Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika reforms for the former Soviet Union in which year?

Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931) is a Russian and former Soviet politician. The eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, he was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. He was elected as General Secretary chiefly to push through economic reforms that would end stagnation.

Glasnost and perestroika were the names of two significant reforms introduced by the newly appointed Soviet leader in March of 1985. They were initiated after dismal times in the Soviet Union, due to economic stagnation, falling production, significant shortages and a marked decline in living standards.

At first a general idea rather than a fully worked-out plan, perestroika called for significant decentralization of Soviet economic policy and production. Economic recovery was not possible, Gorbachev argued, with the current level of centralized planning and bureaucratic control.

The second aspect of Gorbachev’s reforms was dubbed glasnost (Russian for ‘openness’). Glasnost lifted restrictions on information and debate that had been a feature of Soviet life since the days of Joseph Stalin.

Perestroika and glasnost marked a genuine attempt to revive the Soviet Union by creating a mixed economy and a freer society. These reforms, coupled with the changing political landscape in 1989-91, were contributing factors to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.