History UsefulNotes / LeonidBrezhnev

[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/563ea718097044952dcb68ab7687f2ae.png]]
[[caption-width-right:325:[[ChestOfMedals Think you have enough medals there?]]]]

[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/563ea718097044952dcb68ab7687f2ae.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:[[ChestOfMedals Think you have enough medals there?]]]]

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (Russian: Леони́д Ильи́ч Бре́жнев; Ukrainian: Леоні́д Іллі́ч Бре́жнєв, 19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a Soviet Russian politician who led the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] as General Secretary of its Communist Party from 1964 to 1982, being the second-longest serving leader after only UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and together with U.S. Presidents UsefulNotes/GeraldFord and UsefulNotes/RichardNixon was responsible for the Soviet-American ''Détente''.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (Russian: Леони́д Ильи́ч Бре́жнев; Ukrainian: Леоні́д Іллі́ч Бре́жнєв, 19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who led the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] as General Secretary of its Communist Party from 1964 to 1982, being the second-longest serving leader after only UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and together with U.S. Presidents UsefulNotes/GeraldFord and UsefulNotes/RichardNixon was responsible for the Soviet-American ''Détente''.

Brezhnev's eighteen-year reign coincided with most of the 1960s, the entirety of the 1970s, and the beginning of the 1980s. Brezhnev oversaw a period of stability in the Soviet Union, but also stagnation. [[http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2013/05/22/brezhnev-tops-list-of-most-popular-20th-century-moscow-rulers/ Russians rank him as their favorite leader of the twentieth century]], thinking of him as the "good old man" who presided over a golden age, there's also those who remember him as a stodgy old bureaucrat with senility problems. Internationally, the 1970s was the period of greatest communist success in the Cold War. The communist side won UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Neighboring Laos and Cambodia also went communist. So did Afghanistan, Angola, Mozambique, and Benin. Meanwhile, the West was reeling from an oil crisis and the American economy was suffering from stagflation. It was a great time to be a commie!

Then ([[PuppetKing already ailing and senile]]) Brezhnev got the brilliant idea to [[UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan invade Afghanistan]][[note]]In fact, he was bluffed into it by [[TheStarscream Andropov]] ''again''[[/note]] in order to put down an anti-communist rebellion there. This would prove to be the greatest (and last) test for the Brezhnev doctrine. By then, his health started to take a turn for the worst and he would die in 1982.

* He briefly appears in ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin'', participating in the coup to remove Beria from power ([[TruthInTelevision which he did in real life]]). In the final scene, he is in the background keenly looking in Khrushchev's direction.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (Russian: Леони́д Ильи́ч Бре́жнев; Ukrainian: Леоні́д Іллі́ч Бре́жнєв, 19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who led the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] as General Secretary of its Communist Party from 1964 to 1982, being the second-longest serving leader after only UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and together with U.S. Presidents UsefulNotes/GeraldFord and UsefulNotes/RichardNixon was responsible for Russo-American ''Détente''.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (Russian: Леони́д Ильи́ч Бре́жнев; Ukrainian: Леоні́д Іллі́ч Бре́жнєв, 19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who led the Soviet Union as General Secretary of its Communist Party from 1964 to 1982, being the second-longest serving leader after only UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and together with U.S. Presidents UsefulNotes/GeraldFord and UsefulNotes/RichardNixon was responsible for Russo-American ''Détente''.

Born to a working-class family in Kamenskoye (now Kamianske, Ukraine) in the then-Russian Empire, after the October Revolution resulted in the creation of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev joined the Communist Party's youth league in 1923 before becoming an official party member in 1929. When Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, he joined the Red Army as a commissar and rose rapidly through the ranks to become a major general during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. Following the war's end, Brezhnev was promoted to the party's Central Committee in 1952 and rose to become a full member of the Politburo by 1957.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (Russian: Леони́д Ильи́ч Бре́жнев; Ukrainian: Леоні́д Іллі́ч Бре́жнєв, 19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was the second-longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, after only UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and together with US Presidents Ford and Nixon was responsible for Russo-American ''Détente''. Ford and Brezhnev's easygoing and eager-to-please natures enabled them to ease mutual tensions and effectively put the Cold War on-hold from 1969 until 1979 at the latest. A memorable occasion was when Ford, visiting Vladivostok, noticed Brezhnev's admiration of his fur coat and spontaneously gifted it to him. Making Nuclear Holocaust less likely has never been so amiable. Brezhnev's eighteen-year reign coincided with most of the 1960s, the entirety of the 1970s, and the beginning of the 1980s. He's usually remembered as a stodgy old bureaucrat with senility problems. Also, there was that time he kissed East German dictator Erich Honecker.

