Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich (b. 1931), general secretary CPSU(March 1985 – August 1991), President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(March 1990 – December 1991).

Born on March 2, 1931 in the village of Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeysky district Stavropol Territory in a peasant family. In 1942, he was under German occupation for about six months. At the age of 16 (1947) he was awarded for high-threshing grain together with his father on a combine harvester. Order of the Red Banner of Labor. In 1950, after graduating from school with a silver medal, in connection with a high award, without exams he was enrolled in the Faculty of Law Moscow state university them. M. V. Lomonosova. He actively participated in the activities of the Komsomol organization of the university; in 1952 (at the age of 21) he joined the CPSU. After graduating from university in 1955, he was sent to Stavropol to the regional prosecutor's office. He worked as deputy head of the agitation and propaganda department of the Stavropol regional committee of the Komsomol, first secretary of the Stavropol city Komsomol committee, then second and first secretary of the regional committee of the Komsomol (1955–1962).

In 1962, Gorbachev went to work in party bodies. Khrushchev's reforms were underway in the country at that time. The party leadership bodies were divided into industrial and rural. New management structures have emerged - territorial production departments. The party career of M. S. Gorbachev began with the position of party organizer of the Stavropol territorial production agricultural administration (three rural districts). In 1967 he graduated in absentia Stavropol Agricultural Institute.

In December 1962, Gorbachev was approved as head of the department of organizational and party work of the Stavropol rural regional committee of the CPSU. Since September 1966, Gorbachev has been the first secretary of the Stavropol city party committee; in August 1968 he was elected second, and in April 1970 - First Secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU. In 1971 M. S. Gorbachev became member of the CPSU Central Committee.

In November 1978 Gorbachev became Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee on issues of the agro-industrial complex, in 1979 - a candidate member, in 1980 - a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. In March 1985, under the patronage of A. A. Gromyko, Gorbachev was elected at the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

1985 became a landmark year in the history of the state and the party. The era of “stagnation” has ended (this is how Yu. V. Andropov defined the “Brezhnev” period). The time has begun for change, for attempts to reform the party-state body. This period in the history of the country was called "Perestroika" and was associated with the idea of ​​“improving socialism.” Gorbachev began with a large-scale anti-alcohol campaign. Alcohol prices were increased and its sale was limited, vineyards were mostly destroyed, which gave rise to a whole range of new problems - the use of moonshine and all kinds of surrogates sharply increased, and the budget suffered significant losses. In May 1985, speaking at a party and economic gathering in Leningrad, the General Secretary did not hide the fact that the country’s economic growth rates had decreased and put forward the slogan “accelerate socio-economic development”. Gorbachev received support for his policy statements at XXVII Congress of the CPSU(1986) and at the June (1987) plenum of the CPSU Central Committee.

In 1986–1987, hoping to awaken the initiative of the “masses,” Gorbachev and his team set a course for development publicity and “democratization” of all aspects of public life. Glasnost in the Communist Party was traditionally understood not as freedom of speech, but as freedom of “constructive” (loyal) criticism and self-criticism. However, during the years of Perestroika, the idea of ​​glasnost through the efforts of progressive journalists and radical supporters of reforms, in particular, the secretary and member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, a friend of Gorbachev, A. N. Yakovleva, was developed precisely in freedom of speech. XIX Party Conference of the CPSU(June 1988) adopted a resolution "On Glasnost". In March 1990 it was adopted "Press Law", achieving a certain level of media independence from party control.

Since 1988, the process of creating initiative groups in support of perestroika has been in full swing, popular fronts, other non-state and non-party public organizations. As soon as the processes of democratization began and party control decreased, numerous previously hidden interethnic contradictions were revealed, and interethnic clashes occurred in some regions of the USSR.

In March 1989, the first free events in the history of the USSR took place elections of people's deputies, the results of which caused shock in the party apparatus. In many regions, secretaries of party committees failed in the elections. Many scientific workers came to the deputy corps (like Sakharov, Sobchak, Starovoytova), who critically assessed the role of the CPSU in society. The Congress of People's Deputies in May of the same year demonstrated a fierce confrontation between various currents both in society and among the parliamentarians. At this congress Gorbachev was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR(previously was the Chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Court).

Gorbachev's actions caused a wave of growing criticism. Some criticized him for being slow and inconsistent in carrying out reforms, others for haste; everyone noted the contradictory nature of his policies. Thus, laws were adopted on the development of cooperation and almost immediately on the fight against “speculation”; laws on democratizing enterprise management and at the same time strengthening central planning; laws on reform of the political system and free elections, and immediately on “strengthening the role of the party,” etc.

