Gorbachev

• Born 1931
• Studyed at Moscow University in 1950s. 
• Became a very persuasive speaker.
• Worked as a local Communist Party Official in home area. By 1978 he was a member f the Central Committee and in charge of agriculture.
• In 1980 he joined the Politburo
• Close friend of Andropov who became leader in 1983. Shared Andropov's ideas of reforming the USSR. He was second in command to Andropov.
• In 1985 he became the leader of the USSR.
• October 1990 he was awarded Nobel Peace Prize 

• When he became leader in 1985 he noticed several problems.
• He found alcoholism played a large role in why work efficiency was bad in comparison to the past.
• Life expectancy of Soviet men had declined from 67 in 1964 to 62 in 1980 due to chronic alcoholism.
• There was also low living standards of the population
• The USSR spent 50% of annual budget on weapons of mass destruction and not on welfare of nation.
• He complained that while Soviet scientists could send a pin-point accurate space probe to investigate a comet, Soviet refrigerators were shoddy.
• The standards of building works had also declined.
• The economy was being run by remote bureaucrats on a trial and error basis.
• He felt the Soviet Union needed a rethink and was not happy on how things were being run.

Glasnost :  

• Glasnost meant openess. 
• It allowed the Soviet people to have freeddom of speech and let them complain about things they didn't like about the USSR without being penalised.
• It promoted freedom and Gorbachev did not send people to the Gulag if they badmouthed the Soviet Union.
• It earned Gorbachev's a lot of respect as people weren't feeling as though they were being dictated under a Stalinist.
  Persestroika:
• Perestroika meant restructuring.
• It meant the Soviet Government would open up about areas of the Soviet Union that needed change. E.g it was no longer illegal to buy and sell for a profit.
• The arms race had drained the economy as it was spending 50% of annual budget on weapons whereas the US were only spending 6%.
• Gorbachev cut down on Spending on defence. After 50 years the Red Army began to shrink.
• He also withdrew troops from Afghanistan which brought  a new attitude to the USSR's relations to the world.