On 11 March 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev is chosen as general secretary of the Soviet communist party. The 54-year-old politician recognises the need for immediate change in the Soviet Union. Soon, he starts a campaign for democratisation (glasnost - openness) and modernisation (perestroika - reconstruction), which is met with an enthusiastic response from most citizens of the USSR and the countries of the Soviet bloc and with understanding support of the West.