Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, whose years of rule fell on the so-called era of stagnation, does not cause such heated debate among compatriots as Stalin or even Khrushchev. However, this person also causes very controversial assessments, and the corresponding period left a variety of impressions in the public mind.

Leonid Brezhnev. Years of government of the USSR

Today, this period is associated primarily with light industry and the growing backlog of the Union from its main Western competitor in

heavy. Leonid Brezhnev, whose years of rule fell on 1964-1982, even in power turned out to be an unusual way for those times. In the previous forty years of the existence of the Soviet state, it was difficult to imagine that its leader could be removed from office through bureaucratic mechanisms. Both Lenin and Stalin, despite the contradictory assessments of their activities, were figures of such magnitude that the change of power could and did take place only after their death. The end of totalitarianism in the state, including party purges, was put by Nikita Khrushchev. The 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956 contributed a lot to this. The state has never had such a large-scale and individual leader. As a result, Khrushchev was removed by a party decision in 1964. His successor was Leonid Brezhnev, whose years of rule began with the decision of the plenum. This period was the apogee of the development of the Soviet country and at the same time the beginning of its collapse.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. Years of government and trends in domestic politics

Today this page national history It is customary to call it stagnation, recalling the shortage of essential goods and the stagnation of the economy. In fairness, it should be noted that among the first political decisions of Leonid Ilyich in office was the deployment of economic reforms. The activity started in 1965 was aimed at transferring partly to the market track. The independence of large economic enterprises of the state was significantly expanded, tools were introduced to ensure material

incentives for employees. Indeed, the reform began to give brilliant results. Brezhnev period became the most successful in the history of the country. However, the reformers never completed their undertakings. The economic liberalization reform that produced clear results was not backed up by social and political liberalization. The introduction of market mechanisms at large economic facilities was not complemented by the liberalization of market relations themselves in the country. Actually, the half-heartedness of the reforms determined the slowdown in the pace of development already in the early 1970s. In addition, oil deposits were discovered in Siberia at that time, promising easy income for the treasury, after which state leaders finally lost interest in reforming economic and social life. In the future, the well-known tendencies of “tightening the screws” (mass executions never happened again, but mental hospitals became the talk of the town), a decrease in the profitability of production, when the industry required more and more investments, but gave less and less results, are growing more and more. The imbalance of the state economy is becoming more and more evident. The need to invest resources in a negative impact on the lung, resulting in the infamous commodity shortage.

L.I. Brezhnev. Years of government and trends in foreign policy

In addition to domestic problems, despite all efforts, mistakes in the international arena are becoming more and more obvious. If in the Khrushchev era, despite all its ridiculous epics, the USSR spoke on equal terms with the United States during the period and was the first in space exploration, then in 1969 the Americans for the first time outstripped the Union in landing on the moon. The last resounding success of the domestic space program was the first successful landing of a spacecraft on Mars. Increasingly intense fermentation begins in the friendly republics of the socialist camp. to a large extent laid the foundation for problems that frankly manifested themselves during perestroika and pushed the state to the final collapse.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906 (according to the old style) in the family of a metallurgist worker in the village of Kamenskoye (now the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk). He began his working life at the age of fifteen. After graduating in 1927 Kursk land management and reclamation technical school worked as a land surveyor in the Kokhanovsky district of the Orsha district of the Byelorussian SSR. He joined the Komsomol in 1923, became a member of the CPSU (b) in 1931. In 1935 he graduated metallurgical institute in Dneprodzerzhinsk, where he worked as an engineer at a metallurgical plant.

Brezhnev was nominated for his first responsible post in the Dnepropetrovsk regional party committee in 1938, when he was about 32 years old. At that time, Brezhnev's career was not the fastest. Brezhnev was not a careerist who fights his way up, pushing other contenders with his elbows and betraying his friends. Even then he was distinguished by calmness, loyalty to colleagues and superiors, and did not make his way forward as much as others pushed him forward. At the very first stage, Brezhnev was pushed forward by his friend from the Dnepropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute K. S. Grusheva, who was the first secretary of the Dneprodzerzhinsky city party committee. After the war, Grusheva remained in political work in the army. He died in 1982 with the rank of colonel general. Brezhnev, who was present at this funeral, suddenly fell in front of his friend's coffin, bursting into sobs. This episode has remained incomprehensible to many.

