Film by Leonid Mlechin: “How M. Gorbachev came to power.”

Gorbachev: An Accidental Revolutionary

August 17, 2001 | source: www.news.bbc.co.uk

For Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, this decade must have been difficult - a man who had accomplished a lot and strived to achieve even more, suddenly found himself thrown out of big politics.

Giving lectures, signing autographs and appearing in commercials, he was unable to influence the somewhat chaotic rule of his main rival Boris Yeltsin - a man whom Gorbachev does not like or respect.

He had a lot of time to think about what was done wrong during the period from the optimistic beginning of perestroika to the crisis and collapse of the USSR. Gorbachev's memoirs, published in 1995, are, among other things, an attempt to find those responsible.

Historians do the same thing, going through the events of the Gorbachev era bit by bit, collecting in detail and sometimes maliciously the mistakes of the first and only president of the USSR. Historians write about how he refused to organize democratic elections, recall that Gorbachev stubbornly ignored the threats posed by right-wing communist conservatives.

Basically, the chroniclers point to a peculiar paradox: the man who decided to revive the Soviet Union ultimately led it to its collapse. In general, the word “paradox” is used quite often in publications about Gorbachev.

Dmitry Volkogonov writes about a convinced communist who buried communism, about a Leninist who believes that Soviet power can be democratized, about a utopian respected in the West but not understood in his homeland, who, without meaning to, opened the floodgates to the wave that washed away the USSR .

It seems that Gorbachev's main delusion was the belief that he was capable of starting a revolution that could be kept under control with the help of the apparatus of the Soviet state. At the same time, he underestimated the power of latent nationalism Soviet republics and how destructive the truth about the bloody past of the USSR, told to its citizens, can be.
In retrospect, Gorbachev should have thought twice before making such a drastic attempt to end Soviet totalitarianism. On the other hand, it was thanks to this achievement that he went down in history.

Gorbachev was not the only politician who underestimated the centrifugal forces dormant within the USSR. Thus, already in the summer of 1991, the then American President George H. W. Bush, in one of his speeches, persistently convinced Ukraine not to secede from the Soviet Union.

Until now, historians have largely speculated on Gorbachev's own strategy and tactics - his hesitation, his futile search for consensus, his failure to join forces with other reformers. Less attention is paid to the context in which he acted - in particular, the long process of decline of the USSR, in which its president played only one role, albeit the most prominent one.

From this point of view, it is extremely important that the Soviet Union, even before Gorbachev came to power, entered a steep economic dive. This explains the decision to withdraw Soviet troops from the countries of Eastern Europe and Afghanistan and stop the arms race. The country's population knew very well that Soviet consumer goods were inferior to Western and even Eastern European ones. The public gradually became convinced that the economic rivalry with the West was lost, and this led to a loss of faith in the Soviet political system.

National identity in the republics of the USSR also began to strengthen before Gorbachev took office. The local political elite also contributed to this.

The investigation into the crimes of the Stalinist regime also began long before Gorbachev, almost immediately after the death of the Generalissimo. Then, it is true, it was quickly closed, but over time, memories of terror faded, and the perestroika generation was no longer so easy to intimidate.

So, Gorbachev undoubtedly accelerated the decline of the Soviet Union, but even before he came to power, the country was in a difficult situation. Probably no one could have saved her.

BBC columnist Stephen Mulvey

Who if not Gorbachev?

Moskovsky Komsomolets No. 25298 dated March 11, 2010 | source: www.mk.ru

March 11, 1985 was a cloudy and dreary day. General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko died the day before, at 19.40. It seemed that only his family and immediate circle were sad. Oddly enough, on Old Square, where the Central Committee apparatus was located, there was high spirits.

At three o'clock in the afternoon the Politburo met in the Kremlin and identified a successor. And two hours later, at the Plenum of the Central Committee, a new one was elected Secretary General. When the name of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was heard, the hall burst into applause. The fate of the state was decided. And for a quarter of a century now, politicians and historians have been trying to understand what the election of Gorbachev was - an accident or a pattern?

Seven years earlier, on July 19, 1978, Fyodor Davydovich Kulakov, a member of the Politburo and secretary of the Central Committee for agriculture. He was one of the youngest in the Politburo. In Moscow they whispered that Kulakov did not die a natural death, that he shot himself. Those who were especially suspicious assumed the worst.

At his wake, I realized: Kulakov was shot,” said the first secretary of the Krasnodar regional committee, Sergei Fedorovich Medunov, who knew Kulakov closely, confidently. “Someone saw him as a rival.”

There was no treacherous rival, no suicide. He was not a very healthy person. But when I sat down at the table, I couldn’t stop. And on the fateful night, he also had a big quarrel with his wife. Went to bed alone. They say that at night he “added” more, and his heart stopped.

Gorbachev’s ill-wishers assured that only Kulakov’s early death opened the way for him to the top. I would have stayed in Stavropol. In reality, they tried several times to transfer the young and promising party worker to Moscow. Andropov intended to take Mikhail Sergeevich to his place in the KGB as deputy chairman for personnel. Gorbachev had a chance to eventually head the State Security Committee. In this case, he would become an army general, and not Secretary General. There would have been no perestroika.

But things turned out differently. He became secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Why didn’t Andropov, already in the role of General Secretary, make him his successor?

“Not long before the Plenum of the Central Committee,” recalled Gorbachev’s assistant Arkady Ivanovich Volsky, “I came to his hospital with a draft report. Andropov added to the text: “Meetings of the Secretariat of the Central Committee should be chaired by Gorbachev.” The one who led the secretariat was considered the second person in the party.

According to Volsky, this was a kind of testament from Andropov. Could Gorbachev become his successor? No. The party apparatus lived by its own laws. Even Lenin's will was ignored. From the moment Andropov was placed in a hospital, from where he would never leave, all the levers of governing the country were in the hands of Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko. His rise to power after Andropov's death in 1984 was a foregone conclusion.

Defense Minister Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov, the most influential member of the Politburo, had every chance to replace Chernenko. Gorbachev already told Ustinov:

Get on with it, Dmitry Fedorovich. We will support you in the post of Secretary General.

