MIKHAIL GORBHACHEV

MIKHAIL GORBHACHEV

Introduction:

Mikhail Gorbhachev is one of the well known Political personalities of the 20^th Century. He belonged to Erst while Soviet Union. He served as the president of Soviet Union from 1985 – 1991.

Following of the Russian Revolution of 1917 the country became a socialist state under the communist Government. The Socialist state of Soviet Union provided food, shelter & employment to its countrymen. All land was confiscated and industries & factories came under state control. Economy became a state monopoly. Thus, there was no right to private property. Basic rights like Right to Freedom of Speech, Right to Press & Right to Equality were not guaranteed & even freedom of religion was not guaranteed. Churches, Mosques & Temples were closed. No political rights & privileges existed. There was only one party, i.e. the Communist Party. This was how the country functioned from 1917 to 1985, under the leadership of Lenin, Stalin, Brezhovnev, Andropov, etc. There was thus the Iron curtain which separated the Soviet Union from the rest of the world.

When Gorbachev became the president in 1985 things began to change

Early Life:

Mikhail Gorbachev was born in 1931. His parents were agriculturists. He studied Law. He married a woman called Paisa. After completing his education he became the provisional secretary of the Communist Party in his native place. Later he became the secretary of central committee of agriculture of the communist government & finally he became one of the members of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of Soviet Union, during the Presidency of Andropov.

In 1985 Gorbachev became the President of USSR. Having become the President he began to give shape to Liberal & democratic ideas which he always favoured. During his five years of presidency, he frequently referred to two terms – Glasnost & Perestroika.

Glasnost: Glasnost means Openness Gorbachev wanted to open the Closed Soviet Union by openness event the guarantying of Liberal & Democratic ideas. Accordingly basic rights of freedom of speech, freedom of press, right to equality & so on were to be guaranteed Gorbachev called for free Markets & Privatization of industries & factories. Trade Commerce was no longer to be a state monopoly. Thus the right to private property was recognized. Gorbachev gave the Russians freedom of religion. Churches, Mosques & Temples were thrown open. Glasnost thus opened the Political, Economic & Social Life of the People.

Perestroika: Perestroika means re-structure. Accordingly the Soviet Union must be re-structured. Gorbachev called for framing a new constitution which was to recognize different political parties. The constitution called for decentralization, i.e., division of powers between the Union & the Republics for the first time democratic ideals came to be encouraged & fundamental rights were guaranteed. Media was no longer state monopoly. Thus private media was encouraged communist brain washing of student in schools & colleges were stopped. Foreign investments came to be encouraged. Freedom of press was guaranteed. The rights of the workers & peasants were recognized.

As a result of Glasnost & Perestroika the 15 Soviet Republics became Independent. The CIS – Common Wealth of Independent states which Gorbachev had called for to be formed by the Republic did not come into existence. The Iron curtain was thus pulled down by Gorbachev these five years in office saw sweeping changes. Communism which had taken birth in Russia & The USSR passed into history