What year was Mikhail Gorbachev appointed General Secretary ?
As de facto ruler of the USSR , he tried to reform the stagnating Party and the state economy by introducing " glasnost " ( " openness " ) , " perestroika " ( " restructuring " ) , " demokratizatsiya " ( " democratization " ) , and " uskoreniye " ( " acceleration " of economic development ) , which were launched at the 27th Congress of the CPSU in February 1986 .