ABSTRACT
The meeting of the State Council was to begin at noon, which left Mikhail Gorbachev an hour in the morning in which to receive an imposing delegation of officials from several dozen American religious organizations who represented the Soviet-American Christian Bridge project. On November 2, Gorbachev received a delegation from the Deutsche Bank, the principal creditor and thus the potential savior of the dying Soviet economy. Gorbachev hoped to create more favorable conditions for the new union. Gorbachev spent the last few days before the crucial battle, which was to take place on Monday, November 4, in a sort of political warm-up. The meetings in Madrid and at Latche left Gorbachev charged with energy. He had every reason to be satisfied with the meeting. At the end of the meeting, one of the participants recalled that the anniversary of the October Revolution was coming up and that they should decide how to celebrate it.