Attempts at reform were resisted by the party-Soviet system itself - the Lenin-Stalin model of socialism. The power of the General Secretary was not absolute and largely depended on the balance of power in the Politburo of the Central Committee. Gorbachev's powers were least limited in international affairs. With the support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs E. A. Shevardnadze and A.N. Yakovlev Gorbachev acted assertively and effectively. Since 1985 (after a 6 and a half year break due to the introduction Soviet troops to Afghanistan) meetings were held annually between the leader of the USSR and US presidents R. Reagan, and then George Bush, presidents and prime ministers of other countries. In exchange for loans and humanitarian aid, the USSR made huge concessions in foreign policy, which was perceived as weakness in the West. In 1989, on Gorbachev’s initiative, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, happened fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification. Signing by Gorbachev, after the abandonment of the socialist path by the heads of state of Eastern Europe, in 1990 in Paris, together with the heads of state and government of other European countries, as well as the USA and Canada, “Charter for new Europe" marked the end of the Cold War period from the late 1940s to the late 1980s. However, at the beginning of 1992 B. N. Yeltsin and George W. Bush (senior) reiterated the end of the Cold War.

In domestic policy, especially in the economy, signs of a serious crisis were increasingly evident. After the law "About cooperation", which ensured the outflow of finance to cooperatives, an acute shortage of food and consumer goods appeared, for the first time since 1946, card system. Since 1989, the process of disintegration of the political system has been in full swing. Soviet Union. Inconsistent attempts to stop this process using force (in Tbilisi, Baku, Vilnius, Riga) led to directly opposite results, strengthening centrifugal tendencies. Democratic leaders Interregional deputy group(B.N. Yeltsin, A.D. Sakharov and others) gathered thousands of rallies in their support. By the end of 1990, almost all union republics declared their state sovereignty (RSFSR - June 12, 1990), giving them economic independence and the priority of republican laws over union laws.

In the summer of 1991, several options were prepared for signing new union treaty(Union of Sovereign Republics - USG). Only the 9 out of 15 union republics. In August 1991, there was an attempted coup by removing Gorbachev “for health reasons” and declaring a state of emergency in the USSR, nicknamed in the press as "August putsch". Members of the Union government included in State Emergency Committee of the USSR They disrupted the signing of an agreement that turned a single country into a confederation of sovereign republics. However, the conspirators did not show decisiveness and then surrendered to Gorbachev, who was vacationing in Foros. The failure of the State Emergency Committee gave a powerful impetus to the beginning of the collapse of the state. A number of states recognized the independence of some republics from the USSR, including other union republics. In September 1991 took place V Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR, who announced "transition period" and dissolved itself, transferring power to a new body - State Council of the USSR, consisting of the heads of eleven union republics led by USSR President Gorbachev.

On September 6, the USSR State Council recognized the independence of the Baltic republics: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, which were recognized by the UN on September 17.

On November 14, 1991, in Novoogarevo, participants at a meeting of the USSR State Council agreed on the text of the latest version of the Union Treaty, which provided government structure Union Sovereign States as a confederation and made a statement on television that there would be a Union. However, the day before the scheduled signing, on December 8, in Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus), a meeting of the leaders of the three union republics - the founders of the USSR: the RSFSR (Russian Federation), Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR) and Belarus (BSSR) took place, during which the document was signed about the demise of the USSR and the creation of an organization instead of a confederation: Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev made a televised address about his resignation as President of the USSR "for reasons of principle" and transferred control of nuclear weapons to RSFSR President Yeltsin.

From 1992 to the present, M. S. Gorbachev is president International Fund socio-economic and political science research ( Gorbachev Foundation). Lives in Germany.

In 2011, he celebrated his 80th birthday with pomp at a London concert hall. Albert Hall. Russian President D. A. Medvedev awarded Gorbachev the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called.

Events during Gorbachev's reign:

• 1985, March - at the plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected general secretary (Viktor Grishin was considered the main rival for this post, but the choice was made in favor of the younger Gorbachev).
• 1985 - publication of the “semi-prohibition” law, vodka on coupons.
• 1985, July-August - XII World Festival of Youth and Students
• 1986 - accident at the fourth power unit Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Evacuation of the population from the “exclusion zone”. Construction of a sarcophagus over a destroyed block.
• 1986 - Andrei Sakharov returns to Moscow.
• 1987, January - announcement of “Perestroika”.
• 1988 - celebration of the millennium of the baptism of Rus'.
• 1988 - the law “On Cooperation” in the USSR, which marked the beginning of modern entrepreneurship.
• 1989, November 9 - the Berlin Wall, which personified the “Iron Curtain,” was destroyed.
• 1989, February - the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is completed.
• 1989, May 25 - The First Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR began.
• 1990 - the accession of the GDR (including East Berlin) and West Berlin to the Federal Republic of Germany - the first NATO advance to the east.
• 1990, March - introduction of the post of President of the USSR, who was to be elected for five years. As an exception, the first president of the USSR was elected by the Third Congress of People's Deputies, and he became the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev.
• 1990, June 12 - adoption of the declaration of sovereignty of the RSFSR.
• 1991, August 19 - August putsch - an attempt by members of the State Emergency Committee to remove Mikhail Gorbachev “for health reasons” and thus preserve the USSR.
• 1991, August 22 - failure of the putschists. Banning of republican communist parties by the majority of union republics.
• 1991, September - the new highest authority, the USSR State Council, headed by USSR President Gorbachev, recognizes the independence of the Baltic union republics (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia).
• 1991, December - heads of three union republics: the RSFSR (Russian Federation), Ukraine (Ukrainian SSR) and the Republic of Belarus (BSSR) in Belovezhskaya Pushcha sign the “Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States,” which declares the termination of the existence of the USSR. On December 12, the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR ratifies the agreement and denounces the 1922 treaty on the formation of the USSR.
• 1991 - December 25 M. S. Gorbachev resigns from the post of President of the USSR, by decree of the President of the RSFSR B. N. Yeltsin, the state of the RSFSR changed its name to “ Russian Federation" However, it was enshrined in the constitution only in May 1992.
• 1991 - December 26, the upper house of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR legally liquidates the USSR.

