Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev is the first and last person to hold the title of President of the USSR. He is a rather controversial figure in world history, whose activities political scientists give directly opposite assessments. Gorbachev's biography allows us not only to trace his personal life, but also to draw certain conclusions about the processes that took place in the state. Let's take a closer look at it.
Gorbachev's childhood and youth
M. S. Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 in the small village of Privolnoye, which at that time was located in the North Caucasus region, and is now integral part Stavropol region. His parents were simple peasants - Sergei Gorbachev and Maria Gopkalo.
During the Great Patriotic War little Mikhail's father was drafted into the Red Army, and their native village, where the boy and his mother remained, was captured by German troops. However, already at the beginning of 1943 it was liberated by our soldiers.
From 1944, that is, from the age of thirteen, Mikhail began working on a collective farm and at a tractor station, while simultaneously continuing his studies at high school. At the age of 18, while still studying, he already received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for valiant work, and the following year he was registered as a candidate member of the CPSU. For a nineteen-year-old boy this was a very big achievement.
In 1950, M. S. Gorbachev completed his studies at school with honors and entered Moscow State University to study as a lawyer. In 1952, he finally joined the party. After graduating from university, he worked for a very short time in the prosecutor’s office, and then at will moved to work in the Komsomol direction, and a year later became the first secretary of the city committee of this organization in Stavropol, and in 1961 - the regional committee. This was precisely what served as a significant help for Gorbachev’s further successful political career.
Party career
Since 1962, Gorbachev began working in the party. Then he was appointed party organizer of the Stavropol regional committee. In 1966, he was appointed first secretary of the Stavropol City Committee, and four years later - of the regional committee. This was already quite a significant position, functionally comparable to the post of a modern Russian governor.
This is how Gorbachev began to rise. The years following this appointment were also a series of new steps on the ladder career growth. In 1971 he became a member of the Central Committee of the party, and since 1974 he has been constantly re-elected as a deputy. Supreme Council USSR, in 1978 elected Secretary of the Central Committee, with next year candidate member of the Politburo, where he was included in 1980.
During this period, Gorbachev’s biography was presented as a list constant promotions for party service.
General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee
After the death of General Secretary Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko, the post of de facto head of the Soviet Union became vacant. Therefore, in March 1985, it was Gorbachev who was nominated for this position. This was all the more relevant since Mikhail Sergeevich was already leading Politburo meetings during Chernenko’s illness. So, in March 1985, Gorbachev's reign began.
Already in April, Mikhail Sergeevich announced a course to accelerate the economy, which, in fact, prepared perestroika, and in May the famous anti-alcohol campaign began. Its goal was to reduce the level of alcohol consumption in the state, but the methods by which it was carried out caused a rather mixed reaction in society. Prices for alcoholic beverages increased by almost 50%, vineyards were cut down, there was a sharp reduction in the official production of strong drinks, and as a result, moonshine flourished.
One of the most significant events that marked Gorbachev's reign can also be called the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the spring of 1986.
Perestroika
In January 1987, perestroika began in the USSR. It was then that Gorbachev proclaimed it the state ideology. The essence of perestroika was the policy of democratizing management, developing elements of market relations, and proclaiming glasnost.
M. S. Gorbachev's foreign policy was aimed at normalizing relations with the United States. Between general secretary The USSR and United States President Ronald Reagan reached an agreement on partial nuclear disarmament. Quite often, not only the leaders of the two superpowers met, but also their wives - Raisa Gorbachev and Nancy Reagan.
Another step that contributed to the normalization of relations with the West was the withdrawal of the Soviet contingent from Afghanistan, which was finally completed in 1989. True, the desire to get closer to NATO countries was far from main reason such a step. The USSR could no longer economically prolong this war, and the number of human losses contributed to the growth of discontent in the state.
Despite a number of decisive steps, perestroika was still half-hearted and was unable to untie the Gordian knot of accumulated problems. The rate of economic growth continued to fall, and dissatisfaction with Gorbachev’s policies both among senior officials and among the people continued to grow. In addition, interethnic contradictions in the state, which had previously been hidden, intensified, and centrifugal tendencies began to appear in the republics.
President of the USSR
In 1990, a landmark event occurred - the Congress of People's Deputies adopted a law that allowed for a multi-party system. At the same time, a new institution for the Soviet Union was introduced - the post of president. It was assumed that this would be an elective position, in which the entire population of the country with the right to vote would participate in voting for the appointment.
As an exception, it was decided that this time the head of state would be elected by the Congress of People's Deputies, but the next vote was supposed to be a nationwide vote. Thus, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected the first president of the USSR. As it turned out, he became last person who held this post.
The beginning of the collapse
As mentioned above, since the late 80s, interethnic conflicts and protests began to occur more and more often in the USSR, and separatist and centrifugal tendencies also appeared. Gorbachev’s policy, which proclaimed glasnost and pluralism, played a significant role in this. Particularly strong unrest swept through the republics of Central Asia, Moldova, the Baltic states, Georgia, and Nagorno-Karabakh A real war began between the Armenians and Azerbaijanis.
But March 1990 became a landmark for the USSR, when the government of the Lithuanian SSR announced the republic’s secession from the USSR. This was the first sign. In April, a law was adopted regulating the mechanism for the withdrawal of subjects from the Union, the right to which was guaranteed by the Constitution, adopted back in 1978. In the same month of the following year, the Georgian SSR also announced its withdrawal.
