March 2: Birthday of Mikhail Gorbachev
Prayer Idea
Pray for the people and government of Russia.
History Note
Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931, in the town of Privolnoye in southwestern Russia, then part of the Soviet Union. He joined the Komsomol (Young Communist League) as a teenager and then the Communist Party as an adult.
Gorbachev rose to become a prominent member of the Communist Party. In 1971 he became a member of the Central Committee and in 1985 became the general secretary, effectively the leader of the Soviet Union.
During the next few years, Gorbachev oversaw implementation of policies called glasnost (“openness”) and perestroika (“restructuring”). These policies allowed more freedom of expression and made modest changes to Soviet control of the economy.
Countries in Eastern Europe that had been under Soviet control and member countries of the Soviet Union began to establish their independence. Gorbachev received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. The Soviet Union finally collapsed in 1991.
Mikhail Gorbachev died in 2022 at age 91.
Mikahil Gorbachev met with U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Iceland in 1986. Photo courtesy the National Archives, Reagan White House Photographs.
Learn More
Watch this video about Gorbachev’s life.
Learn more about Gorbachev and the Cold War at Homeschool History.
