Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev dies at the age of 91

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Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev died on 30 August at the age of 91.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

• In June, he was taken to the hospital after suffering from a serious kidney ailment.

• He played an important role in ending the Cold War.

About Mikhail Gorbachev :

• He was born in 1931 in southern Russia.

• Gorbachev was the last leader of the former Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, he pushed for stronger Soviet-India ties. 

• During his tenure, he visited India twice in 1986 and 1988.

• He became general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985.

• He wanted to reform the communist regime on the lines of democratic principles by giving freedom to the citizens.

• Gorbachev's policies helped to open up the Soviet economy and liberalize society in the late 1980s.

• He played a major role in the withdrawal of Soviet troops from a nearly decade-long military operation in Afghanistan.

• He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 "for his role in the radical change in East-West relations".

Cold War :

• The Cold War was an ongoing political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and its allies that developed after World War II.

• This enmity between the two superpowers was first named the Cold War by George Orwell in an article published in 1945.

• Its period is considered to be between 1945 to 1991.

• The term "cold" is used because there was no direct large-scale war between the two sides.