Ustinov was well over seventy, but he continued to work at a frantic pace. In the fall of 1984, joint military exercises took place on the territory of Czechoslovakia. After the maneuvers, the Soviet delegation stayed to take part in the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising. The weather was bad, and the reception was held on the open terrace. To celebrate, the generals hugged and kissed. Then they came to the conclusion that someone had infected Ustinov with an infection, which was mistaken for a regular flu. The same illness struck the Minister of Defense of Czechoslovakia, General Dzur. The treatment had no effect. Ustinov died from increasing intoxication.

It is believed that Politburo member Viktor Vasilyevich Grishin, who led Moscow for 18 years, also applied for the post of General after Chernenko. But Grishin was liked only by a narrow circle of his close associates. And he was compromised by high-profile criminal trials.

KGB Chairman Andropov did not like Grishin. While Brezhnev was healthy, he kept his feelings to himself. When the time came to share power, Grishin turned out to be superfluous. The director of the Eliseevsky store was the first to be arrested, followed by other arrests. When the first secretary of the MGK went on vacation, the head of the Main Department of Trade of the Moscow City Executive Committee, Nikolai Tregubov, was arrested. They said that detectives were digging deep into the ground to find incriminating evidence on Grishin. Of course, no specific charges were brought against city leaders. But by March 11, 1985, Grishin was removed from the game.

When Chernenko passed away, one of the most influential members of the Politburo - the owner of Ukraine, Vladimir Vasilyevich Shcherbitsky - was in the United States at the head of the delegation of the Supreme Council. Gorbachev was elected in his absence. And if Shcherbitsky had flown to Moscow and arrived in time for the Politburo vote, would the result have been different?..

Shcherbitsky was Brezhnev's favorite. They said that Leonid Ilyich once told him:

After me, Volodya, you will become General.

But after Brezhnev’s death, Shcherbitsky had no allies in Moscow.

Did Gorbachev have other rivals? Before the appearance of Mikhail Sergeevich, the youngest member of the Politburo was Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov. He served as first secretary of the Leningrad Regional Committee for 13 years. In 1972, Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti came to Moscow. The head of government, Kosygin, who received him, remarked: “Keep in mind that the main figure in the future political life of the USSR will be Romanov.” In 1976, Brezhnev told the leader of Poland, Edward Gierek, that he had identified Romanov as his successor.

Andropov made Romanov secretary of the Central Committee for military industry and a member of the Defense Council, where Gorbachev, even acting as second secretary of the Central Committee, had no entry. On the day of Chernenko’s death, Romanov was on vacation in Palanga. He returned to the capital when Gorbachev's election as general secretary was a foregone conclusion.

But Romanov had no chance in any case. The Leningrad intelligentsia despised Romanov. Arkady Raikin could not withstand the pressure of the Leningrad authorities and, together with his theater, was forced to move to Moscow. During the perestroika years, Daniil Granin wrote an ironic novel in which a short regional leader - everyone recognized Romanov - turns into a dwarf from constant lies.

In 1974, Grigory Vasilyevich married off his youngest daughter. The wedding took place at the dacha of the first secretary of the regional committee. But rumors spread throughout the country about the unprecedented pomp of the celebration; they said that, on Romanov’s orders, a unique table service was delivered from the Hermitage, and drunken guests broke the precious dishes. Romanov was convinced that this was the work of Western intelligence services. But there is another version: Moscow politicians ruined the reputation of a dangerous rival.

Chernenko, to his credit, did not try to push Gorbachev aside, as many would have done in his place. On the contrary, he supported him. Mikhail Sergeevich was able to become General only because Chernenko insisted that in his absence it was Gorbachev who led the meetings of the secretariat and the Politburo. Konstantin Ustinovich took another symbolic step: he moved him to the chair to his right, which was traditionally occupied by the second person in the party.

In the last two months of Chernenko’s life, Gorbachev was already leading the country. Still, in March 1985, he needed an ally from the old guard. This role was taken on by Foreign Minister Andrei Andreevich Gromyko. He was counting on a promotion - to the chair of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council - and bet on Gorbachev. Behind-the-scenes negotiations are said to have been conducted by three academics. Gorbachev was in no hurry to answer. I was afraid: was it a trap?

A few days before his death, Chernenko developed a twilight state. It became clear that his days were numbered. Gorbachev made it known that he highly values ​​Andrei Andreevich and is ready to cooperate. On the evening of March 10, 1985, Chernenko died. At the Politburo meeting, Gromyko took the floor - unexpectedly for everyone except Gorbachev. He said he couldn't imagine a better candidate. This turned out to be enough: it was not customary to argue in the Politburo.

Gorbachev's rise to power can be imagined as a chain of accidents. But, as Marxists say, an accident is a manifestation of a pattern. Gorbachev took a place on Olympus thanks to his political talents. And all his actions after his election were also natural. I remember that time very well. The sad, irritated state of society and the general thirst for change. I remember how even high-ranking party officials in their circle did not hesitate to curse the hardened system and pin their hopes on the young secretary general. Future fierce critics of Gorbachev also wanted changes. Of course, everyone's idea of ​​change was different - some were quite happy with the liberation of the positions of power from the old people who had been sitting in them for too long.

But in March 1985, even the best minds did not realize the scale of the catastrophe that had befallen the country, the depth of the hole from which they had to climb out. Many of the hopes that gripped society at that time will never become reality. Gorbachev will be required to answer for all failures. But wouldn’t it be more honest to lay the blame on his predecessors, who drove the country into a dead end for decades?..

Photo | Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev cross the Bornholmer bridge in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Nov. 9, during the commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov.9, 1989. AP / Herbert Knosowski.
PhotoBlock: www.blogs.sacbee.com

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (L) walk across the bridge at Bornholmer Strasse on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. The leaders visited the bridge and the train station below because it was there that in 1989 that guards opened the first border crossing and allowed East Berliners to walk unimpeded into West Berlin. The city of Berlin is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall, which led to the end of communist rule in East Germany and later on the reunification of East and West Germany, with a spectacular event at the Brandenburg Gate and the participation of international leaders. (November 8, 2009 - Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images Europe).

General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1985-1991), President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (March 1990 - December 1991).
General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (March 11, 1985 - August 23, 1991), first and last President of the USSR (March 15, 1990 - December 25, 1991).

Head of the Gorbachev Foundation. Since 1993, co-founder of New Daily Newspaper CJSC (from the Moscow register).

Biography of Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 in the village. Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeisky district Stavropol Territory. Father: Sergei Andreevich Gorbachev. Mother: Maria Panteleevna Gopkalo.

