March 11 - Gorbachev is Selected as USSR President

This Day in History: 11 March 2020

 

11 March 1985

 

35 years ago, today, Mikhail Gorbachev was selected as the new general secretary and leader of the Soviet Union, after the death of Konstantin Chernenko. As leader, Gorbachev oversaw the radical transformation of the Soviet society, and the end to the Cold War. In the Communist Party, he was extremely active, and began a rapid rise through its bureaucracy, and part of his success was due to his intelligence and drive. As well as this, his ability to attach to important people, such as Yuri Andropov, was vital in Gorbachev's promotion to the Central Committee of the Communist Party in 1971. Over the next decade, Gorbachev strived to promote his own career and to support Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev, but when Brezhnev died, Andropov took power, and Gorbachev's role in government was expanded.

 

It was widely assumed that Gorbachev would succeed Andropov, but he did not, due to suspicions of his reform-centered mind, and so Chernenko was elected instead. However, Chernenko died after less than a year later, and so Gorbachev was selected to become the new leader, on this day. In office, Gorbachev led the nation through fast domestic reforms and foreign policy alterations, relaxed political oppression and tried to save the Soviet economy. He worked hard to secure better relations with the United States, succeeding in signing the INF Treaty in 1987, reducing the number of medium-range missiles in Europe. However, change may have been too rapid, as the Soviet Union was crumbling to pieces by the late-1980s. Satellite states were breaking free, and the economy was failing. In December 1991, Gorbachev resigned as president, and the Soviet Union ceased to exist.

 

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