Seeing the centrifugal tendencies that affected almost all the republics, Gorbachev's government tried to preserve the Union by holding a referendum on the future of the USSR in March 1991. More than 77% of the population with the right to vote supported the preservation of the state. Thus, the death of the USSR was delayed, but general economic and political trends made it inevitable.
Putsch
The turning point of that time was the attempt to seize power through a coup d'etat in August 1991, in the events of which Gorbachev also took part against his will as an injured party. The dates from August 18 to 21 became significant in the future fate of the USSR.
A number of senior government officials, led by Vice President Gennady Yanaev, conspired to remove Gorbachev from power and preserve the old-type Soviet regime. The putsch included the USSR Defense Minister Yazov and KGB Chairman Kryuchkov.
The president, who was relaxing at his dacha in Foros, was effectively placed under house arrest. Gorbachev's biography did not know before this events that were so dangerous for his life. It was announced to the people that Mikhail Sergeevich was ill, and his duties were assumed by Vice President Yanaev, who formed an emergency government, known in history as the State Emergency Committee.
But by that time, the democratic forces had already become sufficiently strong and presented a united front against the putschists. On August 21, all members of the State Emergency Committee were arrested, and the next day Gorbachev arrived in Moscow.
Collapse of the Union
But nevertheless, it was the putsch that served as a catalyst for the further collapse of the USSR. One republic after another began to leave its composition. Although Gorbachev attempted to create a confederation based on the USSR called the Union of Sovereign States, his efforts did not lead to anything concrete.
At the beginning of December 1991, an agreement was signed between the leaders of the republics in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, which actually declared the impossibility of maintaining a single state, and Gorbachev was not even invited to this meeting.
Gorbachev, seeing that his position no longer really had any power, announced his resignation as president on December 25. The next day, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decided to liquidate the Soviet Union.
Life after retirement
After resigning, Gorbachev’s life flowed into a calmer direction. Although he continued to be involved in active social activities and even once tried to return to big politics. In 1992, he established a foundation whose main task was to conduct various economic and political research.
In 1996, Gorbachev tried to run for the presidency of the Russian Federation, but managed to get only a little more than half of one percent of the votes. From 2000 to 2004 he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Russia. After this, he finally moved away from big politics, although he still sometimes expresses criticism of the current Russian government, and also expresses his opinion on other issues.
This is exactly what it seems historical portrait Gorbachev.
Family
But Gorbachev's biography would be incomplete without a story about his family. After all, it is family relationships played a significant role in the life of the Soviet leader.
Mikhail Gorbachev met his future wife Raisa Maksimovna Titarenko while still a student. In 1953 they got married in a modest wedding. Since then, Raisa Gorbacheva has become not just a life partner and keeper of the hearth famous politician, but also his faithful assistant in state affairs. She organized receptions, established charitable foundations, and held meetings with the first ladies of other countries. Such behavior by the wife of the Soviet leader was new to citizens of the Union.
In 1957, Mikhail Sergeevich and Raisa Maksimovna gave birth to their only daughter, Irina, who, in turn, in her marriage to Anatoly Virgansky gave the Gorbachev couple granddaughters, Ksenia and Anastasia.
A real blow for the former Soviet leader was the death of his faithful lifelong friend Raisa Maksimovna Gorbacheva from leukemia in 1999.
General historical portrait
The historical portrait of Gorbachev seems quite controversial and ambiguous. Was his role decisive in the collapse of the USSR or would the collapse have occurred in any case? And in general, how can one characterize the liquidation of the Soviet Union: as a positive or negative process in national history? There have been fierce debates among political scientists and historians around these issues for more than two decades.
But, be that as it may, one thing can be said with confidence: Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev always pursued the policy that he considered correct and favorable for his country, without sinning before his own conscience.
Mikhail Gorbachev's parents were peasants. The future President of the USSR spent his childhood during the war years; the family had to endure the German occupation. Mikhail Sergeevich’s father, Sergei Andreevich, fought at the front and was wounded twice.
In the post-war years, the collective farm had a catastrophic shortage of workers. Mikhail Gorbachev had to combine his studies at school with work as a combine operator on collective farm fields. When Gorbachev was 17 years old, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for exceeding the plan.
A working childhood did not prevent Gorbachev from graduating high school With silver medal and enroll in the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University. At the university, Mikhail Sergeevich headed the Komsomol organization of the faculty.
In 1953, Mikhail Sergeevich married Raisa Maksimovna Titarenko, a student at the Faculty of Philosophy of Moscow State University. They were together until her death in 1999.
Career in the CPSU
Capital life and the atmosphere of the “thaw” had a great influence on the formation of the worldview of the future leader of the state. In 1955, Gorbachev graduated from the university and was sent to the Stavropol Regional Prosecutor's Office. However, Mikhail Sergeevich found himself in party work. He is making a good career through the Komsomol. In 1962, he was already appointed party organizer and became a deputy at the next congress of the CPSU. Since 1966, Gorbachev has already been the first secretary of the city committee of the CPSU in the Stavropol Territory.
