tHE COLLAPSE OF THE USSR, 1991
Gorbachev became vastly popular overseas with the improved relations with the West. Yet, he met increasing opposition inside his own country. He was very unpopular with the hard-line Communist Party leaders who said that he had gone too far in his reforms, which might finally lead to the break-up of the Soviet Union. But radical Party members like Yeltsin thought that his reform progress was too slow and he had gone far enough along the road of democracy and the free-market economy. In fact, Gorbachev did not want to abandon communism. He just wanted to make it more efficient by reforming the Communist Party from within.