Mikhail Gorbachev

Mikhail Gorbachev was the last leader of the Soviet Union, serving from 1985 to 1991. His reforms loosened state control and helped end the Cold War, but also accelerated the dissolution of the USSR.

Dissolution of the Soviet Union: The formal breakup of the Soviet Union into fifteen independent states in 1991. The political crisis under Gorbachev culminated in the union’s dissolution.
Perestroika: The restructuring program introduced by Gorbachev to reform the Soviet economy and political system. It was the central program for changing the institutions he inherited.
Leonid Brezhnev: The Soviet leader who dominated the Communist Party from 1964 until his death in 1982. His era of stagnation formed part of the inheritance Gorbachev sought to address.
Raisa Gorbacheva: A Russian intellectual and public figure who was married to Mikhail Gorbachev. She accompanied him in public life and became an unusually visible Soviet leader’s spouse.
August Coup: An unsuccessful coup attempt by Soviet hardliners against Gorbachev in August 1991. The coup weakened the central government and hastened the union’s collapse.
Cold War: The geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their allies, lasting roughly from 1947 to 1991. Gorbachev’s diplomacy and arms agreements helped bring this rivalry to an end.
Glasnost: A policy of greater openness in public discussion and access to information in the Soviet Union under Gorbachev. It loosened censorship and made criticism of Soviet institutions more public.
Yuri Andropov: Soviet leader from 1982 to 1984 and former head of the KGB. Andropov promoted Gorbachev within the party leadership and mentored his early ascent.
Boris Yeltsin: A Russian politician who became the first president of the Russian Federation in 1991. His rivalry with Gorbachev shifted political authority from the Soviet center to Russia.
Reagan–Gorbachev summits: A series of meetings between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev from 1985 to 1988. Their negotiations show how personal diplomacy complemented Gorbachev’s policy shift.

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