Mikhail Gorbachev and perestroika

NARRATOR: His name, more than any other politician's, is synonymous with the changes between East and West. Mikhail Gorbachev, former general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Soviet Union. He invented the Soviet Union's reforms of glasnost and perestroika.

HANS-DIETRICH GENSCHER: "Gorbachev introduced a revolution with the politics of perestroika. He's really a revolutionary."

NARRATOR: Mikhail Gorbachev grew up in a small village in the Caucasus, the son of a farmer. His father used to operate a combine harvester. The family was poor. Gorbachev left to study law in Moscow. It was here that he met and married his wife, Raisa. Upon graduating, he returned to his home town where he launched his political career. In 1985, Gorbachev becomes leader of the Soviet Union. Hopes are raised in both East and West. In 1989, the people of East Germany call for freedom and Gorbachev's help.

MIKHAIL GORBACHEV: "We were prepared for it. We were able to see in advance that history was accelerating its course."

NARRATOR: Others tried to block out reality. The leadership in the GDR resisted change. That was their swan song. In 1990, Gorbachev invites the then German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, to his home in the Crimea. He clears the path for German reunification. Enemies become friends. The disarmament negotiations initiated by Gorbachev change the world order.

GORBACHEV: "In those days in Europe there were two powerful blocks opposing each other. It was like sitting on a powder keg. It if had exploded - it's difficult for me to even think about it."

NARRATOR: Gorbachev brings the Cold War to an end and is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Back home, many people are in need. Even the communist party's rank and file are unhappy. They fear Gorbachev's economic policies and the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 1991, there's a coup in Moscow. Although it fails, Gorbachev is politically weakened. Boris Yeltsin emerges from the crisis as the new strong man of the Soviet Union. He humiliates his rival in front of the whole world. Gorbachev's rule has come to an end.

GORBACHEV: "I trusted the wrong people, reactionaries around me, who, just for appearances sake, had supported me in perestroika."

NARRATOR: His critics still blame him for the collapse of the Soviet Union and he has few supporters in his home country. But in the West, Mikhail Gorbachev is revered as the statesman who brought Germany back together again.