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Mikhail Gorbachev elected as general secretary of the USSR
Only three hours after the death of the former general secretary Konstantin Chernenko Mikhail Gorbachev (pictured) is elected as the new general secretary of the Soviet Union. At age 54 Gorbachev is the youngest member of the Politburo and promotes rebuilding the soviet economy after the major decline of the previous "Brezhnev years". -
Period: to
gorbachev as general secretary
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glasnost/perestroika begins
Gorbachev begins what he calls political liberation or pestroika by inviting Yegor Ligachev and Nikolai Ryzhkov into the politburo. Gorbachev also had to appease the haldliners to keep them in check by promoting KGB head Viktor Chebrikov (pictured) from candidate to full member of the politburo -
signs of civil unrest
after showing support for gorbachev's perestroika plan, the human rights group CTAG is formed in latvia who wish for independence -
the thaw begins
Gorbachev continues to press for his perestroika plan, and on december 16th 1986 gorbachev invites Andrei Sakharov (pictured) to return to russia after being exiled for activisim against the politburo during the 1950's The member nations in the baltic show strong support for gorbachev's pestroika plan. -
riots in latvia
in latvia on the morning of december 26th after a rock concert audience members shout anti USSR phrases and begin to start a riot as security forces begin to halt their march the protesters overturn several police cars -
one-party democracy beginings
gobachev reccomends creating a one party democracy as the new russian government by allowing people to choose between more than one candidate when voting, the communist party head agrees with gorbachev's idea for the first time. -
the soviet union begins to lose control
gorbachev begins to lose control in the baltic and caucasus regions and inevitably lose control altogether in these areas due to revolution -
Soviet Union centre – the democratic explosion
the soviet union exercise a democratic ly approved decision for the first time since 1917, the congress of peoples gets new deputies one of which is Andrei Sakharov. -
The August Coup
After Gorbachev formed the new SFSR and a treaty was scheduled to be signed that would turn Russia into a federation once and for all, but the remaining Russian "patriots" (nationalists ) opposed this treaty and were against all of Gorbachev's policies and anything they beleived would weaken the soviet union, in order to prevent this gorbachev was placed under house arrest by his fellow politicians. this lead to a coup d'eta performed by the civilian population who were eventually detained. -
the fall
after the attempted coup, the russian government allowed gorbachev to return to office, but with his power severly placed in check with all of the othe office members opposing him and all of his assets removed. therefore he was pressured into ordering all soviet parties and officials dissolved, this in turn creating the new and hadicapped russian federation
