Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

In 1982, the Soviet Unions leader was dying, and a new leader had to come to power. This was the very young Mikhail Gorbachev, the youngest leader of the Soviet Union since Stalin. Mikhail wanted to bring change to the Soviet Unions communist ways, such as not being open to other countries. He created Glasnost, which was openness to other countries. This allowed trade with other countries to help the people get new products. He also unbanned certain books and lessened media censorship. Through perestroika, or economic reconstruction, to revive the economy.
By opening the Soviet Union to other countries, Mikhail lessened the power of the Communist Party over the country. The political system slowly changed to something closer to a Democratic system, and the Communist Party lost control. People became tired of communist ways, and the system proved to be a failure. Communism soon fell, and East European countries adopted new policy's.