The good harvests that were harvested in the Stavropol region created Gorbachev’s reputation as a strong business executive. Since the mid-70s, Gorbachev introduced brigade farming in the region, which brought high yields. Gorbachev's articles on rationalization methods in agriculture often published in the national press. In 1971, Gorbachev became a member of the CPSU. Gorbachev was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1974.
Gorbachev finally moved to Moscow in 1978, where he became Secretary of the Central Committee for the agro-industrial complex
Years of reign
In the 80s, the need for change was brewing in the USSR. At that time, no one considered Gorbachev's candidacy as the leader of the country. However, Gorbachev managed to rally the young secretaries of the Central Committee around himself and gain the support of A.A. Gromyko, who enjoyed great authority among members of the Politburo.
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev was officially elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He became the main initiator of “perestroika”. Unfortunately, Gorbachev did not have a clear plan for reforming the state. The consequences of some of his actions were simply catastrophic. For example, the so-called anti-alcohol company, thanks to which huge areas of vineyards were cut down and prices for alcoholic products. Instead of improving the population's health and increasing average life expectancy, a shortage was artificially created, people started making handicrafts of dubious quality, and the destroyed rare grape varieties have not yet been restored.
Soft foreign policy, carried out by Gorbachev, led to a radical change in the entire world order. Mikhail Sergeevich withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan, stopped " cold war"and played a huge role in the unification of Germany. In 1990, Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to easing international tensions.
The inconsistency and thoughtlessness of some reforms within the country led the USSR to a deep crisis. It was during the reign of Gorbachev that bloody interethnic conflicts began to break out in Nagorno-Karabakh, Fergana, Sumgait and other regions of the state. Mikhail Sergeevich, as a rule, was not able to influence the resolution of these bloody interethnic wars. His reaction to events was always very vague and delayed.
The Baltic republics were the first to decide to leave the USSR: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. In 1991, in Vilnius, during the storming of a television tower by USSR troops, 13 people died. Gorbachev began to disavow these events and stated that he had not given the order for the assault.
The crisis that finally collapsed the USSR occurred in August 1991. Former comrades of Gorbachev organized a coup d'etat and were defeated. In December 1991, the USSR was liquidated, and Gorbachev was dismissed as president of the USSR.
Life after power
After political career Gorbachev's life is over, he begins to be active in public life. Since January 1992, Gorbachev has served as President of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research.
In 2000, he created the Social Democratic Party (SDPR), which he headed until 2007.
On his eightieth birthday, March 2, 2011, Gorbachev was awarded the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called.
In March 2014, Gorbachev welcomed the result of the referendum in Crimea, and called the annexation of Crimea to Russia a correction of a historical mistake.
Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931, in the village. Privolnoye, Medvedensky district, Stavropol Territory. He came from a family of repressed peasants.
During the Second World War I lost my father, who died at the front. Starting from the age of thirteen, he combined schooling with collective farm work.
When the young man turned 15 years old, he was appointed assistant to the MTS combine operator. In 1949, Mikhail was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
In 1950, he completed his studies with a silver medal and entered Lomonosov Moscow State University without exams. He was admitted to the CPSU in 1952.
Political activity
After graduating from university, he began his career in the Stavropol prosecutor's office. In 1955 he received the post of first secretary of the Stavropol regional committee. In 1966, he began to hold the position of first secretary of the party city committee.
In 1978 he took the post of Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. In 1980 he became a member of the Politburo. In 1985, he accepted the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
In 1990, Gorbachev, without leaving the post of Secretary General, was elected President of the Soviet Union.
Domestic policy
On May 17, 1985, on the initiative of Gorbachev, an anti-alcohol campaign was launched. The price of alcohol-containing drinks increased by 45%. Alcohol production and vineyard clearing were reduced. As moonshine became more popular, sugar disappeared from sale.
In December 1985, on the advice of E. Ligachev, he appointed B. Yeltsin first secretary of the Moscow City Committee.
On May 1, 1986, after the Chernobyl tragedy, on the instructions of Gorbachev, May Day demonstrations were held in Minsk and Kyiv.
On November 19, 1986, he initiated the law “On individual labor activity.” In the same year, cooperatives were gradually introduced - the forerunner of modern private enterprises. Restrictions on foreign exchange transactions have been lifted.
In 1987, Perestroika was proclaimed.
In an effort to localize national conflicts, he took tough measures. In 1988, unprecedented measures were taken to disperse the Georgian demonstration and rally of Almaty youth. In the same year, a long-term conflict began in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The President actively opposed the separatist aspirations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
Years of life and reign of the first Soviet President were marred by stunning failures. Products began to rapidly disappear from shelves; a rationing system was introduced for many types of food. The result of the flushing of goods from stores was hyperinflation.
External debt under Gorbachev increased first to 31.3 and then to 70.3 billion US dollars.
Foreign policy
Studying the short biography of Gorbachev, you should know that he always strived for close cooperation With Western countries. At the end of 1984, at the invitation of M. Thatcher, the president visited London.
In an effort to improve relations with the United States, he decided to reduce military spending. The USSR could not withstand the arms race with America and NATO countries.
During Gorbachev's reign, the Warsaw Pact collapsed and Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan. The Berlin Wall also fell. All this, according to historians, led to the loss of the USSR in the Cold War and contributed to its early collapse.
