In 1982, L. I. Brezhnev died at his dacha “Zarechye-6”. The funeral was the most pompous in the history of the USSR; representatives from 35 countries of the world came to say goodbye to the head.

Brief biography of Brezhnev

Leonid Ilyich was born in Ukraine in Kamenskoye on December 19, 1906. For 18 years he headed the highest posts in the USSR. The future general secretary was the eldest son in a family of workers, after whom Yakov and Vera were born. In 1915 he entered the gymnasium, which he graduated in 1921. In 1923 he was admitted to the Komsomol. In 1927 he graduated from a land surveying technical school, after studying he worked as a land surveyor, first in his homeland, then was transferred to the Urals.

In 1935 he graduated from the evening faculty of the DMI (Metallurgical Institute) with an engineering diploma. He served in the Red Army as a political instructor for a year until 1936, where he completed motorization courses and upon completion received the rank of lieutenant. In 1950 he worked as the first secretary of the Central Committee of Moldova, and in 1954 he was transferred to Kazakhstan. In 1964, he participated in the group to remove N.S. Khrushchev from his post, and even proposed physical measures to eliminate him.

Also in 1964, on October 14, Brezhnev was elected first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. According to Biryukov, the appointment was intended as a temporary measure until the selection of a permanent secretary general. But Leonid Ilyich launched an extensive program to return Lenin’s principles, and after a few months no one thought about removing the head of state.

Nervous work

Stalin singled out his associate from the numerous guards for his phenomenal performance, but constantly monitored Brezhnev’s activities. The period when Leonid Ilyich held the position of head of the metallurgical plant was filled with night calls, regular stress and overwork. According to his wife, Victoria Petrovna, in order not to fall out of the “clip,” her husband worked all day long. Constant nervous tension, which did not allow him to relax even for a day, and the huge number of cigarettes he smoked undermined Brezhnev’s health. Mikhail Zhikharev, who worked with him in Kazakhstan, recalls that Leonid Ilyich lost consciousness from fatigue, he was taken to the hospital, but after a few hours he was back at his workplace.

On par with constant fatigue, Brezhnev’s health was undermined by fear. Stalin's unpredictable character, the intrigues of his comrades and the constant attention of the people to his activities at some point broke him. energetic person. And yet, Stalin favored his active comrade-in-arms, in his words: the most devoted person is Brezhnev. Leonid Ilyich suffered the funeral of Stalin, his idol and mentor, like a sudden blow from behind. At the funeral service, he cried without hiding his emotions.

According to personal recollections from the diary, the first stroke occurred in 1959 after a heated conversation with A.I. Kirichenko. The whole situation was complicated by the fact that Brezhnev himself did not like hospitals and doctors. He was considered a difficult patient who was difficult to keep in bed. In 1968, the Secretary General suffered a hypertensive crisis right in the Kremlin, refused hospitalization and tried to continue working. As a result, problems with the speech apparatus began. In 1974, historians observed the decline of the independent politician Brezhnev.

Night of death

On the morning of November 10, Victoria Petrovna, Brezhnev’s wife, got up at 8 so that the nurse would give her an insulin injection. Leonid Ilyich was lying on his side, and she did not wake him up. Vladimir Sobachenkov, the personal security guard of the Secretary General, came to him about 20 minutes later, opened the bedroom curtains, and turned on the small light. Upon closer examination, the young man realized that the Secretary General was not breathing, and immediately called the emergency room. Doctor Chazov E.I. I went 12 minutes before the ambulance in my personal car. The doctor personally reported the death of her husband and asked the guards to inform higher authorities about the tragic event.

Pribytkov V. (employee comments:

“I was struck by the fact that on the night of death there was no medical post at the dacha.”

Medvedev V. (personal security) recalls:

“We knew that the days were counting. Everyone wanted the event to happen outside of their shift.”

November 11, 1982

On this day, the country did not yet know about the death of the Secretary General. The official notice only came out on November 12, but everyone felt that something had happened. At 12 noon, all classes in schools are urgently cancelled, train stations and Red Square are closed. There is a change in programs on television; instead of entertaining films and the planned concert, they are putting on a historical drama and ballet.

A commission for the “Kremlin funeral” is urgently created. Brezhnev was transported to the city morgue, where he was dressed and made up. Yu. Andropov, as the future successor of the Secretary General, was appointed responsible for the event.