During the war years, Brezhnev did not have strong patronage, and he made little progress. At the beginning of the war he was promoted to the rank of colonel, at the end of the war he was a major general. They did not indulge him in terms of awards. By the end of the war he had two orders of the Red Banner, one of the Red Star, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnitsky and two medals. At that time, for a general, this was quite a bit. During the Victory Parade on Red Square, where Major General Brezhnev walked along with the commander at the head of the consolidated column of his front, there were far fewer awards on his chest than other generals.

After the war, Brezhnev owed his promotion to Khrushchev, which he is silent about in his memoirs.

After working in Zaporozhye, Brezhnev, also on the recommendation of Khrushchev, was nominated for the post First Secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Party Committee, and in 1950 - to the post First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (6) of Moldova. On the XIX Party Congress in the fall of 1952, Brezhnev, as the leader of the Moldavian communists, was elected to the Central Committee of the CPSU. For a short time, he even entered the Presidium (as a candidate) and the Secretariat of the Central Committee, which were significantly expanded at the suggestion of Stalin. During the congress, Stalin saw Brezhnev for the first time. He drew attention to the prominent Brezhnev. Stalin was told that this was the party leader of the Moldavian SSR. "What a beautiful Moldovan" Stalin said. November 7, 1952 Brezhnev for the first time went up to the podium of the Mausoleum. Until March 1953, Brezhnev, like other members of the Presidium, was in Moscow and waited for them to be gathered for a meeting and to distribute duties. In Moldova, he was already released from work. But Stalin never collected them.

After Stalin's death, the composition of the Presidium and the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the CPSU was immediately reduced. Brezhnev was also removed from the composition, but he did not return to Moldova, but was appointed Head of the Political Directorate of the Navy of the USSR. He was promoted to lieutenant general and had to put on his military uniform again. In the Central Committee, Brezhnev invariably supported Khrushchev.

In early 1954, the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU sent him to Kazakhstan to lead development of virgin lands. He returned to Moscow only in 1956 and after XX Congress of the CPSU became again one of the secretaries of the Central Committee and a candidate member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Brezhnev was supposed to control the development of heavy industry, later defense and aerospace, but Khrushchev personally decided all the main issues, and Brezhnev acted as a calm and devoted assistant. After the June Plenum of the Central Committee in 1957, Brezhnev became a member of the Presidium. Khrushchev appreciated his loyalty, but did not consider him a strong enough worker.

After the retirement of K. E. Voroshilov, Brezhnev became his successor in office Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In some Western biographies, this appointment is estimated almost as Brezhnev's defeat in the struggle for power. But in reality, Brezhnev was not an active participant in this struggle and was very pleased with the new appointment. He did not seek then the post of head of the party or government. He was quite satisfied with the role of the "third" person in the leadership. Back in 1956-1957. he managed to transfer to Moscow some of the people with whom he worked in Moldova and Ukraine. One of the first were S. P. Trapeznikov and K. U. Chernenko who began to work in Brezhnev's personal secretariat. In the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, it was Chernenko who became the head of Brezhnev's office. In 1963, when F. R. Kozlov lost not only Khrushchev's favor, but was also stricken with a stroke, Khrushchev hesitated for a long time in choosing his new favorite. Ultimately, his choice fell on Brezhnev, who was elected Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Khrushchev was in very good health and expected to remain in power for a long time to come. Meanwhile, Brezhnev himself was dissatisfied with this decision of Khrushchev, although moving to the Secretariat increased his real power and influence. He did not want to plunge into the extremely difficult and troublesome work of the secretary of the Central Committee. Brezhnev was not the organizer of Khrushchev's removal, although he knew about the impending action. Among its main organizers there was no agreement on many issues. In order not to deepen the differences that could derail the whole affair, they agreed to the election of Brezhnev, assuming that this would be a temporary solution. Leonid Ilyich gave his consent.

Brezhnev's vanity

Even under Brezhnev's predecessor, Khrushchev, the tradition of presenting the highest awards of the Soviet Union to the tops of the party began in connection with the anniversary or holidays. Khrushchev, was awarded three gold medals Hammer and Sickle Hero of the Socialist. Labor and one gold star of the Hero of the USSR. Brezhnev continued the established tradition. As a political worker, Brezhnev did not take part in the largest and decisive battles of the Patriotic War. One of the most important episodes in the combat biography of the 18th Army was the capture and holding for 225 days of a bridgehead south of Novorossiysk in 1943, which was called "Small land".