In 1945, M. Gorbachev began working as an assistant combine operator together with by his father. In 1947, 16-year-old combine operator Mikhail Gorbachev received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for high-threshing grain.

In 1950, M. Gorbachev graduated from school with a silver medal. I immediately went to Moscow and entered the Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov to the Faculty of Law.
In 1952, M. Gorbachev joined the CPSU.

In 1953 Gorbachev married Raisa Maksimovna Titarenko, a student at the Faculty of Philosophy at Moscow State University.

In 1955, he graduated from the university and was given a referral to the regional prosecutor's office of Stavropol.

In Stavropol, Mikhail Gorbachev first became deputy head of the agitation and propaganda department of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the Komsomol, then the 1st Secretary of the Stavropol City Komsomol Committee and finally the 2nd and 1st Secretary of the Regional Committee of the Komsomol.

Mikhail Gorbachev - party work

In 1962, Mikhail Sergeevich finally switched to party work. Received the position of party organizer of the Stavropol Territorial Production Agricultural Administration. Due to the fact that the reforms of N. Khrushchev are underway in the USSR, great attention is being given to agriculture. M. Gorbachev entered the correspondence department of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute.

In the same year, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was approved as head of the department of organizational and party work of the Stavropol rural regional committee of the CPSU.
In 1966, he was elected 1st Secretary of the Stavropol City Party Committee.

In 1967 he received a diploma from the Stavropol Agricultural Institute.

The years 1968-1970 were marked by the consistent election of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, first as the 2nd and then as the 1st secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU.

In 1971, Gorbachev was admitted to the CPSU Central Committee.

In 1978, he received the post of Secretary of the CPSU for issues of the agro-industrial complex.

In 1980, Mikhail Sergeevich became a member of the Politburo of the CPSU.

In 1985, Gorbachev took the post of General Secretary of the CPSU, that is, he became the head of state.

In the same year, annual meetings between the leader of the USSR and the President of the United States and leaders of foreign countries resumed.

Gorbachev's Perestroika

The period of the reign of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev is usually associated with the end of the era of the so-called Brezhnev “stagnation” and with the beginning of “perestroika” - a concept familiar to the whole world.

The Secretary General's first event was a large-scale anti-alcohol campaign (officially launched on May 17, 1985). Alcohol prices in the country rose sharply, and its sales were limited. Vineyards were cut down. All this led to the fact that people began to poison themselves with moonshine and all kinds of alcohol substitutes, and the economy suffered more losses. In response, Gorbachev puts forward the slogan “accelerate socio-economic development.”

The main events of Gorbachev's reign were as follows:
On April 8, 1986, at a speech in Tolyatti at the Volzhsky Automobile Plant, Gorbachev first uttered the word “perestroika”; it became the slogan of the beginning new era in USSR.
On May 15, 1986, a campaign began to intensify the fight against unearned income (the fight against tutors, flower sellers, drivers).
The anti-alcohol campaign, which began on May 17, 1985, led to a sharp increase in prices for alcoholic beverages, cutting down vineyards, the disappearance of sugar in stores and the introduction of sugar cards, and an increase in life expectancy among the population.
The main slogan was acceleration, associated with promises to dramatically increase industry and the well-being of the people in a short time.
Power reform, introduction of elections to the Supreme Council and local councils on an alternative basis.
Glasnost, the actual lifting of party censorship on the media.
Suppression of local national conflicts, in which the authorities took harsh measures (dispersal of demonstrations in Georgia, forceful dispersal of a youth rally in Almaty, deployment of troops to Azerbaijan, unfolding of a long-term conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, suppression of separatist aspirations of the Baltic republics).
During the Gorbachev period of rule there was a sharp decrease in the reproduction of the population of the USSR.
The disappearance of food from stores, hidden inflation, the introduction of a rationing system for many types of food in 1989. As a result of pumping Soviet economy non-cash rubles caused hyperinflation.
Under M.S. Gorbachev, the USSR's external debt reached a record high. Debts were taken out by Gorbachev at high interest rates from different countries. Russia was able to pay off its debts only 15 years after his removal from power. The USSR's gold reserves decreased tenfold: from more than 2,000 tons to 200.

Gorbachev's politics

Reform of the CPSU, abolition of the one-party system and removal from the CPSU constitutional status of “leading and organizing force”.
Rehabilitation of victims of Stalinist repressions who were not rehabilitated under.
Weakening control over the socialist camp (Sinatra doctrine). It led to a change of power in most socialist countries and the unification of Germany in 1990. The end of the Cold War in the United States is regarded as a victory for the American bloc.
The end of the war in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of Soviet troops, 1988-1989.
The introduction of Soviet troops against the Popular Front of Azerbaijan in Baku, January 1990, the result - more than 130 dead, including women and children.
Concealment from the public of the facts of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986.

In 1987, open criticism of Mikhail Gorbachev's actions began from the outside.

In 1988, at the 19th Party Conference of the CPSU, the resolution “On Glasnost” was officially adopted.

In March 1989, for the first time in the history of the USSR, free elections of people's deputies were held, as a result of which not party henchmen, but representatives of various trends in society, were allowed to power.

In May 1989, Gorbachev was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In the same year, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan began. In October, through the efforts of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, the Berlin Wall was destroyed and Germany was reunited.

In December in Malta, as a result of a meeting between Gorbachev and George H. W. Bush, the heads of state declared that their countries were no longer adversaries.

Behind the successes and breakthroughs in foreign policy lies a serious crisis within the USSR itself. By 1990, food shortages had increased. Local performances began in the republics (Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia).

Gorbachev President of the USSR

In 1990, M. Gorbachev was elected President of the USSR at the Third Congress of People's Deputies. In the same year in Paris, the USSR as well as European countries, the USA and Canada signed the “Charter for new Europe", which effectively marked the end of the Cold War, which lasted fifty years.

In the same year, most of the republics of the USSR declared their state sovereignty.

In July 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev ceded his post as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to Boris Yeltsin.

On November 7, 1990, there was an unsuccessful attempt on M. Gorbachev’s life.
The same year brought him Nobel Prize peace.

In August 1991, a coup attempt was made in the country (the so-called State Emergency Committee). The state began to rapidly disintegrate.

On December 8, 1991, a meeting of the presidents of the USSR, Belarus and Ukraine took place in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus). They signed a document on the liquidation of the USSR and the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

In 1992 M.S. Gorbachev became the head of the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Science Research (“Gorbachev Foundation”).

