Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the Cold War bloodlessly but failed to prevent the collapse of the Soviet Union, died on Tuesday at the age of 91, Russian news agencies said, citing hospital officials.
Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, signed arms reduction agreements with the United States and partnerships with Western powers to remove the Iron Curtain that had divided Europe since World War II and promote German reunification.
When pro-democracy protests swept through Soviet bloc nations in communist Eastern Europe in 1989, he refrained from using force, unlike previous Kremlin leaders who sent tanks to crush uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.
But the protests fueled aspirations for autonomy in the 15 republics of the Soviet Union, which disintegrated chaotically over the next two years. Gorbachev struggled in vain to avoid this collapse.
When he became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985, aged 54, he set out to revitalize the system of government by introducing limited political and economic freedoms, but his reforms spiraled out of control.
His policy of “glasnost” (transparency) allowed previously unthinkable criticism of the party and state, but also emboldened nationalists who began pushing for independence in the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and elsewhere.
Many Russians never forgave Gorbachev for the turmoil his reforms unleashed, considering the subsequent drop in their living standards too high a price to pay for democracy.
After visiting Gorbachev in hospital on June 30, liberal economist Ruslan Grinberg told the Armed Forces newspaper Zvezda: “He gave us all the freedom, but we don’t know what to do with it.”
Timeline
1931
born on March 2, in the rural area of ​​Privolnoye
1951
joins the Soviet Communist Party
1955
completes law school in Moscow
1967
completes Faculty of Economics in Stavropol
1985
is elected general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, aged 54; in this role, he becomes the de facto leader of the Soviet Union
1986
it starts “glasnost” and “perestroika”; the first guaranteed freedom of expression to the population and the second focused on the economic opening of the Soviet Union
1987
signs treaty with the United States to limit nuclear weapons
1988
withdraws Soviet troops from Afghanistan after nine years
nineteen ninety
becomes president of the Soviet Union; wins the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to end the Cold War
1991
resigns from the presidency, days after the dissolution of the Soviet Union
1996
Runs for President in Russia But Receives Only 1% of Votes
2004
wins a Grammy for best talking album for children
2007
appears in a Louis Vuitton leather goods ad
2013
criticizes President Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC
2016
is banned by Ukraine after supporting Russia’s annexation of Crimea