Among the people, Brezhnev's love for titles and awards and awards caused many jokes and anecdotes. After the war, even under Stalin, Brezhnev was awarded Order of Lenin. For 9 years of Khrushchev's leadership, Brezhnev was awarded Order of Lenin and Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class. After Brezhnev came to the leadership of the country and the party, awards began to rain down on him like from a cornucopia. By the end of his life, he had far more orders and medals than Stalin, Malenkov and Khrushchev put together. At the same time, he really wanted to receive military orders. He was awarded four times title of Hero of the Soviet Union, which, according to the statute, can be assigned only three times (only G.K. Zhukov was an exception). Dozens of times he received the title of Hero and the highest orders of all socialist countries. He was awarded the orders of countries Latin America and Africa. Brezhnev was awarded the highest Soviet combat Order of Victory, which was awarded only to the largest commanders, and at the same time for outstanding victories on the scale of fronts or groups of fronts. Naturally, with so many top military awards, Brezhnev could not be satisfied with the rank of lieutenant general. In 1976, Brezhnev was awarded the title Marshal of the USSR. At the next meeting with veterans of the 18th Army, Brezhnev came in a raincoat and, entering the room, commanded: "Attention! The marshal is coming! Throwing off his cloak, he appeared before the veterans in a new marshal's uniform. Pointing to the marshal's stars on shoulder straps, Brezhnev proudly said: "I have served!".

Marshal Brezhnev in full dress. Late 1970s

Brezhnev in a narrow circle

Brezhnev was lost at all sorts of solemn ceremonies, sometimes hiding this confusion with unnatural inactivity. But in a narrower circle, during frequent meetings or on days of rest, Brezhnev could be a completely different person, more independent, resourceful, sometimes showing a sense of humor. This is remembered by almost all the politicians who dealt with him, of course, even before the onset of his serious illness. Apparently realizing this, Brezhnev soon preferred to conduct important negotiations at his dacha in Oreanda in the Crimea or at the hunting ground of Zavidovo near Moscow.

Former Chancellor of Germany W. Brandt, with whom Brezhnev met more than once, wrote in his memoirs:

“Unlike Kosygin, my immediate negotiating partner in 1970, who was mostly cold and calm, Brezhnev could be impulsive, even angry. Changes in mood, Russian soul, quick tears are possible. He had a sense of humour. He not only bathed in Oreanda for many hours, but talked and laughed a lot. He talked about the history of his country, but only about the last decades ... It was obvious that Brezhnev tried to watch his appearance. His figure did not correspond to the ideas that could arise from his official photographs. He was by no means an imposing personality, and, despite the heaviness of his body, he gave the impression of a graceful, lively, energetic in movements, cheerful person. His facial expressions and gestures betrayed a southerner, especially if he felt relaxed during the conversation. He came from the Ukrainian industrial region, where various national influences were mixed. More than anything else, the formation of Brezhnev as a person was affected by the second World War. He spoke with great and a little naive emotion about how Hitler managed to swindle Stalin ... "

G. Kissinger also called Brezhnev "a real Russian, full of feelings, with rude humor". When Kissinger, already as US Secretary of State, came to Moscow in 1973 to arrange Brezhnev's visit to the United States, almost all of these five-day negotiations took place in the Zavidovo hunting ground during walks, hunts, lunches and dinners. Brezhnev even demonstrated to the guest his art of driving a car. Kissinger writes in his memoirs:

“Once he led me to a black Cadillac that Nixon gave him a year ago on Dobrynin's advice. With Brezhnev at the wheel, we rushed at high speed along the narrow winding country roads, so that one could only pray that some policeman would appear at the nearest intersection and put an end to this risky game. But this was too incredible, for if there were any traffic policeman here, outside the city, he would hardly have dared to stop the car of the General Secretary of the Party. The fast ride ended at the pier. Brezhnev placed me on a hydrofoil, which, fortunately, he did not personally pilot. But I had the impression that this boat should beat the speed record set by the Secretary General during our trip by car.

Brezhnev behaved very directly at many receptions, for example, on the occasion of the flight into space of a joint Soviet-American crew under the project "Soyuz - Apollo". However, the Soviet people did not see and did not know such a cheerful and direct Brezhnev. In addition, the image of the younger Brezhnev, who was not very often shown on television at that time, was replaced in the minds of the people by the image of a seriously ill, inactive and tongue-tied person who appeared almost daily on our TV screens in the last 5-6 years of his life.