1993 brought a new post - president of the international environmental organization Green Cross.

In 1996, Gorbachev decided to take part in the presidential elections, and the socio-political movement “Civil Forum” was created. In the 1st round of voting, he is eliminated from the elections with less than 1% of the votes.

In 1999 she died of cancer.

In 2000, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev became the leader of the Russian United Social Democratic Party and chairman of the NTV Public Supervisory Board.

In 2001, Gorbachev began filming a documentary about 20th-century politicians whom he personally interviewed.

In the same year, his Russian United Social Democratic Party merged with the Russian Party of Social Democracy (RPSD) of K. Titov, forming the Social Democratic Party of Russia.

In March 2003, M. Gorbachev’s book “The Facets of Globalization” was published, written by several authors under his leadership.
Gorbachev was married once. Spouse: Raisa Maksimovna, nee Titarenko. Children: Irina Gorbacheva (Virganskaya). Granddaughters - Ksenia and Anastasia. Great-granddaughter - Alexandra.

The years of Gorbachev's reign - results

The activities of Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev as head of the CPSU and the USSR are associated with a large-scale attempt at reform in the USSR - perestroika, which ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, as well as the end of the Cold War. The period of M. Gorbachev's reign is assessed ambiguously by researchers and contemporaries.
Conservative politicians criticize him for the economic devastation, the collapse of the Union and other consequences of the perestroika he invented.

Radical politicians blamed him for the inconsistency of reforms and the attempt to preserve the previous administrative-command system and socialism.
Many Soviet, post-Soviet and foreign politicians and journalists assessed positively Gorbachev’s reforms, democracy and glasnost, the end of the Cold War, and the unification of Germany. The assessment of M. Gorbachev’s activities abroad of the former Soviet Union is more positive and less controversial than in the post-Soviet space.

List of works written by M. Gorbachev:
"A Time for Peace" (1985)
"The Coming Century of Peace" (1986)
"Peace has no alternative" (1986)
"Moratorium" (1986)
"Selected Speeches and Articles" (vols. 1-7, 1986-1990)
“Perestroika: new thinking for our country and for the whole world” (1987)
“August putsch. Causes and Effects" (1991)
“December-91. My position" (1992)
"Years of Hard Decisions" (1993)
“Life and Reforms” (2 vols., 1995)
“Reformers are never happy” (dialogue with Zdenek Mlynar, in Czech, 1995)
“I want to warn you...” (1996)
“Moral Lessons of the 20th Century” in 2 volumes (dialogue with D. Ikeda, in Japanese, German, French, 1996)
"Reflections on the October Revolution" (1997)
“New thinking. Politics in the era of globalization" (co-authored with V. Zagladin and A. Chernyaev, in German, 1997)
"Reflections on the Past and Future" (1998)
“Understand perestroika... Why is it important now” (2006)

During his reign, Gorbachev received the nicknames “Bear”, “Humpbacked”, “Marked Bear”, “Mineral Secretary”, “Lemonade Joe”, “Gorby”.
Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev played himself in the feature film by Wim Wenders “So Far, So Close!” (1993) and participated in a number of other documentaries.

In 2004, he received a Grammy Award for scoring Sergei Prokofiev's musical fairy tale "Peter and the Wolf" together with Sophia Loren and Bill Clinton.

Mikhail Gorbachev has been awarded many prestigious foreign awards and prizes:
Prize named after Indira Gandhi for 1987
Golden Dove for Peace Award for contributions to peace and disarmament, Rome, November 1989.
Peace Prize named after Albert Einstein for his enormous contribution to the struggle for peace and understanding between peoples (Washington, June 1990)
Honorary Award " Historical figure"an influential religious organization in the United States - the Appeal of Conscience Foundation (Washington, June 1990)
International Peace Prize named after. Martin Luther King's "For a World Without Violence 1991"
Benjamin M. Cardoso Award for Democracy (New York, USA, 1992)
International Prize "Golden Pegasus" (Tuscany, Italy, 1994)
King David Award (USA, 1997) and many others.
Awarded the following orders and medals: Order of the Red Banner of Labor, 3 Orders of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, Order of the Badge of Honour, Gold Commemorative Medal of Belgrade (Yugoslavia, March 1988), Silver Medal of the Sejm of the People's Republic of Poland for outstanding contribution to the development and strengthening of international cooperation, friendship and interaction between the People's Republic of Poland and the USSR (Poland, July 1988), Commemorative Medal of the Sorbonne, Rome, Vatican, USA, “Star of the Hero” (Israel, 1992), Gold Medal of Thessaloniki (Greece, 1993), Gold Badge of the University of Oviedo ( Spain, 1994), Republic of Korea, Order of the Association of Latin American Unity in Korea “Simon Bolivar Grand Cross for Unity and Freedom” (Republic of Korea, 1994).

Gorbachev is Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Agatha (San Marino, 1994) and Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty (Portugal, 1995).

Speaking at various universities around the world, giving lectures in the form of stories about the USSR, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev also has honorary titles and honorary academic degrees, mainly as a good messenger and a peacemaker.

He is also an Honorary Citizen of many foreign cities, including Berlin, Florence, Dublin, etc.

Mikhail Gorbachev - short biography when he came to power, how long Gorbachev was in power. Political achievements.

In what year did Gorbachev come to power?

Mikhail Gorbachev - Russian public and statesman who led the transition from the USSR to the Russian Federation.

Mikhail Gorbachev's regalia:

• General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee (1985-91).
• Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1988-89).
• President of the USSR (1990-91).
• Founder of the Gorbachev Foundation.
• Co-founder of the New Daily Newspaper.
• Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1990).
• Author of the “Perestroika” reform and the policy of glasnost.

Mikhail Gorbachev, comes from a peasant family, called “the last Soviet president.” Until now, the years of this figure’s reign are famous for the anti-alcohol campaign and freedom of speech, taking shape in a single direction - the Gorbachev era.

Family of M. Gorbachev:

• Father, Sergei Gorbachev, Russian peasant.
• Mother, Maria Gorbacheva (Gopkalo), Ukrainian.

