Aiming to strengthen ‘Soviet-style socialism’ but fails
Gorbachev, the last leader of the former Soviet Union, died on August 30 at the age of 91. In the six years and nine months since he assumed the post of general secretary of the Communist Party (March 1985) until his resignation as president of the Soviet Union following the dissolution of the Soviet Union (December 1991), he left a rich record of accomplishments. It is a feat that will go down in history.
In November 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and in December of the following year, he declared the end of the Cold War together with US President George W. Bush (father) on the island of Malta. In March 1990, he abandoned the one-party dictatorship of the Soviet Communist Party and became the first Soviet president. In October of the same year, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In July 1988, then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone visited the Soviet Union and met with Mr. Gorbachev. Three years after his flagship policy of perestroika (restructuring), Mr. Gorbachev, whom I had seen up close, had a powerful impact.
On the other hand, the conservative Communist Party protested against the drastic reforms, and in August 1991, a coup d’état was launched. Although the rebellion ended in failure, political authority was lost. In December of the same year, Gorbachev resigned as Soviet president after three republics, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, forced him to secede from the Soviet Union and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Soviet Union collapsed.
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