Kindness and Sentimentality

Brezhnev was generally a benevolent person, he disliked complications and conflicts neither in politics nor in personal relationships with his colleagues. When such a conflict did arise, Brezhnev tried to avoid extreme solutions. With conflicts within the leadership, very few of the people retired. Most of the "disgraced" leaders remained in the "nomenklatura", but only 2-3 steps lower. A member of the Politburo could become a deputy minister, and a former minister, secretary of the regional party committee, member of the Central Committee of the CPSU was sent as an ambassador to a small country: Denmark, Belgium, Australia, Norway.

This benevolence often turned into connivance, which dishonest people also used. Brezhnev often left in his posts not only guilty, but also stealing workers. It is known that without the sanction of the Politburo, the judicial authorities cannot conduct an investigation into the case of any member of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

It often happened that Brezhnev cried at official receptions. This sentimentality, so little characteristic of politicians, sometimes benefited ... art. So, for example, back in the early 70s, the film by A. Smirnov was created "Belorussky railway station". This picture was not allowed on the screen, believing that the Moscow police were not presented in the best light in the film. The film's defenders managed to see it with the participation of members of the Politburo. There is an episode in the film where it is shown how, by chance and after many years, fellow soldiers who met, sing a song about the airborne battalion, in which they all once served. This song, composed by B. Okudzhava, touched Brezhnev, and he began to cry. Of course, the film was immediately allowed to be released, and since then the song about the airborne battalion has almost always been included in the repertoire of concerts Brezhnev attended.

The end of Brezhnev's earthly life

Even at the age of 50 and even 60, Brezhnev lived without caring too much about his health. He did not give up all the pleasures that life can give and which are not always conducive to longevity.

The first serious health problems appeared with Brezhnev, apparently in 1969-1970. Doctors began to be constantly on duty next to him, and medical rooms were equipped in the places where he lived. At the beginning of 1976, what happened to Brezhnev is what is commonly called clinical death. However, he was brought back to life, although for two months he could not work, because his thinking and speech were impaired. Since then, a group of resuscitators armed with the necessary equipment has constantly been near Brezhnev. Although the state of health of our leaders is among the closely guarded state secrets, Brezhnev's progressive infirmity was obvious to all who could see him on their television screens. The American journalist Simon Head wrote:

“Every time this corpulent figure ventures outside the Kremlin walls, the outside world is on the lookout for signs of declining health. With the death of M. Suslov, another pillar of the Soviet regime, this eerie scrutiny can only intensify. During the November (1981) meetings with Helmut Schmidt, when Brezhnev almost fell while walking, he at times looked as if he could not last even a day.

In fact, he was slowly dying before the eyes of the whole world. In the past six years, he had several heart attacks and strokes, and resuscitators several times brought him out of a state of clinical death. The last time this happened was in April 1982 after an accident in Tashkent.

Of course, Brezhnev's painful state began to be reflected in his ability to govern the country. He was forced to interrupt his duties frequently or to delegate them to the ever-growing staff of his personal assistants. Brezhnev's working day was reduced by several hours. He began to go on vacation not only in the summer, but also in the spring. Gradually, it became more and more difficult for him to fulfill even simple protocol duties, and he ceased to understand what was happening around him. However, a lot of influential, deeply decomposed, mired in corruption people from his entourage were interested in Brezhnev appearing in public from time to time, at least as a formal head of state. They literally led him under the arms and reached the worst: old age, infirmity and illness of the Soviet leader became subjects not so much of sympathy and pity of his fellow citizens as irritation and ridicule, which were expressed more and more openly.

Even in the afternoon of November 7, 1982, during the parade and demonstration, Brezhnev stood for several hours in a row, despite the bad weather, on the podium of the Mausoleum, and foreign newspapers wrote that he looked even better than usual. The end came, however, after just three days. In the morning, during breakfast, Brezhnev went to his office to take something and did not return for a long time. The worried wife followed him out of the dining room and saw him lying on the carpet near the desk. The efforts of the doctors this time did not bring success, and four hours after Brezhnev's heart stopped, they announced his death. The next day The Central Committee of the CPSU and the Soviet government officially notified the world about the death of L. I. Brezhnev.

Events during Brezhnev's rule:

• 1966 - the post of General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU was restored, and the First Secretary of the Central Committee L. I. Brezhnev was elected.
• 1968 - the entry of ATS troops into Prague, Czechoslovakia, in connection with the announcement of radical reforms by A. Dubcek.
• 1970 - Lunokhod-1 delivered to the Moon. The first on the Moon was the automatic interplanetary station (AMS) Luna-2, which left a badge with the Soviet coat of arms back in 1959.
• WITH 1974 - construction of BAM by Komsomol members.
• 1977 - adoption of the new constitution of the USSR.
• 1979 - the introduction of a limited contingent of Soviet troops (OKSV) into Afghanistan to strengthen the southern borders of the Soviet Union.
• 1980 - Olympics in Moscow. The United States initiated a boycott of the Olympics-80 in connection with the introduction of troops into Afghanistan, which was supported by 64 countries.

