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Gorbachev is one of the most important parts of history because he would change the fate of the Soviet Union forever. Gorbachev wanted to make a change. There were two leaders before Gorbachev; however, both of them were too old and would die soon. None of these leaders would succeed in Gorbachev’s importance. These leaders lasted about a year and would slowly die. These leaders were Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko. On Andropov's deathbed, he stated he wanted Gorbachev to succeed him; however, Chernenko took power instead and quickly died after. Gorbachev wanted happiness in the Soviet Union. Although happiness was his goal, he did not want the Soviet Union to fall. During the time that Gorbachev led, the Soviet Union had begun to slowly fall apart. In 1989, protesters took down the Berlin Wall. Though the soldiers stationed there were supposed to kill on sight, they had become overwhelmed and did not. Gorbachev let the Berlin Wall slowly be destroyed, what Nikita Khrushchev worked hard for, failed. The Berlin Wall was gone, and a celebration was in order. The East Berliners had moved to the West, and together for the first time in about two decades; both sides had celebrated the Reunification of Germany. The dissolution of the USSR would occur soon. “The Dissolution of the USSR,'' was a process in which the whole country of the Soviet Union began to fall apart, and eventually in 1991, it would finally collapse after its 69-year existence starting in 1922. In 1985, Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the Soviet Union, three hours after Konstantin Chernenko’s death, the former General Secretary. Gorbachev was 54, the youngest in the Politburo. His goal was to revive the struggling economy of the Soviet Union. He knew he would have to reform many changes that Brezhnev had made. On April 23, 1985, Gorbachev brought two protégés, Yegor Ligachev and Nikolai Ryzhkov, into the Politburo. He also promoted the head of the KGB Viktor Chebrikov, to a full member of the Politburo. Minister of Defense, Marshal Sergei Sokolov was made a Politburo candidate, in place of Viktor Chebrikov. These liberal movements and changes that Gorbachev had made would cause nationalist movements to rise within the Soviet Union and would cause the Revolutions of 1989; this would lead to the Berlin Wall's collapse and the Warsaw pact’s destruction. This in turn put pressure on Gorbachev to implement more democracy in the Government. The CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) would then enforce the rule that there was little competition to the newly formed Congress of People's Deputies, this meant there was not another political party against it, this ended in 1990. Gorbachev soon had a speech in Leningrad, about less alcoholism, he soon raised the price of Vodka, Wine, and Beer. This is similar to what Tsar Nicholas II did to stop alcoholism. However, this caused more problems as some began to drink Nail-polish remover. This affected majorly on healthcare in Russia. On July 1, 1985, Gorbachev promoted Eduard Shevardnadze, First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party, to full member of the Politburo, and the following day appointed him minister of foreign affairs, replacing longtime Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko. He had served for 28 years as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Gromyko was relegated to the largely ceremonial position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (officially Soviet Head of State). Also on July 1, Gorbachev sidelined his main rival by removing Grigori Romanov from the Politburo and instead brought Boris Yeltsin and Lev Zaikov into the CPSU Central Committee Secretariat. He continued to put younger men in the Politburo replacing older men. Gorbachev also continued his liberalization. Now many of the Baltic States were anxious to secede and in 1988 Estonia was the first to do so. While Gorbachev had lost major Soviet control over Eastern Europe, he had made it known that Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian separatism would not be met with force. Gorbachev tried to implement “demokratizatsiya” or “democracy” into the government however this idea was pushed away from many in the CPSU. He also wanted “Glasnost” meaning clear and transparent. This idea was morally good and overall was a successful idea. However, this would destroy the very thing he swore to save. Boris Yeltsin soon sent a letter telling Gorbachev he was resigning from the Politburo, a move never done before. Gorbachev accused Yeltsin of being immature and irresponsible, this conflict was a major factor at the end of the Soviet Union. Soon Yeltsin was fired from the post of First Secretary of the Moscow Communist Party. He was also losing many places in the Caucasus as they descended into civil war. Power in the Soviet Union declined. Eventually, citizens were allowed to listen to any radio station out of communist control for the first time since the 1960s. The Chernobyl incident also occurred under Gorbachev. On January 14, 1991, Nikolai Ryzhkov resigned from his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or premier of the Soviet Union, and was succeeded by Valentin Pavlov in the newly established post of the prime minister of the Soviet Union. On March 17, 1991, in a Union-wide poll, 76.4 percent of voters endorsed retention of a reformed Soviet Union. In nine republics, a majority of the voters supported the retention. In August, Gorbachev resigned from the CPSU and dismantled the party entirely. Many of the Baltic States seceding and gaining independence, the August Coup would also be a major problem and factor in the descent of the former Soviet Union. Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus would also declare their independence from the Soviet Union towards the very end. The Berlin Wall also could be considered a factor, because earlier in the Soviet Union's existence, it was strictly enforced not to be crossed, after its destruction in 1989, it showed the Soviet Union was struggling to remain in complete control, Gorbachev did nothing. This is good, however, for the USSR, it caused even more problems and eventually the end of the Soviet Union. Soon after this the final country to exit the Soviet Union, Georgia, would declare its independence. On December 25th, 1991, Gorbachev resigned marking the end of the Soviet Union forever. The fall would lead to the Russian Federation and many new countries being formed Boris Yeltsin would become president and afterward Putin would be elected. In the same year in 1991, a coup against Gorbachev would occur before his resignation. The 1991 August Coup was an attempt by communist leaders to get rid of Gorbachev and his ideals. The Coup was of course a failure. These “communist Leaders” were enemies of Gorbachev and hated his Liberalization. The three leaders of the coup being Vladimir Kryuchkova and Vice-President Gennady Yanayev. They had both been angry that Gorbachev was letting the former Soviet republics become free independent nations. On the first day of the coup, all politicians who were a threat to the Coup were arrested. An exception being Boris Yeltsin, who was recently elected President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Which was going to replace the USSR (Union of Socialist Soviet Republics.) Tanks were put outside the Kremlin and Gorbachev was put under house arrest, he was asked to resign, he refused. Vladimir Kryuchkova and Gennady Yanayev made sure to silence the media from talking about what was actually going on. The coup had some military support thus the tanks, Dmitry Yazov the minister of defense supported the coup; however, higher-ups in the air force were opposed to the coup. Yeltsin became an opponent to the coup supporting Gorbachev's return into power. Many citizens were also protesting. Similar to the coup Gorbachev had military support. They soon made a barricade outside the Russian White House with citizens and the military. Vladimir Kryuchkova and Gennady Yanayev were planning to bring Lithuania back into the USSR due to the Soviet Troops still stationed there though it had been an independent nation. On Day two protests continued to break out and now the United Nations was beginning to oppose the coup as well. However communist countries like Cuba, China, and North Korea supported the Coup. On Day three fighting between the armies which supported Yeltsin, and the coup began. Day three was also the day in which many of the committees of the coup were beginning to realize that the coup was going to fail. They began to flee and the military in Moscow withdrew after they switched allegiance. Yanayev stayed as many fled. However, nonetheless many of the members involved were arrested including Dmitry Yazov. The Supreme Soviet, the parliament soon declared the coup was over. Gorbachev’s refusal to resign was a reason for the coup’s failure, as well as the military was not fully supportive of the coup, and the third being the protests throughout the nation. Many of Gorbachev’s reforms were popular among the population. This was the last time the USSR was trying to be preserved and four months later the Soviet Union would finally collapse as Yeltsin was elected the first president and finally took office. Yanayev failed to realize the government was not able to tell people what to think anymore. A famous picture of Yeltsin on a tank during the coup is still seen today. The coup had shown that the USSR’s fall was inevitable as people were tired of the communist system in the Union at the time. Soviet power was loosening. After the dissolution, the first-ever election in the Russian Federation within the Soviet Union began also known as the 1991 presidential election. Yeltsin’s campaign consisted of criticism of the Soviet dictatorship in power before him. However, he did not want to introduce a free-market government in the new Federation. In June it was finally announced that Yeltsin had won the election with 57% of all the votes. Nikolai Ryzhkov was another candidate running against Yeltsin who was favored by Gorbachev. Ryzhkov got 16% of all the votes; the rest were one by separate candidates. On July 12th Boris took office in the RSFR. A month later the August coup occurred resulting in Gorbachev being captured. Yeltsin was very opposed to the coup and after Gorbachev was removed from Crimea, he returned to Moscow. The Soviet Union collapsed, and Gorbachev resigned. Yeltsin soon started to gain political opposition from the Soviet Government within the Kremlin, banning all communist parties within the newly established, Russian Federation. After Ukraine voted for independence, Yeltsin and the presidents of Ukraine and Belarus, soon declared that the Soviet Union had officially fallen from political and governmental power. Which was called the “Belavezha Accords.” In December, the Union Treaty of 1922, establishing the Soviet Union was renounced. A few days later Gorbachev agreed to the fait accompli. Meaning “the point of no return” and finally, Gorbachev agreed to the disintegration of the USSR. Yeltsin in his first term as the president began radical reforms in the eyes of multiple liberals and communists. His reforms would see the end of socialism in Russia and the beginning of a capitalist society in Russia. However, this would cause disaster as many companies reliant on the soviet welfare began to shut down. In 1992, prices in Russia increased dramatically. Some economists say it had suffered even worse than the United States and Germany. Hyperinflation began due to the Central Bank of Russia having loose policy causing millions to lose their own personal savings, and millions unemployed. The interest rate increased. All of this had occurred