When the Prague Spring arose in 1968 Brezhnev was intensely sympathetic to their cause and spent ''months'' talking with his friends in the Czechoslovakian leadership, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption trying to work out a peaceable solution in which a prospective Socialist Democracy could co-exist with Communist Dictatorships 'and' remain in the Warsaw Pact]]. Ultimately the Czechoslovaks had taken it 'too far' in the eyes of virtually the entire Soviet leadership by autumn and, to strengthen Brezhnev's resolve, head of the KGB UsefulNotes/YuriAndropov fabricated reports that the country was on the verge of leaving the Warsaw Pact and joining NATO unless immediate action was taken. Brezhnev promptly called in Warsaw Pact forces to topple the regime, and seems not to have appreciated the deception when he learned of it.

The most important long-term consequence of this was that Soviet hardliners suddenly began singing Brezhnev's praises, seeing him as 'one of them' (an impression he encouraged). In one fell swoop he had gained the anti-capitalist credentials he needed to negotiate with capitalists without looking weak. This set the stage [[RealPolitik for the demonstrably anti-capitalist Brezhnev and his contemporary the US President Gerald Ford (an anti-communist) to negotiate Détente with one another]]. Brezhnev's move also made big waves within the Warsaw Pact. Although Khrushchev, another 'liberal' (by Soviet standards), had crushed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 in much the same way, the Soviet government saw fit to formally justify the ending of the Prague Spring with what became known as the "Brezhnev doctrine". The Brezhnev doctrine stated that communist countries which started to get crazy ideas about flirting with socialism ([[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies there are big differences]]) or semi-democratic representative institutions or whatnot needed to be put back on course.

Brezhnev oversaw a period of stability in the Soviet Union, but also stagnation. [[http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2013/05/22/brezhnev-tops-list-of-most-popular-20th-century-moscow-rulers/ Russians rank him as their favorite leader of the twentieth century]], thinking of him as the "good old man" who presided over a golden age. Internationally, the 1970s was the period of greatest communist success in the Cold War. The communist side won UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Neighboring Laos and Cambodia also went communist. So did Afghanistan, Angola, Mozambique, and Benin. Meanwhile, the West was reeling from an oil crisis and the American economy was suffering from stagflation. It was a great time to be a commie!

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (Russian: Леони́д Ильи́ч Бре́жнев; Ukrainian: Леоні́д Іллі́ч Бре́жнєв, 19 December 1906 – 10 November 1982) was the second-longest serving leader of the Soviet Union, after only UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, and together with US Presidents Ford and Nixon was responsible for Russo-American ''Détente''. Ford and Brezhnev's easygoing and eager-to-please natures enabled them to ease mutual tensions and effectively put the Cold War on-hold from 1969 until 1979 at the latest. Just look at how ''happy'' ol' Brezhie was when Ford, visiting Vladivostok, [[http://geraldrfordfoundation.org/centennial/media/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Gerald-R-Ford-gifts-his-wolfskin-coat-to-Leonid-Brezhnev-6.jpg noticed Brezhnev's admiration of his fur coat and spontaneously gifted it to him.]] Making Nuclear Holocaust less likely has never been so amiable. Brezhnev's eighteen-year reign coincided with most of the 1960s, the entirety of the 1970s, and the beginning of the 1980s. He's usually remembered as a stodgy old bureaucrat with senility problems. Also, there was that time he kissed East German dictator Erich Honecker.

* The unnamed Soviet Chairman in the Film/JamesBond film ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' was probably intended to be Brezhnev, who actually died before the film's premiere.

* The unnamed Soviet premier in the Film/JamesBond film ''Film/{{Octopussy}}'' was obviously intended to be Brezhnev, who actually died before the film's premiere.

