Since December 1922, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) had been a Communist state and it remained that way until its collapse in December 1991. With almost 70 years between the birth and complete destruction of one of the world's greatest superpowers, there is quite a story to tell. Previous leaders of the USSR had all been general secretaries of the Communist Party but Mikhail Gorbachev, who was supported and well liked in the West as well as in Eastern Europe, was the first, and only, president of the Soviet Union. Despite his support in other parts of the world, as a “reform” communist Gorbachev began to lose support at home after a short time. His attempts at finding a balance between Democracy and Communism eventually led to the downfall of the USSR and the recognition of 15 new countries.
Mikhail Gorbachev was appointed Communist Party General Secretary in March of 1985 and quickly added two new words to the Russian vocabulary that would soon have a serious impact on Soviet life. Гла́сность (Glasnost), meaning political openness, granted a more democratic society, by incorporating things such as freedom of speech, and перестро́йка (Perestroika) meant restructuring and rebuilding of the economy. Gorbachev wanted to save both the Soviet Union and the Communist Party while incorporating more Democratic laws in order to please everyone. However, conservatives, such as many hard-line communists, leaders of the Red Army, and the KGB, believed he had gone too far and wanted him to slow down while the more democratic peoples, such as intellectuals, writers, artists, and members of the liberal party, who felt the Soviet system should be destroyed, encouraged Gorbachev to accelerate his plans. In December of 1985, Gorbachev appointed provincial party boss Boris Yeltsin as head of the Moscow Communist party.
Yeltsin, much like Gorbachev, also believed in change however he was much more democratic. His plans included returning all property to private owners as well as changing the Soviet's communist economy into a capitalist one. Yeltsin was fired in 1987 for criticizing the slow pace at which Gorbachev's reforms were taking place but was granted permission to remain in Moscow as Deputy Construction Minister. Yeltsin's criticism led to an arch-rivalry between the two men which would later give him the upper hand. At this time, only the Communist Party was legally allowed to exist in the Soviet Union, but in 1988 the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) were moving with thoughts of independence. Inter-ethic unrest amongst those that wanted independence was also the cause of violence in Azerbaijan as well as Georgia.
Gorbachev, however, continued his mission with perestroika and glasnost. He believed in reform but he did not want, under any circumstances, to let go of communism. “Gorbachev's unwillingness to let go of communism may have been his greatest flaw.” This greatly pleased the hard-line conservatives but many average citizens no longer needed it and he began to lose support. To the average person, communism had brought consistent shortages of fuel and food, as well as consumer goods. Surprisingly though, perestroika and glasnost did not significantly improve lives. In fact, for many, life became harder. A benefit to communism was that unemployment was almost non-existent but as the Soviet Union began to cut back the size of its military, nearly 5 million workers in the defense-industry lost their jobs.
In March of 1989, elections for parliament, called the Congress of People's Deputies, were held as part of Gorbachev's reforms. In Moscow, Boris Yeltsin won the major vote and was now back in national politics. That July, perestroika spilled over into the West as thousands of Eastern Europeans took part in a “jubilant exodus” to Austria. Gorbachev, still able to use force to hold his crumbling empire together, chose to do nothing as the Berlin Wall was torn down in November of "89. He gained support as freedom spread across the Soviet bloc but, at home, there was discontent with perestroika. Since Gorbachev had begun economic reform, shortages had increased and living standards had fallen. At home, Gorbachev was losing support, and fast. In January of 1990, Gorbachev called for parliament to allow for, previously unheard of, multi-party politics which finally stripped the Communist Party of its ongoing domination of power.
Until 1990, previous Soviet leaders were general secretaries of the party but now, thanks to perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev was voted the USSR"s first, and only, president by the Supreme Soviet. In July of the same year, Yeltsin resigned as a Communist Party member and Ukraine, closely followed by Armenia, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan, declared independence. Germany had been reunited and in October, Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize but by the end of the year, his most radical ministers had deserted him, forcing Gorbachev to move back to more hard-line policies. Despite the firm binding to the Soviet Union, Russians were allowed to vote for their own president for the first time. And they did just that in June of 1991, bringing Boris Yeltsin to power.
