"systems in general. The political corruption which had grown considerably during Brezhnev's tenure had become a major problem to the Soviet Union's economic development by the 1980s. In response, Andropov initiated a nationwide anti-corruption campaign. Andropov believed that the Soviet economy could possibly recover if the government were able to increase social discipline amongst workers. Brezhnev was seen as very vain and self-obsessed, but was praised for leading the Soviet Union into an unprecedented age of stability and domestic calm. Following Andropov's death, political wrangling led to harsh criticism of Brezhnev and his family. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader,"
"Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (; ; , 19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician, who led the Soviet Union from 1964 until his death in 1982 as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in duration. During Brezhnev's rule, the global influence of the Soviet Union grew dramatically, in part because of the expansion of its military during this time. His tenure as leader was also marked by the beginning of an"
"Legacy of Leonid Brezhnev The full understanding of the history of the late Soviet Union and of its successor, the Russian Federation, requires the assessment of the legacy of Leonid Brezhnev, the third General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and twice Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Leonid Brezhnev was the leader of the CPSU from 1964 until his death in 1982, whose eighteen-year reign was recognised as the time of social and economic stagnation in the late Soviet Union. Despite his failures in domestic reforms, his foreign affairs"
"two periods, Brezhnev's USSR is best remembered for stability in prices and income by the Russians and not the socio-economic stagnation for which he is remembered in the West. Legacy of Leonid Brezhnev The full understanding of the history of the late Soviet Union and of its successor, the Russian Federation, requires the assessment of the legacy of Leonid Brezhnev, the third General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and twice Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Leonid Brezhnev was the leader of the CPSU from 1964 until his death"
"Brezhnev to the Communist Party's Central Committee as a candidate member of the Presidium (formerly the Politburo). Stalin died in March 1953, and in the reorganisation that followed, the Presidium was abolished and a smaller Politburo reconstituted. Brezhnev's patron Khrushchev succeeded Stalin as General Secretary, while Khrushchev's opponent Malenkov succeeded Stalin as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Brezhnev sided with Khrushchev against Malenkov, but only for several years. On 7 May 1955, Brezhnev was made General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR. On the surface, his brief was simple: to make the new lands"
"he met and won the confidence of Leonid Brezhnev, the first secretary of the Moldavian SSR from 1950 to 1952 and future leader of the Soviet Union. Chernenko followed Brezhnev in 1956 to fill a similar propaganda post in the CPSU Central Committee in Moscow. In 1960, after Brezhnev was named chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (titular head of state of the Soviet Union), Chernenko became his chief of staff. In 1964, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev was deposed, and succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev. During Brezhnev's tenure as Party leader, Chernenko's career continued successfully. He was nominated in"
"nearly disastrous years of the Cold War. Leonid Brezhnev was Soviet Union's leader for 18 years from 1964 until his death in 1982. Brezhnev's health was starting to decline due to his heavy smoking and addiction to sleeping pills toward the end of his time leading the Soviet Union. When Brezhnev's health got worse, the Soviet Union started having issues because he could not run the country. Brezhnev tried to help lower nuclear tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States. In 1979, the Brezhnev and United States President Jimmy Carter signed a SALT II agreement. The agreement was"
"the Politburo before responding to them. As Brezhnev's health worsened during the late 1970s, the collective leadership became even more ""collective"". Brezhnev's death did not alter the balance of power in any radical fashion, and Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko were obliged by protocol to rule the country in the very same fashion as Brezhnev. When Mikhail Gorbachev was elected to the position of General Secretary in March 1985, some observers wondered if he could be the leader to overcome the restraints of the collective leadership. Gorbachev's reform agenda had succeeded in altering the Soviet political system for good; however,"
"History of the Soviet Union (1964–82) The history of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982, referred to as the Brezhnev Era, covers the period of Leonid Brezhnev's rule of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This period began with high economic growth and soaring prosperity, but gradually significant problems in social, political, and economic areas accumulated, so that the period is often described as the Era of Stagnation. Nikita Khrushchev was ousted as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) (as well as Chairman of the Council of Ministers) on"