Mikhail Gorbachev began his movement towards power from 13 years old in periodical school, MTS and collective farm. From the age of 15 he already worked as an assistant combine operator, for which he was awarded the order Red Banner of Labor for perseverance and work. At the age of 19, he became a candidate for the CPSU on recommendations from school. In 1950 graduated with a silver medal, passed the exams at Moscow State University and entered the Faculty of Law. In 1955 he was sent to the regional prosecutor's office of Stavropol. Since 1955, he was an assessor of the Agitation and Propaganda Department of the Regional Committee of the Komsomol. Later - First Secretary of the Stavropol City Committee, and since 1958 - first secretary.

Personal life:

• At the start of his political career, he married a student at his university, the Faculty of Philosophy, Raisa Titarenko, which was no less decisive in the life of the First Secretary than all subsequent events.

From 1955 to 1962 he worked in the Stavropol Regional Committee, but later, having received a correspondence education at the Faculty of Economics of the Stavropol Agricultural Institute with a degree in agronomist-economist, he became seriously interested in the country’s agricultural policy. WITH 1978 worked as Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on agriculture, and after a couple of children he became a member of the Politburo. A brilliant career and work activity brought Mikhail Gorbachev to the post of General Secretary.

In what year did Gorbachev come to power? March 11, 1985 became General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

The development of Gorbachev’s career did not stop at one high position - in 1990 he was elected President of the USSR. This unique position was the first and last in a series of Soviet figures, since it continued in 1991 Gorbachev's "perestroika", but no longer in the agricultural sector, but in political course countries.

In 1991, after the Bialowieza Accords, Mikhail Gorbachev left his post and resigned.

Achievements of Mikhail Gorbachev:

• Course for perestroika.
• Press Law (1990) and publicity.
• Abolition of censorship.
• Return of Andrei Sakharov from exile - academician.
• Company for the rehabilitation of victims of political repression.
• Preparation of an all-Union treaty to preserve the USSR, which only ended with a coup attempt on August 21, 1991.
• The establishment of the International Green Cross Mission in 1993, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize 6 years later.
• Forum “St. Petersburg Dialogue” (2001-9)
• Several dozen books (from 1992 until the end of his life).
• Founder of the Raisa Maksimovna club in honor of the memory of his wife, who suffered from leukemia.

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Promotion to the highest post in the Soviet Union by M.S. Gorbachev would not deserve special memories if it were not for the constant attempts of this political retiree to again teach Russia how to live.

All life path Gorbachev is an endless string of lies, intrigues and betrayals. Let's talk about the intrigue associated with his election as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Let us remember the “five-year period of magnificent funerals”: ​​the deaths of Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko. Then everyone was interested in one question: who will be the next Secretary General? Gorbachev categorically denies that there was a fierce battle for the post of party leader after Chernenko's death. According to Gorbachev, these are “just stories, idle speculation,” since he supposedly had no real competitors. However, in reality the situation was not as clear-cut as Mikhail Sergeevich portrays it.

After Brezhnev’s death, Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, one of the members of the secret triumvirate of the Politburo, stood at the head of the party and state. The Andropov period was a time of great hope for Gorbachev. Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was then formally considered the “second” person in the Politburo, but Andropov made Gorbachev the real “second” by entrusting him with leading meetings of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee. In addition, Mikhail Sergeevich was “cared for” by another member of the triumvirate, the powerful Minister of Defense Dmitry Fedorovich Ustinov. The third member of the triumvirate, Foreign Minister Andrei Andreevich Gromyko, then treated Gorbachev with indifference, but with a certain amount of skepticism.

After Andropov's death, difficult times came for Gorbachev. From being an almost officially announced successor to the General Secretary, he found himself “demoted” to ordinary members of the Politburo. At the very first meeting of the Politburo (February 23, 1984) after the election of Chernenko as General Secretary, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N. Tikhonov objected to the proposal that Gorbachev lead meetings of the Secretariat, and in the absence of the General Secretary, meetings of the Politburo. He was tacitly supported by Chernenko, who did not like Gorbachev.

The controversial issue was resolved only after the intervention of Ustinov, who forced Chernenko to confirm Gorbachev’s right to lead the Secretariat. But the Politburo did not officially make a decision on this, and Konstantin Ustinovich did not allow Gorbachev to occupy Suslov’s office.

Moreover, it is known that Chernenko then agreed to check the Stavropol period of Gorbachev’s work. An investigation team was created.

According to some information, she was personally supervised by V. Chebrikov (head of the KGB) and V. Fedorchuk (chief of the Ministry of Internal Affairs). According to Valery Legostaev, former assistant to the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee E. Ligacheva: “According to rumors, they quickly dug up materials that have good judicial prospects.” However, due to Chernenko’s infirmity, the matter did not proceed.

Having become General Secretary, Chernenko did not want to enter into an open conflict with Gorbachev, since this meant a conflict with Ustinov. But in the Politburo the counter-offensive against Gorbachev continued. It was headed by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR N. Tikhonov, who was supported by V. Grishin, G. Romanov, V. Dolgikh and M. Zimyanin.

In addition, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and a very influential member of the Politburo, V. Shcherbitsky, was extremely hostile to Gorbachev. A similar position was held by Politburo member and First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan D. Kunaev, who called Gorbachev “this young man.” When he was in Moscow, he never visited him or called him. As we see, Gorbachev had serious opposition in the Politburo.

But Gorbachev also sought to strengthen his position. This was largely facilitated by the renewal of personnel in the Politburo and the Central Committee of the CPSU, carried out by Andropov. Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee N. Ryzhkov was then elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. The first secretary of the Tomsk regional party committee, E. Ligachev, was appointed head of the key department of the CPSU Central Committee - organizational and party work. The rector of the Academy took over the post of head of another important department - science and educational institutions. social sciences V. Medvedev.

Instead of Fedorchuk, Andropov appointed his former deputy V. Chebrikov as Chairman of the KGB of the USSR. The First Secretary of the Krasnodar Regional Party Committee, V. Vorotnikov, became the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR. First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan G. Aliyev was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, who, however, had a cold attitude towards Gorbachev.

The most important task that Gorbachev had to solve during the Chernenkov period was the neutralization of possible contenders for the post of General Secretary. There were three of these in the Politburo: Gromyko, Grishin and Romanov.

For the first time, 73-year-old USSR Foreign Minister Gromyko announced his claims to the post of head of the party after the death of Suslov.

