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Further Reading

1984-1985 - Konstantin Chernenko

General Secretary Brezhnev was incapacitated in 1980, but did not die until 1982. No one was really in charge of the Soviet Union and all decisions were made by a collective leadership in committee fashion. Yuri Andropov, who replaced Brezhnev in 1982, was also in poor health and died in 1984. He was replaced by the elderly and ill Konstantin Chernenko on February 13, 1984.

Brezhnev began in the summer of 1965 to make extensive changes in the Central Committee apparatus, and several close associates of Brezhnev took command of important departments. Brezhnev's influence in the moves was particularly clear regarding the two departments most directly involved in administering internal Central Committee affairs -- the General Department and the Administration of Affairs. In the Administration of Affaizs, Georgiy Pavlov replaced K.P. Chernyayev as chief. Konstantin Chernenko became chief of the General Department officially in July 1965, having served since 1960 as chief of Brezhnev's secretariat on the Supreme Soviet Presidium and (probably) of Brezhnev's personal staff on the Central Committee Secretariat. During the 1970s, attendance at Politburo meetings was mandatory for members who had no other pressing engagements that would excuse them from attending. Of course, General Department Chief Konstantin Chernenko or one of his deputies would be present as Politburo secretary to record the proceedings.

When he became General Secretary at age seventy-two, Konstantin Chernenko was in poor health and unable to play an active role in policy making when he was chosen, after lengthy discussion, to succeed Andropov. But Chernenko's short time in office did bring some significant policy changes. The personnel changes and investigations into corruption undertaken by the Andropov regime came to an end. Chernenko advocated more investment in consumer goods and services and in agriculture. He also called for a reduction in the CPSU's micromanagement of the economy and greater attention to public opinion.

However, KGB repression of Soviet dissidents also increased. Stalin was rehabilitated as a diplomat and a military leader, and there was discussion of returning the name Stalingrad to the city whose name had been changed back to Volgograd during the anti-Stalinist wave of the 1950s. The one major personnel change that Chernenko made was the firing of the chief of the General Staff, Nikolay Ogarkov, who had advocated less spending on consumer goods in favor of greater expenditures on weapons research and development.

Although Chernenko had called for renewed détente with the West, little progress was made toward closing the rift in East-West relations during his rule. The Soviet Union boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, retaliating for the United States boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In the late summer of 1984, the Soviet Union also prevented a visit to West Germany by East German leader Erich Honecker. Fighting in Afghanistan also intensified, but in the late autumn of 1984 the United States and the Soviet Union did agree to resume arms control talks in early 1985.

The ascension of Konstantin Chernenko as the new General Secretary of the CPSU was a pivotal event influencing a Soviet shift towards a policy of the "iron fist" with respect to Afghanistan. Chernenko came closest to trying to win a military victory in Afghanistan, both owing to his personal inclinations and his desire to win for himself at least one triumph before succumbing to his emphysema.

The poor state of Chernenko's health made the question of succession an acute one. Chernenko gave Gorbachev high party positions that provided significant influence in the Politburo, and Gorbachev was able to gain the vital support of Foreign Minister Andrey Gromyko in the struggle for succession. The "twilight of the general secretaries" culminated in March 1985 when Chernenko died and the comparatively young and dynamic Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. Chernenko lived only 13 months in post. When Chernenko died, Gorbachev was well positioned to assume power.