Gorbachev: aims and vision

Describe the generational shift

• At 54 years old, Gorbachev was the youngest Soviet leader since Stalin.

• His rise in 1985 marked a break from the gerontocracy of Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko,

• he promised “new thinking” to rejuvenate the USSR.

List Gorbachev’s primary aims

Primary aims:

• Revitalise the economy through efficiency, modernisation, and technology.

• Restore faith in socialism through openness and reform.

• Reduce Cold War tensions to cut military spending and redirect resources to civilian needs.

Describe diagnosis of stagnation

• By 1985, Soviet growth had slowed to 1–2% annually

• agriculture was so inefficient it required grain imports

• systemic corruption and bureaucracy hollowed out the system.

• Gorbachev concluded reform was unavoidable.

Describe global ambition

• While committed to preserving socialism, he sought to reform rather than dismantle it.

• He described his vision as creating a “socialism with a human face,”

  • blending Marxist ideals with humanistic and democratic elements.

Evaluate Gorbachev’s aims and vision

Gorbachev entered power as a pragmatic reformer, diagnosing deep-rooted stagnation and recognising the need for systemic change.

His vision was evolutionary, not revolutionary: to save the USSR through controlled reform, not to end it.

Yet his goals set in motion forces that would ultimately undermine the very system he hoped to preserve.