Mikhail Gorbachev was born on 2 March 1931 in Privolnoye. A Soviet politician, Gorbachev rose through the Communist Party to become its general secretary in 1985. He launched reforms known as perestroika, or restructuring, and glasnost, or openness, which loosened censorship and allowed more political debate. In foreign policy he signed an arms treaty with Ronald Reagan eliminating intermediate-range missiles, withdrew Soviet troops from Afghanistan and allowed the peaceful revolutions of 1989 in Eastern Europe. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. The reforms led to forces he could not control, and after a failed coup in August 1991 the Soviet Union dissolved in December, when he resigned.
Before and after
- 1 February 1931Birth of Boris Yeltsin
- 4 February 1931Birth of Isabel Martínez de Perón
- 8 February 1931Birth of James Dean
- 18 February 1931Birth of Toni Morrison
- 2 March 1931Birth of Mikhail Gorbachev
- 10 April 1931Death of Kahlil Gibran
- from 14 April 1931 to 1 April 1939Second Spanish Republic
- 15 April 1931Birth of Tomas Tranströmer
- 1 May 1931Construction of Empire State Building
More in Wars, politics & history
- from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918World War I
- 28 June 1919Treaty of Versailles
- from 1933 to 1945The Holocaust
- 30 January 1933Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany
- from 18 July 1936 to 1 April 1939Spanish Civil War
- from 1 September 1939 to 2 September 1945World War II
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.