Other biography options
- The president’s “gray eminence” was his wife, R. M. Gorbachev. She was also the editor of his books.
- Together with
In the village of Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeisky district, Stavropol Territory, in a peasant family. My labor activity he started early, while still in school. During summer holidays worked as an assistant combine operator. In 1949, Mikhail Gorbachev received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for his hard work harvesting grain.
In 1950, Gorbachev graduated from school with a silver medal and entered the law faculty of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov (MSU). In 1952 he joined the CPSU.
In 1955, he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University and was assigned to the Stavropol Regional Prosecutor's Office and almost immediately transferred to Komsomol work.
In 1955-1962, Mikhail Gorbachev worked as deputy head of the agitation and propaganda department of the Stavropol regional committee of the Komsomol, first secretary of the Stavropol city committee of the Komsomol, second, then first secretary of the Stavropol regional committee of the Komsomol.
Since 1962, in party work: in 1962-1966, he was head of the department of organizational and party work of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU; in 1966-1968 - first secretary of the Stavropol city committee of the CPSU, then second secretary of the Stavropol regional committee of the CPSU (1968-1970); in 1970-1978 - first secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU.
In 1967, Gorbachev graduated from the Faculty of Economics of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute (in absentia) with a degree in agronomist-economist.
Member of the Central Committee (Central Committee) of the CPSU from 1971 to 1991, since November 1978 - Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee for Agriculture.
From October 1980 to August 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev was a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
On October 1, 1988, with the election of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Gorbachev also became the formal head of the Soviet state. After the adoption of amendments to the Constitution, the first Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR on May 25, 1989 elected Gorbachev as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR; he held this position until March 1990.
From December 9, 1989 to June 19, 1990, Gorbachev was chairman of the Russian Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee.
On March 15, 1990, at the extraordinary Third Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR - the first and last in the history of the Soviet Union.
In 1985-1991, on the initiative of Gorbachev, a large-scale attempt was made to reform the social system in the USSR, called “perestroika”. It was conceived with the aim of “renewing socialism”, giving it a “second wind”.
The policy of glasnost proclaimed by Gorbachev led, in particular, to the adoption of a press law in 1990, which abolished state censorship. The President of the USSR returned academician Andrei Sakharov from political exile. The process of returning Soviet citizenship to deprived and expelled dissidents began. A broad campaign was launched to rehabilitate the victims political repression. In April 1991, Gorbachev signed agreements with the leaders of 10 union republics on the joint preparation of a draft of a new Union Treaty designed to preserve Soviet Union, the signing of which was scheduled for August 20. On August 19, 1991, Gorbachev’s closest associates, including the “power” ministers, announced the creation State Committee under a state of emergency (GKChP). They demanded that the president, who was on vacation in Crimea, introduce a state of emergency in the country or temporarily transfer power to Vice President Gennady Yanaev. After the failed coup attempt on August 21, 1991, Gorbachev returned to the presidency, but his position was significantly weakened.
On August 24, 1991, Gorbachev announced the resignation of the General Secretary of the Central Committee and his withdrawal from the CPSU.
December 25, 1991, after signing Belovezhskaya Accords on the liquidation of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev as President of the USSR.
After resigning, Mikhail Gorbachev created, on the basis of former research institutes under the CPSU Central Committee, the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research (Gorbachev Foundation), which he headed as president in January 1992.
In 1993, Gorbachev, on the initiative of representatives of 108 countries, founded the International Non-Governmental Environmental Organization International Green Cross. He is the founding president of this organization.
During the 1996 elections, Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the candidates for the presidency of the Russian Federation.
Gorbachev was one of the initiators of the creation of the Forum of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates in 1999.
In 2001-2009, he was a co-chairman on the Russian side of the St. Petersburg Dialogue Forum, regular meetings between Russia and Germany, and in 2010 he became the founder of the New Politics Forum, a platform for informal discussion. current problems global politics by the most authoritative political and public leaders different countries peace.
Mikhail Gorbachev was the creator and leader (2000-2001) of the Russian United Social Democratic Party (ROSDP) and the Social Democratic Party of Russia (SDPR) (2001-2007), an all-Russian social movement"Union of Social Democrats" (2007), Forum "Civil Dialogue" (2010).
Since 1992, Mikhail Gorbachev has made more than 250 international visits, visiting 50 countries.
He was awarded more than 300 state and public awards, diplomas, certificates of honor and insignia, among them the Order of the Red Banner of Labor (1948), three Orders of V.I. Lenin (1971, 1973, 1981), order October revolution(1987), Order of the Badge of Honor (1967), Order of Honor (2001), Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called (2011), state awards from countries around the world, international and national awards public organizations.
Mikhail Gorbachev is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1990).
He has honorary academic degrees a number of Russian and foreign universities.
He starred in Wim Wenders' feature film "Sky over Berlin 2" (English: Faraway, So Close!, German: In weiter Ferne, so nah!, Germany, 1993), where he played himself.
In addition, Gorbachev Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf", for which he received a Grammy Award in 2004. Bill Clinton and Sophia Loren also took part in the recording of this disc.
Mikhail Gorbachev's wife, Raisa Maksimovna, nee Titarenko, died on September 20, 1999 in a clinic in Münster (Germany) from acute leukemia. Their daughter Irina Virganskaya (Gorbacheva) is vice-president of the Gorbachev Foundation, president of the Raisa Maksimovna Club, candidate of medical sciences; granddaughters - Ksenia and Anastasia.