People's tragedy

On November 12 at 10 o'clock in the morning the news of the death of Leonid Ilyich was announced on television. Mourning has been declared in the country and all events have been cancelled. The Brezhnev era is over. The people of Russia, despite the seditious jokes about expanding the chest for decorations and sluggish diction, loved the Secretary General. It was under him that journalism and printing began to flourish, after Stalin's strict censorship. Although household members did not know the price of products, Leonid Brezhnev asked for statistics every week and knew perfectly well how much a kilogram of tomatoes cost. His most zealous desire was to prove to the whole world that even under socialism people can live in abundance.

But, remembering the terrible stampede at Stalin’s funeral, in which many people died, the government closed all roads to Moscow. Only selected citizens and representatives of foreign countries could pay tribute to the memory. Brezhnev, whose funeral amazed the imagination with its scale, significance and scope of the mourning ceremony, set out on his last journey with sad thoughts about the impending changes in the country.

Progress of the funeral (stage 1)

From 15 to 15 inclusive, mourning has been declared in the country. All events are prohibited, schools, kindergartens, and most enterprises and factories are closed. All programs on television and radio have been cancelled, and classical ballet is being broadcast.

The chronicle of Brezhnev's funeral begins with a farewell in the House of Unions. Anyone could come to the Hall of Columns to pay their last tribute to the Secretary General of a huge country. An Indian delegation led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organizations Yasser Arafat arrived to pay tribute to the memory.

November 15 from 5.00 am to 11.00 am - a watch of honorary mourning for members of the Politburo, outstanding figures of art and culture, representatives and ministers of economic sectors. Metropolitans Pimen and Filaret came to honor the memory. The coffin was decorated with 40 centimeter mourning ribbons and thousands of wreaths.

From 11.00 to 11.20, only relatives remained with the deceased, his wife Victoria Petrovna, daughter Galina, son Yuri, brother Yakov and sister Vera.

At 11.30, to the sounds of a funeral march, the coffin was placed on a gun carriage and slowly carried out of the hall to Red Square. The first in the farewell cortege were family members, associates of the Secretary General, members of the Politburo, state and party leaders. Wreaths and ribbons, as well as numerous awards, were carried before the deceased.

At 12.45 the coffin was lowered into the grave. The National Anthem sounds, followed by an artillery salute, factories and cars hum, sirens on the railway and piers turn on - a symbol that Brezhnev has died. The funeral moves to the second stage.

Progress of the funeral (stage 2)

At 13.00 party leaders and leaders go up to the Mausoleum. The parade of troops of the Moscow garrison begins.

The mourning meeting was opened by Andropov, followed by other comrades of the Secretary General with farewell speeches. After representatives foreign countries approached the grave to pay tribute to the great man.

The whole country watched live as Leonid Brezhnev set off on his final journey. The funeral was broadcast on the first channel of Ostankino television and on the radio.

Myth and real curiosities

The first problem with the ceremony was the situation with the orders. According to tradition, each order and medal must be presented on a separate pillow. But there were many awards, so they decided to give out several orders, which shortened Brezhnev’s funeral. Leonid Ilyich, despite ridicule, not only loved to receive orders, but also awarded them to others with the same pleasure.

The second myth about the fallen coffin is refuted by everyone personally present at the ceremony. According to them, the blow, which on television sounds like the sound of a falling object, is a gun salvo that accompanied Brezhnev's burial. “They dropped the coffin” is an implausible legend.

Original taken from varjag2007su on November 10 - the day of death of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

Today is the anniversary of the death of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich BREZHNEV

State Duma deputy Alexander Khinshtein wrote the book “The Tale of Lost Time,” where he refuted the myths that had developed about the “era of stagnation” and told little known facts from the life of the General Secretary and for the first time published Brezhnev’s personal diaries.

