Joined Feb 2023
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Colorado
The Age of Brezhnev
During a time when social and economic realities changed rapidly, Leonid Brezhnev stood out for his unwillingness to conform to the new conditions and his stubborn defense of his country's position within the Cold War system. Cautious, reactive, formulaic, and technocratic, Brezhnev was the model for leaders trying to impose order on uncertainty.
Leonid Brezhnev was born to Russian working-class parents in 1906 in a town in eastern Ukraine. He was old enough to remember life before the revolution, but only vaguely. As the first in his family he went to college, graduating as an engineer. He joined the Communist youth league at seventeen and the Communist Party at twenty-three.
Brezhnev passed through the Stalin purges unscathed, later admitting that it was by sheer luck, as several of his friends were arrested. During the Second World War he served as a political officer first in the Caucasus and then on the Ukrainian front. By the time Germany surrendered, Brezhnev, though not yet forty years old, had been promoted to major-general, serving with the Eighteenth Army which had fought all the way to western Czechoslovakia.
As it was for most of his generation, the Second World War was the decisive experience for Brezhnev. It taught him about the need for organization, discipline, and ruthlessness. It also taught him about the horrors of war. Brezhnev carried the images of devastation with him for the rest of his life. "I do not want to inflict that on my people again," he told United States President Gerald Ford in 1974. In war, Brezhnev said, "everyone loses."
Brezhnev and Richard Nixon
While fearing the ravages armed combat could bring, he also believed in the global mission of Communism and the need to defend Soviet achievements, including the control of Eastern Europe. "When forces that are hostile to socialism try to turn the development of some socialist country towards capitalism, it becomes not only a problem of the country concerned, but a common problem and concern of all socialist countries," he told the Polish United Worker's Party in a speech given in November 1968.
Brezhnev became a member of the top Soviet leadership in 1956, responsible for the defense industry. In 1960 Khrushchev, whose protégé Brezhnev had been back in Ukraine, made him chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, titular head of state. A seeming safe choice for Khrushchev because of Brezhnev's low-key style and proven loyalty.
In October 1964 the majority of the Soviet leadership rebelled against Khrushchev in what amounted to be a palace coup. "I thank you for the opportunity you have given me to retire," Khrushchev told his colleagues. "I ask you to write me a suitable statement, and I'll sign it." Brezhnev was made the new general secretary of the Communist Party and Khrushchev retired to his dacha.
Brezhnev and Khrushchev
It was the first peaceful change of power ever in the Soviet Union, and one with enormous implications for the future. Brezhnev and his colleague's mandate was quite clear. Those who had helped put them in power wanted more emphasis on planning, productivity growth, and welfare. They wanted a leadership that avoided unnecessary crises with the West, but also stood up for Soviet gains and those of Communism globally.
After the menacing Stalin and the volatile Khrushchev, Brezhnev was ideal leader for the purpose. He was likable and "comradely"; he remembered colleagues' birthdays and the names of their wives and children. Brezhnev's favorite phrases were "normal development" and "according to plan." The new leader was, at times, a bit vague regarding overall reform plans, but emphasized stability and year-on-year growth in the Soviet economy.
Economically, the Soviet system delivered slow and limited, but continuous growth during the Brezhnev era, within the framework provided by the "planned economy" system. The best estimates are that the Soviet economy grew on average 2.5 to 3 percent per year during the 1960s and 1970s. The is lower than both the United States and western Europe during the same period, and considerably lower than the east Asian economies, but enough to keep the Soviet economy afloat and provide limited real growth in at least some sectors. In addition, the Soviet planned economy provided an even expansion, unlike the capitalist economies where unevenness year on year is part of the system.
