by Northern Breeze

Last Soviet leader -Mikahil Gorbachev

The last Soviet leader, Mikahil Gorbachev, died at the age of 91. His reforms put an end to the nuclear arms race and the Cold War. Some blame Mikhail Gorbachev for the collapse of the Soviet Union. But the economy and political structure were already in deep decay.

Gorbachev was a good leader in comparison to his predecessors, but he inherited a hopeless situation. The Soviet Union’s economy was already pitiful and beyond reform, along with the fact that the nation had way too many minorities who were tired of being dominated by the Russians and wanted independence.

Gorbachev tried his hardest to straighten things out and deserves credit for being willing to make peace with the United States and give up the arms race, along with letting Eastern Europe go. He was rewarded for this approach with the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990, arguably his greatest achievement.

After more than 40 years of the world seeming to teeter on the brink of a nuclear holocaust, the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States had ended. On Christmas Day 1991, Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev shocked the world with these words, “We’re now living in a new World” announcing the dissolution of the Soviet Union and his resignation from its top post.