One of the most popular Russian politicians in the West during the last decades of the twentieth century is Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev. The years of his reign greatly changed our country, as well as the situation in the world. This is one of the most controversial figures, according to public opinion. Gorbachev's perestroika causes ambiguous attitudes in our country. This politician is called both the gravedigger of the Soviet Union and the great reformer.

Biography of Gorbachev

Gorbachev's story begins in 1931, March 2. It was then that Mikhail Sergeevich was born. He was born in the Stavropol region, in the village of Privolnoye. He was born and raised in a peasant family. In 1948, he worked with his father on a combine harvester and received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for his success in harvesting. Gorbachev graduated from school in 1950 with a silver medal. After this, he entered the Faculty of Law at Moscow University. Gorbachev later admitted that at that time he had a rather vague idea of ​​what law and jurisprudence were. However, he was impressed by the position of a prosecutor or judge.

IN student years Gorbachev lived in a hostel, at one time received an increased stipend for his Komsomol work and excellent studies, but nevertheless he barely made ends meet. He became a party member in 1952.

Once at a club, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev met Raisa Titarenko, a student at the Faculty of Philosophy. They got married in 1953, in September. Mikhail Sergeevich graduated from Moscow State University in 1955 and was sent to work in the USSR Prosecutor's Office on assignment. However, it was then that the government adopted a resolution according to which it was prohibited to employ law graduates in the central prosecutor's offices and judicial authorities. Khrushchev, as well as his associates, believed that one of the reasons for the repressions carried out in the 1930s was the dominance of inexperienced young judges and prosecutors in the authorities, ready to obey any instructions from the leadership. Thus, Mikhail Sergeevich, whose two grandfathers suffered from repression, became a victim of the fight against the cult of personality and its consequences.

At administrative work

Gorbachev returned to the Stavropol region and decided not to contact the prosecutor's office anymore. He got a job in the department of agitation and propaganda in the regional Komsomol - he became the deputy head of this department. The Komsomol and then the party career of Mikhail Sergeevich developed very successfully. Political activity Gorbachev has borne fruit. He was appointed in 1961 as the first secretary of the local Komsomol regional committee. Gorbachev began party work the following year, and then, in 1966, became the first secretary of the Stavropol City Party Committee.

This is how the career of this politician gradually developed. Even then, the main drawback of this future reformer became evident: Mikhail Sergeevich, accustomed to working selflessly, could not ensure that his orders were conscientiously carried out by his subordinates. This characteristic of Gorbachev, some believe, led to the collapse of the USSR.

Moscow

Gorbachev became Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in November 1978. The recommendations of L.I. Brezhnev's closest associates - Andropov, Suslov and Chernenko - played a major role in this appointment. After 2 years, Mikhail Sergeevich becomes the youngest of all members of the Politburo. He wants to become the first person in the state and in the party in the near future. This could not even be prevented by the fact that Gorbachev essentially occupied a “penalty post” - the secretary in charge of agriculture. After all, this sector of the Soviet economy was the most disadvantaged. Mikhail Sergeevich still remained in this position after Brezhnev's death. But Andropov even then advised him to delve into all matters in order to be ready at any moment to take full responsibility. When Andropov died and Chernenko came to power for a short period, Mikhail Sergeevich became the second person in the party, as well as the most likely “heir” to this general secretary.

In Western political circles, Gorbachev's fame was first brought to him by his visit to Canada in May 1983. He went there for a week with the personal permission of Andropov, who was the general secretary at that time. Pierre Trudeau, the prime minister of this country, became the first major Western leader to receive Gorbachev personally and treat him with sympathy. Having met other Canadian politicians, Gorbachev gained a reputation in that country as an energetic and ambitious politician who stood in stark contrast to his elderly Politburo colleagues. He developed a significant interest in Western economic management and moral values, including democracy.

