History UsefulNotes / MikhailGorbachev

At the same time, however, the Soviet republics all started feeling a bit antsy. Remembering that the Soviet Union was supposed to be a loose federation, the republics decided one by one to declare independence. Finally, UsefulNotes/TheNewRussia, having elected UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin as President, declared independence from the USSR, leaving Gorbachev president of exactly squat. He himself finally resigned (or as he put it, "discontinued his activities as president") on Christmas Day, 1991, marking the official end of the USSR and the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.

After Chernenko's death in March 1985, the CPSU was clearly sick of the stagnation, and the Central Committee put Gorbachev in charge. Gromyko apparently had hopes that he might be able to use the much younger Gorbachev as the same kind of PuppetKing he was often accused of making Chernenko into; Gorbachev quickly proved that he was very much his own man by kicking Gromyko upstairs to a ceremonial role, leaving the new leader free to very quickly implement a number of policies known forever by one-word Russian names:

* In ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon is an {{Expy}} of Mikhail Gorbachev with shades of UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln as well. In a case of life imitating art, the movie's plot mirrors the August Coup, which happened after it was written and filmed, though before its release. Unlike Gorbachev, Gorkon is successfully assassinated. Thirty-one years later, Gorkon's actor, Creator/DavidWarner, and the real Gorbachev died just a month apart from each other.

Gorbachev eventually passed away at age 91 in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow on August 30, 2022 after a period of prolonged illness. Like previous Soviet leaders, his funeral happened at the House of Trade Unions. Putin declined giving him national funerals (which didn't prevent thousands from showing up) but sent his own guards as symbolic presidential presence. Outside of [[UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}} Viktor Orbán]], no foreign chief of state attended it, due to Russia's diplomatic isolation resulting from the ongoing unprovoked aggression war in UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}. This also inadvertently showcased the extent of how Putin has erased Gorbachev's legacy.

** In ""[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E13TwoBadNeighbors Two Bad Neighbors]]", Gorbachev (voiced by Creator/HankAzaria) pays a visit to UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush in Springfield and finds him fighting with Homer. Mikhail is amused by this unheard strife and Bush loses face in front of the Russians.

* In ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', Chancellor Gorkon is an {{Expy}} of Mikhail Gorbachev. In a case of life imitating art, the movie's plot mirrors the August Coup, which happened after it was written and filmed, though before its release. Unlike Gorbachev, Gorkon is successfully assassinated. Thirty-one years later, Gorkon's actor, Creator/DavidWarner, and the real Gorbachev died just a month apart from each other.

* In {{Film/UHF}}, he is depicted as an upcoming contestant on the fictional show ''Celebrity Mud Wrestling''.

** Pays a visit to UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush in "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E13TwoBadNeighbors Two Bad Neighbors]]" and finds him fighting with Homer. Mikhail is amused by this unheard strife and Bush loses face in front of the Russians.

[[caption-width-right:300:[[WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory Did somebody say 'birthmarks'?]] [[note]]Maybe "birthmarx", if you're feeling punny.[[/note]]]]

Gorbachev eventually passed away at age 91 in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow on August 30, 2022 after a period of prolonged illness. Like previous Soviet leaders, his funeral happened at the House of Trade Unions. Putin declined giving him national funerals (which didn't prevent thousands from showing up) but sent his own guards as symbolic presidential presence. Outside of UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}'s Viktor Orbán, no foreign chief of state attended it, due to Russia's diplomatic isolation resulting from the ongoing unprovoked aggression war in UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}. This also inadvertently showcased the extent of how Putin has erased Gorbachev's legacy.

Gorbachev eventually passed away at age 91 in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow on August 30, 2022 after a period of prolonged illness. Like previous Soviet leaders, his funeral happened at the House of Trade Unions. Putin declined giving him national funerals (which didn't prevent thousands from showing up) but sent his own guards as symbolic presidential presence. Outside of UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}'s Viktor Orbán, no foreign chief of state attended it, due to Russia's diplomatic isolation resulting from the ongoing unprovoked aggression towards UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}. This also inadvertently showcased the extent of how Putin has erased Gorbachev's legacy.

Gorbachev eventually passed away at age 91 in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow on August 30, 2022 after a period of prolonged illness. Like previous Soviet leaders, his funeral happened at the House of Trade Unions. Putin declined giving him national funerals (which didn't prevent thousands from showing up) but sent his own guards as symbolic presidential presence. Outside of UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}'s Viktor Orbán, no foreign chief of state attended it, due to Russia's diplomatic isolation resulting from the ongoing unprovoked aggression towards UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}. This also inadvertently showcased the extent of how Putin had erased Gorbachev's legacy.