We publish excerpts from the book. “It’s just happiness that we still have the Brezhnev-Soviet reserve; It was only thanks to him that the country managed to survive in the era of Gorbachev-Yeltsin hard times. If it weren’t for Brezhnev with his oil and gas pipelines, housing and communal services system, transport infrastructure, industrial giants, the country simply would not have survived during the hard years. And today we still largely continue to enjoy the fruits of that era. Late Brezhnev is almost like late Yeltsin. But early Brezhnev largely anticipated what the current Russian government, led by Putin, would do later. The main result of Brezhnev's rule was the establishment of relatively well-fed stability in society; but this is precisely what is considered the main success of the policies of the current Russian leaders. Stalin liked it Young Brezhnev was, if you like, a highly effective crisis manager. A couple of days without sleep and food were in the order of things for the then Brezhnev, fortunately his health still allowed it. I might not see my children for weeks. Spent the night in the car and office. Stalin rarely spoiled his vassals with awards, but he, too, appreciated Brezhnev’s merits. In December 1947, Leonid Ilyich received the first Order of Lenin in his life for the restoration literally from the ruins of Zaporizhstal - the highest award in the country at that time. Brezhnev was so impatient to take a close look at the living Stalin that he was one of the first to rush to the festive reception and approached in advance the place where the Leader was supposed to appear. BREZHNEV signed the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty with US President Richard NIXON, which significantly defused global situation “When he came out,” Brezhnev said with a laugh in a small circle many years later, “I rushed and overturned a table with bottles and spare plates. There were probably about thirty of them. Everything is in pieces. But it worked.” On those same days, together with the famous pilot and colleague in Malaya Zemlya Pokryshkin - a future air marshal and three times a hero - they got completely drunk in the restaurant of the Moscow Hotel. “It has passed midnight,” this is how the deputy reproduced this story. head Anatoly Chernyaev, International Department of the Central Committee, who heard it from the original source. “They started asking for them.” Then Pokryshkin pulled out a pistol and started shooting at the ceiling. The next morning it reached Stalin. He answered: “A hero can!” Alexey RIDIGER (the future Patriarch Alexy II), Patriarch PIMEN and Rabbi Yakov FISHMAN Khrushchev was thrown out by Brezhnev in 1964, Brezhnev’s housemate on Kutuzovsky Prospekt accidentally collided in the yard with the already ordained Brezhnev, which, however, I didn't suspect it. “The first thing he said: “Today we overthrew Khrushchev!” - “Who was chosen first?” - I ask him. “Imagine me,” Brezhnev answered with a laugh.” On the very first day of his reign, as soon as the Plenum of the Central Committee ended, returning to his office, Leonid Ilyich said: “The Soviet people must receive a quiet life in the future for fruitful work.” In July 1965, at a meeting with Leningrad party activists, Brezhnev stated: “... I don’t want to turn into a person who would act according to the principle - since it was like this under Khrushchev, let me turn it around; this is stupid." The General Secretary was a master at playing dominoes and on vacation he liked to score a “goat” with his party comrades. The General Secretary well remembered how feverish the apparatus was during the times of Stalin and Khrushchev, and did not want to repeat the mistakes of others. Young Brezhnev preferred concrete actions to beautiful promises about communism. With his arrival, many important social decisions were made. The country switched from a six-day working week to a five-day week. May 9 and March 8 became days off, and veterans and families of the deceased received benefits. Collective farmers were given pensions and salaries and issued passports. The retirement age has been reduced to its current limit. Salaries, pensions, and child benefits have been increased. The minimum wage in 1971 increased to 70 rubles; This money was quite enough for ordinary life. Income from minimum wages is no longer subject to taxes. In those days, it was almost impossible to fire an employee; the courts took the side of the “offended”. The length of service in the army and navy was reduced by a year. At the birth of the second child, the state paid the mother a monthly allowance of 100 rubles. “As long as I’m alive,” Brezhnev said, “bread will not rise in price.” Leonid Ilyich's outlets were hunting, hockey and cars. He loved women. Brezhnev became the first Soviet politician of the Western type: a white-toothed smile, dimples on his cheeks, brand new clothes. Women were crazy about him. His relative, Oleg Shevlyakov, recalls how in the late 1960s Leonid Ilyich, coming home drunk, suddenly opened up: “Take advantage of your youth. If you like a girl, take her hand and no talking. There will be something to remember... Only without violence, of course. And then,” he sighed, “guys, none of this will happen anymore; at least cover all the walls with money...” Once during Brezhnev’s vacation, a woman entered his Crimean residence - she hid in the sea all night, running away from border boats. They grabbed her already on the shore. It turned out that the “scout” was kicked out of the house with her daughter by her husband, an officer; They had nowhere to live, they didn’t even have registration. Without leaving the pool, Brezhnev instantly called the first secretary of the Odessa regional committee: “You sort it out there... Three days later the woman was given one-room apartment , straightened