"On 15 March 1953, Voroshilov was approved as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (i.e., the head of state) with Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Communist Party and Georgy Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union. Voroshilov, Malenkov, and Khrushchev brought about the 26 June 1953 arrest of Lavrenty Beria after Stalin's death. After Khrushchev removed most of the old Stalinists like Molotov and Malenkov from the party, Voroshilov's career began to fade. On 7 May 1960, the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union granted Voroshilov's request for retirement and elected Leonid Brezhnev chairman of the"
"Brezhnev as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1964. When Khrushchev was dismissed, Alexei Kosygin took over Khrushchev's position as Soviet Premier, but Kosygin's economic reform was not successful and hardline communists led by Brezhnev blocked any motions for reforms after Kosygin's failed attempt. Brezhnev began his career as the General Secretary with the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial in 1965, which showed the establishment of an authoritarian ideology. After that, Brezhnev approved the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and ended with the Soviet–Afghan War which continued after his death; he installed an authoritarian regime that lasted throughout"
"the retirement of Podgorny and became once again Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, making this position equivalent to that of an executive president. While Kosygin remained Premier until shortly before his death in 1980 (replaced by Nikolai Tikhonov as Premier), Brezhnev was the dominant driving force of the Soviet Union from the mid-1970s to his death in 1982. Brezhnev's stabilisation policy included ending the liberalising reforms of Khrushchev, and clamping down on cultural freedom. During the Khrushchev years, Brezhnev had supported the leader's denunciations of Stalin's arbitrary rule, the rehabilitation of many of"
"economy, military, living standards, and politics. Brezhnev had to start relying more on his advisors because of his health. Brezhnev's advisors would make critical decisions, and Brezhnev eventually became a figurehead for the Soviet Union. But political corruption spread throughout the Soviet leadership. Brezhnev was eventually criticized for the poor quality of life the Soviet Union's citizens had in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Yuri V. Andropov succeeded Leonid Brezhnev, however Andropov's presidency did not last long. He was only the Soviet Union's leader for 15 months, from November 1982 to February 1984. Andropov quickly got ill in February"
"Podgorny as Chairman of the Presidium and Alexei Kosygin as Premier of the Soviet Union. Brezhnev was able to consolidate power to become the leading figure, but he was never able to gather as much powers as Stalin and Khrushchev had done previously. At the 23rd Congress of the CPSU held in 1966, Brezhnev was able to have himself declared General Secretary of the party, reviving a title that had not existed since Stalin. The Presidium also reverted to its previous name of Politburo. While Kosygin attempted to pursue a policy of favouring light industry and consumer good production over"
"John Paul II promised ""a particular thought for the memory of the illustrious departed one"", while former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt said Brezhnev's death would ""be painfully felt"". The government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) expressed ""deep condolences"" and Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, said ""he [Brezhnev] stood by us in our moment of need"". Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev On 10 November 1982, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, the third General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the fifth leader of the Soviet Union, died aged 75, a month"
"there was no popular commotion, as most Soviet citizens, including the intelligentsia, anticipated a period of stabilisation, steady development of Soviet society and continuing economic growth in the years ahead. Upon replacing Khrushchev as the party's General Secretary, Brezhnev became the highest political authority in the Soviet Union. However, due to the Party's overt hostility towards one-man rule, he was initially forced to govern by consensus alongside the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, Nikolai Podgorny, and the Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin. This arrangement would persist until the 1970s when Brezhnev ultimately consolidated his grip on power to become the dominant"
"power and influence within the Presidium when he introduced the 1965–1971 Soviet economic reform. General Full- and candidate membership of the Presidium were taken from these sources: Specific 22nd Presidium of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union A member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was a member of the nomenklatura, the country's ""de facto"" ruling class. Nikita Khrushchev chaired the Presidium from 1955 to 1964; Leonid Brezhnev succeeded him that year and chaired until 1982. In contrast to full members, candidate members of the Presidium could not vote during"
"Kosygin took over Khrushchev's old post as Premier in what initially was a collective leadership, with Leonid Brezhnev as general secretary and Anastas Mikoyan, and later Nikolai Podgorny, as Chairman of the Presidium. The new Politburo had a more conservative outlook than that found under Khrushchev; Kosygin, Podgorny and Andrei Kirilenko were the most liberal members, Brezhnev and Arvīds Pelše belonged to the moderate faction while Mikhail Suslov retained his leadership of the party's Stalinist wing. In October 1964, at a ceremony in honour of Soviet cosmonauts, Brezhnev called for the strengthening of the Party apparatus. This speech was only"
