Introduction
For nearly 70 years, the Soviet Union stood tall as a world superpower. A communist state, it promised a government which would work for the people, one which would propel innovation and where all would be equal. Then, in a matter of just a few years, it all came crashing down.
Though Mikhail Gorbachev’s goal as general secretary of the Soviet Union was to reform the country and extend its power, his revolutionary policies and ideas directly led to the downfall of the Republic and resulted in greater freedom and more opportunities for people.
Gorbachev’s rise to being general secretary was controversial and unexpected.
Many politicians did not believe that Gorbachev was a true communist.
According to D’Agostino, Gorbachev answered a French newspaper, when asked if he was a Stalinist(believer in Josef Stalin): “Stalinism is a concept made up by opponents of Communism and used on a large scale to smear the Soviet Union and socialism as a whole.”
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When he became general secretary, they saw communist ideals as under threat. They were right.
He was eventually elevated to the position because of the Politburo.
“But Gorbachev, though he had spent two decades in the hinterlands of the North Caucasus, had powerful friends in the Kremlin hierarchy who steadily advanced him toward the pinnacle of power, even as he presided over a run of dismal harvests,”(Gallagher).
Gorbachev would not have ever reached the rank of general secretary if not for his connections to the Kremlin. It was extremely lucky that a man like him ever became general secretary.
As general secretary, Gorbachev believed that the only way to save the Soviet Union was to drastically reform