Union, the US, rather than cooperating with Russia, had conspired to build a "new empire headed by themselves". And this is why Mikhail Gorbachev must be remembered as one of the most significant political leaders of the 20th century. 2023 BBC. [71], Gorbachev rose steadily through the ranks of the local administration. Gorbachev also stated that the attack "called into question the future fate of the United States as a nation". [368] Domestically, Gorbachev's critics accused him of betraying the national interest;[369] more broadly, they were angry that Gorbachev had allowed the Eastern Bloc to move away from direct Soviet influence. [332] Hoping instead to lead by example, he later related that he did not want to interfere in their internal affairs, but he may have feared that pushing reform in Central and Eastern Europe would have angered his own hardliners too much. [220], In a May 1985 speech given to the Soviet Foreign Ministrythe first time a Soviet leader had directly addressed his country's diplomatsGorbachev spoke of a "radical restructuring" of foreign policy. [87] However, in August 1968, he was named Second Secretary of the Stavropol Kraikom, making him the deputy of First Secretary Leonid Yefremov and the second most senior figure in the Stavrapol region. [168] Other allies whom he saw promoted were Yakovlev, Anatoly Lukyanov, and Vadim Medvedev. [425], Russian president Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences on the death of Gorbachev,[618] and paid tribute to him at the Moscow hospital where the ex-president had died but, according to spokesman Dmitry Peskov, had no time to attend his funeral due to a busy work schedule. He acknowledged that communism was not viable. A funeral for Gorbachev was held on 3 September 2022 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon in the Column Hall of the House of Unions. [461], Gorbachev had promised to refrain from criticizing Yeltsin while the latter pursued democratic reforms, but soon the two men were publicly criticizing each other again. He was also influenced by the Czechoslovakian communist Alexander Dubek who introduced significant reforms in his country during the Prague Spring of 1968. [630] Japan's prime minister Fumio Kishida said Gorbachev had "left behind great [accomplishments] as a world leader supporting the abolishment of nuclear weapons". [323] Further anti-Armenian violence broke out in Baku in January 1990, followed by the Soviet Army killing about 150 Azeris. [288] In April 1989 he visited London, lunching with Elizabeth II. [139] There, he met and befriended the Soviet ambassador, Aleksandr Yakovlev, who later became a key political ally. [224], Gorbachev had inherited a renewed period of high tension in the Cold War. [419] Two days later, he resigned as its general secretary and called on the Central Committee to dissolve. [201], In the second year of his leadership, Gorbachev began speaking of glasnost, or "openness". March 2, 1931 Russia Died: August 30, 2022 (aged 91) Moscow Russia Title / Office: president (1990-1991), Soviet Union Founder: Congress of People's Deputies Political Affiliation: Communist Party of the Soviet Union See all related content Gorbachev's perestroika also[184] entailed attempts to move away from technocratic management of the economy by increasingly involving the labor force in industrial production. [466] In 1997, she founded a sub-division of the Gorbachev Foundation known as Raisa Maksimovna's Club to focus on improving women's welfare in Russia. [620] Other reactions were less positive, with the leader of Russia's Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, stating that Gorbachev was a leader whose rule brought "absolute sadness, misfortune and problems" for "all the peoples of our country". [464] Gorbachev continued to defend perestroika but acknowledged that he had made tactical errors as Soviet leader. [95] He had been personally vetted for the position by senior Kremlin leaders and was informed of their decision by the Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev. [41] In 1952, he was appointed a full member of the Communist Party. [162] To the West, Gorbachev was seen as a more moderate and less threatening Soviet leader; some Western commentators however believed this an act to lull Western governments into a false sense of security. [667] Yevgeny Mironov and Chulpan Khamatova played the roles of Gorbachev and his wife Raisa respectively. [536] With perestroika, Gorbachev had wanted to improve the existing MarxistLeninist system but ultimately ended up destroying it. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. As democratically elected, noncommunist governments came to power in East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia in late 198990, Gorbachev agreed to the phased withdrawal of Soviet troops from those countries. But, in part because his economic reforms were being obstructed by the Communist Party, Gorbachev tried to restructure the governments legislative and executive branches in order to release them from the grip of the CPSU. His mixed legacy was highlighted well in an advert he made for Pizza Hut. Mikhail Gorbachev, who has died aged 91, was revered in West but criticised by many Russians for overseeing end of USSR. He also endorsed the upcoming security talks between the United States and Russia, saying, "I hope there will be a result. [545] [459], The Russian presidential elections were scheduled for June 1996, and although his wife and most of his friends urged him not to run, Gorbachev decided to do so. [36] He gained a reputation as a mediator during disputes,[37] and was also known for being outspoken in class, although he would reveal some of his views only privately; for instance, he confided in some students his opposition to the Soviet jurisprudential norm that a confession proved guilt, noting that confessions could have been forced. [13] Gorbachev's maternal grandfather joined the Communist Party and helped form the village's first kolkhoz (collective farm) in 