Gorbachev's Perestroika

The death of Chernenko opened the way to power for Gorbachev. The Plenum of the Central Committee on March 11, 1985 elected Gorbachev as General Secretary. In the same year, at the April plenum, Mikhail Sergeevich proclaimed a course to accelerate the country’s development and restructuring. These terms, which appeared under Andropov, did not immediately become widespread. This happened only after the XXVII Congress of the CPSU, which took place in February 1986. Gorbachev called glasnost one of the main conditions for the success of the upcoming reforms. The time of Gorbachev could not yet be called full-fledged freedom of speech. But it was at least possible to talk in the press about the shortcomings of society, without, however, touching on the fundamentals Soviet system and members of the Politburo. However, already in 1987, in January, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev stated that there should be no zones closed to criticism in society.

Principles of foreign and domestic policy

The new Secretary General did not have a clear reform plan. Only the memory of Khrushchev's "thaw" remained with Gorbachev. In addition, he believed that the calls of leaders, if they were honest, and these calls themselves were correct, could reach ordinary executors within the framework of the party-state system that existed at that time and thereby change the better life. Gorbachev was firmly convinced of this. The years of his reign were marked by the fact that throughout all 6 years he spoke about the need for united and energetic actions, about the need for everyone to act constructively.

He hoped that, as the leader of a socialist state, he could gain world authority based not on fear, but, above all, on reasonable policies and unwillingness to justify the country’s totalitarian past. Gorbachev, whose years in power are often referred to as “perestroika,” believed that new political thinking must triumph. It should include recognition of the priority of universal human values ​​over national and class values, the need to unite states and peoples to jointly solve the problems facing humanity.

Publicity policy

During Gorbachev's reign, general democratization began in our country. Political persecution stopped. The pressure of censorship has weakened. Many prominent people returned from exile and prison: Marchenko, Sakharov and others. The policy of glasnost, which was launched by the Soviet leadership, changed the spiritual life of the country's population. Interest in television, radio, and print media has increased. In 1986 alone, magazines and newspapers gained more than 14 million new readers. All of these are, of course, significant advantages of Gorbachev and the policies he pursues.

Mikhail Sergeevich’s slogan, under which he carried out all the reforms, was the following: “More democracy, more socialism.” However, his understanding of socialism gradually changed. Back in 1985, in April, Gorbachev said at the Politburo that when Khrushchev brought criticism of Stalin’s actions to incredible proportions, it only brought great damage to the country. Glasnost soon led to an even greater wave of anti-Stalinist criticism, which was undreamed of during the Thaw.

Anti-alcohol reform

The idea of ​​this reform was initially very positive. Gorbachev wanted to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed in the country per capita, as well as begin the fight against drunkenness. However, the campaign, as a result of overly radical actions, led to unexpected results. The reform itself and the further rejection of the state monopoly led to the fact that the bulk of income in this area went into the shadow sector. A lot of start-up capital in the 90s was made from “drunk” money by private owners. The treasury was rapidly emptying. As a result of this reform, many valuable vineyards were cut down, which led to the disappearance of entire industrial sectors in some republics (in particular, Georgia). The anti-alcohol reform also contributed to the growth of moonshine, substance abuse and drug addiction, and multi-billion dollar losses were incurred in the budget.

Gorbachev's reforms in foreign policy

In November 1985, Gorbachev met with Ronald Reagan, President of the United States. At it, both sides recognized the need to improve bilateral relations, as well as improve the overall international situation. Gorbachev's foreign policy led to the conclusion of the START treaties. Mikhail Sergeevich, with a statement dated January 15, 1986, put forward a number of major initiatives dedicated to issues foreign policy. There was to be a complete elimination of chemicals and nuclear weapons, strict control was carried out during its destruction and storage. All of these are Gorbachev’s most important reforms.

Reasons for failure

In contrast to the course aimed at transparency, when it was enough just to order the weakening and then actually abolish censorship, his other initiatives (for example, the sensational anti-alcohol campaign) were combined with the propaganda of administrative coercion. Gorbachev, whose years of rule were marked by increasing freedom in all spheres, at the end of his reign, having become president, sought to rely, unlike his predecessors, not on the party apparatus, but on a team of assistants and the government. He leaned more and more towards the social democratic model. S.S. Shatalin said that he managed to turn the Secretary General into a convinced Menshevik. But Mikhail Sergeevich abandoned the dogmas of communism too slowly, only under the influence of the growth of anti-communist sentiment in society. Gorbachev, even during the events of 1991 (the August putsch), still expected to retain power and, returning from Foros (Crimea), where he had a state dacha, declared that he believed in the values ​​of socialism and would fight for them, leading the reformed Communist Party. It is obvious that he was never able to rebuild himself. Mikhail Sergeevich in many ways remained a party secretary, who was accustomed not only to privileges, but also to independence people's will authorities.

