Didn't Know How to Be Tsar: The Controversial Legacy of Mikhail Gorbachev

The last leader of the Soviet Union died tonight at the age of 91 in a moment in history that ironically contradicts what he wanted to achieve - Russia and the United States, the two superpowers that in the late 1980s worked together to repair the rift caused after 40 years of cold war, are once again on opposite sides of the fence

Tali Goldstein

31/08/2022

Wednesday, August 31, 2022, 12:38 Updated: 12:57

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On June 12, 1987, the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan, stood on stage with the Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Wall behind him, which brutally divided the German city into two parts, East and West, and declared: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!".

It was one of the most historic and iconic moments in modern human history.

At that moment, few people thought it was possible.

Advisors in the White House even thought the statement was too provocative and tried to convince Reagan not to say it.

In the end, in a move of great humanity, the president of the Soviet Union tore down the wall.

The last leader of the Soviet Union died tonight at the age of 91 in a moment in history that ironically contradicts what he wanted to achieve - Russia and the United States, the two superpowers that in the late 1980s worked together to repair the rift caused after 40 years of cold war, are once again standing on opposite sides of the fence, when the hostility between them is deeper than ever.

One of the reasons: the ambition of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin - whose rise was brought about by the collapse of the Soviet Union - to return the crown to its former glory and restore Russia's imperial position in the world, which Gorbachev, Putin's friend, destroyed.

In the 1980s, the world was a different place.

After about forty years of cold war and threats of using nuclear weapons and a series of hawkish and tough Soviet leaders from the old generation, a young, modern communist leader arrived and his vision and desire for reform were about to change Europe and the world.

In front of him stood Reagan, a conservative and capitalist leader who defined the Soviet Union as the "Evil Empire".

At first, it seemed that two leaders could not be more different in their views and policies, but thanks to his good friend and then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Reagan began to warm to the idea of ​​dialogue with Gorbachev.

In 1984, Thatcher said: "I like Mr. Gorbachev. We can do business together." In 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev had already signed a historic agreement aimed at controlling and reducing nuclear weapons stockpiles and proliferation.

Gorbachev provided new hope to a world that for about half a century was haunted by a mutual threat that at any moment a nuclear war might break out, that humanity might not reach its bitter end after all.

The capitalists Reagan and Thatcher understood this and took advantage of the momentum.

After a series of talks to reduce the stockpile of nuclear weapons, Gorbachev became the hero of the West.

But it was his decision not to involve military force to suppress the wave of popular resistance that erupted in 1989 against the communist regimes, which led to the liberation of Eastern Europe, the fall of the Iron Curtain, the end of the Cold War and the reunification of Germany.

Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush Sr., 1991 (Photo: Reuters)

But in complete contrast to the image of the hero Gorbachev received in the West, at home he was considered an outcast.

His attempt to save a rotten economic system set in motion, even without intention on his part, forces that destroyed it.

At the time, they even said of him in Russia that his steps heralded the "end of history."

Zhurovchev supported glasnost (openness) and perestroika (reconstruction), but the collapse of the Soviet Union, which surprised many with how quickly it happened, led to extreme economic conditions, disorder, unprecedented privatization, the rise of corrupt oligarchs - and what was perceived in Russia as "National humiliation".

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Condemned Putin.

Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Gorbachev, 2004 (Photo: Reuters)

Another fateful consequence for Russia and the West of the collapse was the rise of Vladimir Putin.

Putin, who was then stationed in Eastern Europe on behalf of the K.G.B.

Disappointed by the lack of use of the Red Army against the popular uprising, he saw the collapse of the Soviet Union as a historical disaster.

Once he had gained enough power, he set out to restore Russia's damaged prestige.

And Putin has no problem restoring this image even at the heaviest cost of war, as he proved in the February invasion of Ukraine.

There is no doubt that Gorbachev's vision of life in an open and democratic society will not be realized under Putin.

Socially, many Russians accuse Gorbachev to this day of harming living conditions, the cost of living, the fact that every citizen had a home, food and education (even if at the expense of his freedom).

In a survey conducted in 2021, 70% of Russians said that the country moved in a negative direction during his tenure.

In the past he was even ranked as the least popular leader of the last century in Russia.

During his rule, Gorbachev also drew criticism from the West when he sent tanks to Lithuania to curb hopes of independence among the Baltic states in 1991.

He was banned from entering Ukraine for five years after he said he supported the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2004.

However, unusual among most leaders in history is Gorbachev's awareness of the criticism leveled at him.

Although he tirelessly defended the democratic principles, he understood that many in Russia were looking for a different type of leadership.

"A tsar must behave like a tsar. I don't know how to do it," he even said.

In recent years, Gorbachev has denounced Putin and tried to convince the world of the danger inherent in the deterioration of relations between the world's two largest nuclear powers.

The gap between Gorbachev's image in the West and his image in Russia proves once again how different the two cultures are from each other - and that despite this, willing and ready leaders can live in peace even in the face of deep differences.

Sharon Stone, Shimon Peres and Gorbachev at the Russian leader's 80th birthday, 2011 (Photo: Government Press Office, Mark Neiman)

Ed Rogers, who served as a special assistant to Reagan and deputy assistant to President Bush Sr., said yesterday: "Gorbachev was intellectually honest about his ambitions for the Soviet Union. He wanted a healthy and prosperous society. He was honest about the economic system and knew that it needed to change it. He was true to human ambition. He didn't point guns at people in Berlin. He decided that the answer to the Soviet Union's problems was not to shoot a bunch of innocent people.

"Gorbachev didn't destroy the Soviet Union, he led it to a soft landing.

The reason it wasn't a devastating geopolitical event is thanks to his integrity and honesty."

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