On December 23, 1991, Yeltsin came to the Kremlin at the invitation of Gorbachev. Yeltsin held an eight-hour meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev, then secretary of the Soviet Union. After the talks, the parties reached an agreement that Gorbachev handed over his supreme leadership of the Soviet troops, as well as the USSR up to 2Control of 70,000 nuclear warheads.
On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev signed his last executive order as Soviet commander, in which he would resign as supreme commander of the Soviet armed forces and hand over work to Yeltsin. At about seven o'clock in the evening of the same day, Gorbachev delivered a speech on the resignation of the Soviet Union at the office of the supreme leader of the Soviet Union
"Considering the state of affairs in the Soviet Union today, I am resigning from my post as supreme leader of the Soviet Union, and I have taken this decision in the interests of the Soviet Union. I strongly support the ownership of the republics, insisting on the integrity of the Soviet state. But contrary to expectations, more and more countries have left the Soviet Union, and it has been difficult for the Soviet Union to show its former glory. But I believe that with our joint efforts, we will sooner or later make results, and our happy life will be in the society not far away, goodbye everyone".
At 19:38 on December 25, 1991, the flag representing the sickle and axe of communism was officially lowered over the Klim Palace, replaced by the white, blue and red tricolor of Russia. This flag lowering also announced the official dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Gorbachev will bear the main responsibility for the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was his drastic reforms that led the Soviet Union step by step into the abyss.
Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 in a peasant family in the Stavropol border district of the southern regions of the Soviet Union. At this time, the Soviet Union had been carrying out agricultural collectivization reforms for two years, and as soon as little Gorbachev was born, he felt a strong socialist atmosphere. Gorbachev's father, thanks to his higher education, worked as a tractor repairman in a collective farm. His father taught Gorbachev to read and write since he was a child, and Gorbachev also showed his strong learning ability and understood everything he was taught by his father. Gorbachev was curious about everything around him, and he saw everyone working at sunrise and sunset. Everyone ploughs together, harvests together, and even eats and drinks together. It wasn't until Gorbachev was six years old that the Soviet Union was shattered by changes. Under Stalin's leadership, the Soviet Union launched a purge to eliminate dissidents and consolidate his leadership.
Stalin branded all those who opposed him as counter-revolutionaries and imposed proletarian ** on them. In this purge, Gorbachev's dearest grandfather was also considered a counter-revolutionary. They found evidence of Gorbachev's grandfather's destruction of the farm's economy, arrested him, and threw him in prison. This also made Gorbachev doubt the Soviet Union for the first time, how could his kind grandfather be a bad person.
In 1941, Germany treacherously and unilaterally tore up the Soviet-German Friendship and Non-Aggression Pact and began a large-scale invasion of the western part of the Soviet Union. Due to the great trauma caused by the Great Purge, the Soviet Union could not find a good commander in the face of the German invasion. Coupled with the successful implementation of German blitzkrieg tactics, the Soviet side was losing ground one after another, and the German army quickly marched into the interior of the Soviet Union. At this time, the Gorbachev family did not follow the trend, and fled to the rear areas like many Soviets, still working on the farm. But because of the war, Gorbachev was forced to suspend his studies. He began to work and study his homework at the same time. Gorbachev's efforts always paid off, and in 1944 he became an assistant to a machine operator and joined the work on the farm. A year later, Gorbachev was transferred to the local farm station as a harvester assistant. In 1946, at the age of 15, Gorbachev was promoted to the rank of mechanic at the collective farm's mechanical station due to his excellent work, becoming the youngest mechanic. And for his diligence, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1949, which was undoubtedly a great honor for the peasants living at the bottom of the Soviet Union at that time. With this medal, Gorbachev began to appear in the public eye. And in 1950, Gorbachev was sent to Moscow University to study law.
During Gorbachev's college years, he began to get into formal contact with Communist books. He read Marx's "Communist Manifesto" and saw a beautiful blueprint for a communist society. But this was very different from the current situation of the Soviet Union at that time, and the enthusiastic Gorbachev silently vowed in his heart that he would change the current predicament of the Soviet Union.
In 1952, Gorbachev officially joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Three years later, Gorbachev successfully graduated from Moscow University. He first returned to his hometown to work and took the post of first secretary of the Youth League Committee of the city of Stavropol. At this time, Gorbachev showed an extraordinary vitality, and became extremely meticulous in his pursuit of perfection in both work and life. In the following decade, Gorbachev's position in the Soviet Union also rose.
By 1970, Gorbachev had become the first secretary of the Stavropol Territory of the CPSU, taking the top spot in the region. The following year, Gorbachev officially went from the local ** to the Soviet ** committee. After entering the world, Gorbachev experienced more than ten years of hard work. During this period, he gained a deeper understanding of the Soviet problem and had a dose of medicine in his heart. But before he has the power to reform, all he has to do is forbearance. But within the Stalinist system, if he wanted to overthrow the Stalinist model, the first step Gorbachev needed to do was to promote the Stalinist model. Only then will he be able to enter the top of the CPSU, and until he gets to the number one position, he will be able to change all this.
In 1984, Gorbachev was declared the number two man in the Soviet Union. He was in charge of the Soviet Union's agriculture, education, economy, and foreign affairs, and became a major figure in the Soviet political situation. In March 1985, Chernenko, then secretary of the Soviet Union, died of illness, and Gorbachev, with the support of Gromyko and others, officially assumed the posts of general secretary of the CPSU and chairman of the Council of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union. At this time, Gorbachev was only 54 years old.