Merits of M. S. Gorbachev

Mikhail Sergeevich, in his last speech as the president of the country, took credit for the fact that the population of the state received freedom and became spiritually and politically liberated. Freedom of the press, free elections, a multi-party system, representative bodies of government, and religious freedoms have become real. Human rights were recognized as the highest principle. The movement towards a new multi-structured economy began, equality of forms of ownership was approved. Gorbachev finally ended the Cold War. During his reign, the militarization of the country and the arms race, which had crippled the economy, morality and public consciousness, were stopped.

The foreign policy of Gorbachev, who finally eliminated the Iron Curtain, ensured Mikhail Sergeevich respect throughout the world. The President of the USSR was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for activities aimed at developing cooperation between countries.

At the same time, some indecisiveness of Mikhail Sergeevich, his desire to find a compromise that would suit both radicals and conservatives, led to the fact that transformations in the state’s economy never began. A political settlement of contradictions and interethnic hostility, which ultimately destroyed the country, was never achieved. History is unlikely to be able to answer the question of whether someone else could have preserved the USSR and the socialist system in Gorbachev’s place.

Conclusion

The subject of supreme power, as the ruler of the state, must have full rights. M. S. Gorbachev, the leader of the party, who concentrated state and party power in himself, without being popularly elected to this post, in this respect was significantly inferior in the eyes of the public to B. Yeltsin. The latter eventually became the President of Russia (1991). Gorbachev, as if compensating for this shortcoming during his reign, increased his power and tried to achieve various powers. However, he did not follow the laws and did not force others to do so. That is why Gorbachev’s characterization is so ambiguous. Politics is, first of all, the art of acting wisely.

Among the many accusations brought against Gorbachev, perhaps the most significant was the accusation of indecisiveness. However, if we compare the significant scale of the breakthrough he accomplished and short term being in power, one can argue with that. In addition to all of the above, the Gorbachev era was marked by the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the holding of the first competitive free elections in Russian history, and the elimination of the party's monopoly on power that existed before him. As a result of Gorbachev's reforms, the world has changed significantly. He will never be the same again. Without political will and courage, it is impossible to do this. Gorbachev can be viewed differently, but, of course, he is one of the largest figures in modern history.

This year Mikhail Gorbachev turned 87 years old. IN Lately the ex-president can be seen very rarely in public because he has health problems. For the past 26 years, Mikhail Gorbachev has lived in the village of Kalchuga along Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway. By law, he is still accompanied by security.

All the leaders of the USSR either died while in power or preferred a calm, quiet retirement without politics, with the exception of the last General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev.

Today, despite his health condition, he continues to engage in public activities.

Mikhail Gorbachev where he lives now: the richest pensioner

In 1990, Mikhail Gorbachev, while still in power, received the Nobel Peace Prize. But after receiving the money, he immediately ceased to be rich, since the entire amount was transferred to the state budget. For the money received, Mikhail Gorbachev built several hospitals.

After Gorbachev ceased to be head of state, he was given a pension in the amount of 4,000 rubles, which in 1991 was quite a lot of money. But soon, the ex-president stopped receiving big money, since his pension was tied to the minimum wages, like other citizens.

This did not last long, as Boris Yeltsin changed the situation and from that time to the present day, Gorbachev receives the largest pension throughout Russia - about 320 thousand rubles.

Where does Mikhail Gorbachev live now: activities after retirement

After Gorbachev retired, he needed to do something. As a rule, in world practice former heads states - wrote books and gave various lectures. But in Russia this type of income was not profitable. Tours in the West sold more. In Russia, the attitude towards Mikhail Gorbachev was not clear, but in the Western world he was perceived as a significant person.

Gorbachev collaborated with Robert Walker for some time. And for several years the ex-president toured American cities. There were rumors that he received about 100 thousand dollars for his lectures.

Mikhail Gorbachev also repeatedly took part in filming advertisements, which also brought him additional income.

Where does Mikhail Gorbachev live now: wife of the former Secretary General

While still the first lady, Raisa Gorbacheva was concerned about helping children with leukemia. But ironically, she herself fell ill with these diseases.

Their last days she spent with her husband in a clinic in Münster.

After the death of his wife, the Institute of Pediatric Oncology was opened in St. Petersburg. All equipment was purchased with money from a fund that belonged to Mikhail Gorbachev. And the building was built by Alexander Lebedev.

Mikhail Gorbachev where he lives now: current activities

On this moment Mikhail Gorbachev lives in the village of Kalchuga along Rublevo-Uspenskoye Highway. As before, he is accompanied by four male guards. At the moment they help him move, as former politician has back problems.

A woman lives with Gorbachev and helps him with housework for money.

Mikhail Gorbachev - state and public figure XX century, which entered the political world in Soviet time. He became the first and only president of the USSR, the results of whose activities left a deep imprint on Russian history, and also became important factors in the development of the rest of the world. The assessment of Gorbachev's role in the fate of the country in society has an ambiguous meaning - some believe that he brought more benefit to the people than harm, while others are confident that the politician was the cause of all the troubles modern Russia after the collapse of the USSR.

