His office said earlier that he was being treated at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital. He died after a long illness, according to the medical unit, according to news agencies. Image: Mikhail Gorbachev with former US President Ronald Reagan at a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland in October 1986. Photo: AP Tributes to the man who brought the end of the Cold War – live updates Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his deepest condolences and will send an official telegram to his family, according to a Kremlin spokesman. One of the most important figures of the late 20th century, Mr Gorbachev was known for ending the Cold War without blood, but failed to prevent the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, he forged arms reduction agreements with the US, including former President Ronald Reagan, and partnerships with Western powers to lift the Iron Curtain separating Europe from World War II to bring about the reunification of Germany. When he became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985 at the age of 54, he set out to revitalize the communist system and forge a new union based on a more equal partnership between the 15 republics of the USSR – Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. But within six years, both communism and the Union collapsed. He attempted political and economic reforms simultaneously and on an overly ambitious scale, unleashing forces he could not control. Image: Mr Gorbachev addresses a group of 150 business executives in San Francisco in June 1990. Photo: AP As pro-democracy protests swept the Soviet bloc nations of communist Eastern Europe in 1989, he refrained from using force – unlike predecessors who had deployed tanks to crush uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. However, the protests fueled aspirations for autonomy in the republics, and the last Soviet leader failed to anticipate the strength of nationalist sentiment. Glasnost encouraged nationalists Mr Gorbachev’s policy of “glasnost” – freedom of speech – allowed previously unthinkable criticism of the party and the state, but also emboldened nationalists who began pushing for independence in the Baltics and later elsewhere. His series of extraordinary reforms quickly overtook him and led to the collapse of the authoritarian state. Read more: Village boy whose democratic instincts and aversion to nuclear weapons changed the 20th century How Mikhail Gorbachev befriended UK leaders Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:46 Mikhail Gorbachev meets Margaret Thatcher in 1987 His power was wiped out by an attempted coup against him in August 1991 and he spent his last months in power watching republic after republic declare independence until he stepped down on Christmas Day that year. The next day, the Soviet Union officially dissolved. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “saddened by the death of Gorbachev”. He wrote on Twitter that he “always admired the courage and integrity he displayed in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion.” “In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all.” Image: Photo: AP But many Russians never forgave Mr Gorbachev for the turmoil his reforms unleashed, seeing the resulting plunge in their living standards as too high a price to pay for democracy. He later said that he had not considered using widespread violence to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear nation. “The country was loaded to the brim with weapons. And it would have immediately pushed the country into a civil war,” he said. Jonathan Eyal, of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said: “He didn’t think the Soviet Union was actually an empire in its own right of nations that didn’t want to commit. “Like all Soviet leaders, and I dare say like Russian leaders today, he saw the Soviet Union as synonymous with Russia and simply could not understand why nations wanted to be independent.”