The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources
Led the country from March 11, 1985 to December 25, 1991. Positions held: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionMarch 11, 1985 - March 14, 1990
President of the USSR
March 14, 1990 - December 25, 1991
Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich (b. 1931), President of the Union of Soviets Socialist Republics(March 1990 - December 1991). Born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeisky district, Stavropol Territory, into a peasant family. At the age of 16 (1947) he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for high-threshing grain on a combine harvester.
In 1950, after graduating from school with a silver medal, he entered the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University. M. V. Lomonosov. He actively participated in the activities of the Komsomol organization of the university, and in 1952 he joined the CPSU.
After graduating from university in 1955, he was sent to Stavropol to the regional prosecutor's office. He worked as deputy head of the agitation and propaganda department of the Stavropol regional committee of the Komsomol, first secretary of the Stavropol city Komsomol committee, then second and first secretary of the regional committee of the Komsomol (1955–1962).
In 1962, Gorbachev went to work in party bodies. Khrushchev's reforms were underway in the country at that time. The party leadership bodies were divided into industrial and rural. New management structures have emerged - territorial production departments.
The party career of M. S. Gorbachev began with the position of party organizer of the Stavropol territorial production agricultural administration (three rural districts). In 1967 he graduated (in absentia) from the Stavropol Agricultural Institute.
In December 1962, Gorbachev was approved as head of the department of organizational and party work of the Stavropol rural regional committee of the CPSU. Since September 1966, Gorbachev has been the first secretary of the Stavropol city party committee; in August 1968 he was elected second, and in April 1970 - first secretary of the Stavropol regional committee of the CPSU. In 1971 M. S. Gorbachev became a member of the CPSU Central Committee.
In November 1978, Gorbachev became Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on issues of the agro-industrial complex, in 1979 - a candidate member, and in 1980 - a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. In March 1985, Gorbachev became general secretary of the Communist Party.
1985 is a tragic year, a milestone in the history of the state and the party. The reborn “communist” launched the mechanism for the collapse of the Great Country by reforming the party-state organism. This period in the country's history was called "perestroika" and was associated with a complete betrayal of the ideals of socialism.
Gorbachev began with a large-scale anti-alcohol campaign. Alcohol prices were increased and its sale was limited, vineyards were mostly destroyed, which gave rise to the whole complex new problems - the consumption of moonshine and all kinds of surrogates sharply increased, the budget suffered significant losses. The anti-alcohol campaign was carried out in a country that had not yet experienced the shock of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
In May 1985, speaking at a party and economic meeting in Leningrad, the General Secretary did not hide the fact that the country’s economic growth rate had decreased and put forward the slogan “accelerate socio-economic development.” Gorbachev received support for his policy statements at the XXVII Congress of the CPSU (1986) and at the June (1987) plenum of the CPSU Central Committee.
In 1986–1987, Gorbachev and his corrupt supporters set a course for the development of glasnost. These degenerates understood glasnost not as freedom of criticism and self-criticism, but as a way for everyone possible ways discredit the achievements of the Soviet system. Through the efforts, in particular, of the secretary and member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee A. N. Yakovlev, a worthy successor to Goebbels, a lie elevated to the rank public policy, poured out from all media. The XIX Party Conference of the CPSU (June 1988) adopted the resolution “On Glasnost”. In March 1990, the “Press Law” was adopted: achieving a certain level of independence of the media - independence from the truth, from conscience, from everything that makes the word - the Word.
Since 1988, the “process has begun” in full swing. The creation of initiative groups in support of “perestroika”, “glasnost”, “acceleration”, the creation of “popular” and essentially anti-people fronts and other non-state public organizations led to an aggravation of interethnic contradictions, and interethnic clashes occurred in some regions of the USSR.
In March 1989, during the elections of people's deputies, Gorbachev and his henchmen experienced a shock: in many regions, secretaries of party committees, proteges of Gorbachev's team, failed in the elections. As a result of these elections, a “fifth column” came to the deputy corps, praising the successes of the West and critically assessing the Soviet period.
The Congress of People's Deputies in May of the same year demonstrated a fierce confrontation between various currents both in society and among the parliamentarians. At this congress, Gorbachev was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
Gorbachev's actions caused a wave of growing criticism. Some criticized him for being slow and inconsistent in carrying out reforms, others for haste; everyone noted the contradictory nature of his policies. Thus, laws were adopted on the development of cooperation and almost immediately on the fight against “speculation”; laws on democratizing enterprise management and at the same time strengthening central planning; reform laws political system and free elections, and immediately - about “strengthening the role of the party”, etc.
In domestic policy, especially in the economy, there were signs of a serious crisis. The shortage of food and everyday goods has increased. Since 1989, the process of disintegration of the political system of the Soviet Union was in full swing.
In the first half of 1990, almost all union republics declared their state sovereignty (RSFSR - June 12, 1990).
On December 8, a meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus took place in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus), during which a document was signed on the liquidation of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev announced his resignation as President of the USSR. 16:47 9.08.2011
Gorbachev was caught in duplicity and bickering.
