Linked from

The 72 pages that link to Mikhail Gorbachev, each with the reason it gives.

• Soviet UnionRelated: His policies opened political debate and helped accelerate the union’s dissolution.

• Dissolution of the Soviet UnionRelated: His reforms and resistance to force changed the conditions under which the republics pursued independence.

• German reunificationRelated: His policies and restraint removed the expectation of Soviet intervention in East Germany.

• Ronald ReaganRelated: His negotiations with Reagan produced major arms-control agreements and altered Cold War relations.

• Vladimir PutinCompared with: Gorbachev’s reformist legacy contrasts with Putin’s emphasis on centralized authority and state continuity.

• Soviet–Afghan WarRelated: He judged the war a costly burden and oversaw the decision to leave.

• Deng XiaopingCompared with: His reforms contrasted with Deng’s preservation of one-party rule during economic change.

• Warsaw PactRelated: His rejection of force to preserve Eastern European regimes helped make the alliance’s dissolution possible.

• Nuclear disarmamentRelated: His negotiations with Ronald Reagan produced major reductions in intermediate-range nuclear forces.

• PerestroikaRelated: He initiated the program and shaped its political direction.

• Leonid BrezhnevCompared with: Gorbachev's reform program departed sharply from Brezhnev's preference for political and institutional stability.

• Margaret ThatcherRelated: Thatcher’s engagement with him helped shape Western relations with the Soviet Union in the late Cold War.

• Communist Party of the Soviet UnionRelated: His reforms loosened party control and preceded its loss of power.

• Boris YeltsinRelated: Their rivalry turned Yeltsin into a prominent critic of the Soviet reform leadership.

• GlasnostRelated: He made greater openness a central part of his effort to reform Soviet governance.

• Fall of the Berlin WallRelated: His refusal to use Soviet force to preserve East European communist governments altered East Germany’s political calculations.

• George H. W. BushRelated: Bush cultivated a working relationship with Gorbachev through the Soviet Union’s final years.

• Revolutions of 1989Related: His refusal to intervene altered the choices facing governments and protest movements across the bloc.

• Andrei SakharovRelated: Gorbachev ended Sakharov’s internal exile and brought him into the last Soviet parliament.

• Kim Jong IlCompared with: Gorbachev’s reforms contrast with Kim’s resistance to comparable political liberalization.

• Pope John Paul IIRelated: Gorbachev and John Paul II met in 1989 as communist rule in Europe was collapsing.

• KGBRelated: His final years in power brought the KGB into direct conflict with reform and the state’s collapse.

• Russian Soviet Federative Socialist RepublicRelated: His reforms weakened central authority as the RSFSR asserted greater sovereignty.

• Walter UlbrichtCompared with: Gorbachev’s reformist approach sharply differed from Ulbricht’s insistence on centralized party authority.

• Yuri AndropovRelated: Andropov promoted Gorbachev and helped prepare his path to the top leadership.

• Babrak KarmalRelated: Gorbachev’s policies weakened Soviet backing and preceded Karmal’s removal.

• Eduard ShevardnadzeRelated: Gorbachev appointed Shevardnadze foreign minister and relied on him to advance a new foreign policy.

• Erich HoneckerCompared with: Gorbachev pursued reforms and reduced Soviet intervention, while Honecker resisted comparable changes.

• Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces TreatyRelated: Gorbachev accepted the treaty's unprecedented elimination and inspection provisions.

• Mengistu Haile MariamRelated: Soviet policy changes reduced the external support on which Mengistu’s government depended.

• Nursultan NazarbayevRelated: Gorbachev appointed Nazarbayev to lead Kazakhstan’s party organization during the Soviet reform era.

• Commonwealth of Independent StatesRelated: His reforms reshaped the Soviet system in the years before the CIS was formed.

• Mohammad NajibullahRelated: Gorbachev’s withdrawal policy ended the direct Soviet military support on which Najibullah had relied.

• Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet UnionRelated: His reforms altered party authority and preceded the Politburo’s dissolution.

• Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to GermanyRelated: His government agreed to German unity and the withdrawal of Soviet forces.

• Andrei GromykoRelated: Gromyko helped elevate Gorbachev to the party leadership before becoming head of state.

• End of the Cold WarRelated: His policies loosened Soviet control in Eastern Europe and changed the terms of superpower competition.

• Strategic Defense InitiativeRelated: Gorbachev treated the initiative as a major issue in U.S.–Soviet arms-control negotiations.

• Two Plus Four AgreementRelated: His government’s consent removed the principal Soviet obstacle to the settlement.

• August CoupRelated: The plotters isolated him in Crimea and falsely announced his incapacity.

• Heydar AliyevCompared with: Gorbachev removed Aliyev from senior Soviet office amid a changing leadership and reform agenda.

• Mikhail SuslovRelated: Gorbachev’s rise after Suslov’s death brought a reform agenda unlike Suslov’s political conservatism.

• NomenklaturaRelated: His reforms challenged the party’s authority over appointments.

• Soviet nostalgiaRelated: His era marks the contested transition between reforming the Soviet system and its collapse.

• Mstislav RostropovichRelated: Gorbachev’s reforms enabled Rostropovich and Vishnevskaya to regain Soviet citizenship.

• Russian chansonRelated: Greater openness helped formerly marginal criminal and prison songs reach mass audiences.

• Saparmurat NiyazovRelated: Niyazov became Turkmenistan’s party chief during Gorbachev’s Soviet leadership.

• Singing RevolutionCompared with: His reform project enabled new political openings but did not aim to restore Estonian independence.

• Alexei KosyginCompared with: Gorbachev later pursued broader restructuring than Kosygin’s limited reform of the planned economy.

• Georgy MalenkovCompared with: Gorbachev pursued far-reaching reforms from a position of consolidated authority unlike Malenkov’s.