1929, becoming its chair. [452] He further visited Israel and Germany, where he was received warmly by many politicians who praised his role in facilitating German reunification. [44] After Stalin died in March 1953, Gorbachev and Mlyn joined the crowds massing to see Stalin's body lying in state. [362] Ultimately he acquiesced to the reunification on the condition that NATO troops not be posted to the territory of Eastern Germany. In 197980 Gorbachev joined its supreme policy-making body (the Politburo), and in 1985 he was elected general secretary of the CPSU. He proposed the formation of a new institution, the Congress of People's Deputies, whose members were to be elected in a largely free vote. It is not clear whether he will receive a state funeral. [627] Polish foreign minister Zbigniew Rau stated that Gorbachev had "increased the scope of freedom of the enslaved peoples of the Soviet Union in an unprecedented way, giving them hope for a more dignified life". Gorbachev wanted to secure guarantees that SDI would not be implemented, and in return was willing to offer concessions, including a 50% reduction in Soviet long range nuclear missiles. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 "for the leading role he played in the radical changes in East-West relations". David Longstreath/AP. a.1, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, General Secretary of the CommunistPartyoftheSovietUnion, Chairman of the SupremeSovietoftheSovietUnion, Chairman of the Presidium of the SupremeSoviet, Chairman of the Presidium of the SupremeSovietoftheSovietUnion, Second Secretary of the CommunistPartyoftheSovietUnion, abandoned MarxistLeninist governance in 19891992, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, All-Union Voluntary Society for the Struggle for Temperance, Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, State Committee on the State of Emergency, International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies, Mikhail Gorbachev 1996 presidential campaign, Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Order of St Andrew the Apostle the First-Called, Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development, Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, "Gorbachev's "Perestroika" as the beginning of the end of the empire", "Mikhail Gorbachev: I am against all walls", "Did The West Promise Moscow That NATO Would Not Expand? [10] They had married as teenagers in 1928,[11] and in keeping with local tradition had initially resided in Sergey's father's house, an adobe-walled hut, before a hut of their own could be built. [653] According to McCauley, Gorbachev "set reforms in motion without understanding where they could lead. [615][617] Gorbachev was buried on the same day at Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery, in the same grave as his wife Raisa, as requested by his will. Omissions? Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. [438][439], Gorbachev reached a deal with Yeltsin that called for Gorbachev to formally announce his resignation as Soviet president and Commander-in-Chief on 25 December, before vacating the Kremlin by 29 December. [231] Following the conference, Gorbachev traveled to Prague to inform other Warsaw Pact leaders of developments. [349] Gorbachev was aware that the Central Committee could still oust him as general secretary, and so decided to reformulate the role of head of government to a presidency from which he could not be removed. He proved less willing to release the Soviet economy from the grip of centralized state direction, however. [67], Stalin was ultimately succeeded as Soviet leader by Nikita Khrushchev, who denounced Stalin and his cult of personality in a speech given in February 1956, after which he launched a de-Stalinization process throughout Soviet society. Jonathan Davis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Mikhail Gorbachev was a voice of sanity in a crazy cold war world, and his death marks the end of a particular era in 20th century history. Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev led the Soviet Union as the General Secretary of the Communist Party from 1985 until its collapse on December 25, 1991. PLS HURRY A. As far as the aim of Gorbachev's reforms, "The plan was for the Soviet Union to become more transparent, and in turn for the leadership of the nation and the Communist Party to be improved," according to YourDictionary. . [269] With sympathetic officials and academics, Gorbachev drafted plans for reforms that would shift power away from the Politburo and towards the soviets. Two months earlier, he had not come to the funeral of Margaret Thatcher for health reasons. [523] Mlyn noted, however, that unlike most other Soviet students, Gorbachev did not view Marxism simply as "a collection of axioms to be committed to memory". Triumphalists and conspiracy theorists ever since have attributed this epochal . In his message, President Putin said: "He deeply understood that reforms were necessary, he strove to offer his own solutions to urgent problems.". [160] In June he traveled to Ukraine, in July to Belarus, and in September to Tyumen Oblast, urging party members in these areas to take more responsibility for fixing local problems. Things really were beginning to change. [295] Pro-democracy students had massed in Tiananmen Square during Gorbachev's visit but after he left were massacred by troops. [373] Gorbachev later called it a "watershed" in world politics, "the first time the superpowers acted together in a regional crisis". In 1990 Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize for his leading role in the peace process in Europe. [208] For many Soviet citizens, this newfound level of freedom of speech and pressand its accompanying revelations about the country's pastwas uncomfortable. How did Mikhail Gorbachev become president of the Soviet Union? "Mikhail Gorbachev and the Origins of Perestroika: A Retrospective. [69] Gorbachev was among those who saw themselves as "genuine Marxists" or "genuine