PERIOD OF STABILITY

by Tatyana Shvetsova

After the removal of Nikita Khrushchev from the post of First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in October 1964, his post was taken over by Leonid Brezhnev. 

Brezhnev’s party comrades elected him as a temporary, compromise figure. He didn’t seem like a very powerful or authoritative leader. Nonetheless, he turned out extremely tenacious and held his high post for 18 years! 

So, what was Leonid Brezhnev like? Well, first and foremost, he was a convinced communist. Here is an excerpt from his speech dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the October Socialist Revolution:

“60 years ago the workers and peasants of Russia, led by Lenin’s party, overthrew the power of the capitalists and landowners. This was the first successful socialist revolution in world history. The unforgettable October days stirred up the entire planet. A new historical epoch began – the epoch of revolutionary renewal of the world, an epoch of transition to socialism and communism. A new road was trailblazed: a road that hundreds of millions of people are walking along today, and which all of humanity is destined to follow. We were the trailblazers, and it was hard for us. We needed to hold out in the throttling encirclement of enemy camps; we needed to break free of the stifling backwardness of centuries that was dragging us down into the Middle Ages; we had to overcome the awesome force of historical inertia and learn to live along new laws – the laws of collectivity. And now, summing up the results of six decades of struggle and labor, we can say with great pride: we came through, we stood out! We are victorious!”

During a recent public opinion poll, conducted by the All-Russia Center for studying public opinion, people were asked just one question: If they had a choice, which epoch would they choose to live in? So, 31% of those polled replied that they preferred the epoch of Leonid Brezhnev, although there were many aspects of his policy they didn’t approve of. 

Politicians and journalists remark on the heightened interest that today’s residents of Russia display towards the personality of the late General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Why so? In the opinion of Yuri Bogomolov, an analytic of the Russian “Novosti” news agency, “the interest in Leonid Brezhnev’s persona today is quite possibly explained by not so much the scale of his personality, as a romantic attitude to the epoch he embodies, when there were none of today’s problems.

We recall with particular warmth how hard it was for Leonid Ilyich to cope with such words as ‘systematic’ when making speeches up on the rostrum, how we enjoyed telling each other political anecdotes, sitting in the safety of our kitchens… All the while, we seem to have forgotten that it was this politician who ordered tanks into Prague in 1968, that he was the one to sanction the war with Afghanistan, and during his stint in power dissidents were shoved away into psychiatric asylums and prison camps, and so forth.

This illogical reasoning can be explained in turn by only one thing: today we acknowledge that responsibility for our future lies on ourselves, while in Brezhnev’s time this responsibility was shouldered by the Government.”

Making use of recollections of Leonid Brezhnev’s contemporaries, we shall attempt to give you some impression of what kind of a person he was. Let’s begin with his very intriguing biography:

Leonid Brezhnev was born on December 6th 1906 in Ukraine, into the family of a hereditary metallurgical worker. At 15 he was already working on the same metallurgical plant as his grandfather, father and brother. After the Civil war of 1918 -1920 the factory was shut down for reconstruction. The Brezhnev family was forced to move to the village and switch over to agricultural work.

In 1923 Leonid entered the meliorative technical school in the town of Kursk, in Central Russia, and four years later graduated from it. In 1929 at the age of 25 he entered the Communist party and swiftly became involved in work to set up kolkhozes. 

The 1930’s in his life were particularly rich in events. There were enough of them for more than one person. At the time he worked as land-surveyor first in Byelorussia, and then in Kursk region of Russia. He became deputy head of the administration of the Urals region.

In 1935 Leonid Brezhnev graduated from the evening department of the Metallurgical institute in the Ukrainian town of Dniepropetrovsk. For some time he worked as engineer at a metallurgical plant, then as Director of a metallurgical technical school. However, after that he was called up into the army, where he served as junior commander, after which he once again returned to the work of director of the metallurgical technical school.

His political career began in 1937, at the peak of Stalin’s party purges. By the onset of WWII he had become a Secretary of the Dniepropetrovsk regional committee of the Communist Party. At the time he was working directly under Nikita Khrushchev.

In 1941, when Hitler’s Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Brezhnev organized mobilization into the Red Army and oversaw evacuation of industry from Dniepropetrovsk region to the Urals. After the occupation of Dniepropetrovsk region he was called up to join active service in the position of political worker. 

