Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev (March 2, 1931) - the first and last president of the USSR, a public figure. In the biography of Gorbachev there are many moments for which, depending on political preferences, he is both respected and despised. His reign includes the period of "perestroika".


Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeevich was born on March 2, 1931, in the village of. Privolnoye, Medvedensky district, Stavropol Territory. He came from a family of repressed peasants.
During the Second World War, he lost his father, who died at the front. From the age of thirteen, he combined schooling with collective farm work.

When the young man was 15 years old, he was appointed assistant to the MTS combine operator. In 1949, Mikhail was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
At the age of nineteen, on the recommendations of the director of the school and teachers, he became a candidate member of the CPSU.
In 1950 he completed his studies with a silver medal and without exams he entered the Lomonosov Moscow State University. He was admitted to the CPSU in 1952.


After graduating from university, he began his journey in the Stavropol prosecutor's office. In 1955, he received the post of first secretary of the Stavropol Regional Committee. In 1966, he began to hold the post of first secretary of the party city committee.
In 1978, he took the post of Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. In 1980 he became a member of the Politburo. In 1985, he accepted the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU.
In 1990, Gorbachev, without leaving the post of General Secretary, was elected President of the Soviet Union.


On May 17, 1985, on the initiative of Gorbachev, an anti-alcohol campaign was launched. The price of alcoholic beverages increased by 45%. The production of alcohol and the cutting down of vineyards were reduced. Against the backdrop of moonshine that gained popularity, sugar disappeared from the sale.
In December 1985, on the advice of E. Ligachev, he appointed B. Yeltsin as the first secretary of the Moscow City Committee.
On May 1, 1986, after the Chernobyl tragedy, at the direction of Gorbachev, May Day demonstrations were held in Minsk and Kyiv.
November 19, 1986 became the initiator of the law "On individual labor activity." In the same year, cooperatives were gradually planted - the forerunner of modern emergency situations. With foreign exchange transactions were withdrawn.

In 1987 Perestroika was proclaimed.

In an effort to localize national conflicts, he took tough measures. In 1988, unprecedented measures were taken to disperse a Georgian demonstration and a rally of Alma-Ata youth. In the same year, a long-term conflict began in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The President actively opposed the separatist aspirations of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.
The years of life and rule of the first Soviet president were overshadowed by resounding failures. Products began to rapidly disappear from the shelves, a rationing system was introduced for many types of food. The result of the washing out of goods from stores was hyperinflation.

External debt under Gorbachev increased first to 31.3, and then to 70.3 billion US dollars.


In an effort to improve relations with the United States, he decided to reduce military spending. The USSR could not withstand the arms race with America and the NATO countries.
During the reign of Gorbachev, the collapse of the Warsaw Pact was carried out, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The fall of the Berlin Wall also happened. All this, according to historians, led to the loss of the USSR in the Cold War and contributed to its imminent collapse.