"The people have, the people rule, and the people enjoy. This is right. We hold the same position as the Americans. But the Soviet Union is greater than the United States in that the Soviet people only need to enjoy it, and the other two things are left to the party. Do it."
This is a classic quote of the former Soviet leader Brezhnev. Ironically, Brezhnev, who chanted such slogans, also pushed the Soviet Union into understanding.
Soviet leaders before Brezhnev had a great reputation. After Lenin, Stalin became the absolute authority of the Soviet Union. Under his leadership, the Soviet Union won World War II and became a world power, even for a time. It's on par with the United States. After Stalin's death, Khrushchev came to power. Although he was not as effective as his predecessor Stalin, Khrushchev also has a high right to speak internationally with his outstanding political talent.
So how exactly did Brezhnev, who is little-known, overthrow Khrushchev's rule and succeed in taking the position? He is really as weak as external rumors, afraid of things without his own opinion?
1. Khrushchev’s policy mistakes gave Brezhnev an opportunity
1. Khrushchev’s policies had drawbacks
20 strong During the Stalin era, the cult of personality was promoted. For the Soviet people at that time, Stalin was like a god. After Khrushchev came to power, in order to consolidate the regime and establish prestige, he began to completely deny Stalin and carried out drastic reforms of the Soviet Union. First, he carried out large-scale tailoring of the navy and army, and used the main funds to develop nuclear weapons. In addition, he abolished the reform through labor and the tenure of cadres,And severely crack down on the cult of personality.
These policies of Khrushchev are still very effective in the short term, but his policies have also touched the interests of other Soviet authorities. Most cadres are dissatisfied with his policies. In addition, he gave the Crimean peninsula to Ukraine, which also made him lose the support of Russian veterans.
At the Kremlin ministerial meeting in 1957, many people already expressed dissatisfaction with Khrushchev and strongly accused him of policy mistakes. At this time, Brezhnev chose to stand firmly on Khrushchev's side, which allowed him to win the great trust of Khrushchev.
2. Khrushchev’s trust in Brezhnev made him lose his initiative
What Khrushchev never expected was that he would be obedient to his words on the surface. The promoted "honest man" Brezhnev was actually planning to overthrow him in private.
In October 1946, Khrushchev received a call from Brezhnev while he was on vacation. The phone said that there was an urgent matter to ask Khrushchev for advice. Out of trust in Brezhnev, Khrushchev returned to Moscow without any doubt, but what awaited him was a long-planned criticism. General Assembly.
The first to attack him was Brezhnev, and then other cadres began to attack him. Khrushchev, who was completely unprepared, had to resign. After Khrushchev stepped down, the Soviet Union desperately needed a new leader, and Brezhnev succeeded in taking the position under the joint election of many forces.
Brezhnev was able to defeat the powerful Khrushchev,The main reason for is that Khrushchev’s policy mistakes gave Brezhnev the opportunity to . Khrushchev’s original intention was to hope that the Soviet Union would have a better development, but the policies he pursued harmed the interests of everyone, and other authorities had to join hands to overthrow him. The reason for Brezhnev's selection is also due to the weak image he has always portrayed.
Compared to Khrushchev, who is politically talented and tough, and Brezhnev, who is cautious, is obviously more in line with the interests of others.
2. The real Brezhnev is very good and not weak
1. Brezhnev span5 strong _span20 span5 strong political ability _span20 span_strong_span5 After Lu Xiaov's resignation, Brezhnev changed his previous timid and fearful behavior, and his political methods were very tough. Brezhnev was still as friendly externally, but internally he began to eliminate all forces.
The late Brezhnev, like his predecessors Stalin and Khrushchev, was committed to strengthening his prestige in the Soviet Union. From then on, he began his 18-year rule of the Soviet Union, and even the United States and The atmosphere of the Cold War between the Soviet Union has been pushed to the extreme.
