ABSTRACT
Mikhail Gorbachev came to power in a Soviet Union suffering from long-term economic and political problems. Dedicated to strengthening the communist system, his reforms inadvertently provoked its collapse. Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931, in the village of Privolnoe, north of Caucasia. In 1950 he entered Moscow State University, where he met and married Raisa Titorenko. In 1985 he was elevated to the post of general secretary of the Party and immediately launched a program called perestroika. Gorbachev's reforms made the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union possible. Due in a large part to his devotion to human rights, this tumultuous event proved to be one of the most peaceful revolutions in history. Gorbachev's commitment to the peaceful and democratic reform of communism had important effects throughout the world. Gorbachev's humanistic vision of communism, then, died amid a struggle between radical democrats and conservative communists.