>Biographies of famous people

Brief biography of Leonid Brezhnev

Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich - Soviet state and party leader; veteran of the Great Patriotic War; General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. Born in the village of Kamenskoye (now the city of Dneproderzhinsk) on December 19, 1906, in the family of an ordinary worker. At the age of 9, the future politician entered the gymnasium, and at the age of 15 he went to work at the Kursk oil mill. Since 1923 he was a member of the Komsomol.

In 1927 he graduated from the Kursk Land Management Technical School and entered the Dneproderzhinsky Metallurgical Institute, after which he was appointed its director. During the same period, he served one year in the army, and since 1938 he was appointed head of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party. He was not a careerist by nature and therefore did not quickly move up the career ladder. However, having served as the head of the political department and political department during the war of 1941-1945, he was awarded the rank of major general.

In 1952, at the insistence of Stalin, he was appointed secretary of the Central Committee. Two years later, he was sent to Kazakhstan, now on the recommendation of Khrushchev, to the post of second, and then first secretary of the Communist Party of the republic. In 1956, he was re-elected Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and a year later, he became a member of the Presidium, of which he was subsequently appointed chairman. hallmark Brezhnev had a love for all kinds of awards and titles.

Even during the reign of Stalin, he was awarded his first Order of Lenin. The second such order was given to him by Khrushchev. In the years when he personally was the leader, awards and military orders simply rained down on him in abundance. Thus, by the end of his life, Leonid Ilyich had the largest number of orders and medals. In 1976 he was awarded the title of Marshal of the USSR. In a narrow circle, he was a completely different person. Brezhnev liked to conduct negotiations at his dacha in the Crimea or in a hunting lodge in the Moscow region.

Politicians remember that he could show a sense of humor and resourcefulness. During public ceremonies of various kinds, he became a little lost and absent-minded. The general secretary's health began to deteriorate in the 1960s. In 1976 he moved clinical death However, the doctors managed to save him. He died in 1982, having survived several strokes and heart attacks in last years life, and was buried at the Kremlin wall. At statesman had one son and one daughter.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906, in the village of. Kamenskoye (now the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine) in a family of workers. Already in 1921, Brezhnev worked at the Kursk oil mill. In 1927 he graduated from the Kursk Land Management Technical School, and in 1935 from the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute. Worked as Deputy Chairman of the Bisersky District Executive Committee Sverdlovsk region(1929-1930), director of the metallurgical technical school in Dneprodzerzhinsk (1936-1937). Member of the CPSU since 1931. In 1935-1936 he served in the army. Since 1938, he was in charge of the department of the Dnepropetrovsk regional committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, since 1939 - the secretary of the regional committee.

During the Great Patriotic War, Leonid Brezhnev was deputy head of the political department of the Southern Front; since 1943 - head of the political department of the 18th army; since 1945 - head of the political department of the 4th Ukrainian Front. He finished the war with the rank of major general, assigned to him in 1943.

In the postwar years (1946-1950) L.I. Brezhnev took the post of first secretary of the Zaporozhye, then Dnepropetrovsk regional committees. Since 1950 he was the first secretary of Moldova. At the 19th Party Congress in 1952, on the recommendation of Brezhnev, he was elected Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and a candidate member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Party. In 1953-1954. he worked as deputy head of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy.

In 1954, at the suggestion of N.S. Khrushchev, Brezhnev was sent to work in Kazakhstan, where he first held the post of second, and since 1955 - first secretary of the Communist Party of the republic. Since 1957 he has been a member of the presidium and secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. As a person enjoying the full confidence of Khrushchev, in 1960 he was appointed chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In 1964, Leonid Brezhnev led a conspiracy against Khrushchev, after the removal of which, he took the post of first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

For style government controlled Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was characterized by conservatism. He had neither the political will nor a vision of the country's development prospects. The economy showed tendencies of stagnation, which in the 1970s were offset by a favorable external economic situation for the USSR. Economic reforms in the 1960s were curtailed, the growth rate of industry and agriculture began to decline sharply, scientific and technological progress slowed down. The Soviet Union lagged behind the leading world powers in its development.

