AHC: Gorbachev is a second Khrushchev

[willbell]

A major theme of Khrushchev's time in charge of the USSR was reform (de-Stalinization) but culminating in a loosened grip on Eastern Europe and thus the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 which Khrushchev then had to put down to ensure the stability of their hold on all of their satellites.

Is it possible for Gorbachev to be remember for reform, leading to revolutions which forced him to take authoritarian action to stop revolution and halt any further reforms? Could this lead to a longer-lasting USSR?

 

[Indicus]

He did take authoritan measures at many points. At one point, he fired upon Georgian protestors, and eventually this came to bite him as such protests became commonplace. I do not think that he could be seen as a Khrushchev mainly because their situations were very different. Khrushchev was leader at a time of detente, while Gorbachev was a leader during a (badly timed) period of Cold War resurgence. In addition, information was beginning to leak from the West and people like Yeltsin were beginning to emerge in Russia, things that did not exist during the Khrushchev era.