Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika

Date

1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)

Category

Politics & governance

Region

Soviet Union

Era

Contemporary

Significance

Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 11 March 1985 and launched two interlinked reform programmes.

Glasnost ("openness") relaxed censorship and permitted public discussion of social problems and past state failures, while perestroika ("restructuring") sought to revitalise the stagnant command economy by introducing limited market mechanisms and decentralising decision-making. The reforms, deepened from late 1986, also reshaped foreign policy: Gorbachev pursued arms-control agreements with the West and signalled that Moscow would not use force to preserve communist governments in Eastern Europe (effectively abandoning the Brezhnev Doctrine). Although intended to strengthen the Soviet system, the reforms unleashed political ferment, nationalist movements and economic disruption that the leadership could not control. They are widely regarded as decisive in enabling the peaceful revolutions of 1989 and, ultimately, the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Empires active in 1985–1991 (from 11 March 1985)

• Soviet Union
  1922 CE – 1991 CE
• British Empire
  1583 CE – 1997 CE
• Portuguese Empire
  1415 CE – 1999 CE
• Yugoslavia
  1918 CE – 1992 CE

Related politics & governance events

• Fall of the Berlin Wall
  9 November 1989
• Revolutions of 1989 across Eastern Europe
  1989 (Autumn of Nations)
• German reunification
  3 October 1990
• Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  August–December 1991
• Iranian Revolution
  January–February 1979
• The end of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's election in South Africa
  27 April 1994 (election); 10 May 1994 (inauguration)

Also relevant

• Brazil Returns to Civilian Rule After Two Decades
  1985

Further reading

Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire

The wider story

Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire

Roger Crowley

Fast-paced narrative of Portugal's seaborne empire.

Get it on Amazon →

As an Amazon Associate, Human Saga earns from qualifying purchases.