"Union from 1964 to 1982, referred to as the Brezhnev Era, covers the period of Leonid Brezhnev's rule of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). This period began with high economic growth and soaring prosperity, but ended with a much weaker Soviet Union facing social, political, and economic stagnation. The average annual income stagnated, because needed economic reforms were never fully carried out. Nikita Khrushchev was ousted as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), as well as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, on 14 October 1964 due to his"
"Podgorny was later ""promoted"" to the Chairmanship of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, and Andrei Kirilenko replaced him as Secretary in charge of personnel policy. At the same time, Alexander Shelepin, another rival, was replaced as Chairman of the Party-State Control Commission and lost his post as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Shelepin was given a further blow when he was removed from the Secretariat. The number of Central Committee meetings rose again during Brezhnev's early tenure as elected First Secretary, but the number of meetings and their duration steadily decreased during Brezhnev's"
"but was forced to resign from the Secretariat nine days later on 14 March, leaving Khrushchev in effective control of the body. Khrushchev was elected to the new office of First Secretary at the Central Committee plenum on 14 September of the same year. Originally conceived as a collective leadership, Khrushchev removed his rivals from power in both 1955 and (especially) 1957 and reinforced the supremacy of the First Secretary. In 1964, opposition within the Politburo and the Central Committee led to Khrushchev's removal as First Secretary. Leonid Brezhnev succeeded Khrushchev to the post as part of another collective leadership,"
"industry, and capital construction. He was now a senior member of Khrushchev's entourage, and in June 1957, he backed Khrushchev in his struggle with Malenkov's Stalinist old guard in the Party leadership, the so-called ""Anti-Party Group"". Following the defeat of the Stalinists, Brezhnev became a full member of the Politburo. Brezhnev became Second Secretary of the Central Committee in 1959, and in May 1960 was promoted to the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, making him the nominal head of state, although the real power resided with Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party."
"he was essentially a figurehead. In 1980, the average Politburo member was 70 years old (as opposed to 55 in 1952 and 61 in 1964), and by 1982, Brezhnev's Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko, his Minister of Defense Dmitriy Ustinov and his Premier Nikolai Tikhonov were all in their mid-to-late seventies. Yuri Andropov, Brezhnev's 68-year-old successor, was seriously ill with kidney disease when he took over, and after his death fifteen months later, he was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko, then 72, who lasted thirteen months before his death and replacement with Gorbachev. Chernenko became the third Soviet leader to"
"he also wanted to create better ones. The Soviet Union's leaders also struggled to find different ways to solve multiple problems. Andropov's death meant his economic vision was never fully developed. After Yuri Andropov's death, Konstantin Chernenko was elected as the next leader for the Soviet Union. Andropov had not wanted Chernenko to become his successor because Chernenko had emphysema health issues. Andropov wish was to actually have Mikhail Gorbachev succeed him. Chernenko's reign was even shorter than Andropov's, 13 months from February 1984 to March 1985. Leonid Brezhnev had helped Chernenko move higher in the political ranks. Chernenko followed"
"14 October 1964, due to his failed reforms and disregard for Party and Government institutions. Brezhnev replaced Khrushchev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin replaced him as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Anastas Mikoyan, and later Nikolai Podgorny, became Chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Together with Andrei Kirilenko as organizational secretary, and Mikhail Suslov as Chief Ideologue, they made up a reinvigorated collective leadership, which contrasted in form with the autocracy that characterized Khrushchev's rule. The collective leadership first set out to stabilize the Soviet Union and calm Soviet society, a task which they were able"
"human development. Some all-Union Soviet officials were calling for the abolition of the ""pseudosovereign"" Soviet republics, and the establishment of one nationality. Instead of introducing the ideologic concept of the ""Soviet Nation"", Brezhnev at the 24th Party Congress talked about ""a new historical community of people – the Soviet people"", and introduced the ideological tenant of Developed socialism, which postponed communism. When Brezhnev died in 1982, he was succeeded by Yuri Andropov, who died quickly after taking power. Andropov was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko, who ruled for little more than a year. Chernenko was succeeded by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985."
