Journal 57 – Mikhail Gorbachev – the Soviet leader of the new generation

President Mikhail Gorbachev was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. He was a head of the new generation of the Communist Party. Gorbachev wanted to reform Soviet communism and to improve the lives of millions of Russian people.
Fresh air blew over the Soviet Empire. Gorbachev’s politics characterized two term “openness” (glasnost) and restructuring (perestroika). Therefore people have received more political and social freedom. They soon discovered that people who lived outside their homeland live much better lives.
Gorbachev became the Soviet leader as the country’s economy was beginning to decline. He announced that the country was facing a major crisis and that drastic changes were needed.
Gorbachev worked to improve Soviet relations with the Western countries. In 1987, Gorbachev and Reagan signed treaty regarding to elimination of all the intermediate-range nuclear missiles of the two countries. In 1991, Gorbachev and George H.W. Bush signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. In 1989, Mikhail Gorbachev withdrew the Soviet troops from Afghanistan. On December 1, 1989, Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul II at Vatican City.