Childhood and youth

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich was born on March 2, 1931 in the Stavropol village of Privolnoye. Father Sergei Andreevich and mother Maria Panteleevna (Ukrainian by nationality) were peasants, so the childhood of the future president of the USSR passed without wealth and luxury. In his early years, young Mikhail had to endure the German occupation of Stavropol, which left an imprint on his character and political position in the future.

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Mikhail Gorbachev in his youth

At the age of 13, Gorbachev began to combine his studies at school with work on a collective farm: first he worked at a mechanical and tractor station, and later became an assistant combine operator, whose duties were extremely difficult for a teenager. For this work, Mikhail Sergeevich was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1949, which he received for exceeding the plan for grain harvesting.

The next year, Gorbachev graduated from a local school with a silver medal and entered the Faculty of Law at Moscow State University without any problems. At the university, the future politician headed the Komsomol organization of students, where he was charged with the spirit of freethinking, which influenced his future worldview. In 1952, Mikhail was accepted as a member of the CPSU, and 3 years later, after successfully graduating from the university, Gorbachev received the post of first secretary of the city committee of the Komsomol of Stavropol.

Policy

Mikhail Gorbachev's political career developed rapidly. In 1962, he was appointed to the post of party organizer of the Stavropol territorial production agricultural administration, in which Gorbachev earned a reputation as a promising politician during the reforms of the then current Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Politician Mikhail Gorbachev

Gorbachev did not have any special charisma or memorable appearance (a man’s average height is 175 cm), so he made his way only with skills and work qualities.

Against the backdrop of good harvests in the Stavropol region, Mikhail Sergeevich has established himself as a leading expert in the field Agriculture, which subsequently allowed him to become an ideologist of the CPSU on the development of this area.

In 1974, Gorbachev was elected to the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, where he headed the commission on youth problems. In 1978, the politician was transferred to Moscow and appointed secretary of the Central Committee, which was initiated by the former leader of the USSR Yuri Andropov, who considered Mikhail Sergeevich an unusually highly educated and experienced specialist.

In 1980, Gorbachev joined the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee. Numerous reforms in the market economy and in the political system came under his leadership. In 1984, at a meeting of the CPSU Central Committee, the politician read out a report “The Living Creativity of the People,” which became the so-called “prelude” to the restructuring of the country. The report was received with optimism by Gorbachev's colleagues and the Soviet people.

General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee

Having won support and created the image of a global reformer, Mikhail Sergeevich was elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1985, after which the global process of democratization of society began in the USSR, later called perestroika.

Having become the leader of the second most powerful power in the world, Mikhail Gorbachev began to pull out the country that had fallen into stagnation. Without a clearly formed plan, the politician made a number of changes in the foreign and domestic policies of the Soviet Union, which over time led to the collapse of the state.

General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Mikhail Gorbachev

Gorbachev is responsible for the Prohibition Law, the exchange of money, the introduction of self-financing, the end of the war in Afghanistan, the end of the long-term Cold War with the West and the weakening nuclear threat. Also, through the hands of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, who then had full power over the country, the liberalization of society and the weakening of censorship were carried out in the USSR, which allowed Gorbachev to gain popularity among the population, with whom the politician for the first time in the history of the Soviet state communicated in a free, and not in a “reigning” style .

First President

The main mistake in Gorbachev’s policy was the inconsistency in carrying out economic reforms in the USSR, which led to a sharp deepening of the crisis in the country, as well as a decrease in the standard of living of citizens. During the same period, the Baltic republics set a course towards moving away from the Union, which did not prevent to the Soviet leader to become the first and only president of the USSR, which Gorbachev was elected in 1990 under the changed legislation of the country.

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Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Gorbachev

However, the weakening of control over society led to dual power in the Soviet Union, a wave of strikes swept the country, and the economic crisis led to total shortages and empty store shelves. During that period, 10th of the country’s gold reserves were “eaten up”; the situation in the USSR was close to critical point. Mikhail Sergeevich could not prevent the collapse of the Union and his own resignation from the presidency.

In August 1991, Gorbachev's allies, which included a number of Soviet ministers, announced the creation of the State Emergency Committee (GKChP) State Committee By state of emergency) and demanded that Mikhail Sergeevich resign. Gorbachev did not accept these demands, provoking an armed coup in the country, called the August putsch.

Read also Gorbachev himself could be behind the State Emergency Committee - media

Then the political leaders of the RSFSR, which included the then current president of the republic, and Ivan Silaev, resisted the State Emergency Committee. In December 1991, 11 union republics signed the Belovezhskaya Agreement on the creation of the CIS, which became evidence of the cessation of the existence of the USSR, despite the objections of Mikhail Sergeevich. After this, Gorbachev resigned and withdrew from politics.

Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich (b. 1931) – Russian and Soviet politician, was involved in public and government activities. In the USSR, he was the last to hold the positions of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the first in history and at the same time the last President of the Soviet Union. In 1990 he became the owner Nobel Prize peace.