The German Der Spiegel received 30 thousand pages of documents from the archives of the President of the USSR
Mikhail Gorbachev, through whose efforts the great power the USSR was destroyed, has now lost the secrets kept in his personal archive of those times. The German weekly Der Spiegel came into possession of 30,000 pages of documents that it secretly copied from the archives of the first and last president USSR, young Russian historian Pavel Stroilov, now living in London. He gained access to them while working at the Gorbachev Foundation, which is located in Moscow at Leningradsky Prospekt, 39. About 10,000 documents are stored there that Gorbachev took from the Kremlin, parting with power, says the article, the contents of which are provided by the website InoPressa.ru .
And Gorbachev kept these secrets from the public for good reason. Yes, Gorbachev used certain documents from the archive in his books, which “greatly annoyed the current Kremlin leadership,” the publication says. But “most of the papers still remain hidden,” and mainly because “they do not fit into the image that Gorbachev himself created for himself: the image of a purposeful, progressive reformer who, step by step, changes his huge country to his own taste.”
The documents obtained by Der Spiegel “reveal something that Gorbachev was very reluctant to make public: that he submitted to the flow of events in the dying Soviet state and often lost his orientation in the chaos of those days. And besides, he behaved duplicitously and, contrary to his own statements, from time to time teamed up with hardliners in the party and army. The Kremlin chief thus did what many statesmen do after resigning: he subsequently greatly embellished the portrait of the brave reformer.”
By the end of his inglorious reign, Gorbachev appears as a completely pathetic beggar, who humiliatingly asks Western “friends” to save him from the inevitably approaching collapse. By September 1991, the publication says, economic situation The USSR became so desperate that Gorbachev, in a conversation with German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, had to “throw away all pride.” Talking with the future federal president, and at that time the State Secretary of the German Ministry of Finance Horst Köhler, Gorbachev tried to remind him of his services to the world: “How much did our perestroika and new thinking save? Hundreds of billions of dollars for the rest of the world!
Ex-Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany Helmut Kohl left a significant mark on Gorbachev’s archive. Kohl was “in great debt” to the Soviet leader, since Gorbachev did not interfere with the unification of Germany and its entry into NATO. At the same time, the Soviet leader, as evidenced by the publication in Der Spiegel, considered Kohl “not the greatest intellectual” and “an ordinary provincial politician,” although he had significant influence in the West. However, by 1991, Gorbachev’s faith in Kohl became “limitless” - apparently due to the desperate situation in which the leader of the USSR found himself at that time. In telephone conversations from that time, Gorbachev “complains and complains, these are the pleas of a drowning man for help,” writes Der Spiegel. With the help of Kolya, Gorbachev is trying to “mobilize” the West to save the USSR. In addition, he is looking for support against his “worst rival, Boris Yeltsin,” whom, as it soon turns out, both underestimate. “Gorbachev wants to continue to be accepted abroad as the head of a great power, but behind the scenes he is forced to beg,” notes the German weekly.
The archive at the disposal of Der Spiegel includes minutes of discussions in the Politburo and negotiations with foreign leaders, recordings telephone conversations the Soviet leader and even handwritten recommendations given to Gorbachev by his advisers - Vadim Zagladin and Anatoly Chernyaev. The latest documents from this list clearly show both the nature of the relationships that have developed within Gorbachev’s team and his lack of independence in decision-making.
Thus, in January 1991, “under pressure from the special services and the army,” Gorbachev agreed to an attempt to restore order in Lithuania, the publication Der Spiegel notes. Two days before the storming of the television center in Vilnius, which killed 14 people, Gorbachev assured US President George H. W. Bush that intervention would occur “only if blood is shed or riots break out that will threaten not only our Constitution, but also human lives" Gorbachev’s assistant Anatoly Chernyaev wrote a letter to his boss about this with the following content: “Mikhail Sergeevich! Your speech in the Supreme Council (regarding the events in Vilnius) meant the end. This was not a performance of significance statesman. It was a confused, hesitant speech... You obviously don’t know what people think about you - on the streets, in shops, in trolleybuses. There they only talk about “Gorbachev and his clique.” You said that you want to change the world, and with your with my own hands You’re ruining this work.”
In general, the publication summarizes, the archive shows “how erroneously... [Gorbachev] assessed the situation and how desperately... he fought for his post.”
Gorbachev himself, of course, does not share this assessment of his activities as head of the Soviet state, as evidenced by the interview he gave that coincided with the publication of Der Spiegel ex-president USSR to the Austrian newspaper Die Presse (translation - InoPressa.ru). Here he regrets the collapse of the USSR, but continues to justify the “reforms” he undertook then: “The Soviet Union then needed modernization and democratization, and then the outdated model of Stalin, Khrushchev and Brezhnev, which worked through orders, control and party monopoly, collapsed " No, this destroyer of the USSR does not admit that he threw out the baby with the bathwater.
Moreover, a person who has ruined a great country still believes he has the right not only to evaluate its current leaders, but even to give them recommendations. “I’m trying to give an objective assessment of events,” Gorbachev said, answering a journalist’s question about why he either praises or criticizes Putin. “During his first term in office, he managed to prevent the partial collapse of the country, so he already occupies a certain niche in history.”
