Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism.

Mikhail Gorbachev was able to clear up a path to the end of communism. He was praised for his youth and his strong political experience. After a while, he was voted as the the political secretary. At age 54 he became voted as one of the youngest Soviet leaders. He lived during the time of Stalins harsh rule. When he became voted as the newest leader, he had no intention of continuing Stalin's "useless" way of rule. He decided to pursue new ideas. He wanted to encourage the citizens to give him new ways of improving their society. Because of this, many new changes were made. Churches were able to open. The government was very unfair to its people.

Glasnost was a policy created by Mikhail. It was another word for "openness". It was a way to get the citizens of the Soviet Union to tell them any ways they could try to improve their society. This is what brought a lot of change to society. Some good, some of it bad.

Peristrokia was the idea of economic reconstructing. Mikhail wanted to find new ways to revive the Soviet economy. They were also able to open up their own small business .

The Collapse of Communism

Communism was a major political party and belief that swept throughout Europe. Other countries, such as the United States, were worried that communism would spread and take over the world.

Communism in Eastern Europe collapsed because there was no support, economical issues and political downfall. The USSR collapsed because Stalin put all his money into defensive arms. The Soviet Union collapsed because they had no money, and they had a lot of competition, and socialism failed for them. It did change the world in some ways. Almost every country that was under communism turned into capitalism instead. Communism originally tried to help solve the corruption of the system, but it was just a waste of time and it ended badly.