Birth and family

Misha was born on March 2, 1931 in the Stavropol region. Now this region is called the Stavropol Territory, and then it was called the North Caucasus Territory. He was born in the Medvedensky district in the village of Privolnoye. His family was peasant and international, Russian-Ukrainian, since his mother’s relatives came to Stavropol from the Chernigov province, and his father’s from Voronezh.

His paternal grandfather, Andrei Moiseevich Gorbachev, born in 1890, ran an individual peasant farm. In 1934, he was falsely accused of disrupting the sowing plan, for which he was convicted and exiled to Siberia. A couple of years later, my grandfather was released. Returning to his native land, he became a member of the collective farm, where he worked until his last days. Died in 1962.

My mother’s grandfather, Gopkalo Panteley Efimovich, born in 1894, was a Chernigov peasant. As a young man, he moved to the Stavropol region, where he served as chairman of a collective farm. In 1937, he was accused of Trotskyism, arrested, and spent more than a year in prison, where the man was subjected to severe torture. He had already been sentenced to capital punishment, but in February 1938, at the next plenum, the “party line” changed, as a result of which the grandfather was acquitted and released. He died in 1953.

After the collapse of the USSR, Gorbachev said in an interview that he never accepted the Soviet regime, this was influenced by the biographies and repressions of his grandfathers.

Dad, Gorbachev Sergei Andreevich, born in 1909, worked on a collective farm as a combine operator. As soon as the war began, he went to the front. One day the family received a funeral for Sergei Andreevich. But soon a letter arrived from him and it turned out that the funeral had been sent by mistake. Mikhail Gorbachev’s father went through the entire war and received the medal “For Courage” and two Orders of the Red Star. When things were bad, difficult or painful for Mikhail in life, he always found support from his father. Sergei Andreevich passed away in 1979.

Mother, Maria Panteleevna Gopkalo, was born in 1911, also worked on the collective farm.

Childhood and youth

Mikhail's childhood passed like that of any Soviet child of the 30s, until the war came. The boy met this terrible news already at a conscious age. Dad immediately left to fight, and at the end of the summer of 1942 the village was occupied by German troops. They lived under occupation for more than five months, until they were liberated in February 1943 Soviet army.

In the liberated village they immediately began to prepare for the sowing season, but there was a catastrophic shortage of men. Therefore, 13-year-old Mikhail had to combine studying at school with work on the collective farm; periodically he worked part-time at a machine and tractor station (MTS). With this, Mikhail Gorbachev’s childhood ended, and his career began, which developed very rapidly:

• 1946 - Mikhail had already learned to operate a combine, and worked as an assistant for combine operators.
• 1949 - took part in grain harvesting on a collective farm, for which he was first nominated for an award - the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
• 1950 - became a candidate for the ranks Communist Party, he was recommended by the school principal and teachers. He completed his secondary education, receiving a silver medal. Without exams, he was enrolled as a student at Lomonosov Moscow State University (he was entitled to this through the awards he earned).
• 1952 – joined the ranks of the CPSU.
• 1955 – received a diploma with honors from the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University.

Civil service

After graduating from the university, Mikhail went to Stavropol, but according to his assignment in the regional prosecutor’s office, he worked for only ten days. On his own initiative, he began to engage in freed Komsomol work. In this field, his career developed very rapidly:

• 1955 – worked as deputy head of the propaganda and agitation department.
• 1956 - elected first secretary of the Stavropol Komsomol city committee.
• 1958 - transferred to second secretary of the regional committee of the Stavropol Komsomol.
• 1961 - appointed to the post of first secretary of the Komsomol Committee of the Stavropol Territory.
• 1962 - worked as a party organizer of the regional committee in the territorial production collective and state farm administration of the Stavropol region.
• 1963 - in the Stavropol Regional Committee of the CPSU he headed the department of party bodies.
• 1966 - elected to the post of first secretary of the city committee of the CPSU of Stavropol.

In 1967, Mikhail received another diploma of higher education. He studied in absentia at the Stavropol Agricultural Institute at the Faculty of Economics and chose the specialty of agronomist-economist. Gorbachev made attempts to go into science, he wrote dissertations, but party and government service still interested him more.

Since 1974, for three convocations, Gorbachev was a deputy of the Council of the Union of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from the Stavropol Territory, where he was a member of the commission for nature conservation, then headed the commission for youth affairs.

In November 1978, Gorbachev was elected secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, after which he finally settled with his family in Moscow.

In March 1985, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee K. U. Chernenko died. The Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee met at a meeting where USSR Foreign Minister A. A. Gromyko nominated Gorbachev for the vacated post. Since March 1985, Mikhail Sergeevich became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, in this post he worked until August 1991.

In March 1990, Gorbachev was elected the first President in the history of the USSR, and he also became the last politician to hold such a post.