Commenting on the current political situation, Gorbachev said: “The next 5-6 years will be decisive. Two polar camps have already emerged, one of which advocates modernization, and the other seeks to retain power. For what? To preserve the extracted wealth? However, he continues, “if Medvedev does not run, it will not lead to disaster, as many claim. However, it is very important which camp wins. If Medvedev becomes the head of the reform camp, he will need a lot of strength and support. He has potential." Well, Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, we can congratulate you: there is a new addition to your camp, and what a one! Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev himself with his zero electoral support...
Reflecting on the fate of the country, Gorbachev, however, does not forget about his beloved self. Answering a question from a correspondent of an Austrian publication about how he himself assesses the recent release from custody after a short detention of ex-KGB officer Golovatov (the same one who commanded the Alpha group in Vilnius in January 1991), as well as the intention of the Lithuanian authorities to summon Gorbachev himself for questioning, Mikhail Sergeevich begins to make excuses. Apparently, the threat of being called to Vilnius for interrogation seriously worried him. According to Gorbachev, when the atmosphere in Vilnius became tense, the Federation Council was convened, at which it was decided to find a political compromise by sending representatives of the three republics. “We wanted to find a political solution to the problem. And who provoked whom, who gave the order to shoot, and who fired, I don’t know. No such orders came from me. I don’t understand what testimony Lithuania expects from me,” “Gorby” panics.
Truly a telling confession. The president of the world's largest power, who in 1985 (when he headed the country) had such power that no other person in the world possessed, only 6 years later complains that without him someone gives the order to shoot and someone even shoots. These are the kind of bad people you come across - they don’t listen to the President of the USSR...
Now, however, we already know quite reliably who planned and carried out the provocation in Vilnius in January 1991: KM.RU talked about how then “friends shot at their own.” And Gorbachev still tells us fables about some disobedient uncles from the leadership of the USSR, who allegedly prevented him from reaching a peaceful agreement with the Lithuanians. Well, the leader was then caught by a great country, which, thanks to his efforts, ceased to exist in just 6 years! Such leaders must be judged for this, as the famous political scientist Sergei Chernyakhovsky rightly noted today on the pages of our portal. Judge, and not allow interviews to be freely distributed to foreign media.
Source: www.km.ru FROM THE BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF M.S. GORBACHEV
1931, March 2. Born in the village of Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeisky district, Stavropol Territory, into a peasant family.
1944. Starts periodically working on a collective farm.
1946. Assistant combine operator at MTS.
1948. As a schoolboy, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for special success in harvesting.
1952. Joins the CPSU.
1955. Graduates from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University.
1956–1958. First Secretary of the Stavropol City Committee of the Komsomol.
1958–1962. Second and then first secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Komsomol.
1962, March. Party organizer of the Stavropol territorial production collective farm and state farm administration. December. Approved by the head of the department of party bodies of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU.
1966. Elected first secretary of the Stavropol city party committee.
1967. Graduates in absentia from the Faculty of Economics of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute.
1971. Elected member of the CPSU Central Committee.
1978. Elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
1979. Candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
1982, May. At the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, the USSR Food Program for the period until 1990, the development of which was supervised by M.S. Gorbachev, was approved.
1985, March 11. Elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. April 23. Presents a report at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the Party “On the convening of the next XXVII Congress of the CPSU and the tasks associated with its preparation and holding.” Promotion of the concept of accelerating the socio-economic development of the country. May 17. The resolution of the CPSU Central Committee “On measures to overcome drunkenness and alcoholism”, adopted on May 7, is published. The beginning of the anti-alcohol campaign.
1986, February 25. Makes a Political Report at the XXVII Congress of the CPSU. May 14. He appears on Soviet television with information about the Chernobyl accident that occurred on April 26.
1987, January 27–28. Conducts the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, at which the ideas of perestroika as a universal concept are improved, in contrast to its previous interpretation as the transformation of individual aspects of social life. May 30. Authorizes the resignation of the Minister of Defense, Marshal S. Sokolov, and the Commander of the Air Defense Forces, Marshal A. Koldunov, in connection with the landing on May 28 on Moscow's Red Square of an airplane piloted by a German citizen, M. Rust.
1988, March 13. Article in " Soviet Russia“N.A. Andreeva “I can’t give up principles”, perceived as anti-perestroika, directed against the policies of M.S. Gorbachev. June 28. Report at the XIX All-Union Party Conference “On the progress of implementing the decisions of the XXVII Congress of the CPSU and the tasks of deepening perestroika.” October 1st. Elected at a session of the Supreme Council as chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
1989, February 16. Output completed Soviet troops from Afghanistan, carried out on the initiative of M.S. Gorbachev.
1990, March 15. At the Extraordinary Third Congress of People's Deputies he is elected President of the USSR. March 27. Presides over the first meeting of the Presidential Council of the USSR. the 14 th of July. After the completion of the XXVIII Party Congress at the Plenum of the Central Committee last time elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. August 13. A decree of the President of the USSR is published on the restoration of the rights of all victims of political repression of the 20s–50s. October 15. Received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. 28 of October. Resolution on political no-confidence in the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee M.S. Gorbachev, adopted by the All-Union Conference of the “Unity for Leninism and Communist Ideals” society, headed by N.A. Andreeva. November 7. During a festive demonstration on Red Square, an attempt is made to assassinate M.S. Gorbachev. The shooter, a resident of Kolpino A.A. Shmonov, was detained. December 14. He declares in the Kremlin that he has decided to use the monetary portion of the Nobel Peace Prize he received for the needs of protecting people’s health.
