7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7

constituent states joined West Germany in a reunified
Germany. On Dec. 2, 1990, in the first free, all-German
parliamentary elections since 1932, Kohl and his govern-
ing CDU-CSU-FDP coalition won a 134-seat majority in
the Bundestag.
Absorption of the moribund eastern German economy
proved more expensive and difficult than predicted, and
Kohl’s government had to commit itself to tax increases
and cuts in government spending in order to finance unifi-
cation. Voter discontent over these harsh realities,
compounded by resentment over a severe recession in
1992– 93, were reflected in the parliamentary elections of
Oct. 16, 1994, which reduced Kohl’s parliamentary major-
ity to 10 seats.
Continuing high unemployment in Germany and voter
weariness with Kohl after 16 years in office enabled the
SDP, led by Gerhardt Schröder, to defeat the CDU-CSU
in parliamentary elections held on Sept. 27, 1998. In 1999
Kohl was involved in a scandal arising from the collection
of illegal campaign contributions. In January 2000 he
resigned his party offices and faced serious charges of mis-
using funds. He was assessed a stiff fine in February 2001.

Mikhail Gorbachev

(b. March 2, 1931, Privolye, Stavropol kray, Russia, U.S.S.R.)

M

ikhail Gorbachev served as the general secretary of
the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU)
from 1985 to 1991 and president of the Soviet Union in
1990– 91. His efforts to democratize his country’s political
system and decentralize its economy led to the downfall of
Communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev was the son of Russian
peasants in Stavropol territory in southwestern Russia. He