What did Gorbachev manage to do for his country while at the top of power? Slowly but completely destroy it. A number of initiatives he put forward led to this:

1. Acceleration. He put forward this slogan immediately after taking the highest position in the country. Implied a sharp (accelerated) increase in welfare Soviet people and industry. The result turned out to be the opposite - the elimination of production capacity and the beginning of the cooperative movement.
2. As soon as he took the top position, Mikhail Sergeevich announced an anti-alcohol campaign. As a result, alcohol production decreased, most of the vineyards were cut down, and sugar disappeared from stores, as many turned to moonshine.
3. At the beginning of 1987, Gorbachev launched “perestroika,” as a result of which enterprises were transferred to self-financing, self-sufficiency and self-financing, which led to a market economy.
4. After Chernobyl accident On April 26, 1986, Gorbachev ordered May Day demonstrations to be held in many cities where it was a risk to people's health.
5. At Gorbachev’s initiative, a campaign was launched to combat unearned income, during which tutors, sellers of homemade bread and flowers, private cab drivers, and many others suffered.
6. Food disappeared from stores, a card system was introduced, the USSR's external debt more than doubled, and the country's gold reserves and the growth rate of the Soviet economy fell more than tenfold.

The positive results of his reign were:

• return from political exile of Academician Sakharov;
• rehabilitation of victims repressed by Stalin;
• reviving the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at the state level and declaring this day (January 7) a non-working day.

At the end of 1991, after eleven union republics signed the Belovezhskaya Agreement on the termination of the existence of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev resigned as President of the USSR.

In 1992 he founded the Gorbachev Foundation, which is engaged in political science and socio-economic research. He is the President of this foundation, and also chairs the board of the International Environmental Organization - Green Cross.

The story of one and only love

It was the autumn of 1951. Mikhail was twenty years old. He, a young law student at Moscow State University, was preparing for classes when friends burst into the dorm room, vying with each other, shouting at him to throw away his textbooks and go to the club with them.

The student cultural club had a lot of clubs and sections, and dances were held there several times a week. A dance program was planned on this day. While they were walking to the club, the guys were constantly discussing a new, overly active and pretty girl - Raya Titarenko.

Mikhail saw her when she was dancing with another guy. Raisa was modestly dressed, and not to say she sparkled with beauty. But Misha himself could not understand why this girl fascinated him at first sight. Raya didn't notice him at all. And why did she need someone else when she already had a fiancé and was planning a wedding. However, fate turned everything upside down and put it in its place.

When Raisa met her fiancé's parents, they didn't like her. The guy’s mother then made every effort to prevent their son from seeing this girl again. Of course, Raya had a hard time with this breakup. She did not come to the club for some time. And when she came with her friends, Mikhail did not waste any more time, he came up and volunteered to accompany Raisa. This was their first walk together, they never parted again.

Misha and Raya began dating, went to the movies, loved to walk in the park and eat ice cream, and wander around Moscow holding hands. And when they decided to get married, Mikhail worked all summer on his native collective farm as a combine operator to earn money for the wedding. They got married in the early autumn of 1953, they did not celebrate a big wedding, but then there was not a single year when the couple did not celebrate the anniversary of the birth of their family.

In 1954, Mikhail and Raya were expecting the birth of a child, and they chose a name for the boy - Sergei. But at the insistence of the doctors, the pregnancy had to be artificially terminated with the consent of Raisa, since shortly before this she suffered from rheumatism, which caused complications in her heart.

In 1955, the couple graduated from a higher educational institution and left for the Stavropol region. Here Raisa's health improved, and in January 1957 she gave birth to a long-awaited daughter, the girl was named Irina.

Mikhail’s wife was engaged in teaching, gave lectures at higher education institutions educational institutions Stavropol region Having moved to Moscow and defended her dissertation, she received a Ph.D. degree and lectured on philosophy at Moscow State University.

When Mikhail Sergeevich was elected general secretary Central Committee of the CPSU, Raisa became involved in active social activities. She accompanied her husband everywhere, traveled abroad with him, and received foreign delegations at home. Many foreign publications repeatedly called her “Lady of the Year”, “Woman of the Year”.

After Gorbachev’s resignation, the couple lived at the departmental dacha, Raisa was engaged in charity work and raising two granddaughters, Ksenia and Nastya.

The Gorbachev couple dreamed of celebrating the New Year 2000 in the city of love, Paris. But in the summer of 1999, doctors diagnosed Raisa with leukemia. They urgently flew to Germany, where Raya began undergoing chemotherapy. Unfortunately, nothing helped. On September 20, 1999, she died before she lived a little more three months until New Year 2000.

But just before New Year's holiday Mikhail Sergeevich told his daughter and granddaughters that the promise must be kept. And they all flew to Paris together, as the wife, mother and grandmother wanted.

For more than seventeen years, several times a month, Mikhail Sergeevich has been coming to the Novodevichy cemetery to visit the grave where the one and only and most important love of his life rests.