Gorbachev's reforms led to the collapse of the Soviet Union from "summary" of A People's Tragedy by Orlando Figes
Gorbachev's reforms were intended to revitalize the Soviet Union, but they ended up hastening its demise. His policies of glasnost, or openness, and perestroika, or restructuring, inadvertently unleashed forces that the Soviet system could not control. The loosening of censorship allowed for a flood of criticism and dissent that had been suppressed for decades. The restructuring of the economy led to chaos and shortages, as state control was relaxed and enterprises floundered without direction. The reforms also created a power vacuum at the top, as the Communist Party lost its grip on authority. Gorbachev's attempts to reform the party from within only weakened its legitimacy fu...
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