Then, in a telephone conversation with Andropov, he tried to probe Yuri Vladimirovich’s position regarding his move to the position of “second” instead of Suslov. Gromyko knew very well that the “second” always has the greatest chance of becoming “first”. But Andropov responded with restraint that the solution to this issue was Brezhnev’s competence. Having become General Secretary, Andropov, in order to somehow reassure Gromyko, made him First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.

Former KGB chairman V. Kryuchkov, in the book “Personal Business...”, cites his conversation with Gromyko in January 1988. Andrei Andreevich then noted that in 1985, after Chernenko’s death, comrades from the Politburo offered him to take the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Gromyko refused, but in 1988, noting the dangerous processes that had begun in the state, he noted with regret: “Maybe it was my mistake.”

The ambitious plans of the 70-year-old first secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee, Viktor Vasilyevich Grishin, despite the scandal with bribes in trade (the case of the director of the Eliseevsky store Sokolov), were also not a secret. But the most obvious contender for the post of General Secretary was the former first secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU, 60-year-old Grigory Vasilyevich Romanov. By 1984, the scandal with the wedding of his daughter, which allegedly took place in the Tauride Palace, had already been forgotten (today it is known that it was a lie).

By this time, Romanov had already become secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and had every chance to take the post of General Secretary. He was well prepared professionally, had organizational skills, and knew how to bring the assigned work to the end.

But many in the Politburo and the Central Committee were frightened by his rigidity and demands. Nevertheless, Romanov’s position during the Chernenkov period was no less strong than Gorbachev’s.

At the October (1984) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Romanov appeared next to Chernenko. At the negotiations with the Mongolian delegation that followed the Plenum, he also sat next to Chernenko and actually conducted the negotiations. However, Romanov suddenly faded into the background. They say that he unexpectedly placed his bet on the first secretary of the Moscow city party committee, V. Grishin.

It is difficult to say how close this is to the truth, but during the election campaign for the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (elections took place on February 24, 1985), Grishin began to regularly appear on television screens next to the weak Chernenko. Abroad, they immediately concluded that “the next intermediate-compromising figure at the top of the Kremlin Olympus will be Grishin.” The version that Chernenko saw Grishin as his successor is quite real.

Surprisingly different. Romanov at the end of February 1985, in the midst of the struggle for the post of General Secretary, when Chernenko was living last days, decided to fly to Lithuania to relax. No researcher has yet been able to rationally explain this act of Romanov. The fact is that the Politburo’s dacha was located on the Curonian Spit near the village of Nida. To get to the Klaipeda ferry crossing we had to drive 60 km along a narrow winding road. After the ferry, it is another 20 km to Palanga airport (a resort in Lithuania). It took a lot of time to get there. If there were problems with the ferry, then you could get stuck on the spit.

Chernenko died on March 10, 1985 at 19:20. Romanov probably received the news of the General Secretary’s death quite quickly and decided to immediately fly to Moscow. They tried to delay his flight to Moscow due to extremely bad weather, but Romanov managed to convince the crew to fly. During takeoff, a strong gust of wind almost threw the plane into the sea. Meters and moments separated the crash from disaster, but the pilot managed to right the car.

The then first secretary of the Klaipeda City Committee of the Communist Party of Lithuania, Ceslovas Slizius, who saw off Romanov at the Palanga airport, told me about this in those years.

It is clear that Romanov, risking his life, did not rush to Moscow in order to support Gorbachev’s candidacy.

By the way, I subsequently met an employee of Palanga Airport, who fully confirmed the words of Shlijus.

In this situation, Romanov’s behavior at the Politburo meeting that took place after Chernenko’s death remains a mystery. According to the official protocol, he unconditionally supported Gorbachev. It is officially stated that the meeting of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, dedicated to the nomination of a new leader of the CPSU, began at 14.00 hours on March 11, 1985. However, there is evidence that the first meeting of the Politburo took place 2 hours 40 minutes after Chernenko’s death, i.e. 22:00 March 10, 1985. This time is called by Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov, at that time the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, a participant in this meeting. It was convened on the initiative of Gorbachev.

There is no clear information about what happened at this first meeting. According to the testimony of General M. Dokuchaev, deputy head of the 9th Directorate of the KGB, who ensured the security of senior party and state Soviet leaders, Romanov was the first to speak at this meeting. He referred to Chernenko’s will and proposed Grishin’s candidacy. Gromyko objected to this, saying that we would have enough of carrying coffins, and insisted on Gorbachev’s candidacy. This proposal passed with a majority of one vote.

The reality of such a development of events is evidenced by the fact that Gorbachev’s closest associate A. Yakovlev wrote in his memoirs that “Chernenko’s inner circle was already preparing speeches and a political program for Grishin.”

Allegedly, a list of the new Politburo was even compiled, in which Gorbachev did not appear.

Gorbachev, in his memoirs, does not mention the Politburo meeting on March 10 at all, but talks about “one vote.” He writes: “And if I get through with only, as they say, 50 percent plus one vote or something like that, if the election does not reflect the general mood, I will not be able to solve the problems that arise.” Probably, the preliminary vote on his candidacy on March 10 will be remembered for a long time by Mikhail Sergeevich.

There is also a version that disputes in the Politburo arose at the stage of discussing the candidacy of the chairman of the commission for organizing Chernenko’s funeral. According to tradition, this person became the next Secretary General. Allegedly, Grishin proposed Tikhonov’s candidacy. The majority supported Grishin's proposal, but Gromyko intervened and suggested Gorbachev. In the end, Andrei Andreevich managed to convince his colleagues in favor of Gorbachev.

However, there is another version according to which Grishin was immediately proposed for the post of General Secretary. But KGB Chairman Chebrikov opposed this. After the debate, Grishin recused himself, but proposed Romanov instead. However, they remembered that Nicholas II was also a Romanov and the people might not understand... Then Gromyko stood up and convinced everyone that there was no candidate except Gorbachev. And so the question of the General Secretary was resolved.

I believe that each version has a right to exist. I can’t believe that such a complex issue, given the balance of power that emerged under Chernenko, would be resolved as simply and unambiguously as Gorbachev and his supporters write about it. Yegor Kuzmich Ligachev hinted at the difficulties in electing Gorbachev at the 19th party conference in July 1988, for which he immediately lost his status as the “second” person in the Politburo.

There is no doubt that in March 1985, several meetings of the Politburo took place, including the “narrow circle” of the Politburo regarding the candidacy of the future Secretary General. And only after the rivals had used all their arguments and homemade preparations, when it became clear which side was winning, everyone decided to “surrender” to the mercy of the winner.