Gerald Ford and Brezhnev
Unfortunately, the Soviet system had fundamental defects built into it. There were high levels of waste in production, and persistent low levels of productivity. The direction of output was almost entirely decided by political priorities, and like his predecessors, Brezhnev prioritized heavy industry and military hardware over consumer needs. Though the Soviet economy expanded, many consumer goods and certain food types were often hard to find in the stores. A favorite joke in this era went: "A woman walks into a food store." "Do you have any meat?" "No, we don't." "What about milk?" "We only deal with meat. The store where they have no milk is across the street."
While the structural problems of the Soviet economy were clearly visible, the overall living conditions for its citizens and its military strength both seemed to be improving. Eastern Europe under Soviet rule also seemed to have entered a new normality. Soviet and Communist control were still seen as impositions by the majority, but people everywhere had learned to compromise with the regimes and make the best out of their situation.
During his eighteen years as Leader of the USSR, Brezhnev's signature foreign policy innovation was the promotion of détente. While sharing some similarities with approaches pursued during the Khrushchev Thaw, Brezhnev's policy significantly differed from Khrushchev's precedent in two ways. The first was that it was more comprehensive and wide-ranging in its aims, and included signing agreements on arms control, crisis prevention, East–West trade, European security and human rights. The second part of the policy was based on maintaining parity with the military strength of the United States. Defense spending under Brezhnev between 1965 and 1970 increased by 40%, and annual increases continued thereafter. In the year of Brezhnev's death in 1982, 15% of GNP was spent on the military.
Jimmy Carter and Brezhnev
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union reached the peak of its political and strategic power in relation to the United States. The first SALT Treaty effectively established parity in nuclear weapons between the two superpowers, the Helsinki Treaty legitimized Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe, and the United States defeat in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal weakened the prestige of the United States.
The major crisis for Brezhnev's regime came in 1968, with the attempt by the Communist leadership in Czechoslovakia, under Alexander Dubček, to liberalize the Communist system (Prague Spring). In July, Brezhnev publicly denounced the Czechoslovak leadership as "revisionist" and "anti-Soviet" before ordering the Warsaw Pact's invasion of Czechoslovakia, and Dubček's removal in August. The invasion led to public protests by dissidents in various Eastern Bloc countries. Brezhnev's subsequent announcement that the Soviet Union had the right to interfere in the internal affairs of its satellites to "safeguard socialism" became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.
Archival evidence suggests that Brezhnev was one of the few who was looking for a temporary compromise with the reform-friendly Czechoslovak government when their relationship was at the brink. Significant voices in the Soviet leadership demanded the re-installation of a so-called "revolutionary government." After the military intervention in 1968, Brezhnev met with a Czechoslovak member of the Czech Politburo and said, "If I had not voted for Soviet armed assistance to Czechoslovakia you would not be sitting here today, but quite possibly I wouldn't either."
Soviet Tanks in Prague, 1968
After the communist revolution in Afghanistan in 1978, authoritarian actions forced upon the populace by the Communist regime led to the Afghan civil war, with the mujahidin leading the popular backlash against the regime. After a KGB report claimed that Afghanistan could be taken in a matter of weeks, Brezhnev and several top party officials agreed to a full intervention. The intervention in Afghanistan, which was one of the major decisions of his career, also significantly undermined both the international standing and the internal strength of the Soviet Union.
In 1980 a political crisis emerged in Poland with the emergence of the Solidarity mass movement. By the end of October, Solidarity had 3 million members, and by December, had 9 million. In a public opinion poll organized by the Polish government, 89% of the respondents supported Solidarity. The Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc was unsure how to handle the situation. After representatives from the Eastern Bloc nations met at the Kremlin, Brezhnev eventually concluded that it would be better to leave the domestic matters of Poland alone, reassuring the Polish delegates that the Soviet Union would intervene only if asked to, effectively ending the Brezhnev Doctrine.
Brezhnev's health declined rapidly in 1981 and 1982. He died three days after his final public appearance standing on Lenin's Mausoleum during the annual military parade and demonstration of workers commemorating the anniversary of the October Revolution.
