Some Details About How Gorbachev Really Was

Not just in Tbilisi, there was one in Baku and in Kazakhstan and in Lithuania and in Latvia.

Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Chechnya slowly developed into a civil turned international wars and so on. The list

Also, Chernobyl happened.

Gorbachev personal involvement in some of them is questionable of course. He likes to present himself as someone who supports freedom and democracy, but secretly he likely encourages the violence against dissidents.

Gorbi orchestrated the August coup (he might have not been the mastermind of that, but he sure knew it will happen, was ok with that and did his part in it)

Gorbi was like Arthas in Northrend, first hired mercenaries to burn the ships and then told his people that some evil creatures did it and he had nothing to do with it. The video of the mission

Gorbi and crew wanted to remove Yeltsin, with whom he had personal animosity, but Yeltsin's office was elected so he could not be just fired. Disregarding that and just arresting him would look too undemocratic to do. So a some cunning plan such as martial law was needed. That later became the infamous August coup.

Gorbi first went on vacation and told Yanayev and the crew to do a 'the plan' while he is away. Then, when things did not work out as planned, Gorbi came back and told everyone that evil Yanaev and the crew did it on their own accord and Gorbi had nothing to do with it.

However, check the info and you will find out that all the participants of the coup were actually appointed to their offices by Gorbi himself.

Organizers did not call it a coup and did not say anything about removing Gorbachev at all. They just said he is sick and temporary unavailable to fulfill duties of his office. They did however announced curfew and brining troops to Moscow. 

It was Yeltsin and his supporters who called it a coup and called on people to all gather around White House to resist the coup.

That said Gorbi probably indeed tried to experiment with democracy and liberalization. At first that is. Gorbi of 87 and 88 was like that.

Gorbi of 85 and 86 was more of an Andropov 2.0 style hardliner.

Then after 89 Gorbi became major opponent of change, presenting himself as moderate. But that did not satisfy either side. Conservatives wanted no change at all, and reformers thought that what Gorbachev could agree to was not enough to achieve real change.

Fundamentally the narrative that Gorbachev was the driving force of the reforms and disliked only by conservative people who oppose democracy is incorrect. Gorbachev is disliked by both, those who support freedom and democracy and those who oppose these things. Neither side find his actions supportive of their cause. 

At best Gorbachev was confusing fence-sitter who wanted to find middle ground between capitalism and socialism, at worst cunning opportunist who wished to outsmart everyone around him but get burned in the end. 

He is rather equally disliked by both pro-democracy and anti-democracy Russians. The former remembers his criticism and obstructionism of Yeltsin and anyone who propose reforms more substantial than he deemed acceptable, the latter because he pushed for any reforms at all.