The main factors that ensured Mikhail Sergeevich’s victory were relative youth and an opportunistic position. Once again, as in the situation with the election of Chernenko, Politburo members chose to bet on the most convenient candidate.

As a result, there were unanimous exclamations in support of Gorbachev, which were reflected in the final version of the protocol.

Doubts about the version of the uncontested election of Gorbachev are strengthened by the contradictions and inconsistencies contained in the minutes of the Politburo meeting of March 11, 1985. An analysis of the contents of this protocol was carried out by a former employee of the CPSU Central Committee, publicist Nikolai Zenkovich. He found out that Gorbachev, summing up the discussion of the first issue regarding the candidacy of the General Secretary, noted that the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, at which the head of the party would be elected, would take place in 30 minutes. Based on the protocol and the “unanimous” support of the Politburo members for Gorbachev’s candidacy, then the consideration of the first issue lasted no more than 30 minutes. That is, the Plenum should have started at 15:00 at the latest.

However, the protocol sets the start time of the Plenum at 17.00. This indicates that the discussion of the first question lasted not 30 minutes, but two and a half hours. Here it is difficult to talk about the initial unanimous support for Gorbachev’s candidacy, as reflected in the protocol.

When discussing the third question, inconsistencies are again evident. The Politburo decided to inform the Soviet people via radio and television about Chernenko's death on March 11 at 14.00. But the decision itself was made, according to the protocol at 16:00. 30 min. the same March 11th.

It is clear that the protocol recorded not the real, but the adjusted course of the Politburo meeting.

Versions vary, but officially all members of the Politburo, in the end, unanimously spoke in favor of Gorbachev. It was decided to submit his candidacy for consideration at the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, which began on March 11, 1985 at 17.00. Gromyko, on instructions from the Politburo, proposed Gorbachev’s candidacy for the post of General Secretary. Gromyko's authority at that time was indisputable. As a result, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was unanimously, without any discussion, elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

The success of Gorbachev's election, first of all, was predetermined by the incredible efficiency with which Gorbachev and his supporters held meetings of the Politburo and the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee. The opponents did not even have time to come to their senses, and Gorbachev, just 22 hours after Chernenko’s death, took his place. This has never happened in the history of the CPSU and the USSR.

A huge role in Gorbachev’s nomination was played by his supporters: E. Chazov, V. Chebrikov, E. Ligachev and A. Gromyko. In his book “Rock,” the head of the 4th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Health, Evgeny Ivanovich Chazov, stated that Chernenko, even after becoming General Secretary, had no idea about his friendly relations with Gorbachev. Probably, thanks to Chazov’s timely information, the Gorbachevites were able to ensure the arrival in Moscow of a number of Central Committee members from distant regions of the country already on the afternoon of March 11.

As a result, the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee was able to begin work just 21 hours and 40 minutes after the death of K. Chernenko. Such efficiency could be ensured only if the date and time of the Secretary General’s death were reliably predicted. But most importantly, Chernenko’s death again came at the right time.

Romanov ended up in the Baltic states. Gorbachev's main opponent, V. Shcherbitsky, on Gromyko's initiative, was sent on a visit to the United States. Vladimir Vasilyevich’s position on the Politburo could unite Gorbachev’s opponents. According to Y. Ryabov, then Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, the plane on which Shcherbitsky was returning to Moscow was detained at the New York airport under minor pretext, and Vladimir Vasilyevich did not make it to the Politburo meeting. Shcherbitsky received the news of Gorbachev’s election as General Secretary on board the plane.

Gorbachev's former assistant, and later head. The General Department of the CPSU Central Committee, Valery Boldin, in an interview with the Kommersant-Vlast newspaper (05/15/2001), stated that the delay of Shcherbitsky’s flight at the New York airport “was organized by Chebrikov’s guys from the KGB. It was more difficult to carry out his election at the plenum of the Central Committee. I had a confidential relationship with the regional committee secretaries, and they said frankly that they knew little about Gorbachev, and what they did know, God forbid. But still, there was an understanding that it was impossible to elect the fourth old man in a row as general secretary.”

A huge amount of work to promote Gorbachev’s candidacy for the post of General Secretary was carried out by the then head of the department of organizational and party work and Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Ligachev.

By the time of the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, he managed to replace 70% of the first secretaries of regional and regional committees with his own people, ready to carry out any of his instructions. The same Boldin said that Ligachev “phoned regional committee secretaries at night before the plenum. But something else was more important. The Central Committee apparatus was behind Gorbachev. And this means that the first place received information in the manner Gorbachev needed. What rule applies here? Whoever put the information into the right ear first is right. Only the Central Committee had an encryption machine.”

The position of the oldest and respected member of the Politburo, A. Gromyko, was decisive for the election of Gorbachev. Probably, by 1985, Andrei Andreevich began to be overwhelmed by thoughts about how his almost half-century of service to the Fatherland would end: a modest funeral of an ordinary Soviet pensioner, as was the case with A.N. Kosygin, or a pompous ceremony at the Kremlin wall.

As was said, his attempt after Suslov’s death to break through to the party Olympus ended in failure. Trying to do this again after Chernenko’s death was practically pointless. Gromyko treated Gorbachev quite indifferently for a long time. But literally a week before the Plenum, he spoke negatively about Gorbachev. And suddenly such a metamorphosis. What caused it?

As it turned out, using the moment, Gromyko tried to resolve his claims to power. On the eve of Chernenko’s death, Gromyko instructed his son to contact A. Yakovlev, known for his informal connections with Gorbachev, with a view to receiving the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces in exchange for Gorbachev’s nomination to the post of General Secretary. As a result of negotiations, Gorbachev agreed with Gromyko's proposal.

This is how the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR A. Gromyko, for decades (36 years as a member of the Central Committee, 15 of them in the Politburo), adamantly defended state interests in the international arena, in his later life sacrificed these interests in the name of personal ones. Officially, Andrei Andreevich explained his position by saying that he was “tired of funerals.”

In July 1985, Gromyko received the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces. However, literally a year later he became disillusioned with Gorbachev, calling him a “call.”

But one thing is clear: for Gorbachev, even with the support of Gromyko, Chebrikov and Ligachev, everything might not have turned out so rosy if some points from his biography had become public. But that is another story.