During a time when social and economic realities changed rapidly, Leonid Brezhnev stood out for his unwillingness to conform to the new conditions and his stubborn defense of his country's position within the Cold War system. Cautious, reactive, formulaic, and technocratic, Brezhnev was the model for leaders trying to impose order on uncertainty.
Leonid Brezhnev was born to Russian working-class parents in 1906 in a town in eastern Ukraine. He was old enough to remember life before the revolution, but only vaguely. As the first in his family he went to college, graduating as an engineer. He joined the Communist youth league at seventeen and the Communist Party at twenty-three.
Brezhnev passed through the Stalin purges unscathed, later admitting that it was by sheer luck, as several of his friends were arrested. During the Second World War he served as a political officer first in the Caucasus and then on the Ukrainian front. By the time Germany surrendered, Brezhnev, though not yet forty years old, had been promoted to major-general, serving with the Eighteenth Army which had fought all the way to western Czechoslovakia.
As it was for most of his generation, the Second World War was the decisive experience for Brezhnev. It taught him about the need for organization, discipline, and ruthlessness. It also taught him about the horrors of war. Brezhnev carried the images of devastation with him for the rest of his life. "I do not want to inflict that on my people again," he told United States President Gerald Ford in 1974. In war, Brezhnev said, "everyone loses."
Brezhnev and Richard Nixon
While fearing the ravages armed combat could bring, he also believed in the global mission of Communism and the need to defend Soviet achievements, including the control of Eastern Europe. "When forces that are hostile to socialism try to turn the development of some socialist country towards capitalism, it becomes not only a problem of the country concerned, but a common problem and concern of all socialist countries," he told the Polish United Worker's Party in a speech given in November 1968.
Brezhnev became a member of the top Soviet leadership in 1956, responsible for the defense industry. In 1960 Khrushchev, whose protégé Brezhnev had been back in Ukraine, made him chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, titular head of state. A seeming safe choice for Khrushchev because of Brezhnev's low-key style and proven loyalty.
In October 1964 the majority of the Soviet leadership rebelled against Khrushchev in what amounted to be a palace coup. "I thank you for the opportunity you have given me to retire," Khrushchev told his colleagues. "I ask you to write me a suitable statement, and I'll sign it." Brezhnev was made the new general secretary of the Communist Party and Khrushchev retired to his dacha.
Brezhnev and Khrushchev
It was the first peaceful change of power ever in the Soviet Union, and one with enormous implications for the future. Brezhnev and his colleague's mandate was quite clear. Those who had helped put them in power wanted more emphasis on planning, productivity growth, and welfare. They wanted a leadership that avoided unnecessary crises with the West, but also stood up for Soviet gains and those of Communism globally.
After the menacing Stalin and the volatile Khrushchev, Brezhnev was ideal leader for the purpose. He was likable and "comradely"; he remembered colleagues' birthdays and the names of their wives and children. Brezhnev's favorite phrases were "normal development" and "according to plan." The new leader was, at times, a bit vague regarding overall reform plans, but emphasized stability and year-on-year growth in the Soviet economy.
Economically, the Soviet system delivered slow and limited, but continuous growth during the Brezhnev era, within the framework provided by the "planned economy" system. The best estimates are that the Soviet economy grew on average 2.5 to 3 percent per year during the 1960s and 1970s. The is lower than both the United States and western Europe during the same period, and considerably lower than the east Asian economies, but enough to keep the Soviet economy afloat and provide limited real growth in at least some sectors. In addition, the Soviet planned economy provided an even expansion, unlike the capitalist economies where unevenness year on year is part of the system.
Gerald Ford and Brezhnev
Unfortunately, the Soviet system had fundamental defects built into it. There were high levels of waste in production, and persistent low levels of productivity. The direction of output was almost entirely decided by political priorities, and like his predecessors, Brezhnev prioritized heavy industry and military hardware over consumer needs. Though the Soviet economy expanded, many consumer goods and certain food types were often hard to find in the stores. A favorite joke in this era went: "A woman walks into a food store." "Do you have any meat?" "No, we don't." "What about milk?" "We only deal with meat. The store where they have no milk is across the street."