Leonid Brezhnev participated in the defense of the Caucuses, the liberation of Ukraine, battles on German territory. He experienced a great many hardships, frequently finding himself under enemy fire, embarking on hand-to-hand combat; and even almost drowned with the paratroopers in Tsemesk Bay. He ended the war in Prague in the rank of Major-General, in the position of Head of the Political office of the 4th Ukrainian front.

After demobilization from the army in 1946, Brezhnev was employed exclusively on party work, at different posts, in diverse regions of the Soviet Union. And from 1956 he was already in the Central Committee of the CPSU.”

And now several brushstrokes to the portrait of Leonid Brezhnev, taken from the memoirs of those, who knew him personally.

Andrei Alexandrov-Agentov, Brezhnev’s adviser on international affairs, comparing him with Nikita Khrushchev, remarked:

“Brezhnev – is also a very ambitious man. But he is much more cautious, less sure of himself, more inclined to listen to the opinions of others. He was never embarrassed to ask for advice even in the presence of others. Say, there were negotiations underway with some foreign delegation, moreover, there were people among it who knew Russian, still, Brezhnev would voice some thought of his, and then turn to me with the words: ‘Do you think that’s right?”

However, it might well be this was an act, put on to solicit ‘tender emotions’.

Like Khrushchev, he was also clever and sly, yet probably more consistent in his plans and projects, unhurried, much more reserved and less prone to unreservedly reveal to one and all his moods and intentions. And, of course, this man was much more patient and tolerant, even good natured towards others (to a certain degree, of course). However, even this jolly bonhomie was not without underlying sordid motive. I remember how once, during an official trip somewhere by train, relaxing in the compartment, Leonid Ilyich uttered a phrase that struck me: “You know, Andrei, charm is a very important factor in politics.”

No less interesting are Andrei Alexandrov-Agentov’s comments regarding how Leonid Brezhnev was concerned about his authority and reputation in party circles:

“Born in the very heart of the party apparatus, Brezhnev perfectly understood its significance and strength as the real power-factor in the country from top to bottom. This is why he considered the Secretaries of Regional party committees his main bulwark, and cultivated invariably good relations with them. I do not know of a case when (if he was in good health) he refused to receive someone from among them, and always treated them to a lengthy conversation during their trips to the capital. Whenever he went to the Crimea for vacations, on a daily basis, for two-three hours he would converse with secretaries of regional party committees in different corners of the country, asking them about their needs, problems, moods. Of course, all this served to boost Brezhnev’s authority in the party ranks, and as such – his position in the country’s leadership.

In private meetings and during collective discussions of various problems, Leonid Brezhnev would patiently and attentively listen to different opinions, never interrupting those who were speaking, and as a rule tried to seek a ‘consensus’.

Well-known Russian cardiologist, Academician Yevgeny Chazov in his “Recollections” of a ‘Kremlin doctor’ answered the question ‘Why the party elected in 1964 Leonid Brezhnev, and two years later confirmed its choice at the 23rd Congress of the CPSU, electing him General Secretary’:

“…as an expert in political intrigue he was well above the rest. He was a worthy pupil of his mentor Nikita Khrushchev. He was well-versed in human nature and people’s weaknesses. He knew what it meant for a secretary of a regional or large town party committee, which at the time determined life of the party at grassroots level, when a First Secretary of the Central Committee of the CRSU phoned, sometimes late in the evening, at times – during his vacations, to ask about the course of party affairs, harvest forecasts, industrial achievements, and, of course, to ask about the interlocutor’s health and offer help should he need it. Either in this way, or by simply quietly and inoffensively substituting old secretaries with new, younger ones, of a more loyal nature, by the 23rd Congress of the Party he had built up quite a fundamental circle of support from the party elite.

He knew perfectly well that this wasn’t enough, that one needed to win over the love and support of the popular masses. It should be said he achieved this not by populist slogans, which are in profusion in our day, but through concrete decisions, easily understood and keenly appreciated by the man in the street…

Today many have forgotten, but at that period the common Soviet folk were greatly impressed by a decision to introduce a 5-day working week. And look at the other decisions, such as the establishment of the pension age at 55 for women and 60 for men, salaries and pensions for kolkhoz employees, wage hikes and reduced prices on fabrics, goods for children, watches, bicycles, photo cameras and so on. After all, didn’t this all boost the authority of the powers-that-be, and Brezhnev first and foremost?

