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gathered greater speed, quickly leaving the government in a defensive position,
as the Soviet Union threatened to unravel. At the same time, dramatic changes
developed from below. As Gorbachev loosened political controls, vast numbers
of Soviet citizens took on active and unprecedented political roles. The growth
of non-Communist and nationalist political parties was one sign of this political
awakening, as was the emergence of mass public demonstrations and, in the
extreme case, armed ethnic rebellions.
Gorbachev began his term by placing reformist allies, such as Alexander
Yakovlev, Eduard Shevardnadze, and Nikolai Ryzhkov, in key positions, by sig-
naling his commitment to a more open political culture by recalling the dissident
physicist Andrei Sakharov from internal exile, and in more traditional Soviet
fashion, by seeking to improve labor discipline through a widely unpopular cam-
paign to reduce alcohol consumption. The more ambitious agenda of perestroika
(restructuring) and glasnost (openness), for which he is widely known, met with
mixed and unexpected results. Economic reforms consisting of moderate
attempts to move toward a limited market economy met with resistance in the
Communist Party and government bureaucracy, leading to inflation, shortages,
and declining production by 1990. Political change, on the other hand, quickly
surpassed what Gorbachev had originally envisioned. In rapid succession, an
astonished Soviet public saw the Communist Party lose its leading role in the
economy, a deep reevaluation of hitherto taboo topics in Soviet history such as
the dark aspects of Stalin's rule, relatively open elections for a new Congress of
People's Deputies, the reemergence of a thriving, creative artistic and intellec-
tual climate, and democratic elections in the 15 Soviet constituent republics that
brought democratic and nationalist movements into positions of power.
In Western eyes, Gorbachev was the most successful in foreign policy, where
he overcame the initial suspicions of U.S. leaders to become a full partner in dis-
mantling key components of the cold war apparatus. He reversed the disastrous
occupation of Afghanistan, withdrawing all Soviet forces by early 1989. After
spurring Eastern European Communist governments to reform themselves, he
refrained from interfering in the remarkable revolutionary events of 1989, best
symbolized by the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, thus ensuring a mostly peace-
ful transition away from communism in the region. The following year Soviet
forces withdrew from Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union agreed to the once
unthinkable reunification of Germany. Finally, in July 1991 the two superpow-
ers signed the START I treaty, which sharply reduced their nuclear arsenals. For
his pivotal role in the peaceful transformation of Eastern Europe and the Soviet-
American relationship, Gorbachev received the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize.
Ultimately, the goal to reform the Soviet Union was doomed by the growth
of nationalism in most of its 15 constituent republics. Beginning with the
Nagorno-Karabakh crisis between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1988, a full range
of nationalist issues from autonomy to full independence surfaced in the non-
Russian borderlands. When a crackdown came in Georgia and Lithuania in the
spring of 1991, it was too late to stop the nationalist tide. With the democratic
election of Boris Yeltsin, his former ally turned nemesis, as president of the Rus-
sian Republic, Gorbachev's power as leader of the Soviet Union rapidly dimin-
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