Section 1 (5): Brezhnev as Leader Flashcards
(23 cards)
What did Khrushchev elect Brezhnev and Podgornyi as?
Deputy positions in the Central committee secretariat. They were his protege - owed their party positions to him.
Why did Khrushchev intentionally not give one person power?
Knew that if one person had too much power they would try to grab all powers of leadership.
How did Brezhnev and Podgornyi take advantage of Khrushchev to remove him from power?
- Joined forces to remove him
- took advantage of Khrushchevs absence from Moscow in October 1964
- Support from KGB and majority of CC members
How did Khrushchev react?
- Immediately flew back 13 October
What did Khrushchev face upon return?
- criticism from Presidium members
- unanimous decision for removal
- he accepted this decision given his lack of support.
What excuse did they give for Khrushchevs removal?
- ill health
- a week later, Pravda exclaimed his “hare-brained schemes.
Why did Khrushchev lose support and eventually have to be removed?
- party bureaucrats opposed his sovnarkhozy reforms
- lost support from armed forced through cut in spending, and events in Berlin Cuba and failure to preserve Communism with China
- didn’t meet promises regarding agriculture
- made many decisions by himself and stopped consulting presidium
- leadership style was erratic.
Why did the party want Brezhnev and Kosygin to share power?
collective leadership best way to achieve stability and end hare-brained schemes.
What were Brezhnev’s and Kosygin’s roles?
- Brezhnev was party leader
- Kosygin was premier.
What was Brezhnev’s character like?
- objective - stressed need for planning targets
- serious-minded, conservative, impersonal
- at the end of his reign, ill-health affected his reputation - slow speech and confused (many anekdoty mocking him)
- opposite of Khrushchev - critiqued his lack of subjectivism
- ‘complete trust in cadres’ (1965) - reassuring for bureaucrats.
Did it take a long time for Brezhnev to consolidate his power?
Yers.
What made his power really secure?
the gradual process of promoting supporters and repositioning opponents into less influential positions from 1971.
What did his promotions/ demotions of members suggest?
Brezhnev seized an opportunity when removing Khrushchevs power, instead of it being a result of a coup from a long campaign.
What did the Politburo consist of under Brezhnev?
- Brezhnev - General secretary of CPSU
- Kosygin - Premier
- Podgornyi - chairman of presidium (1965)
*Kirilenko - organisational secretary - Suslov - second secretary.
What main agreements did the politburo have?
- socialism was now developed in USSR
- relations with west only maintained on basis that USSR exceed or math USA nuclear and military capabilities
- socialist states should create united front
How did Brezhnev reverse Khrushchevs reforms?
- sovnarkhozy reforms reversed and ministries re-entered (1965)
- Thaw and de-stalinisation reversed - Stalin praised in party speeches
- KGB cracked sown nationalism in republics
- Presidium became politburo again - like Stalin and rejecting Khrushchevs political reforms.
What legacy of Khrushchevs remained?
no return of mass terror as a way to control Soviets.
How was the Nomenklatura a recipe for corruption?
- people had or provided bribes
- people were on the list if they had relations to bureaucrats in charge
- would be on the list if they promised support for Bureaucrats.
(based on patronage and faction).
What was the Nomenklatura?
List of party bureaucrats where the government had the power to position people to specific roles.
What bureaucratic class was under nomenklatura?
apparatchiks.
What were the consequences of corruption?
- resentment and frustrations
- widespread apathy - no opportunity to be promoted unless you had right connections, removing incentives to work hard
- ordinary people knew of nomenklatura’s access to better quality goods/services.
Why was it difficult for Brezhnev to do anything to tackle the nomenklatura?
- too embedded in society
- observing Khrushchevs failures in these reforms.
What other forms of corruption were there?
- black market - this arose as people acknowledged the privileges of the nomenklatura and wanted a taste of it for themselves, so they did for a discounted price.
- bribery - controlled every aspect of Soviets lives.