Brezhnev’s personality is actually very complicated. He never expresses his position easily in front of others, in order to give people a feeling of impenetrable guesswork. This way of doing things has run through his entire political career,Even at the peak of his power, he remained vigilant. Brezhnev believes that smart people should know themselves clearly. He knew that he did not have the wisdom to match Lenin, nor the unyielding will of Stalin’s steel, so he had to give full play to his strengths and be cautious. Character and sleek attitude are his greatest weapons.
2. Brezhnev achieved a lot during his reign
, although the Soviet Union has always advocated a strong life in the world. During Brezhnev’s administration, he implemented many effective economic policies, which greatly increased the wages of the Soviet people and solved the problem of people’s food and clothing. These policies also won him the support of the people.
In addition, he has also made considerable achievements in the military industry. During his administration, the Soviet Union's military strength increased significantly, and the number of nuclear weapons even surpassed that of the United States.
3. Brezhnev’s mistakes during the reign of Brezhnev
Compared with the strong Khrushchev, Brezhnev can be said to be a strong Khrushchev Leader. In terms of political decision-making, he is good at compromise, advocating that everything can be discussed, and striving for the interests of all parties not to be harmed. At that time, the Soviet Union's heavy industry and light industry had a serious imbalance in urgent need of reform, but Brezhnev was obviously more suitable to be a defender.
Although some of the policies he implemented after he took office have achieved success,However, more policies were lost in the end. In order to stabilize his regime, engaged in a cult of personality in his later years. Many key issues were the "one size fits all policy", which also led to corruption and waste of resources in the Soviet Union.
With the increasing international status of the Soviet Union, Soviet people’s needs for material life have also become higher and higher. The previous slogans have been unable to restrain people. In order to meet the needs of the Soviet people, Brezh Nev had to promise to give the people high welfare.
The Soviet economy has its own problems. This kind of high welfare is beneficial to the people on the surface, but in the long run, the government simply cannot afford such high expenditures. The high-welfare society did not bring happiness to people, but only briefly prospered. The Soviet Union soon fell into a huge economic crisis, and the number of unemployed people doubled. After the previous bubble was burst, people's lives became more difficult.
If the Chernobyl incident was the fuse for the disintegration of the Soviet Union, then the ineffective policy during Brezhnev’s administration was the key reason behind the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
III. Brezhnev’s influence on the disintegration of the Soviet Union
1. The internal reasons for the disintegration of the Soviet Union
The internal reasons for the disintegration of the Soviet Union are very complicated. A political model of highly centralized military and economic power has been established, and leaders have absolute right to speak within the country. And because of Stalin’s tough personal style, the competitive relationship with the United States has become increasingly fierce.The two sides fell into the cold war and cut off contact in the later period.
Under such a system and an international environment, although the people will be highly united in the early stage, contradictions will inevitably appear in the later stage, and people's needs for material culture cannot be met.
In addition, the leaders of the Soviet Union have been committed to effective reforms. However, due to their own limitations and lack of comprehensive scientific guidance, they often lead to policy failures, whether it is the strong Khrushchev or the smooth and kind. Brezhnev, or the aggressive Gorbachev, neither of them have the ability and wisdom to change the Soviet Union.
Corruption within the Soviet Union was also an important reason for accelerating the disintegration of the Soviet Union. After Stalin's death, numerous small groups began to appear within the Soviet government. Every small group hopes to hold power and strive for greater benefits for themselves. During Brezhnev's time, this trend reached its peak.
This is mainly due to Brezhnev's own character. Brezhnev is not tough in doing things. He emphasizes that everything can be discussed as long as he doesn't touch the bottom line, thus condoning this trend.
2. External reasons for the disintegration of the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union and the United States were the only two superpowers in the world at the time. The two sides competed fiercely in the international arena. The United States launched " peaceful evolution". "Peaceful evolution" simply means that Western countries headed by the United States use force as a backing to strike a full range of attacks on the Soviet Union’s politics, culture, and economy.Force the import of Western values into the Soviet Union. The "peaceful evolution" did indeed have an effect, subverting the entire Soviet Union.
