{"id":182643,"date":"2021-04-12T12:01:22","date_gmt":"2021-04-12T11:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=182643"},"modified":"2021-04-10T05:12:33","modified_gmt":"2021-04-10T04:12:33","slug":"former-soviet-leader-mikhail-gorbachev-celebrates-his-90th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/04\/former-soviet-leader-mikhail-gorbachev-celebrates-his-90th-birthday\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev Celebrates His 90th Birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_182644\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Mikhail-Gorbachev.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-182644\" class=\"wp-image-182644\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Mikhail-Gorbachev.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Mikhail-Gorbachev.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Mikhail-Gorbachev-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-182644\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Former leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev celebrates his 90th birthday.<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"intro\"><em>Revered for helping end the Cold War, Gorbachev received birthday greetings from the Kremlin and other world leaders. But back home, Russians remain divided over his legacy.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><em>2 Mar 2021 &#8211; <\/em>Mikhail Gorbachev turned 90 today, with several world leaders sending well-wishes to the former leader of the Soviet Union.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/no-unity-30-years-after-the-end-of-the-cold-war\/a-55104747\" >The former leader of the\u00a0Soviet Union<\/a>\u00a0and secretary-general of the Communist Party\u00a0is considered by some as one of the greatest reformers of the 20th century \u2014 but remains a controversial figure at home.<\/p>\n<h2>How did he celebrate his birthday?<\/h2>\n<p>Still active, Gorbachev heads\u00a0a political foundation and co-owns the Kremlin-critical newspaper,\u00a0<em>Novaya Gazeta<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>He celebrated his birthday while staying in a hospital as a precaution amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Gorbachev was scheduled to have video calls with his aides and associates who gathered at his foundation to congratulate him.<\/p>\n<p>He also spoke with world leaders and read messages from admirers worldwide.<\/p>\n<div class=\"longText\">\n<div class=\"gallery col3\">\n<div class=\"imgTeaserL slideshow noDim\" data-id=\"56724142\" data-title=\"Gorbi and the Germans: Mikhail Gorbachev at 90\" data-date=\"20210302\" data-firstcategory=\"19990022\">\n<ul class=\"slides\">\n<li class=\"first\">\n<div class=\"teaserImg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Bronze busts of George Bush (left), Mikhail Gorbachev (center) and Helmut Kohl\" src=\"https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/55159179_303.jpg\" alt=\"Bronze busts of George Bush (left), Mikhail Gorbachev (center) and Helmut Kohl\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"teaserContentWrap\">\n<div class=\"tools\"><\/div>\n<h4>Gorbi and the Germans: Mikhail Gorbachev at 90<\/h4>\n<h2>Remembering the &#8216;Fathers of Unity&#8217;<\/h2>\n<p>The first and only president of the former Soviet Union turns 90 on March 2. Since German reunification in 1990, Germans have lovingly referred to Mikhail Gorbachev simply as &#8220;Gorbi.&#8221; The Berlin &#8220;Fathers of Unity&#8221; monument was unveiled to mark the 20th anniversary of German reunification. From left to right: former US President George H. W. Bush, Gorbachev and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>What did world leaders say?<\/h2>\n<p>World leaders including US\u00a0President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and German\u00a0Chancellor Angela Merkel called to congratulate him.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I take your day of honor as an opportunity to thank you once more for your personal commitment for the peaceful overcoming of the Cold War and the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/how-geopolitics-paved-the-way-to-german-reunification\/a-5984936\" >completion of German unity,<\/a>&#8221; Merkel wrote in a letter to the former leader.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Your important contribution to a reunification in freedom remains as unforgotten in Germany as your constant personal engagement for friendly relations between our two countries,&#8221; Merkel said.<\/p>\n<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Gorbachev in a letter published by the Kremlin, hailing him as &#8220;one of the most outstanding statesmen of modern times who made a considerable impact on the history of our nation and the world.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Putin also praised Gorbachev for continuing to work on international humanitarian projects.<\/p>\n<div class=\"longText\">\n<div class=\"gallery col3\">\n<div class=\"imgTeaserL slideshow noDim\" data-id=\"18054972\" data-title=\"A special friendship: Gorbachev in Germany\" data-date=\"20141110\" data-firstcategory=\"19990022\">\n<ul class=\"slides\">\n<li class=\"first\">\n<div class=\"teaserImg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" title=\"Bildergalerie Gorbatschow\" src=\"https:\/\/static.dw.com\/image\/18051167_303.jpg\" alt=\"Bildergalerie Gorbatschow\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"teaserContentWrap\">\n<h4>A special friendship: Gorbachev in Germany<\/h4>\n<h2>History revisited<\/h2>\n<p>Not every politician is lucky enough to visit the historic site of a peaceful revolution 25 years on. Gorbachev came to mark the anniversary at Berlin&#8217;s Brandenburg Gate on November 9, 2014.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>How is he viewed in Russia?<\/h2>\n<p>Gorbachev is regarded internationally for his role in <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/former-soviet-leader-mikhail-gorbachev-celebrates-his-90th-birthday\/a-56751812\"  rel=\"ExternalRef\">helping end the Cold War<\/a> and launching reforms that ended the Communist monopoly on power.<\/p>\n<p>Pro-democratic forces also see him as a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/gorbachev-to-defend-putin-in-berlin\/a-18046258\" >symbol of freedom<\/a>, as he has criticized repression under Russian President Vladimir Putin and warned against falling back into a dictatorship.<\/p>\n<p>However, many <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/mikhail-gorbachev-germany-reunification\/a-55082979\" >Russians still hold him at least partially responsible<\/a> for the collapse of the Soviet Union that led to a devastating economic meltdown and years of political turmoil.<\/p>\n<h2>How does Gorbachev\u00a0view his own legacy?<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking in an interview with the state-run Tass news agency published Tuesday, Gorbachev reaffirmed that there was no alternative to ending the Cold War and launching domestic political reforms.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The main domestic achievement was to give freedom to the people and put an end to the totalitarian system. And the most important things on the international stage were ending the Cold War and conducting radical nuclear weapons cuts,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n<p>Gorbachev continues to lament the August 1991 hardline coup staged by the Communist Party&#8217;s old guard that briefly ousted him and precipitated the <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/looking-back-on-the-warsaw-pact\/a-1582537\" >collapse of the Soviet Union<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Asked if it&#8217;s still possible now to restore the Soviet Union, he answered that it&#8217;s necessary to focus on normalizing ties with its ex-Soviet neighbors and developing regional alliances.<\/p>\n<div class=\"teaserContentWrap information\">\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/former-soviet-leader-mikhail-gorbachev-celebrates-his-90th-birthday\/a-56751812\" >Go to Original &#8211; dw.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2 Mar 2021 &#8211; Mikhail Gorbachev turned 90 today, with several world leaders sending well-wishes to the former leader of the Soviet Union and secretary-general of the Communist Party. He is considered by some as one of the greatest reformers of the 20th century \u2014 but remains a controversial figure at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":182644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[214],"tags":[813,2461,278,1560],"class_list":["post-182643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biographies","tag-cold-war","tag-mikhail-gorbachev","tag-russia","tag-soviet-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182643","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182643"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182643\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}