|
Soviet Union [USSR] Death of Brezhnev
Shortly after his cult of personality began to take root in the
mid-1970s, Brezhnev began to experience periods of ill health.
After Brezhnev's first stroke in 1975, Politburo members Mikhail A.
Suslov and Andrei P. Kirilenko assumed some of Brezhnev's functions
for a time. Then, after another bout of poor health in 1978,
Brezhnev delegated more of his responsibilities to Konstantin U.
Chernenko, a long-time associate who soon began to be regarded as
the heir apparent. His prospects of succeeding Brezhnev, however,
were hurt by problems plaguing the general secretary in the early
1980s. Not only had economic failures hurt Brezhnev's prestige, but
scandals involving his family and political allies also damaged his
stature. Meanwhile, Iurii V. Andropov, chief of the secret police,
the Committee for State Security (Komitet gosudarstvennoi
bezopasnosti--KGB), apparently also began a campaign to discredit
Brezhnev. Andropov took over Suslov's functions after Suslov died
in 1982, and he used his position to advance himself as the next
CPSU general secretary. Brezhnev himself, despite ill health
following another stroke in March, would not relinquish his office.
Soon after reviewing the traditional Bolshevik Revolution parade in
November 1982, Brezhnev died.
Ultimately, the Soviet Union paid a high price for the
stability that prevailed during the years of the Brezhnev regime.
By avoiding necessary political and economic change, the Brezhnev
leadership ensured the economic and political decline that the
country experienced during the 1980s. This deterioration of power
and prestige stood in sharp contrast to the dynamism that marked
the Soviet Union's revolutionary beginnings.
* * *
A number of comprehensive texts covering the history of the
Soviet Union have recently appeared. Most worthy of recommendation
to the nonspecialist is A History of Russia and the
Soviet Union by David MacKenzie and Michael W. Curran. A
thoughtful survey can be found in Geoffrey A. Hosking's The
First Socialist Society. Other general works covering the
Soviet period include Robert V. Daniels's Russia: The Roots of
Confrontation, Donald W. Treadgold's Twentieth Century
Russia, and Adam B. Ulam's A History of Soviet
Russia. There are also a number of excellent books on the
various phases of Soviet history. The recognized classic on the
revolutionary and Civil War period is William H. Chamberlin's
The Russian Revolution, 1917-1921. Recommended for the
Stalin era is Stalin by Adam B. Ulam. For Khrushchev, the
reader is referred to Carl A. Linden's Khrushchev and the Soviet
Leadership, 1957-1964. Khrushchev's two-volume memoirs,
Krushchev Remembers, are fascinating reading. Harry Gelman's
The Brezhnev Politburo and the Decline of Detente treats the
Brezhnev period in detail. (For further information and complete
citations,
see Soviet Union USSR -
Bibliography.)
Data as of May 1989
|
