I HOME I CHRONICLE I INTERACTIVE I SEARCH I---Themes: I Societies Main I South Africa I Russia I Japan I

Yuri Andropov, who became leader in 1982, introduced a racial plan of reform to make the communist system more efficient. However his reforms ended when he became ill. After his death in 1984, one of Brezhnev’s allies, Konstantin Chernenko, was chosen to be his successor. Yet, he died too, after only a year in office. Mikhail Gorbachev, who had worked with Andropov, replaced him and built up support within the party to carry out rapid reforms which changed the world.