Gorbachev eventually passed away at age 91 in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow on August 30, 2022 after a period of prolonged illness. Like previous Soviet leaders, his funeral happened at the House of Trade Unions. Putin declined giving him national funerals (which didn't prevent thousands from showing up) but sent his own guards as symbolic presidential presence. Outside of UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}'s Viktor Orbán, no foreign chief of state attended it, due to Russia's diplomatic isolation resulting from the ongoing unprovoked aggression of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}.

* In ''WebOriginal/TheDeathOfRussia'', Gorbachev chooses to stay in Russia following the 1993 coup that kills Yeltsin, even though many members of Yeltsin's government have either fled to the safety of Kaliningrad or are being gunned down in the streets by {{black shirt}}s. After the [[CommieNazis National Salvation Front]] take power in Russia, Gorbachev is arrested by the regime [[spoiler:though survives his time in captivity long enough to be bartered by the Fascists for supplies sometime after the civil war begins]].

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Михаи́л Серге́евич Горбачёв, March 2, 1931 - August 30, 2022) was a Soviet UsefulNotes/{{Russia}}n statesman, and the last leader of the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. Born to peasants in 1931, he was the only Soviet leader born after UsefulNotes/RedOctober, which had a profound effect on how he governed his country.

Gorbachev eventually passed away at age 91 in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow on August 30, 2022 after a period of prolonged illness. Like previous Soviet leaders, his funeral happened at the House of Trade Unions. Putin declined giving him national funerals (which didn't prevent thousands from showing up) but sent his own guards as symbolic presidential presence. Outside of UsefulNotes/{{Hungary}}'s Viktor Orbán, no chief of state attended it, due to Russia's diplomatic isolation resulting from the ongoing invasion of UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}.

[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gorbachev_2869.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:220:[[WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory Did somebody say 'birthmarks'?]] [[note]]Maybe "birthmarx", if you're feeling punny.[[/note]]]]

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Михаи́л Серге́евич Горбачёв, March 2, 1931 - August 30, 2022) was a Soviet Russian statesman, and the last leader of the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]]. Born to peasants in 1931, he was the only Soviet leader born after UsefulNotes/RedOctober, which had a profound effect on how he governed his country.

Gorbachev eventually passed away at age 91 in the Central Clinical Hospital in Moscow on August 30, 2022 after a period of prolonged illness.

Gorbachev was also famous for the rather large port wine stain birthmark on top of his bald head. These are easily removed, but Gorbachev declined to do so -- once he became well-known, it would have seemed vain to have done so. One gets the feeling that he would have gotten nowhere as a politician in America without surgery. Official state portraits of him had his birthmark [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gorbachev_Party_Document_of_the_CPSU.gif edited out]], however.

How you feel about Gorbachev seems to depend on where you live. The West tends to be very positive, seeing him as a good man who helped end the UsefulNotes/ColdWar peacefully. The better-off former Communist countries (especially the Baltic states) have a more complex opinion, hating him for being the leader of the hated Soviet Union and for ordering some bloody protest repressions there towards the end (not to mention his support to the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, which made him persona non grata in UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}), but also recognizing that it was his policies that allowed them to get to where they are now. In Russia he is generally viewed very negatively, where the days of the USSR are often viewed through a NostalgiaFilter, while the economic turmoil of the 1990s are not. Even Russians who ''aren't'' [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell bummed that communism fell]] tend to view him negatively.

How you feel about Gorbachev seems to depend on where you live. The West tends to be very positive, seeing him as a good man who helped end the UsefulNotes/ColdWar peacefully. The better-off former Communist countries (especially the Baltic states) have a more complex opinion, hating him for being the leader of the hated Soviet Union and for ordering some bloody repressions towards the end (not to mention his support to the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, which made him persona non grata in UsefulNotes/{{Ukraine}}), but also recognizing that it was his policies that allowed them to get to where they are now. In Russia he is generally viewed very negatively, where the days of the USSR are often viewed through a NostalgiaFilter, while the economic turmoil of the 1990s are not. Even Russians who ''aren't'' [[WhyWeAreBummedCommunismFell bummed that communism fell]] tend to view him negatively.