From optimism to despair: Gorbachev and the Soviet ‘national problem’. An ideological approach
From optimism to despair: Gorbachev and the Soviet ‘national problem’. An ideological approach

Summary/Abstract: This essay proposes an ideological analysis of the national tensions the Soviet Union had confronted with during its last years of existence, namely the period of Michael Gorbachev's leadership. The answers of his predecessors to this delicate and problematically topic are also taken into account, starting with Vladimir Ulianov Lenin and ending with the ephemerous Constantin Ustinovici Cernenko. The stake of the paper resides in the attempt to prove that Gorbachev's drama was represented by the impossible reformation of the Soviet system, in which he believed until the very end. To this unexpected and disapointing outcome, the national sentiments of the Soviet peoples, potentiated by Gorbachev's innovative measures, contributed to a great extent.

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