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At the age of 54, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected to the general secretariat by Politburo on 11 March 1985. [29] In May 1985, Gorbachev publicly admitted the slowing down of the economic development and inadequate living standards, being the first Soviet leader to do so while also beginning a series of fundamental reforms.
Gorbachev was happy with the result, describing it as "an enormous political victory under extraordinarily difficult circumstances". [157] The new Congress convened in May 1989. [158] Gorbachev was then elected its chair—the new de facto head of state—with 2,123 votes in favor to 87 against. [159]
On becoming leader, Gorbachev saw withdrawal from the war as a key priority. [223] In October 1985, he met with Afghan Marxist leader Babrak Karmal, urging him to acknowledge the lack of widespread public support for his government and pursue a power sharing agreement with the opposition. [223]
The history of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was generally perceived as covering that of the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party from which it evolved. In 1912, the party formally split, and the predecessor to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union became a distinct entity.
Following Gorbachev's resignation as president of the USSR on 25 December 1991, the remaining republics, including Kazakhstan, Belarus and Russia itself, declared their independence and the Soviet Union ceased to exist on 31 December 1991. This dissolution removed any barriers that were keeping Armenia and Azerbaijan from waging a full-scale war.
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In 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev removed the constitutional role of the Communist Party. Because of this it allowed non-communists to take power. As a result, Boris Yeltsin then became the first president of Russia. [4] Russian President Boris Yeltsin would ban the CPSU in the aftermath of the failed coup attempt.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union and a reformer who helped end the Cold War and lead his country from communism to capitalism, died Tuesday.