Gradually, the party and political life began to be bureaucratized and formalized, which eventually led to the destruction of the initiative from below.

In the field of foreign policy, L.I. Brezhnev did a lot to achieve political detente in the 1970s. US-Soviet treaties on the limitation of strategic offensive arms were concluded, which, however, were not supported by adequate measures of confidence and control. At the same time, the process of detente was understood by the American and Soviet sides in different ways. After the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979, this process was curtailed, and a period of growing tension in interstate ties began between the USA and the USSR.

In relations with the socialist allied countries in the camp, L.I. Brezhnev became the initiator of the doctrine of "limited sovereignty", which provides for acts of intimidation up to a military invasion of those countries that tried to pursue an independent domestic and foreign policy from the USSR. In 1968, Brezhnev agreed to the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries. In 1980, military intervention in Poland was being prepared.

Since the mid 1970s. health L.I. Brezhnev deteriorated sharply, and by the early 1980s he was already essentially incompetent as a politician. Influential members of the political leadership of the USSR took advantage of his physical weakness, inability to lead the country and adequately assess the situation in their own interests during the struggle for power. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev died on November 10, 1982 in Moscow.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906, in the village of. Kamenskoye (now the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk, Ukraine) in a family of workers. Already in 1921, Brezhnev worked at the Kursk oil mill. In 1927 he graduated from the Kursk Land Management Technical School, and in 1935 from the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute. He worked as deputy chairman of the Bisersky district executive committee of the Sverdlovsk region (1929-1930), director of the metallurgical technical school in Dneprodzerzhinsk (1936-1937). Member of the CPSU since 1931. In 1935-1936 he served in the army. Since 1938, he was in charge of the department of the Dnepropetrovsk regional committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, since 1939 - the secretary of the regional committee.

During the Great Patriotic War, Leonid Brezhnev was deputy head of the political department of the Southern Front; since 1943 - head of the political department of the 18th army; since 1945 - head of the political department of the 4th Ukrainian Front. He finished the war with the rank of major general, assigned to him in 1943.

In the postwar years (1946-1950) L.I. Brezhnev took the post of first secretary of the Zaporozhye, then Dnepropetrovsk regional committees. Since 1950 he was the first secretary of Moldova. At the 19th Party Congress in 1952, on the recommendation of Brezhnev, he was elected Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and a candidate member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Party. In 1953-1954. he worked as deputy head of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy.

In 1954, at the suggestion of N.S. Khrushchev, Brezhnev was sent to work in Kazakhstan, where he first held the post of second, and since 1955 - first secretary of the Communist Party of the republic. Since 1957 he has been a member of the presidium and secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU. As a person enjoying the full confidence of Khrushchev, in 1960 he was appointed chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In 1964, Leonid Brezhnev led a conspiracy against Khrushchev, after the removal of which, he took the post of first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

The style of government of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was characterized by conservatism. He had neither the political will nor a vision of the country's development prospects. The economy showed tendencies of stagnation, which in the 1970s were offset by a favorable external economic situation for the USSR. Economic reforms in the 1960s were curtailed, the growth rate of industry and agriculture began to decline sharply, scientific and technological progress slowed down. The Soviet Union lagged behind the leading world powers in its development.

Gradually, the party and political life began to be bureaucratized and formalized, which eventually led to the destruction of the initiative from below.

In the field of foreign policy, L.I. Brezhnev did a lot to achieve political detente in the 1970s. US-Soviet treaties on the limitation of strategic offensive arms were concluded, which, however, were not supported by adequate measures of confidence and control. At the same time, the process of detente was understood by the American and Soviet sides in different ways. After the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1979, this process was curtailed, and a period of growing tension in interstate ties began between the USA and the USSR.

In relations with the socialist allied countries in the camp, L.I. Brezhnev became the initiator of the doctrine of "limited sovereignty", which provides for acts of intimidation up to a military invasion of those countries that tried to pursue an independent domestic and foreign policy from the USSR. In 1968, Brezhnev agreed to the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the troops of the Warsaw Pact countries. In 1980, military intervention in Poland was being prepared.

Since the mid 1970s. health L.I. Brezhnev deteriorated sharply, and by the early 1980s he was already essentially incompetent as a politician. Influential members of the political leadership of the USSR took advantage of his physical weakness, inability to lead the country and adequately assess the situation in their own interests during the struggle for power. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev died on November 10, 1982 in Moscow.