Academician of the Russian Academy of Scientists Georgy Arbatov, honorary director of the Institute of USA and Canada Studies wrote about Leonid Brezhnev:

“Did he possess positive qualities, vital for society? It is my opinion that he did. In any case, until he grew ill, these qualities were quite apparent. Adventurist extreme strivings and hasty decisions were not his forte. In his foreign policy line he quite soon became a follower of the policy of détente in international relations, improvement of relations with other countries, arms limitation.

Political moderation, absence of a desire to aggravate political standoff, lack of love for ‘sharp’ political cuisine found reflection in his approach to internal affairs, too. Moreover, in conditions when many others from among the powers-that-be were inclined to adopt a more aggressive stand in politics. Of course, on occasion he would concede to their persuasions, all the more so since he basically shared his colleagues’  convictions, but nonetheless, in many cases he amortized the blows and onslaught of those who hankered for more poignant’ cuisine.

Nikolai Baibakov, Chairman of the GOSPLAN of the USSR recalls: “All participants in the October Plenary meeting of 1964 were able to take a deep breath when Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev finally took over as party head. Everyone was well aware how good natured and friendly Leonid Ilyich was. His handsome face with its thick eyebrows seemed calm and dignified. As he sat at the presidium table his features seemed deep in thought and promised all participants of the Plenary meeting a tranquil and well-provided for life.”

Former intelligence officer, Lieutenant-General, Doctor of History Nikolai Leonov characterizes Leonid Brezhnev thus: 

“Brought to power at 58 by the all-powerful ‘Grey Cardinal” Mikhail Suslov, throughout his stay in authority he never lost that ‘bonhomie’, and was, besides, connected by a mass of obligations with his senior, more street-wise colleagues. The first principles of internal policy that he made public were ‘a caring attitude towards cadres’ and ‘creation of a calm living environment’. Under the ‘umbrella’ of these principles there flourished the ominous evils of corruption, deideoligization, nepotism and bootlicking.”

Former USSR Minister of Foreign Affairs, the late Andrei Gromyko wrote approximately the same in his memoirs:

“Brezhnev’s forte was a particular respect for cadres. At times his conversations with Central Committee CPSU members and other people of authority came down to the theme of who does what, what kind of relationships one has with whom – all with the purpose of gleaning from his interlocutors information on weather anyone was scheming against him personally. Politburo members, and many Central Committee members, too, were well aware of this peculiarity of the General Secretary and bore it in mind. Besides, there was a great deal of toady going on.”

And again – cardiologist Yevgeny Chazov:

“He wasn’t a man of erudition, yet very quickly grasped the significance of this or that problem for the state at large and for his own popularity rating. As one far removed from the sciences, he had tremendous respect for the opinions of scientists.”

Prominent Soviet diplomat Anatoly Dobrynin, recalling Leonid Brezhnev, noted:

“Brezhnev was a political leader who was well-versed in the ‘corridors of power’, and accustomed to ‘team work’, rather than going it alone. He was careful, watched his back, never hasty, never oblivious of the opinions of his colleagues, shied away from unexpected sharp turns or radical innovations, preferring predictable stability.

In the old Politburo Brezhnev dealt with issues of military industry and production of armaments. He had no interest in problems of ideology. Nonetheless, he staunchly adhered to Marxist-Leninist dogmas, never putting them to the slightest doubt. In this he was 100% a ‘believer’ and referred this sphere entirely into the ‘capable’ hands of Mikhail Suslov.

As far as issues of foreign policy were concerned, he wasn’t very well informed, and to the end of his days relied heavily on Minister for foreign Affairs Andrei Gromyko. The latter was for him like Allen Dalles for Eisenhower, although our minister tried not to emphasize too blatantly his dominating role in these affairs among his colleagues in the Politburo…

On the whole Gromyko exerted a positive influence on Brezhnev. A clever man, he skillfully fed Brezhnev’s desire for stability in foreign policy without the emotional upheavals so characteristic of Nikita Khrushchev.”