title: “Mikhail Gorbachev Former Soviet Leader Dies Aged 91 Global News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-22” author: “Janis Mullaney”
His office said earlier that he was being treated at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital. He died after a long illness, according to the medical unit, according to news agencies. Image: Mikhail Gorbachev with former US President Ronald Reagan at a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland in October 1986. Photo: AP Tributes to the man who brought the end of the Cold War – live updates Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his deepest condolences and will send an official telegram to his family, according to a Kremlin spokesman. One of the most important figures of the late 20th century, Mr Gorbachev was known for ending the Cold War without blood, but failed to prevent the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, he forged arms reduction agreements with the US, including former President Ronald Reagan, and partnerships with Western powers to lift the Iron Curtain separating Europe from World War II to bring about the reunification of Germany. When he became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985 at the age of 54, he set out to revitalize the communist system and forge a new union based on a more equal partnership between the 15 republics of the USSR – Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. But within six years, both communism and the Union collapsed. He attempted political and economic reforms simultaneously and on an overly ambitious scale, unleashing forces he could not control. Image: Mr Gorbachev addresses a group of 150 business executives in San Francisco in June 1990. Photo: AP As pro-democracy protests swept the Soviet bloc nations of communist Eastern Europe in 1989, he refrained from using force – unlike predecessors who had deployed tanks to crush uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. However, the protests fueled aspirations for autonomy in the republics, and the last Soviet leader failed to anticipate the strength of nationalist sentiment. Glasnost encouraged nationalists Mr Gorbachev’s policy of “glasnost” – freedom of speech – allowed previously unthinkable criticism of the party and the state, but also emboldened nationalists who began pushing for independence in the Baltics and later elsewhere. His series of extraordinary reforms quickly overtook him and led to the collapse of the authoritarian state. Read more: Village boy whose democratic instincts and aversion to nuclear weapons changed the 20th century How Mikhail Gorbachev befriended UK leaders Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:46 Mikhail Gorbachev meets Margaret Thatcher in 1987 His power was wiped out by an attempted coup against him in August 1991 and he spent his last months in power watching republic after republic declare independence until he stepped down on Christmas Day that year. The next day, the Soviet Union officially dissolved. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “saddened by the death of Gorbachev”. He wrote on Twitter that he “always admired the courage and integrity he displayed in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion.” “In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all.” Image: Photo: AP But many Russians never forgave Mr Gorbachev for the turmoil his reforms unleashed, seeing the resulting plunge in their living standards as too high a price to pay for democracy. He later said that he had not considered using widespread violence to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear nation. “The country was loaded to the brim with weapons. And it would have immediately pushed the country into a civil war,” he said. Jonathan Eyal, of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said: “He didn’t think the Soviet Union was actually an empire in its own right of nations that didn’t want to commit. “Like all Soviet leaders, and I dare say like Russian leaders today, he saw the Soviet Union as synonymous with Russia and simply could not understand why nations wanted to be independent.”
title: “Mikhail Gorbachev Former Soviet Leader Dies Aged 91 Global News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-30” author: “Tom Dinwiddie”
His office said earlier that he was being treated at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital. He died after a long illness, according to the medical unit, according to news agencies. Image: Mikhail Gorbachev with former US President Ronald Reagan at a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland in October 1986. Photo: AP Tributes to the man who brought the end of the Cold War – live updates Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his deepest condolences and will send an official telegram to his family, according to a Kremlin spokesman. One of the most important figures of the late 20th century, Mr Gorbachev was known for ending the Cold War without blood, but failed to prevent the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, he forged arms reduction agreements with the US, including former President Ronald Reagan, and partnerships with Western powers to lift the Iron Curtain separating Europe from World War II to bring about the reunification of Germany. When he became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985 at the age of 54, he set out to revitalize the communist system and forge a new union based on a more equal partnership between the 15 republics of the USSR – Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. But within six years, both communism and the Union collapsed. He attempted political and economic reforms simultaneously and on an overly ambitious scale, unleashing forces he could not control. Image: Mr Gorbachev addresses a group of 150 business executives in San Francisco in June 1990. Photo: AP As pro-democracy protests swept the Soviet bloc nations of communist Eastern Europe in 1989, he refrained from using force – unlike predecessors who had deployed tanks to crush uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. However, the protests fueled aspirations for autonomy in the republics, and the last Soviet leader failed to anticipate the strength of nationalist sentiment. Glasnost encouraged nationalists Mr Gorbachev’s policy of “glasnost” – freedom of speech – allowed previously unthinkable criticism of the party and the state, but also emboldened nationalists who began pushing for independence in the Baltics and later elsewhere. His series of extraordinary reforms quickly overtook him and led to the collapse of the authoritarian state. Read more: Village boy whose democratic instincts and aversion to nuclear weapons changed the 20th century How Mikhail Gorbachev befriended UK leaders Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:46 Mikhail Gorbachev meets Margaret Thatcher in 1987 His power was wiped out by an attempted coup against him in August 1991 and he spent his last months in power watching republic after republic declare independence until he stepped down on Christmas Day that year. The next day, the Soviet Union officially dissolved. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “saddened by the death of Gorbachev”. He wrote on Twitter that he “always admired the courage and integrity he displayed in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion.” “In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all.” Image: Photo: AP But many Russians never forgave Mr Gorbachev for the turmoil his reforms unleashed, seeing the resulting plunge in their living standards as too high a price to pay for democracy. He later said that he had not considered using widespread violence to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear nation. “The country was loaded to the brim with weapons. And it would have immediately pushed the country into a civil war,” he said. Jonathan Eyal, of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said: “He didn’t think the Soviet Union was actually an empire in its own right of nations that didn’t want to commit. “Like all Soviet leaders, and I dare say like Russian leaders today, he saw the Soviet Union as synonymous with Russia and simply could not understand why nations wanted to be independent.”
