2. BACKGROUND
Born: Wednesday, December 19, 1906
Died: Wednesday, November 10, 1982 (aged 75)
Served as: General Secretary of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union (October 14, 1964-November
10, 1982) and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (May 7, 1960-July 15, 1964 and
June 16, 1977-November 10, 1982)
Nationality: Soviet
Ethnicity: Russian-Ukrainian
Political party: Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse(s): Viktoria Brezhneva
Profession: Metallurgical Engineer, Civil servant
3. EARLY LIFE
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born
on Wednesday, December
19, 1906, in
Kamenskoye, Ukraine, to a steel
working family.
Received a technical
education, first in land
management, and then in
metallurgy, like many of the
youth of the era following the
Russian Revolution.
Entered the iron and steel
industries as an engineer in the
east of Ukraine, joining the
Komsomol, a youth branch of
the Communist Party. In
1931, he joined the main party.
4. LIFE UNDER JOSEPH STALIN
When he was drafted into the
army, he was sent to a tank
school and later took a
position as a political
commissar of a tank
company.
After brief stunts at a
metallurgical technical
college and a regional center
in Dnepropetrovsk, he
became the party secretary
responsible for the vital
defense industries.
As a staunch
Stalinist, Brezhnev survived
the purge of 1937-39 and
rose progressively through
the party ranks.
5. ROLE IN WORLD WAR II
When the Germans attacked the Soviet Union in the
summer of 1941, he became involved in the evacuation of
the city’s industries in the east of Russia.
When the Red Army regrouped and initiated a
counterassault, Brezhnev served under the senior political
commissioner, Nikita Khrushchev.
Following the end of World War II, he worked on
reconstruction projects in Ukraine until he was called into
service as a deputy in the Supreme Soviet in 1950.
Was inducted into the Central Committee of the Communist
Party and eventually into the Presidium, the predecessor of
the Politburo, in 1952.
6. AFTER STALIN’S DEATH
A short time after Stalin died in March
1953, Khrushchev rose to power and
appointed Brezhnev to senior-level
positions, like the head of the Political
Directorate of the Army and Navy, and
Party First Secretary of Kazakhstan.
Was recalled to Moscow in 1956 and
entrusted with control of the defense
industry, capital construction, and the
space program.
When Khrushchev did battle with the
‘’old guard’’ of pro-Stalinist
sympathizers- namely Georgy
Malenkov and Vyacheslav Molotov-
Brezhnev backed him.
After the ouster of the ‘’Anti-Party
Group’’, Brezhnev was promoted to
be a full member of the Presidium.
7. BREZHNEV THE DIPLOMAT
As Khrushchev's right-hand man, he ascended to the post
of President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in May
1960, making him Head of State.
This allowed him to travel abroad as a diplomat.
He acquired his taste for expensive western clothes and
cars.
Although still loyal to Khrushchev, it was clear among senior
advisors that their aging leader was losing his effectiveness
and needed to retire.
Became the Secretary of the Central Committee.
In October 1964, while the 70-year-old Khrushchev was on
vacation, he usurped the top position of Party First
Secretary.
8. BREZHNEV THE DIPLOMAT (CONT.)
Joining the new regime were Prime Minister Aleksei Kosygin
and Head of State Anastas Mikoyan, who hatched the initial
plan to depose Khrushchev.
Mikoyan’s stay was short-lived; he retired in 1965 and was
replaced with Nikolai Podgorny.
9. BREZHNEV THE PARTY LEADER
Unexpectedly, Brezhnev
started to reverse some of
Khrushchev's policies and
reembraced those of the
tyrannical Stalin.
As he claimed the title of
General Secretary, he
praised Stalin.
Dissident writers Yuri Daniel
and Andrei Sinyavsky were
imprisoned for six years for
‘’anti-Soviet activities.’’
The KGB, the Soviet version
of the secret police, enjoyed
a resumption of power under
its chairman, Yuri Andropov.
10. PRAGUE SPRING
The first international ‘’situation’’
for Brezhnev happened in 1968
when Czechoslovak leader
Alexander Dubček attempted to
liberalize the Communist system
in his country.
Brezhnev publicly condemned
Dubček as ‘’revisionist’’ and
‘’anti-Soviet’’ invoking provisions
of the Warsaw Pact to crush the
Prague Spring.
Brezhnev claimed that the
USSR had a right to ‘’safeguard
socialism.’’
That maneuver came to be
called the ‘’Brezhnev Doctrine’’
, although Khrushchev used the
tactic 12 years prior in Hungary.
11. COOLING OF COLD WAR TENSIONS WITH
CHINA AND THE UNITED STATES
Cold war tensions continued through meetings with Chinese
Premier Zhou Enlai in 1965, while Sino-Soviet relations
remained poor.
In 1969, the two sides exchanged gunfire across their
common border on the Ussuri River.
The same year, Brezhnev escaped an attempt on his life by
one of his own army officers, Viktor Ilyin.
12. COOLING OF COLD WAR TENSIONS WITH CHINA
AND THE UNITED STATES (CONT).
As Sino-American relations
started to soften in
1971, Brezhnev turned to the
United States to request a
reopening of negotiations
concerning the stop on nuclear
weapons.
A meeting with President Richard
M. Nixon in May 1972 led to the
signing of the first SALT
agreement, kicking off the era of
‘’Détente.’’
Another international
agreement, the Helsinki Final
Act, signed in 1975, was the
highlight of détente in the
Brezhnev era, as it solidified in
the Soviet position in Eastern
Europe, afterward drawing
political opposition in the United
States.
13. NEW TENSIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES
As U.S. prestige faltered from the military defeat in Vietnam
and the Watergate Scandal, the Soviets extended their
political and diplomatic influence in Africa and the Middle
East.
But ultimately, what power the Soviets had, both at home
and abroad, was dependent on a homeland economy that
had been referred to as ‘’stagnant.’’
Although Stalin had initiated the industrialization of the
USSR in the 1930s, the nation was decidedly agrarian.
The ‘’rising standard of living’’ promised by the regime had
not materialized.
14. NEW TENSIONS WITH THE UNITED STATES
(CONT.)
Additionally, staggering expenditures on the military and
space programs, coupled with the need to import grain at
premium market prices, left little capital to invest in
modernization.
State-endorsed health and education programs, and public
housing quality, all suffered as a result.
Brezhnev, who held power longer than any other Soviet
leader apart from Stalin, had a knack for international
diplomacy, which culminated in the SALT II treaty signed
with U.S. President Jimmy Carter in the summer of 1979.
Domestic matters were left to such aides-de-camp as
agriculture head Mikhail Gorbachev, later to become
General Secretary of the Communist Party.
15. FINAL YEARS AND DEATH
Had the SALT II treaty been the
apex of the Brezhnev
regime, his inner circle’s
decision to invade Afghanistan
in December 1979 was the
nadir.
It led to the abrupt end of
détente, with the United States
imposing a grain embargo on
the Soviet Union, magnifying the
problems of its economic sector.
Brezhnev's health was declining
for several years. In March
1982, he suffered a stroke, and
died of a heart attack on
Wednesday, November
10, 1982.
16. FUNERAL
Brezhnev’s funeral was
held on
Monday, November
15, 1982, in Red Square
in Moscow.
17. AWARDS AND HONORS
Major General and Marshal of the Soviet Union.
4 x Hero of the Soviet Union.
