The Gorbachev Factor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, An important scholarly study by a major authority on Gorbachev. Doder, Dusko and Louise Branson. Gorbachev: Heretic in the Kremlin. By wellinformed American journalists. Medvedev, Zhores A. Oxford: Blackwell, By a Soviet scientist, living in London. Gorbachev, Raisa. I Hope: Reminiscences and Reflections.
How should we judge him as a political leader? What were his main achievements and failures? Gorbachev was born in the southern region of Stavropol, deep in the Caucasus, a mountainous region comprising many different nationality groups.
The impression from these early days is of an energetic man with strict work habits and high ambitions. In , the ageing and ailing Leonid Brezhnev brought Gorbachev into the ruling Politburo, with a task of reviving Soviet agriculture, a task that seemed insuperable. Few changes were anticipated. Gorbachev made long speeches, rarely listened to others his wife excepted , but sought regular contact with the population. The following month, the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear plant provided his first major crisis.
Half-hearted concealment proved impossible as a radiation cloud moved northward and spread across Europe. The Soviet Union collapsed in late , and Gorbachev was no longer president. In , he set up the Gorbachev Foundation which began looking into the lessons and failures of perestroika. Gorbachev was a frequent visitor to Germany during this new chapter in his life.
In , he and his wife were guests on the popular German television show "Wetten, dass…". The Gorbachevs even called Germany home for a while after purchasing a villa on Bavaria's Tegernsee, about 50 kilometers 31 miles southeast of Munich. Here, Gorbachev said his last goodbye at Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery. Gorbachev continued to be a welcome guest at commemorations marking the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification.
While Gorbachev continues to be viewed with skepticism in Russia over his role in German reunification, he's revered in Germany.
This monument in his honor was erected in Dessau in Saxony-Anhalt and ceremoniously unveiled on October 3, , on the 30th anniversary of German reunification. Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Gorbachev in a letter published by the Kremlin, hailing him as "one of the most outstanding statesmen of modern times who made a considerable impact on the history of our nation and the world.
Not every politician is lucky enough to visit the historic site of a peaceful revolution 25 years on.
Gorbachev came to mark the anniversary at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on November 9, June 13, Gorbachev visits West Germany's then capital, Bonn. The Berlin Wall still stands, and an end to Germany's division is not in sight. Yet Germans already hail the Soviet leader as a bringer of peace. Gorbachev's "perestroika" restructuring and "glasnost" openness served as a template for Leipzig's Monday demonstrations.
East Germany's ruling SED party felt his new teachings were so dangerous that the Stasi secret police withdrew from circulation Soviet magazines with articles on Gorbachev. Working out the modalities of German unity: Outdoors and clad in thick sweaters, Chancellor Helmut Kohl and Mikhail Gorbachev spun the wheel of history on July 15, Moscow was not going to stand in the way of a united Germany. Two years later, Gorbachev was no longer Soviet leader, but he and his wife Raissa won people's hearts once again on a visit to Germany on March 6, Mikhail Gorbachev helped bring an end to the Cold War and reduced the threat of nuclear conflict, but opinions on him remain deeply divided.
In a survey, nearly half of Russian citizens had a negative opinion toward him, often citing his inability to reverse the decline in the Soviet economy during his leadership. And yet, many, particularly in Western countries, see him as the greatest statesman of the second half of the 20th century—a reformer and a visionary. Please give now. Your contribution will make a difference in the critical effort to achieve equal rights for all. Unfortunately, the browser you are using is outdated and does not display the site correctly.
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