When Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1985, life in the Soviet Union began...

When Mikhail Gorbachev becamethe leader of the Soviet Union in1985, life in the Soviet Union began to change.

Gorbachev wanted change.He wanted to reform Soviet society.

Gorbachev implemented anew policy known as

Glasnost or “Openness”.

Under Glasnost, freedom ofspeech and press wereencouraged. This was

unheard of in Stalin’s time.

Gorbachev also wanted to make the Soviet economy

more efficient.

Under Gorbachev’s Perestroika,economic restructuring occurred.Citizens were able to set up their own businesses.

Greater efficiency was encouragedin factories as workers were

rewarded for increased output.

Gorbachev also abandonedBrezhnev’s, a former Soviet

leader’s, policy that the Soviet Union had the right

to interfere in satellite countries.

Gorbachev’s policies of Glasnostand Perestroika produced manychanges.

Poland, a former Soviet satellite, elected a non-communist government in 1989 led bySolidarity and Lech Walesa.

In 1990, the Berlin Wall wastorn down.

Russia, Ukraine, and other

republics declared independence.

With all of these changes, theSoviet Union collapsed in 1991.

Of course, without a Soviet Union,the Cold War ended.

While the collapse of theSoviet Union brought manypositive changes, problems

also arose.

Transitioning to a free marketeconomy has been difficult.Unemployment and crimehave increased.