Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich

Main article: History of Russia

Biography

Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931.

In 1952 he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

In 1955, he graduated from the Law Faculty of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov.

In 1961 he was elected a delegate to the XXII Congress of the CPSU. Later he was elected a delegate to the XXIV and all subsequent congresses of the party.

In 1967 - correspondence department of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute.

1970: Member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR

In 1970-1989, Gorbachev was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the VIII-XI convocations. From 1971 to 1991 he was a member of the Central Committee (Central Committee) of the CPSU.

1985: General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee

After the death of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Konstantin Chernenko in March 1985, Gorbachev was elected to this post at the suggestion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR Andrei Gromyko.

In 1986, Gorbachev initiated a new ideology and reforms in the economic and political structure of the USSR. Then he first used the term "perestroika." The politician himself stated that he put an equal sign between the words "perestroika" and "revolution." In 1988, the electoral system was changed in the Soviet Union, which made it possible to nominate candidates independent of the CPSU in the elections, and in 1989 the first competitive elections were held in the country.

On December 3, 1989, US President George W. Bush and General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev declared that their countries were no longer opponents. The day went down in history as the official date for the end of the Cold War.

1990: President of the USSR

In March 1990, Gorbachev was elected president of the USSR - the first and last in the history of the Soviet Union. Under Gorbachev, private commercial activities were legalized in the country, privatization began, and the state also abandoned the monopoly of foreign trade. In 1991, confiscation monetary reform took place, and the policy of "new political thinking" was proclaimed in foreign policy activities.

USSR poster "Winners of the Cold War" USSR President Gorbachev and US President Bush, 1990

In July 1990, Gorbachev was re-elected for a second term as Secretary General of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

In August 1991, Gorbachev resigned as Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee.

Meeting with the German group Scorpions

In 1991, USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev met with members of the famous rock band Scorpions. The meeting took place thanks to the assistance of the Bild newspaper and the Stas Namin Center.

A meeting between Mikhail Gorbachev and the rock band Scorpions, USSR, 1991.

Gorbachev made a speech in which he called Scorpions a "shock brigade" and thanked "for his involvement in the problems of the Soviet people." Noting in response the merits of the President of the USSR, singer Klaus Meine handed over 100,000 DM and souvenirs - two matrices with the song "Wind of Changes" in Russian. Gorbachev promised to give the money to children's hospitals. After that, the press was removed from the hall and brought two guitars.

On December 25, 1991, after the signing of the Belovezhsky agreements on the liquidation of the USSR, Gorbachev announced the termination of his activities as president.

Former US President Ronald Reagan, former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev and their wives Nancy and Raisa at Reagan Ranch near Santa Barbara (California), May 3, 1992

Photographer: Mike Nelson]]

He died on August 30, 2022 in Moscow.