March 11th 1985; Mikhail Gorbachev took over following the death of Konstantin Chernenko. Chernenko, 73, died after a long illness. Sombre music preceded the news on radio and television and scheduled programmes were cancelled. The speed of naming of his successor - at 54 the youngest man to take over as general secretary of the Soviet communist party - has taken people by surprise. Mr Gorbachev's acceptance speech gave a hint of the changes to come. He spoke of his desire to freeze the deployment of weapons and reduce the international nuclear weapons stockpiles.