An analysis of the government of mikhail gorbachev the last president of the soviet union

Both of Gorbachev's grandfathers were arrested—his maternal in and his paternal in —and both spent time in Gulag labour camps prior to being released. In June the German Army invaded the country; they occupied Privolnoe for four and a half months in I promise to be faithful to the great cause of Lenin and Stalin, to devote my entire life to the party's struggle for Communism.

This action was the final act in a peaceful dissolution of this communist socialist nation that had been borne out of the October revolution. This complete text of the speech is offered on Christmas Dear compatriots, fellow citizens, as a result of the newly formed situation, creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States, I cease my activities in the post of the U.

I am taking this decision out of considerations based on principle. I have firmly stood for independence, self-rule of nations, for the sovereignty of the republics, but at the same time for preservation of the union state, the unity of the country. Events went a different way. The policy prevailed of dismembering this country and disuniting the state, with which I cannot agree.

And after the Alma-Ata meeting and the decisions taken there, my position on this matter has not changed. Besides, I am convinced that decisions of such scale should have been taken on the basis of a popular expression of will.

Yet, I will continue to do everything in my power so that agreements signed there should lead to real accord in the society, and facilitate the escape from the crisis and the reform process.

Addressing you for the last time in the capacity of president of the U. Fate had it that when I found myself at the head of the state it was already clear that all was not well in the country.

There is plenty of everything: The reason could already be seen: The society was suffocating in the vise of the command-bureaucratic system, doomed to serve ideology and bear the terrible burden of the arms race. It had reached the limit of its possibilities.

All attempts at partial reform, and there had been many, had suffered defeat, one after another. The country was losing perspective.

We could not go on living like that. Everything had to be changed radically. The process of renovating the country and radical changes in the world turned out to be far more complicated than could be expected.

However, what has been done ought to be given its due. This society acquired freedom, liberated itself politically and spiritually, and this is the foremost achievement which we have not yet understood completely, because we have not learned to use freedom.

However, work of historic significance has been accomplished. The totalitarian system which deprived the country of an opportunity to become successful and prosperous long ago has been eliminated.

A breakthrough has been achieved on the way to democratic changes. Free elections, freedom of the press, religious freedoms, representative organs of power, a multiparty system became a reality; human rights are recognized as the supreme principle.

The movement to a diverse eco nomy has started, equality of all forms of property is becoming established, people who work on the land are coming to life again in the framework of land reform, farmers have appeared, millions of acres of land are being given over to people who live in the countryside and in towns.

Economic freedom of the producer has been legalized, and entrepreneurship, shareholding, privatization are gaining momentum. In turning the economy toward a market, it is important to remember that all this is done for the sake of the individual. At this difficult time, all should be done for his social protection, especially for senior citizens and children.

We live in a new world. The Cold War has ended, the arms race has stopped, as has the insane militarization which mutilated our economy, public psyche and morals. The threat of a world war has been removed. Once again I want to stress that on my part everything was done during the transition period to preserve reliable control of the nuclear weapons.

We opened ourselves to the world, gave up interference into other people's affairs, the use of troops beyond the borders of the country, and trust, solidarity and respect came in response. The nations and peoples [of this country gained real freedom to choose the way of their self-determination.

The search for a democratic reformation of the multinational state brought us to the threshold of concluding a new Union Treaty.

Mikhail Gorbachev | Biography & Facts | regardbouddhiste.com

All these changes demanded immense strain. They were carried out with sharp struggle, with growing resistance from the old, the obsolete forces. The old system collapsed before the new one had time to begin working, and the crisis in the society became even more acute.

The August coup brought the general crisis to its ultimate limit. The most damaging thing about this crisis is the breakup of the statehood. And today I am worried by our people's loss of the citizenship of a great country.

The consequences may turn out to be very hard for everyone.The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was the founding and ruling political party of the Soviet Union. The CPSU was the sole governing party of the Soviet Union until , when the Congress of People's Deputies modified Article 6 of the most recent USSR Constitution which had granted the CPSU a monopoly over the political system.

Mikhail Gorbachev: First and last president of the Soviet Union Overview: Gorbachev’s efforts to democratize his country’s political system and decentralize its economy led to the downfall of communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union in The Collapse of the Soviet Union.

After his inauguration in January , George H.W.

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Bush did not automatically follow the policy of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, in dealing with Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet Union. Instead, he ordered a strategic policy re-evaluation in order to establish his own plan and methods for dealing with the Soviet Union .

Chapter 8: Communism - Vocabulary Terms. STUDY. PLAY. base.

Mikhail Gorbachev. Head of the CPSU and last president of the Soviet Union. Nikita Khrushchev. Successor of Josef Stalin as head of the CPSU and Soviet Union from until he was ousted in Vladimir Lenin.

Long before the coup that ousted Gorbachev, thwarted by Yeltsin and leading to the end of the Soviet Union, talk of creating a market ceased, and all real reformers had resigned their positions in the government. Gorbachev Speech Dissolving the Soviet Union (USSR): Christmas In this Christmas (western Christendom date) speech, Mikhael S.

Gorbachev resigned as president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).