Mikhail Gorbachev Quotes
I consider it no longer possible to carry out my duties as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union and I relinquish corresponding authority.
In one of the most dramatic events in the history of Russia the President resigned his leadership post of the Communist Party.
Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian President, Statement, August 24, 1991
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This was only 6 years after the Russian Revolution. Communist Russia had extended its influence to much of the world without firing a shot. To many, communism looked like the future. The Russian inability to make communism work economically in the next 70 years destroyed most of its influence.
who worked with the Communists. The Communists were to Flip-flop again when Russia needed arms and assistance to fight Hitler when the pact broke down. See {595773}
Many people mistakenly believe that this was the first political use of the “iron curtain” phrase—in German, “eiserner vorhang.” However, George Washington Crile used the phrase in 1915 {598870}. It is not known whether Geobbels knew of Crile’s work, or if Winston Churchill in his famous speech {411311} was familiar with either Crille’s or Goebbels use.
Chinese private corporation. Party rules written in 1989 prohibit private-enterprise “exploiters” from being members of the party much less holding leadership positions as the party is “the vanguard of the working class.
You see this palace is now yours, and the city is in your power; what do you think ought to be done?
Their first act was to “elect” him Gonfalonier.
Vladimir Lenin. This quotation sheds light on two points. Russian industry 4 years after the Revolution was in terrible shape—especially at the managerial level. A plan was devised to import volunteer American managers to help run Russian factories and other enterprises—an early type of Peace Corps. In addition it shows that the Russian Leadership understood this problem and were, even then, committed to trying to reach and exceed the standards of Western capitalism.
Lenin, Uritsky, and other Bolshevik leaders were attacked in 1918. Lenin was wounded but Utrtsky died, and this triggered the attacks on the other Russian factions by the Bolsheviks known as the “Red Terror.”
1st Viscountess Snowden. See Winston Churchill regarding the most famous use of the “iron curtain” phrase {411311}. She seems to have been an earlier user. The phrase " iron curtain" was used by T. St. Vincent Wallace Troubridge a few months earlier than Churchill. Also, it appears to have been used earlier than that by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels in Das Reich {601664}. But George Washington Crile used the phrase in a political context in 1915 {598870}. And Viscountess Snowden used the phrase in her memoirs of a Past WWI trip to Russia {616546}. It is not known whether Troubridge or Churchill were familiar with any of these other works.
1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor. This turned out to be one of the worst predictions in political history.
He served as a liaison with the Russian military officers after WWII. As a result he developed friendships with some who told him much about Stalin and the Communist party of the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a Russian and former Soviet politician. The eighth and last leader of the Soviet Union, he was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. He was also the country's head of state from 1988 until 1991, serving as the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1988 to 1989, chairman of the Supreme Soviet from 1989 to 1990, and president of the Soviet Union from 1990 to 1991. Ideologically, Gorbachev initially adhered to Marxism–Leninism, although he had moved towards social democracy by the early 1990s.