"Soviet Union when Leonid Brezhnev became head of state. It is reasonable to assume that given East Germany's close adherence to Soviet practices, the increased invisibility of the Council of State since the late 1970s can be traced at least in part to parallel developments in the Soviet Union. Related to the takeover of the council's chairmanship by Honecker is the fact that after 1977 the number of individuals who were simultaneously members of the council and of the SED's Central Committee Secretariat increased. In referring to the Council of State, the Constitution declared that it consisted of the chairman,"
"1957 to full member of the Politburo. In 1964, he succeeded Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the CPSU. As the leader of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev's conservatism and carefulness to reach decisions by consensus within the Politburo resulted in sustained political stability within the party and the country. However, his hostility towards reform and tolerance of corruption ushered in a period of socioeconomic decline that came to be known as the Brezhnev Stagnation. On the world stage, Brezhnev pushed hard for the adoption of détente to relax tensions and foster economic cooperation between the two Cold War superpowers. Despite"
"and was succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Before initiating the palace coup against Khrushchev, Brezhnev had talked to several Central Committee members, and had a list which contained all of the Central Committee members who supported ousting Khrushchev. Brezhnev phoned Khrushchev, and asked him to meet him in Moscow. There, a convened Central Committee voted Khrushchev out of office, both as First Secretary of the Central Committee and Chairman of the Council of Ministers. At the beginning, Brezhnev's principal rival was Nikolai Podgorny, a member of the Secretariat."
"Brezhnev's final public appearance before dying three days later after suffering a heart attack. He was honoured with a state funeral, which was followed with a five-day period of nationwide mourning. He was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Red Square. National and international statesmen from around the globe attended his funeral. His wife and family attended; his daughter Galina Brezhneva outraged spectators by not appearing in sombre garb. Brezhnev was dressed for burial in his Marshal uniform, along with all his medals. Brezhnev presided over the Soviet Union for longer than any other person except Joseph Stalin. He"
"in 1940. He was Chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities from 12 March 1946 to 12 March 1950 and simultaneously Chairman of the Presidium of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions from 15 March 1944 to 12 March 1953. In 1955 he became First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. On 7 October 1977 he was elected as First Deputy Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, a position he held until 18 June 1986. Upon the deaths of Leonid Brezhnev (1982), Yuri Andropov (1984) and Konstantin Chernenko (1985), Kuznetsov became acting chairman of the Presidium until the election"
"USSR and is regarded by many historians to be the closest the world came to nuclear war since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. This period of the Cold War would continue through U.S. President Reagan's first term (1981–1985), through the death of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in 1982, the brief interim period of Soviet leadership consisting of Yuri Andropov (1982–1984) and Konstantin Chernenko (1984–1985). This phase in the Cold War concluded in 1985 with the ascension of reform-minded Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev who brought a commitment to reduce tensions between the East and the West and bring about major"
"the day after Stalin died, Malenkov succeeded him as Premier of the Soviet Union. His name was also listed first on the newly named Presidium of the Central Committee (as the Politburo had been called since 1952). Although there had been no title identifying the leader of the party for almost a year, this indicated that Malenkov had succeeded Stalin as party leader as well. On 7 March, Malenkov's name appeared atop the list of secretaries of the Secretariat, confirming that he had succeeded Stalin as the most powerful man in the Soviet Union. However, after only a week, Malenkov"