Date of Completion

2017

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

History

Thesis Type

College of Arts and Science Honors, Honors College

First Advisor

Denise J. Youngblood

Keywords

Gorbachev, Soviet Union, Russia, Alexander II, Reform, History

Abstract

During Mikhail Gorbachev’s tenure as head of the Soviet Union, Russian and foreign journalists sometimes compared him to Tsar Alexander II for his sweeping, but destabilizing reforms. The purpose and significance of this thesis is to test this concept, moving from journalistic opinion to scholarly investigation. Both Gorbachev and Alexander II attempted to reform their country in order to modernize. The reforms of both leaders had many extreme unintended consequences, ultimately ending in the assassination of Alexander II and the ousting of Gorbachev, as well as the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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