Leninists" in contrast to what they regarded as the perversions of Stalin. [602] He was also hospitalized in the Central Clinical Hospital on 9 October 2014. [475] Launching his campaign, he traveled across Russia giving rallies in twenty cities. Growing up under the rule of Joseph Stalin, in his youth, he operated combine harvesters on a collective farm before joining the Communist Party, which then governed the Soviet Union as a one-party state. [149] In December, he visited Britain at the request of its prime minister Margaret Thatcher; she was aware that he was a potential reformer and wanted to meet him. He recognized that the Soviet Union needed to adapt. The most astonishing turn of events began in December that year when Gorbachev told a meeting of the UN General Assembly that he was planning to remove hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops and thousands of tanks from Soviet-occupied eastern Europe. [7] His relationship with his father, Sergey Andreyevich Gorbachev, was close; his mother, Maria Panteleyevna Gorbacheva (ne Gopkalo), was colder and punitive. As the scale of the disaster became apparent, 336,000 people were evacuated from the area around Chernobyl. He leaves behind an important legacy,"[625] while former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney said that "he was a very pleasant man to deal with" and "history will remember him as a transformational leader". [222] On becoming leader, Gorbachev saw withdrawal from the war as a key priority. You can specify conditions of storing and accessing cookies in your browser. [379] Although the Soviet Union had been excluded from the G7, Gorbachev secured an invitation to its London summit in July 1991. [10] Few in the government imagined that he would be as radical a reformer as he proved. Ultimately, the Politburo arrived at a unanimous decision to express disapproval of Andreyeva's letter and publish a rebuttal in Pravda. [75] In September 1956, he was promoted First Secretary of the Stavropol city's Komsomol, placing him in charge of it;[76] in April 1958 he was made deputy head of the Komsomol for the entire region. [438] Gorbachev then gave his speech in the Kremlin in front of television cameras, allowing for international broadcast. The Baltic states first called for more autonomy and then for the right to secede from the USSR. [471] In September she fell into a coma and died. [290] The West German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, had initially offended Gorbachev by comparing him to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, although he later informally apologized and in October 1988 visited Moscow. [359] Amid a growth in Russian nationalist sentiment, Gorbachev had reluctantly allowed the formation of a Communist Party of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic as a branch of the larger Soviet Communist Party. (5 points He was appointed the First Party Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee in 1970, overseeing the construction of the Great Stavropol Canal. [135] Andropov encouraged Gorbachev to expand into policy areas other than agriculture, preparing him for future higher office. [462] After Yeltsin's decision to lift price caps generated massive inflation and plunged many Russians into poverty, Gorbachev openly criticized him, comparing the reform to Stalin's policy of forced collectivization. Otherwise he could not have survived politically. cuss three changes you have made and how they improved your essay. [219] Gorbachev later described the incident as one which made him appreciate the scale of incompetence and cover-ups in the Soviet Union. To this end, he called for rapid technological modernization and increased worker productivity, and he tried to make the cumbersome Soviet bureaucracy more efficient and responsive. [190] In April 1986, he introduced an agrarian reform which linked salaries to output and allowed collective farms to sell 30% of their produce directly to shops or co-operatives rather than giving it all to the state for distribution. He was born in 1931 and is still alive as. Briefly suspended from 19 to 21 August 1991 during the, Himself as the Chairman of the United Social Democratic Party of Russia until 24 November 2001, and the Chairman of the, Gorbachev at the time asserted that no one in Moscow gave orders to start the violent confrontations of the so-called January Events in. [182], The purpose of reform was to prop up the centrally planned economynot to transition to market socialism. Mikhail Gorbachev was the last General Secretary of the Soviet Union. [130] That same month, he was promoted from a candidate member to a full member of the Politburo (25th term), the highest decision-making authority in the Communist Party. [278] Gorbachev was happy with the result, describing it as "an enormous political victory under extraordinarily difficult circumstances". [171] Prominent dissidents like Andrei Sakharov were freed from internal exile or prison. Gorbachev then opened the floor to responses, after which attendees publicly criticized Yeltsin for several hours. His foreign policy also sought to improve relations between east and west and to end the nuclear arms race. He joined the Komsomol (Young Communist League) in 1946 and drove a combine harvester at a state farm in Stavropol for the next four years. Soviet foreign minister and president of Georgia. [228] In the buildup to this, Gorbachev sought to improve relations with the US's NATO allies, visiting France in October 1985 to meet with President Franois Mitterrand. `` called into question the future fate of the country defend Perestroika but acknowledged that had! Television cameras, allowing for international broadcast 1985 he was `` capable how did mikhail gorbachev differ from previous soviet leaders? blowing for! Essay and then for the leading role he played in the Cold War [ 295 ] students! At the Kremlin in Moscow on Dec. 25, 1991 died at 91 on Aug. 30 2022! 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