The Life of Mikhail Gorbachev

Kelsey Murray World History 26 February 2013 Nick Williamson The Life of Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Gorbachev’s life began much like many children in the small village of Privolnoye. His parents were peasant farmers but when the collectivization program took action, Gorbachev’s father went to work for the government. Only ten years old when the Nazis invaded the Soviet Union, Gorbachev experienced his father being drafted into the Soviet military. After four torturous years in the military, Gorbachev’s father survived. Mikhail Gorbachev was known as a hard worker, excellent student and did his best to help support his family.
His interest in politics lead him to join the Komsomol. Gorbachev wanted to exceed in everything he did. He decided to apply to the prestigious Moscow State University to further his education. After being accepted he decided to study law in order to better his speaking and debating skills, which would help in his political career. While in college he met Raisa Titoenko and fell in love. The two married in 1953 and four years later had their first and only daughter whose name was Irina. The start to Gorbachev’s political career began with the promotion into the Communist Party.
He eventually received the highest position, first secretary. National politics is what he was striving for and at age 47 he obtained the position as the youngest member of the Politburo. Gorbachev had lots of experienced behind the scene working with General Secretary Yuri Andropov and felt that he was ready to achieve the title, General Secretary. After failing once he tried again and became the leader of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev had a strong belief that the Soviet economy needed reforms. He did something many citizens never saw coming. He allowed and encouraged citizens o freely voice their opinions. He also allowed Soviet citizens to travel, cracked down on alcohol abuse, and pushed for the use of computers and technology. He’s most impressive movement was the deal he made between the Soviet Union and the United States. The two countries competed with each other over who could produce the largest cache of nuclear weapons. He met with Regan and agreed to stop making nuclear weapons, to end the arms race. Gorbachev did many good things for the Soviet Union and was even awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 but yet many citizens disliked Gorbachev having ower and continued to be critical towards him. Did the citizens have a reason to be critical? The answer is yes. Gorbachev’s reforms did not help the Soviet Union’s economy but actually weakened it. This caused many countries to abandon Communism and many republics within the Soviet Union demanded independence. All the pressure from the failing economy proved too much for Gorbachev and he resigned as president of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991. (Rosenberg) Works Cited Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Mikhail Gorbachev. ” About. com. 26 February 2013. http://history1900s. about. com/od/people/p/gorbachev. htm