Gorbachev, USSR leader

Gorbachev proposed that the Soviet economy should be improved by “perestroika” – restructuring, including capitalist practices. More competition in industry was encouraged.

Interest in free market capitalism and trade with the West increased. This also increased Soviet awareness of better standards of living in the West.
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In 1989, communist regimes of eastern Europe toppled one by one as Gorbachev's reforms signalled that the Soviet Union could no longer intervene.

BUT: The problem was that the reforms were introduced too quickly and without preparation. The Soviet Union was in confusion and economic chaos.