1991, June 5. Gives the Nobel lecture in Oslo. August 19. Vice-President of the USSR G.I. Yanaev issues a Decree on his assumption of duties as President of the USSR in connection with the “illness” of M.S. Gorbachev. August 22. Returns to Moscow from Foros after the failure of the Emergency Committee action. 24 August. Resigns from his duties as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and recommends that the party Central Committee dissolve itself. August, 26th. Suspension of the activities of the CPSU throughout the USSR. November. Head of the Department for Supervision of the Execution of Laws on state security The USSR Prosecutor's Office V.I. Ilyukhin initiates a criminal case against President M.S. Gorbachev under Article 64 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (treason) in connection with the secession of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia from the USSR. December 8th. Signing in the absence of M.S. Gorbachev by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus the Belovezhsky Declaration on the dissolution of the USSR and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). December 23. Official registration in Moscow of the “International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Research” (“Gorbachev Foundation”). December 25th. Resigns as President of the USSR and addresses the people on television with a farewell speech.
1993, February. Meetings of the “Public People's Tribunal”, created by the left opposition to try M.S. Gorbachev, who was accused of the collapse of the USSR, were held in Moscow.
1995, March 1. Conducted in Moscow by the Gorbachev Foundation Round table dedicated to the 10th anniversary of perestroika. May. Speaks at a conference dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the creation of the Democratic Party of Russia, with the idea of forming a single Centrist coalition.
1996, March 1. Declares at a press conference at the Postfactum agency his intention to run for the post of President of Russia. 2nd of March. Materials dedicated to the 65th anniversary of M.S. Gorbachev are published in the Russian and foreign press. March 22. While in St. Petersburg, he publicly confirms his decision to run in the presidential elections of Russia. April June. He travels to the regions of Russia, conducts an election campaign under the slogan “I started the reforms - it’s up to me to complete them.” April. An incident during M.S. Gorbachev’s election trip in Omsk: unemployed M.N. Malyukov hit him on the head, explaining his actions with a desire to slap him in the face. June 16. Does not receive voter support in the presidential elections of Russia.
1998, June. Ceremony for awarding an honorary doctorate of science from Northeastern University Boston (USA) in the discipline " International relationships" October. Negro Organization of the USA " National Museum civil rights"Awards M.S. Gorbachev the Freedom Prize for 1998.
1999, March 15. In Cambridge (Great Britain) he takes part in the scientific symposium “Russia on the threshold of the new millennium”. Celebrates the 9th anniversary of his election as President of the USSR. April. Speaks at a meeting of Nobel Peace Prize laureates in Italy condemning the armed confrontation between NATO and Yugoslavia.
Source of information: A.A. Dantsev. Rulers of Russia: 20th century. Rostov-on-Don, Phoenix Publishing House, 2000 Events during Gorbachev’s reign:
1985, March - at the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected general secretary (Viktor Grishin was considered the main rival for this post, but the choice was made in favor of the younger Gorbachev).
1985 - publication of the “semi-prohibition” law, vodka on coupons.
1985, July-August - XII World Festival of Youth and Students
1986 - accident at the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Evacuation of the population from the “exclusion zone”. Construction of a sarcophagus over a destroyed block.
1986 - Andrei Sakharov returns to Moscow.
1987, January - announcement of “Perestroika”.
1988 - celebration of the millennium of the baptism of Rus'.
1988 - the law “On Cooperation” in the USSR, which laid the foundation for modern entrepreneurship.
1989, November 9 - the Berlin Wall, which personified the "Iron Curtain", was destroyed.
1989, February - the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is completed.
1989, May 25 - The First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR began.
1990 - the accession of the GDR (including East Berlin) and West Berlin to the Federal Republic of Germany - the first NATO advance to the east.
1990, March - introduction of the post of President of the USSR, who was to be elected for five years. As an exception, the first President of the USSR was elected by the Third Congress of People's Deputies, the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M.S. Gorbachev.
1990, June 12 - adoption of the declaration of sovereignty of the RSFSR.
1991, August 19 - August putsch - an attempt by members of the State Emergency Committee to remove Mikhail Gorbachev “for health reasons” and thus preserve the USSR.
1991, August 22 - failure of the putschists. Banning of republican communist parties by the majority of union republics.
1991, September - the new highest authority, the USSR State Council, headed by USSR President Gorbachev, recognizes the independence of the Baltic union republics (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia).
1991, December - heads of three union republics: the RSFSR (Russian Federation), Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR) and the Republic of Belarus (BSSR) in Belovezhskaya Pushcha sign the “agreement on the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” which declares the end of the USSR. On December 12, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR ratifies the agreement and denounces the 1922 treaty on the formation of the USSR.
1991 - December 25 M. S. Gorbachev resigns from the post of President of the USSR, by decree of the President of the RSFSR B. N. Yeltsin, the state of the RSFSR changed its name to " Russian Federation"However, it was enshrined in the constitution only in May 1992.
1991 - December 26 upper house The Supreme Soviet of the USSR legally liquidates the USSR.