When the Prague Spring arose in 1968 Brezhnev was intensely sympathetic to their cause and spent ''months'' talking with his friends in the Czechoslovakian leadership, [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption trying to work out a peaceable solution in which a prospective Socialist Democracy could co-exist with Communist Dictatorships 'and' remain in the Warsaw Pact]]. Ultimately the Czechoslovaks had taken it 'too far' in the eyes of virtually the entire Soviet leadership by autumn and, to strengthen Brezhnev's resolve, head of the KGB Yuri Andropov fabricated reports that the country was on the verge of leaving the Warsaw Pact and joining NATO unless immediate action was taken. Brezhnev promptly called in Warsaw Pact forces to topple the regime, and seems not to have appreciated the deception when he learned of it.

* He briefly appears in ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin'', participating in the coup to remove Beria from power ([[TruthInTelevision which he did in real life). In the final scene, he is in the background keenly looking in Khrushchev's direction.

* He briefly appears at the end of ''Film/TheDeathOfStalin'', participating in the coup to remove Beria from power. In the final scene, he is in the background keenly looking in Khrushchev's direction.

Brezhnev, and those who held similar opinions, after all were veterans of the war--they suggested that complete and total authority of government in a single individual might have a place in a war where [[GodzillaThreshhold literally tens of millions of your countrymen are being exterminated]], or simply by an unavoidable consequence if it were not already in place, but it did not have a place in a "Cold War", both from contemporaneous and from Marxist-Leninist standpoints. In fact, the roles of Premier and First Secretary had been previously split during UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov's brief and ill-fated spell as leader, only to be re-combined a few years into Khrushchev's regime. As such, while concentrating considerable power in his own office (most broadly, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, as Stalin had been), he strongly advocated a formal and practical distribution of powers across offices, not unlike [[UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito that of Yugoslavia's Tito]]--this gave power to some of the country's most effective leaders, like Soviet Prime Minister Alexey Kosygin, Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko, and President Nikolay Podgorny.

Brezhnev had been the right-hand man of UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev for a long time, and so when his boss was deposed by a motley mix of hardliners in 1964 (Brezhnev himself among them) he was well-positioned to take power. His early reign was a bit awkward as the government was dominated by hardliners, who had little tolerance for the 'softie' Brezhnev and his liberal-socialist sympathies. Accordingly the USSR reversed some of Khrushchev's "De-Stalinization" measures of the previous years--calling it a complete reversal, however, would be disingenuous: Brezhnev, more so than both his strong-willed predecessor, or his more open-minded successors like Mikhail Gorbachev, championed the idea of collective leadership, a direct rejection of the concentration of power that had happened under Josef Stalin up and during the Second World War. Brezhnev, and those who held similar opinions, after all were veterans of the war--they suggested that complete and total authority of government in a single individual might have a place in a war where [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide literally tens of millions of your countrymen are being exterminated]], or simply by an unavoidable consequence if it were not already in place, but it did not have a place in a "Cold War", both from contemporaneous and from Marxist-Leninist standpoints. In fact, the roles of Premier and First Secretary had been previously split during UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov's brief and ill-fated spell as leader, only to be re-combined a few years into Khrushchev's regime. As such, while concentrating considerable power in his own office (most broadly, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, as Stalin had been), he strongly advocated a formal and practical distribution of powers across offices, not unlike [[UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito that of Yugoslavia's Tito]]--this gave power to some of the country's most effective leaders, like Soviet Prime Minister Alexey Kosygin, Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko, and President Nikolay Podgorny. On the other hand, Brezhnev's government did roll back some of the nuanced economic liberalism of Khrushchev, while simultaneously undoing the informal ban on "all things Stalin"--a move that might potentially cast him in a more positive light versus the prior decade's political rejection, but did open up the possibility of blaming some of Stalin's contemporaries, who bore at least some real responsibility, for the most grievous acts of the early decades (so long as it did not cast the ''current'' government in a negative light). Another rollback of Khrushchev's policies was the formal return of political power along lines of national delimitation, particularly along ethnic minority lines, wherein Khrushchev's government had concentrated said power in the hands of Moscow. The move towards conventional military investment was done so it wouldn't be forced to use tactical nuclear weapons in the event of an armed conflict as per Khrushchevian doctrine.