Gorbachev finally achieved the position he had always dreamed of, and finally waited for his chance to make a big difference. Gorbachev immediately set about a radical reform. His first reform was in the economy. According to Gorbachev, the most important issue of Soviet reform was the privatization of the economy. He believes that the fundamental cause of the drawbacks brought about by the Stalinist model system in the Soviet Union is the public ownership of the economy in the Soviet Union. The current Soviet Union has concentrated all the resources of the country, which has led to the fact that the relationship between the Soviet people and the state has become more and more estranged.
Failure to ensure that the people are the masters of the country has caused people to lose their sense of ownership and enthusiasm for production. Therefore, in order to solve this malaise and to make the Soviet population feel the real benefits, it is necessary to introduce a private economy. With Gorbachev's support, the Soviet Union carried out reforms in the decentralization of state assets and the privatization of the state-run economy, and embarked on the path of a mixed economy in capitalist countries. However, Gorbachev's set of reforms caused the Soviet Union's economy to retreat instead of advancing, and the economic situation of the Soviet Union deteriorated to the extreme point since the founding of the Soviet Union.
Faced with the dilemma of economic reform, Gorbachev turned his reform energies to politics and ideology. Politically, he advocated the first system and proposed to replace the Communist Party's first ruling power with the first system, which directly led to the loss of the leadership of the country by the Communist Party and directly violated the road of socialism. He then put forward the idea of pluralism ideologically, no longer taking Marxism as the guiding ideology of the party, denying Marxism, and adopting humane socialism.
In this chaotic situation, many countries that had belonged to the Soviet Union began to become restless, and the Soviet Union was in danger of falling apart. Among them are several Soviet republics led by Russia and Belarus. In 1991, after discussions between Gorbachev and his leaders, the two sides adopted a compromise reunification. Gorbachev signed a treaty with Yeltsin and others on the Union of Sovereign States, granting these countries great autonomy in order to maintain the integrity of the Soviet Union. As a result, the agreement directly contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Although the fundamental cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union was the result of the rigidity of the Stalinist system, Gorbachev's reforms were also "indispensable," and Gorbachev should bear an important responsibility. So after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev lost his position as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union on the one hand, and on the other hand, he became a sinner for the collapse of the Soviet Union, so how did he spend his later life?
First of all, in the agreement between Gorbachev and Yeltsin, Yeltsin said that after Gorbachev retires, he will give Gorbachev a pension of up to 4,000 rubles a month, arrange a villa and a special car for him, plus a 17-person guard team responsible for Gorbachev's security. At that time, 4000 rubles was undoubtedly an astronomical amount, which would greatly guarantee Gorbachev's later life. Naturally, Gorbachev was very satisfied.
And on the eve of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviets themselves actually lost confidence in the Soviet Union at that time, and they were also overwhelmed by the Stalinist system. Therefore, when the failure of Gorbachev's perestroika led directly to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet people were indeed happy to hear about this situation. They have finally gotten rid of the Stalinist system and are about to usher in the dawn of a better life. Even at that time, there was a spontaneous movement to thank Bargorbachev in China, and Gorbachev had a smooth life in the first few years after **.
But unfortunately, the Soviets played a big joke on the Soviets. After Yeltsin went into shock on the Russian economy, Russia not only did not usher in an economic recovery, but instead exacerbated its economic deterioration. There is even a situation that is not as good as that of the former Soviet Union, and in the face of this situation, people have become nostalgic for the former Soviet Union. Naturally, Gorbachev, the executioner of the collapse of the Soviet Union, was in a difficult situation at home.
And with the drastic changes in the economy, there has been a large depreciation of the ruble. In just a few years, the astronomical amount of 4,000 rubles has become even basic and worth only 2 dollars. Although Gorbachev immediately expressed to the Russian side that the authorities gave him an annual salary of 40 times the minimum wage at that time. But this was clearly not enough for Gorbachgio, who had adapted to a life of luxury.
Gorbachev began to write books. Based on his former positions, he has published "The Spiritual Lessons of the 20th Century", "Leaving Klimt", and "History That Is Not Over: Interviews with Gorbachev". The book discloses issues with the former Soviet Union, as well as top secrets. Coupled with Gorbachev's sensitive identity, it attracted a large number of readers at home and abroad, and also earned Gorbachev a huge amount of manuscript fees.
Then he was invited by Western countries to participate in the filming of the German film "The End of the World". Gorbachev played himself in the play, and as a result, the film was a huge hit, and Gorbachev won numerous awards for the film. So a steady stream of invitations were sent from Western film companies, hoping that Gorbachev would participate in the film. These include the film "The New Free World", which tells the story of the disintegration of Czechoslovakia, "The Thatcher Downing Street Years", which depicts the British Iron Lady Margaret Thatcher, and even the American film "KGB Kennedy". Gorbachev's image began to evolve from a politician to an actor, and he became famous in the international community as a result.
In 1990, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev was awarded the German Nobel Peace Prize. And because of Gorbachev's renunciation of the GDR, it led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reintegration of Germany as a whole. This also made the Germans have an inexplicable affection for Gorbachev. In 2005, Germany awarded Gorbachev the Alpha Checkpoint German Unification Award. In 2008, Gorbachev was awarded the Medal of Freedom in the United States.
In addition, Gorbachev also received invitations from Pizza Hut and Louis Vuitton to serve as advertising endorsements, and Gorbachev's later life can be described as very exciting. In the face of the shouting and beating of the domestic people, Gorbachev was greatly praised in the international community. He is highly regarded by the United States and other Western capitalist countries, and is considered an outstanding statesman who has made great contributions to world peace.
But Gorbachev has not forgotten his identity as a former Soviet Union, and he has also stood up and publicly condemned the eastward advance of the United States and the European Union. Naturally, his performance has won unanimous praise from today's Russians, and with the passage of time, the anger of Russians against Gorbachev has also been washed away. Today's Gorbachev is just an old man enjoying his old age.