History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union indications Gorbachev may have been in control prior to Chernenko's death as he was announced as the new General Secretary the day after Chernenko died on March 10, 1985. Gorbachev instituted policies of glasnost, perestroika, and acceleration. Glasnost allowed freedom of speech in the Soviet Union and a flourishing of political debate within the Communist Party to a degree not seen since the Russian Revolution, perestroika was an attempt to restructure the political and particularly the economic organisation of the country, while acceleration meant faster development of the economy. This period of liberalisation ultimately ended in the dissolution of the
Gorbachev Peace (Fabergé egg) Gorbachev Peace (Fabergé egg) The Gorbachev Peace Egg is a Fabergé egg by Fabergé workmaster Victor Mayer. In 1991 Herbert Mohr-Mayer gave the Gorbachev Peace Egg to Mikhail Gorbachev, president of the former Soviet Union. It was given as a tribute to the way in which Gorbachev had succeeded in reducing tensions between East and West. Mikhail Gorbachev donated this Fabergé egg as an Easter present to the Kremlin Museum in Moscow. The egg is made of 18Kt yellow gold and covered with transparent green vitreous enamel. The upper half of the egg opens up and reveals a golden dove.