Brezhnev had been the right-hand man of UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev for a long time, and so when his boss was deposed by a motley mix of hardliners in 1964 (Brezhnev himself among them) he was well-positioned to take power. His early reign was a bit awkward as the government was dominated by hardliners, who had little tolerance for the 'softie' Brezhnev and his liberal-socialist sympathies. Accordingly the USSR reversed some of Khrushchev's "De-Stalinization" measures of the previous years--calling it a complete reversal, however, would be disingenuous: Brezhnev, more so than both his strong-willed predecessor, or his more open-minded successors like Mikhail Gorbachev, championed the idea of collective leadership, a direct rejection of the concentration of power that had happened under Josef Stalin up and during the Second World War. Brezhnev, and those who held similar opinions, after all were veterans of the war--they suggested that complete and total authority of government in a single individual might have a place in a war where [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide literally tens of millions of your countrymen are being exterminated]], or simply by an unavoidable consequence if it were not already in place, but it did not have a place in a "Cold War", both from contemporaneous and from Marxist-Leninist standpoints. As such, while concentrating considerable power in his own office (most broadly, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, as Stalin had been), he strongly advocated a formal and practical distribution of powers across offices, not unlike [[UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito that of Yugoslavia's Tito]]--this gave power to some of the country's most effective leaders, like Soviet Prime Minister Alexey Kosygin, Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko, and President Nikolay Podgorny. On the other hand, Brezhnev's government did roll back some of the nuanced economic liberalism of Khrushchev, while simultaneously undoing the informal ban on "all things Stalin"--a move that might potentially cast him in a more positive light versus the prior decade's political rejection, but did open up the possibility of blaming some of Stalin's contemporaries, who bore at least some real responsibility, for the most grievous acts of the early decades (so long as it did not cast the ''current'' government in a negative light). Another rollback of Khrushchev's policies was the formal return of political power along lines of national delimitation, particularly along ethnic minority lines, wherein Khrushchev's government had concentrated said power in the hands of Moscow. The move towards conventional military investment was done so it wouldn't be forced to use tactical nuclear weapons in the event of an armed conflict as per Khrushchevian doctrine.

Brezhnev oversaw a period of stability in the Soviet Union, but also stagnation. [[http://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2013/05/22/brezhnev-tops-list-of-most-popular-20th-century-moscow-rulers/ Russians rank him as their favorite leader of the twentieth century.]] Internationally, the 1970s was the period of greatest communist success in the Cold War. The communist side won UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar. Neighboring Laos and Cambodia also went communist. So did Afghanistan, Angola, Mozambique, and Benin. Meanwhile, the West was reeling from an oil crisis and the American economy was suffering from stagflation. It was a great time to be a commie!

[[caption-width-right:255:Think you have enough medals there?]]

Then ([[PresidentBuffoon already ailing and senile]]) Brezhnev got the brilliant idea to [[UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan invade Afghanistan]][[note]]In fact, he was bluffed into it by [[TheStarscream Andropov]] ''again''[[/note]] in order to put down an anti-communist rebellion there. This would prove to be the greatest (and last) test for the Brezhnev doctrine. By then, his health started to take a turn for the worst and he would die in 1982.

Then Brezhnev got the brilliant idea to [[UsefulNotes/SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan invade Afghanistan]] in order to put down an anti-communist rebellion there. This would prove to be the greatest (and last) test for the Brezhnev doctrine. By then, his health started to take a turn for the worst and he would die in 1982.

* The unnamed Soviet premier in the Film/JamesBond film ''{{Film/Octopussy}}'' was obviously intended to be Brezhnev, who actually died before the film's premiere.

The most important long-term consequence of this was that Soviet hardliners suddenly began singing Brezhnev's praises, seeing him as 'one of them' (an impression he encouraged). In one fell swoop he had gained the anti-capitalist credentials he needed to negotiate with capitalists without looking weak. This set the stage [[RealPolitik for the demonstrably anti-capitalist Brezhnev and his contemporary the US President Gerald Ford (an anti-communist) to negotiate Détente'' with one another]]. Brezhnev's move also made big waves within the Warsaw Pact. Although Khrushchev, another 'liberal' (by Soviet standards), had crushed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 in much the same way, the Soviet government saw fit to formally justify the ending of the Prague Spring with what became known as the "Brezhnev doctrine". The Brezhnev doctrine stated that communist countries which started to get crazy ideas about flirting with socialism ([[UsefulNotes/PoliticalIdeologies there are big differences]]) or semi-democratic representative institutions or whatnot needed to be put back on course.

