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Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union who presided over its dissolution and abandonment of Marxist-Leninist communism, died Tuesday at 91. Russian news agencies reported that his death followed “a serious and long” illness.
One of the most consequential leaders of the 20th century, Gorbachev was born in 1931, the only Soviet leader born after the USSR was already established. Moving his way up through the Communist Party ranks, he joined the Politburo in 1979. Following the brief terms of Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko, he became General Secretary in 1985.
By the time he came to power, the Soviet Union had a stagnant economy, a dysfunctional government, and a military quagmire in Afghanistan. In an attempt to salvage the Soviet Union, he initiated structural reforms, perestroika, and a new openness and transparency to the outside world unprecedented in Soviet history, glasnost.
The reforms were not enough to salvage the failing Soviet system, however, and even helped lead to the dissolution of the state. Western countries at this time were prospering economically, and defense initiatives in the US, such as President Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, or 'Star Wars'), further weakened Soviet morale as they were unable to compete effectively.
Anti-communist movements gained strength in communist eastern European countries, leading to the revolutions of 1989. By the start of the next decade, the constituent countries of the USSR began to break away from the country, and with few exceptions, Gorbachev did not use force to put down the revolts. Surviving a coup attempt by communist hardliners but unable to save the USSR, Gorbachev resigned December 25, 1991, ending the Soviet Union.
His legacy since the end of his rule has largely been largely positive in the West, praising his openness to the outside world and allowing the Soviet Union to dissolve relatively peacefully. In Russia, his legacy has been more negative, with the main criticism being that he allowed the Soviet Union to collapse. Russia, while still a powerful country, no longer plays the pivotal role it did as the USSR and faces numerous economic and geopolitical challenges as a post-Soviet country.