There are too many reasons for the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and Brezhnev has indeed played a driving role. The failure of reforms during his administration and the indulgent internal corruption of the Soviet government were one of the reasons that led to the disintegration of the Soviet Union, but the disintegration of the Soviet Union is by no means the responsibility of Brezhnev alone.
4. How to evaluate Brezhnev
1. Brezhnev’s political merits and past
Brezhnev left the most profound to future generations The impression of Khrushchev seems to be "Mediocre". When he was young, he was cautious because he had no foundation. During the period of following Khrushchev, he didn't even dare to call Khrushchev when he was resting. He was also caught by Khrushchev. Certified as an "honest person".
Later Khrushchev was overthrown and became the national leader. It was also because his "banal image" was so successful that he was selected by all parties. Even after entering politics, the political ability was excellent and tough, but the lack of comprehensive scientific guidance led to many policy mistakes, which still left posterity with the image of a "banal" defender.
Objectively speaking, Brezhnev is not the mediocrity in the popular impression, but has mixed merits and demerits, achieved achievements but also made mistakes.
During Brezhnev's administration, the military and economic power of the Soviet Union was once comparable to that of the United States. People's lives have indeed improved over a period of time. The consumption level in the Soviet Union has increased significantly, and people's satisfaction with the country has reached its peak.Even in Russia today, many people still think Brezhnev is one of the three best leaders of the former Soviet Union.
Although this prosperity lasts for a very short time, it at least shows that Brezhnev has excellent leadership skills and cannot obliterate his early achievements because of his failure in the later period.
Of course, Brezhnev’s mistakes during his administration did exist, and many social problems arose in the country in his later years in power. It was he who brought the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States to a climax and accelerated the disintegration of the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, the Soviet economic bubble shattered and people fell into incomparable difficulties.
Brezhnev was born with no foundation at the bottom. Although he also wanted to find a reform path suitable for the Soviet Union, he was unable to move forward due to numerous obstacles. Brezhnev was not as aggressive and aggressive as Khrushchev, and his long-term tolerance made him accustomed to compromise. Khrushchev’s example came before. He had to protect the interests of all parties from harm. This was his personal limitation, but it was also the helplessness of that era.
2. Brezhnev in private is very different from in front of the stage
Regardless of political achievements, private Brezhnev is actually very humorous. He loves medals, movies, and entertainment, so people call his era in power "the era of medals" and call him the "godfather of Soviet cinema."
During his time in power, he devoted himself to the development of Soviet films. Not only did he invest his own money, he also required the government and the military to cooperate, and even allowed his own actors to develop in the West. The "violent aesthetics" he advocated is profound, and even the famous Chinese director Jiang Wen is deeply influenced by it.
During the Brezhnev period, it was the golden age of Soviet cinema. Even the United States, which has always had a bad relationship with the Soviet Union, awarded the Soviet Union three Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film.
Of course, as a national leader, in addition to his love for movies, he must also hope to export culture through Soviet films. If Brezhnev must be said to be politically mediocre and not outstanding, then his achievements in film were unparalleled at the time.
The two most famous and influential films of the Brezhnev era are " War and Peace" and "Waterloo". The production cost of "War and Peace" has so far been unsurpassed, up to 5.6 100 million U.S. dollars, this film also promoted cultural exchanges between the Soviet Union and the West, which was of great significance at the time.
In addition to his love of movies, Brezhnev himself also likes to kiss people, because in the traditional culture of the Soviets, kissing is a kind of etiquette to show kindness to others. Although this etiquette is not recognized internationally, it does not hinder Brezhnev's own enthusiasm.
The private Brezhnev is very different from the front stage. If we want to evaluate him objectively and fairly, we should not be limited to our own stereotypes. Every historical figure is itself Complex and multi-faceted, we need to fully understand.
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