Brezhnev had been the right-hand man of UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev for a long time, and so when his boss was deposed by a motley mix of hardliners in 1964 Brezhnev was well-positioned to take power. His early reign was a bit awkward as the government was dominated by hardliners, who had little tolerance for the 'softie' Brezhnev and his liberal-socialist sympathies. Accordingly the USSR reversed some of Khrushchev's "De-Stalinization" measures of the previous years--calling it a complete reversal, however, would be disingenuous: Brezhnev, more so than both his strong-willed predecessor, or his more open-minded successors like Mikhail Gorbachev, championed the idea of collective leadership, a direct rejection of the concentration of power that had happened under Josef Stalin up and during the Second World War. Brezhnev, and those who held similar opinions, after all were veterans of the war--they suggested that complete and total authority of government in a single individual might have a place in a war where [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide literally tens of millions of your countrymen are being exterminated]], or simply by an unavoidable consequence if it were not already in place, but it did not have a place in a "Cold War", both from contemporaneous and from Marxist-Leninist standpoints. As such, while concentrating considerable power in his own office (most broadly, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, as Stalin had been), he strongly advocated a formal and practical distribution of powers across offices, not unlike [[UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito that of Yugoslavia's Tito]]--this gave power to some of the country's most effective leaders, like Soviet Prime Minister Alexey Kosygin, Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko, and President Nikolay Podgorny. On the other hand, Brezhnev's government did roll back some of the nuanced economic liberalism of Khrushchev, while simultaneously undoing the informal ban on "all things Stalin"--a move that might potentially cast him in a more positive light versus the prior decade's political rejection, but did open up the possibility of blaming some of Stalin's contemporaries, who bore at least some real responsibility, for the most grievous acts of the early decades (so long as it did not cast the ''current'' government in a negative light). Another rollback of Khrushchev's policies was the formal return of political power along lines of national delimitation, particularly along ethnic minority lines, wherein Khrushchev's government had concentrated said power in the hands of Moscow. The move towards conventional military investment was done so it wouldn't be forced to use tactical nuclear weapons in the event of an armed conflict as per Khrushchevian doctrine.

Brezhnev had been the right-hand man of UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev for a long time, and so when his boss was deposed by a motley mix of hardliners in 1964 Brezhnev was well-positioned to take power. His early reign was a bit awkward as the government was dominated by hardliners, who had little tolerance for the 'softie' Brezhnev and his liberal-socialist sympathies. Accordingly the USSR reversed some of Khrushchev's "De-Stalnization" measures of the previous years--calling it a complete reversal, however, would be disingenuous: Brezhnev, more so than both his strong-willed predecessor, or his more open-minded successors like Mikhail Gorbachev, championed the idea of collective leadership, a direct rejection of the concentration of power that had happened under Josef Stalin up and during the Second World War. Brezhnev, and those who held similar opinions, after all were veterans of the war--they suggested that complete and total authority of government in a single individual might have a place in a war where [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide literally tens of millions of your countrymen are being exterminated]], or simply by an unavoidable consequence if it were not already in place, but it did not have a place in a "Cold War", both from contemporaneous and from Marxist-Leninist standpoints. As such, while concentrating considerable power in his own office (most broadly, the General Secretary of the Communist Party, as Stalin had been), he strongly advocated a formal and practical distribution of powers across offices, not unlike [[UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito that of Yugoslavia's Tito]]--this gave power to some of the country's most effective leaders, like Soviet Prime Minister Alexey Kosygin, Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko, and President Nikolay Podgorny. On the other hand, Brezhnev's government did roll back some of the nuanced economic liberalism of Khrushchev, while simultaneously undoing the informal ban on "all things Stalin"--a move that might potentially cast him in a more positive light versus the prior decade's political rejection, but did open up the possibility of blaming some of Stalin's contemporaries, who bore at least some real responsibility, for the most grievous acts of the early decades (so long as it did not cast the ''current'' government in a negative light). Another rollback of Khrushchev's policies was the formal return of political power along lines of national delimitation, particularly along ethnic minority lines, wherein Khrushchev's government had concentrated said power in the hands of Moscow. The move towards conventional military investment was done so it wouldn't be forced to use tactical nuclear weapons in the event of an armed conflict as per Khrushchevian doctrine.