European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - August 20, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Continued from Page 1 Bush led to substantial troop and weapons cuts in both the East and West blocs. The soviet unions withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 removed the last major hurdle to improving relations with the West. Gorbachev maintained a steadfast belief in communism and held that the democratic shifts inside the soviet Union and in Moscow s foreign policies were not threats to communism but Means of transforming an outdated  in need of fixing. Gorbachev the youngest to hold the soviet unions most powerful position since Josef Stalin 60 years earlier was also the first soviet Leader to have been born after the 1917 russian revolution and the first never to have served in the military he was 14 when world War ii ended. A a the Speed of Gorbachev a climb to Power gained a finish line thrust when in 1985 he was named Secretary general Only four hours after the official announcement of the death of Konstantin u. Chernenko an ailing Man of 73 who had been in office Only 13 months. Elected to the Kremlin s elite politburo in 1980, Gorbachev first made his Mark by revamping the soviet Union s disastrous agriculture program. The agriculture ministry a persistent failures caused major problems for the late soviet leaders Leonid i. Brezhnev and Yuri Andropov. After the death of Andropov in february 1984, Gorbachev effectively became second in command of the ruling body and became the logical successor to Chernenko Arkady Shevchenko a former soviet undersecretary at the United nations who defected to the United states and in 1985 published a Book about his experiences said Gorbachev Quot was known As a reasonable Man without the usual arrogance of party apparatchiks Quot and Quot a Man to watch for  Gorbachev in 1983 extended his interests to foreign policy when he took official visits to Portugal and Canada. In april 1984, he was appointed chairman of the supreme soviet foreign affairs committee. Gorbachev s widely publicized trip to Britain in december 1984, three months before he assumed Power enhanced his International reputation As a leading voice in the Kremlin. During that trip the Media compared him to the charismatic president Kennedy. A British politician once described him As Quot very assured and not  another said Quot he was an impressive Man of obvious authority and influence impressively relaxed with a Good sense of humor Quot Gorbachev a Wile Raisa three years his Junior is a professor of philosophy and a devout communist. She was introduced to the West when she accompanied her husband on his 1984 British trip. She became an instant Darling of the Media. Gorbachev was born March 2, 1931, to a poor peasant family and was baptized in the Village of Privol Noye 125 Miles from Stavropol in the farmlands of Southern Russia. Gorbachev at age 15 held his first Job at a tractor station in his native Stavropol Region. His father Sergei was a party member and Combine Driver his Mother Maria still lives in Privol Noye where she attends russian orthodox Church services. As a teen Ager Gorbachev drove a Combine. His performance earned him the red Banner of labor in 1949, a rare distinction for an 18-year-old, and he joined the communist party in 1952. His Good grades and the party background of his parents gained him a place at Moscow University studying Law. There he met philosophy student Raisa Titorenko and they married in 1954. After graduating in 1955, Gorbachev returned to the Stavropol Region As an official of Komsomol the communist party youth league. According to an official biography Gorbachev s Rise Mikhail Gorbachev s face stares from the cover of Tima Magazine after the publication named the soviet Leader Man of the decade. Gorbachev was time s Man of the year in 1987. Was due in part to his ability Quot to captivate people with his brilliance. His originality of thought and his Charm attracted people to  he moved up rapidly through the party ranks and several government posts including two years As chief of the department of state farms in Stavropol. There Gorbachev met High officials who vacationed at local spas including Kab chief Andropov Andropov apparently backed Gorbachev a appointment As top party official for agriculture. When Brezhnev died in 1982 and Andropov became party Leader. Gorbachev helped Lead a drive against corruption. After Andropov died in 1984gorbachev was a candidate to succeed his former Mentor. But the party sold guard picked Chernenko a Brezhnev protege. After Chernenko died Gorbachev was chosen party chief. Gorbachev likened his sweeping reforms to the 1917 revolution calling them a revolution Quot without the gunshots a the Keystone was perestroika designed to reduce Central planning and allow entrepreneurs to open quasi private cooperatives. Glasnost the other key to Reform encouraged candid discussion of social ills Gorbachev sought closer ties to the United states and met with president Reagan five times. The two leaders worked to trim the two nations nuclear arsenals. In 1989, Gorbachev withdrew soviet troops from Afghanistan ending a demoralizing War. When unrest swept communist regimes from Power in Eastern Europe Gorbachev did not intervene. Domestically he revamped the political system persuading the Congress of people s deputies to elect him to the new presidency in1990, later that year the Congress invested him with extraordinary Powers. Warning that the country was sliding toward dictatorship foreign minister Eduard a. Shevardnadze resigned. In 1986, Gorbachev lifted the internal exile of Nobel prize winning dissident Andrei d. Sakharov. Time Magazine named Gorbachev its Man of the year for 1987, calling him Quot a dedicated communist and a. Ruthless political opportunist Quot and Quot a Symbol of Hope for a new kind of soviet  time wrote that he Quot became something More a Symbol of Hope for a new kind of soviet Union More open More concerned with the welfare of its citizens and less with the spread of its ideology  on Jan. 1,1990, time named him its Man of the decade. And Gorbachev himself won the Nobel peace prize for his role in arms treaties Arra ending the cold  chronology Here is a chronology of the major events that shaped the life and career of Mikhail s. Gorbachev March 2, Mikhail Serg Yevich to bom in Privol Noye 1931 a Rural town in the Stavropol Region of Southern Russia. 1950 Enrols at Moscow state University in Moscow to study Law. 1952 becomes a full member of the communist party and becomes Active in the Komsomol the party a youth organization. 1954 marries fellow student Raisa Maximova Titorenko. 1955 returns to Stavropol and begins full time Komsomol work. 1960 appointed first Secretary of Stavropol regional Komsomol. 1966 promoted to head the party organization in the City of Stavropol and three years later is elevated to full membership in the National communist party Central committee. 1971 becomes Deputy of the nation s nominal parliament the supreme soviet. 1978 appointed Central comr Luttee Secretary in charge of agriculture and moves to it Moscow. 1979 named candidate or non voting member of the ruling politburo headed by president Leonid i. Brezhnev. Becomes a full member a year later. March named general Secretary of the 11,1985 communist party following the death of Konstantin u. Chernenko. Nov. Meets with president Reagan for the first 1985 time in Geneva. Over next five years the leaders hold four summits. 1986 launches his Reform program in Earnest using the catchwords glasnost meaning openness and self criticism and perestroika meaning restructuring. Frees Nobel prize winning dissident Andrei d. Sakharov from exile in the City of Gorki. 1987 travels to Washington to meet with Reagan and signs a treaty to eliminate both sides medium Range nuclear missiles.1988 Calls the first communist party k conference since the Days of Josef Stalin to press Tor More Radical Reform in december presides Over the dissolution of the old supreme soviet to be replaced by the Congress of people s deputies and a smaller full time legislature the new supreme soviet. Withdraws soviet troops from Afghanistan and presides Over new parliament that elects him Presk Tell ends communist party s constitutional monopoly on Power and moves to create a stronger presidency endorses moves to create a free Marcet Economy in soviet Union wins Nobel peace prize Tor his Rote it in arms treaties and ending the cold War Gorbachev and leaders of several of the republics agree on a new Union treaty to hold the country together. Au9 Alexander Yakovlev one of the architects ,1991 of Gorbachev a reforms resigns As a top aide and quits the communist party warning that a coup is planned. Aug. 19, vice president Gennady Kanayev and 1991 other hard liners announce they Are replacing Gorbachev As president to prevent Quot a National  they declare a state of emergency. 1989 1990 1991 Page 2 b the stars and stripes tuesday August 20, 1991