title: “Mikhail Gorbachev Former Soviet Leader Dies Aged 91 Global News Klmat” ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-19” author: “Hazel Keesee”
His office said earlier that he was being treated at Moscow’s Central Clinical Hospital. He died after a long illness, according to the medical unit, according to news agencies. Image: Mikhail Gorbachev with former US President Ronald Reagan at a meeting in Reykjavik, Iceland in October 1986. Photo: AP Tributes to the man who brought the end of the Cold War – live updates Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed his deepest condolences and will send an official telegram to his family, according to a Kremlin spokesman. One of the most important figures of the late 20th century, Mr Gorbachev was known for ending the Cold War without blood, but failed to prevent the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, he forged arms reduction agreements with the US, including former President Ronald Reagan, and partnerships with Western powers to lift the Iron Curtain separating Europe from World War II to bring about the reunification of Germany. When he became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985 at the age of 54, he set out to revitalize the communist system and forge a new union based on a more equal partnership between the 15 republics of the USSR – Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. But within six years, both communism and the Union collapsed. He attempted political and economic reforms simultaneously and on an overly ambitious scale, unleashing forces he could not control. Image: Mr Gorbachev addresses a group of 150 business executives in San Francisco in June 1990. Photo: AP As pro-democracy protests swept the Soviet bloc nations of communist Eastern Europe in 1989, he refrained from using force – unlike predecessors who had deployed tanks to crush uprisings in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. However, the protests fueled aspirations for autonomy in the republics, and the last Soviet leader failed to anticipate the strength of nationalist sentiment. Glasnost encouraged nationalists Mr Gorbachev’s policy of “glasnost” – freedom of speech – allowed previously unthinkable criticism of the party and the state, but also emboldened nationalists who began pushing for independence in the Baltics and later elsewhere. His series of extraordinary reforms quickly overtook him and led to the collapse of the authoritarian state. Read more: Village boy whose democratic instincts and aversion to nuclear weapons changed the 20th century How Mikhail Gorbachev befriended UK leaders Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:46 Mikhail Gorbachev meets Margaret Thatcher in 1987 His power was wiped out by an attempted coup against him in August 1991 and he spent his last months in power watching republic after republic declare independence until he stepped down on Christmas Day that year. The next day, the Soviet Union officially dissolved. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “saddened by the death of Gorbachev”. He wrote on Twitter that he “always admired the courage and integrity he displayed in bringing the Cold War to a peaceful conclusion.” “In a time of Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, his tireless commitment to opening up Soviet society remains an example to us all.” Image: Photo: AP But many Russians never forgave Mr Gorbachev for the turmoil his reforms unleashed, seeing the resulting plunge in their living standards as too high a price to pay for democracy. He later said that he had not considered using widespread violence to try to keep the USSR together because he feared chaos in a nuclear nation. “The country was loaded to the brim with weapons. And it would have immediately pushed the country into a civil war,” he said. Jonathan Eyal, of the Royal United Services Institute think-tank, said: “He didn’t think the Soviet Union was actually an empire in its own right of nations that didn’t want to commit. “Like all Soviet leaders, and I dare say like Russian leaders today, he saw the Soviet Union as synonymous with Russia and simply could not understand why nations wanted to be independent.”