While the structural problems of the Soviet economy were clearly visible, the overall living conditions for its citizens and its military strength both seemed to be improving. Eastern Europe under Soviet rule also seemed to have entered a new normality. Soviet and Communist control were still seen as impositions by the majority, but people everywhere had learned to compromise with the regimes and make the best out of their situation.
During his eighteen years as Leader of the USSR, Brezhnev's signature foreign policy innovation was the promotion of détente. While sharing some similarities with approaches pursued during the Khrushchev Thaw, Brezhnev's policy significantly differed from Khrushchev's precedent in two ways. The first was that it was more comprehensive and wide-ranging in its aims, and included signing agreements on arms control, crisis prevention, East–West trade, European security and human rights. The second part of the policy was based on maintaining parity with the military strength of the United States. Defense spending under Brezhnev between 1965 and 1970 increased by 40%, and annual increases continued thereafter. In the year of Brezhnev's death in 1982, 15% of GNP was spent on the military.
Jimmy Carter and Brezhnev
In the 1970s, the Soviet Union reached the peak of its political and strategic power in relation to the United States. The first SALT Treaty effectively established parity in nuclear weapons between the two superpowers, the Helsinki Treaty legitimized Soviet hegemony over Eastern Europe, and the United States defeat in Vietnam and the Watergate scandal weakened the prestige of the United States.
The major crisis for Brezhnev's regime came in 1968, with the attempt by the Communist leadership in Czechoslovakia, under Alexander Dubček, to liberalize the Communist system (Prague Spring). In July, Brezhnev publicly denounced the Czechoslovak leadership as "revisionist" and "anti-Soviet" before ordering the Warsaw Pact's invasion of Czechoslovakia, and Dubček's removal in August. The invasion led to public protests by dissidents in various Eastern Bloc countries. Brezhnev's subsequent announcement that the Soviet Union had the right to interfere in the internal affairs of its satellites to "safeguard socialism" became known as the Brezhnev Doctrine.
Archival evidence suggests that Brezhnev was one of the few who was looking for a temporary compromise with the reform-friendly Czechoslovak government when their relationship was at the brink. Significant voices in the Soviet leadership demanded the re-installation of a so-called "revolutionary government." After the military intervention in 1968, Brezhnev met with a Czechoslovak member of the Czech Politburo and said, "If I had not voted for Soviet armed assistance to Czechoslovakia you would not be sitting here today, but quite possibly I wouldn't either."
Soviet Tanks in Prague, 1968
After the communist revolution in Afghanistan in 1978, authoritarian actions forced upon the populace by the Communist regime led to the Afghan civil war, with the mujahidin leading the popular backlash against the regime. After a KGB report claimed that Afghanistan could be taken in a matter of weeks, Brezhnev and several top party officials agreed to a full intervention. The intervention in Afghanistan, which was one of the major decisions of his career, also significantly undermined both the international standing and the internal strength of the Soviet Union.
In 1980 a political crisis emerged in Poland with the emergence of the Solidarity mass movement. By the end of October, Solidarity had 3 million members, and by December, had 9 million. In a public opinion poll organized by the Polish government, 89% of the respondents supported Solidarity. The Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc was unsure how to handle the situation. After representatives from the Eastern Bloc nations met at the Kremlin, Brezhnev eventually concluded that it would be better to leave the domestic matters of Poland alone, reassuring the Polish delegates that the Soviet Union would intervene only if asked to, effectively ending the Brezhnev Doctrine.
Brezhnev's health declined rapidly in 1981 and 1982. He died three days after his final public appearance standing on Lenin's Mausoleum during the annual military parade and demonstration of workers commemorating the anniversary of the October Revolution.
