Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

People praised Mikhail's youth, and he became the youngest Soviet leader at age 54. In choosing Mikhail people supported the mild reform of the Soviet Union. Mikhail also made up new ideas of his own instead of following other leaders like Stalin. Past leaders had encouraged totalitarianism, and rewarded silence and opposed people from acting on their own. Although, Mikhail did not want this. So he announced a policy called Glasnost, which was an openness that allowed citizens to discuss ways to improve their country and society. He also introduced perestroika, which was economic restructuring. Both these policies made a path to the collapse of communism,because it gave the citizens a voice.