under Yeltsin’s "macroeconomic stabilization" program which during the chaos many political figures were beginning to distance further and further from as chaos erupted because of the flawed program. Even vice-president Alexander Rutskoy began criticizing the program in which he supposedly called it “Economic Genocide.” Through 1992 Yeltsin continued to fight other groups who could take power, like the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies. The leader of the Supreme Soviet, Ruslan Khasbulatov continued to criticize and be in opposition to most Yeltsin policies and reforms. Yeltsin's fight with parliament and other groups would begin creating the 1993 constitutional crisis. The Congress of People's Deputies denied Yegor Gaidar a candidate for Prime Minister who was being backed by Yeltsin. A deal was made with Valery Zorkin, who was the chairman of the Constitutional Court. The deal made checks balances for the constitution; the deal also put Yeltsin in a position of power by allowing Yeltsin to choose the head of government. Yeltsin soon addressed the public stating that he would "special powers" to fully implement his program. Thus, the Congress of People's Deputies tried to impeach Yeltsin from the presidency in March. There were over 600 votes, however, it failed by 72 votes, and thus Yeltsin remained in power. In the summer, a duel-power government erupted after two separate administrations from the Chelyabinsk Oblast decided to co-exist after Yeltsin declined the new pro-parliament head. Yeltsin soon announced he would disband the Supreme Soviet and Congress of People's Deputies. Yeltsin declared he would rule until a new parliament and a new constitution officially beginning the 1993 constitutional crisis. The Supreme Soviet announced Yeltsin was removed from political power after he breached the constitution. In the fall, protesters began to protest the economic crash and horrendous conditions, causing even more political unrest, corruption, and violence. Despite this, Yeltsin still had support from the military and in a show of political and military force Yeltsin ordered a shelling of the Russian White House. The Supreme Soviet began to dissolve quickly. The newly established parliament, the Duma was established. Many in the Duma were anti-Yeltsin. Despite this Yeltsin continued to gain political power, as he was given the power to appoint members into the Duma and in rare cases dissolve the Duma. A year later Yeltsin wanted to restore Chechnya as a Russian republic after a rebellion called “The Chechen Republic of Ichkeria” took political power and declared its independence from Russia and soon war ensued. Chechen guerilla warfare caused Russian federal agents to fail the capture of Chechnya. After the failure of the Russian military an attempt to overthrow the government began causing Russian morale to decrease significantly. After continuous opposition, Yeltsin signed a ceasefire in 1996. Later that same year a peace agreement was signed. Ending the First Chechen war. The war stunned many in the West who looked as the Russian government entered chaos further and further. Yeltsin continued to show support for privatization. Which the west saw as Russia’s transition from Communism. In 1996 Yeltsin declared that he would run again for his re-election. However, many thought his 1992 presidency was the end of Yeltsin’s politics as his health began to decline. However, at the beginning of his campaign support was extremely low. Yeltsin had recently suffered a heart attack and as support plummeted, Yeltsin’s team began to worry that Yeltsin could not be re-elected. He soon changed his team putting his daughter, Tatyana Dyachenko in the team with Chubais as his campaign manager. His campaign, to gain support, finally abandoned the poor economic reforms that were destroying the nation. He also abandoned many of his former ideas like the war on Chechnya. He got a loan of $10.2 billion and thus the government managed to live a little longer despite the chaos. Yeltsin managed to win with 53% of the votes. Yeltsin went under a quintuple heart bypass surgery to fix issues he had with his heart and remained in the hospital for a long period afterward. In 1998 the markets began to panic causing the collapse of the ruble, the main currency in Russia causing the Russian financial crisis. During the Kosovo war in which Yugoslavia and Kosovo fought, Yeltsin hated N.A.T.O.'s involvement and stated, “I told N.A.T.O, the Americans, the Germans: Don't push us towards military action. Otherwise, there will be a European war for sure and possibly a world war.” In 1999 Yeltsin fired Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin replacing him with former KGB agent, and now infamous Vladimir Putin. Bill Clinton and Yeltsin were main rivals despite the collapse of the Soviet Union both disagreeing with involvement in the Chechen war. The State Duma tried to impeach Yeltsin once again as communists and Democrats within the party had strong opposition towards Yeltsin and his policies. Despite major opposition, the two-thirds majority was never reached. On December 31st, 1999 Yeltsin made his last speech as president of Russia and resigned praising the people who had gone through so many hardships, and he put Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in charge. Yeltsin was rarely seen afterward. He along with Mikhail Gorbachev, his rival at one time, both criticized Putin, for reinstating soviet area centralized-run politics. Yeltsin also criticized Putin for wanting to return the Soviet-era anthem melody. In 2000 Yeltsin suffered from pneumonia and was hospitalized. In 2005, he had hip surgery after breaking his femur in an accident. In 2007 he died of congestive heart failure and was laid in repose in the Cathedral of Christ The Savior. He was the first president or official to be buried in a church ceremony since Alexander III, 113 years ago.