Special for the Centenary

The first president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev, said that he could not absolve himself of responsibility for the collapse of the Soviet Union. He announced this today at the Moscow School of Economics of Moscow State University, where the presentation of the book “Gorbachev in Life” took place.

“I cannot absolve myself of responsibility for anything. But first, if you read my books: for example, the book “The USSR Can Be Preserved”, it explains everything in detail, who did what and what they threw into this history,” this is how Gorbachev answered a question from one of the students about what he thinks whether he held himself responsible for the collapse of the USSR.

He noted that he resigned several times from the commission created by parliament, which he headed, “But after a while, either Yeltsin came with someone, then someone else: come back.”

Today, many experts confidently say that Mikhail Gorbachev is to blame for the collapse of the USSR. Even the politician himself says in some interviews that years later he regrets some of his decisions. But he considers perestroika, glasnost and all the changes that occurred in the country during his reign necessary.

True, the population of Russia does not think so. At the time when Gorbachev was celebrating his 85th birthday at Radisson, a whole campaign against former president. Citizens decided not to remain in the dark and also congratulated Gorbachev on the holiday.

Today many say that Mikhail Gorbachev is to blame for the collapse of the USSR. But despite everything, even after his resignation, Gorbachev tried several times to return to big politics. But each time these attempts ended in failure. Some experts even call him the main political loser of recent decades. In 2012 he was not accepted into the League of Voters. This organization advocates for fair elections. Also in 2012, he was expelled from the lists of the Right Cause party, and this despite the fact that Gorbachev was friends with its leader Mikhail Prokhorov.

Another attempt by Gorbachev to return to big politics in 1996 ended in complete failure.

Then seven politicians competed for the post of head of state, including Mikhail Gorbachev. He was counting on a triumphant return to the Kremlin, but he became a universal laughing stock. And all because less than one percent of Russians voted for him! Even the famous ophthalmologist Svyatoslav Fedorov, who participated in the same elections, managed to get ahead of Gorbachev in terms of the number of votes.

Foreign journalists in general are often perplexed: why do many Russians treat Gorbachev with indifference or hostility? But historians and political scientists say: there is nothing surprising in this, because Russia and the CIS countries have never experienced so many troubles as under the first and last president of the USSR. Comedians from among the people even made up a joke that the surname “Gorbachev” is spelled out as “Citizens, wait to rejoice, remember Brezhnev, Andropov, Chernenko”!

Mikhail Sergeevich was unable not only to speak, but also to carry out balanced reforms. Many people still remember the anti-alcohol campaign. Indeed, there was a need for it. The population was drinking themselves to death. According to statistics, just imagine, almost half of all deaths in the country were caused by alcohol. Gorbachev, who came to power in 1985, decided on tough reforms. Look, this is how the famous campaign in support of Prohibition began.

The measures turned out to be both drastic and ill-conceived. For example, Moldova - a small but very picturesque country - has always been famous for its luxurious vineyards. In the mid-1980s, almost half of its unique gardens were cut down. The same fate befell the winegrowing farms of Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, and Tajikistan. Local authorities, in order to please the center, destroyed plants with such fury that even after 30 years, the wine industry of these republics, already independent of the USSR, has not restored what was lost.

When wine disappeared from Soviet stores, people were forced to switch to vodka. The alcoholic drink quickly became a scarce commodity, for which kilometer-long queues lined up.

Due to the shortage of alcohol, people began to drink moonshine. And in general, they didn’t drink anything. We weren’t afraid to mix FB glue, varnishes, polishes, brake fluid, colognes.

Of course, drinking such cocktails led to inevitable poisoning. But the Soviet state did not offer any other alternatives. Nevertheless, the demand for vodka, cognac and beer remained. That's why speculators got into the game. During the years of Prohibition, they made a fortune from people who did not want to be poisoned with glue or varnish.

Perestroika means not only queues for vodka, but also queues for food. Another failed Gorbachev reform literally emptied store shelves. On January 1, 1987, the government abolished the state foreign trade monopoly, which led to an unprecedented mass export of consumer goods abroad. Hundreds of organizations became exporters overnight. To make money, everything that could be sold for dollars was exported: meat, stewed meat, sausage, chocolate, equipment, medicines, even toilet paper did not reach the Soviet consumer, but was sent abroad. There was a shortage of everything in the country, and in order to buy anything, you had to wait in huge queues.

Surprisingly, not so long ago, United Nations experts published a special report that reported an interesting fact. It turns out that in the 80s the USSR produced more than 14 percent of all food products on earth. Some experts are sure: goods were exported from the USSR on purpose, and the shortage was created artificially. Because even goods that did not go abroad simply did not end up in stores, but were destroyed. Experts are sure that the top party tried to make money in this way...

According to historians and political scientists, it was under Gorbachev Soviet Union began to literally burst at the seams. It was then that rallies, protests, and interethnic conflicts began. The Caucasus and the Baltic states were the first to “blaze.”

In December 1986, protests took place in Almaty and Karaganda and became the first major protests against appointments to leadership positions ethnic Russians. More than 9 thousand Kazakhs took part in the rally. As a result of the clashes, according to various estimates, from 2 to 100 people were killed, and 1,700 young people were injured.

Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan

Experts also accuse Gorbachev of getting rid of strategically important weapons to please Western politicians. He did everything to please the Americans and Europeans.

On December 8, 1987, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev signed an agreement on the elimination of medium- and short-range missiles. This decision led to the fact that the USSR, considered one of the most powerful military powers in the world, found itself practically defenseless.

A huge number of expensive unique weapons were destroyed. Including the Pioneer and Temp-S missile systems, medium-range ballistic missiles R-12 and R-14. But, according to Gorbachev, the USSR was ready to do anything for the sake of humanism.

Descendants will make their verdict on the significance of the event that is taking place before our eyes. But I will venture to say that what we will do now - we will sign the first treaty on the elimination of nuclear weapons - has universal significance both from the point of view of world politics and from the point of view of humanism.

Here, you can look or remember how it was. American President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev sign an open-ended Treaty...

The USSR military cannot forgive Gorbachev for the destruction of the Soviet Oka tactical missile system. The accuracy of the complex was fantastic. It completely hit targets at a distance of up to 400 km. At the request of the Americans, these vehicles were also on the list for destruction...

But now Gorbachev is not discouraged and does not regret anything. Now the politician is retired, but still leads an active life. Participates in numerous talk shows, appears in documentaries, writes books...