out a new passport... Bovin recalled how in Zavidovo, where there was vigorous work on the texts of speeches, in a creative impulse one of the speechwriters shouted to the Secretary General: “And you, fool, keep quiet!” What are you getting into? Silence hung over the table. Brezhnev just walked out the door and walked along the corridor for a long time, muttering under his breath: “No, I’m not a fool!” I am the General Secretary!.. This, guys, is in vain... What other Russian ruler, tell me, could afford such accessibility? Thanks to BREZHNEV, the union republics received huge subsidies and lived in the Union, like Christ in his bosom. A very typical case for him and atypical for other leaders is described by the patriarch of Soviet journalism, Melor Sturua. In 1972, Sturua drove from the States, where he worked for many years as a staff correspondent for Izvestia, a red sports Chrysler Charger - for Moscow at that time it was equivalent to the arrival of a space rocket. The car was accidentally noticed by Brezhnev, who has always been distinguished by his love for expensive foreign cars. The secretary general’s assistants promised Sturua all sorts of things in exchange for the Chrysler he liked; they even took him to the Central Committee’s garage several times, offering him a choice of any Brezhnev limousine. The journalist was adamant. Brezhnev, having received a turn from the gate, silently resigned himself to this. Moreover, having learned that the Charger needed repairs, he ordered it himself, no one asked him! - take the car to the Kremlin garage for repairs. Appointed a successor When we laugh at the muttering “armour-bearer in the dark,” it would be nice to remember that Brezhnev did not lose his strength on drinking and partying. All his ailments are the result of colossal stress. Untreated illnesses, front-line wounds and shell shocks... Few people know that towards the end of his life, Brezhnev decided to voluntarily leave his post, transferring power to his successor. This was supposed to happen on November 15, 1982 at the Plenum of the Central Committee. But on November 10, the Secretary General unexpectedly died under mysterious circumstances. If he had lived five more days, history would have taken a completely different path. If Brezhnev had left on time, everything in the country would have turned out - I’m sure - completely differently. Maybe the Union would still exist. We know surprisingly little about Operation Successor. During this boat trip, which the Secretary General arranged for the staff of his plane and Sochi residence, he himself poured beer for the flight attendants and cleaning ladies. By the end of the 1970s, Brezhnev was finally convinced that he needed a replacement. After much deliberation, his choice fell on Vladimir Shcherbitsky, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Viktor Golikov, the permanent assistant to the Secretary General, one of the people closest to him, says: “Even if they cut off my other hand, I am convinced that Leonid Ilyich did not die of a heart attack. They stuffed him full of this rubbish.” On August 21, 1979, Brezhnev wrote unequivocally in his diary: “I received 8 pieces from Chazov.” Entry dated December 3: “I spoke with Andropov. Received". Entry dated January 25, 1982: “I received yellow ones from Yuri Vladimirovich.” On his last day, November 9, Brezhnev remained in his office until the evening. The last member of the Politburo to see Brezhnev alive was Andropov. And he was the first to see him lifeless...” Diary entries Leonid Ilyich different years 1959 November 13. 11 o'clock - we were in the Architect's House, inspecting the projects. In the evening we watched a movie on the Lenin Hills, a boring movie about the effects of radiation. I spoke with Nikita Sergeevich. We considered a number of defense issues. 1960 August 18. 11 hours 44 minutes Vostok launched. Weight 4600 kg. 2 dogs. So far, so good. 1965 January 10. The mood in the party and people is good. In general, the international situation is difficult. The further we move from World War II, the more pressing new military issues become. Do not inflate, but on the contrary, reduce the state apparatus. March 15. Increase the salaries of machine operators. Allow some percentage of excess grain revenue to be used for bonuses. Discuss once again what the gap between the average salary is between urban and rural areas. 1967 January 15. Consider the price of oil. About the Anthem of the Owls. Union. About the parade for the October holiday. About the Nobel Prize. How she was born. Is it possible to make ours high bonus - in honor of the 50th anniversary. About Tsiolkovsky - to raise his name. 1968 February 4. TV broadcast in the morning. Someone was a partisan, and next to him was a scout. I was in the rear for 4 years. Has she been awarded??? 1972 October 13. He went to the hospital for an operation, which he postponed for three months due to internal affairs; mainly agricultural, trip to Siberia and Kazakhstan. October 14. Operation. Then 10 painful days without live contact with my comrades (worse than surgery). 1973 March 16. Conversations with the Americans intensified. It’s a lot of difficult things—you have to think and sit. March 23. Conversation with Yu. V. Andropov. Send a regiment and armored personnel carriers to Checheno-Ingushetia after the events in Grozny. About events in Ukraine with the trial of nationalists. Is it time to replace (refresh) intelligence in the Ministry of Defense? September 11th. Chile. Should I tear the dip ourselves? relations with this fascist regime. 1976 May 15, Saturday. Didn't call anyone. At 11 o'clock in the afternoon I got behind the wheel and drove to Zavidovo. I had a good boat ride, killed 3 ducks, but didn’t go into the harem. September 9. Swim - 45 minutes. Stayed at home to prepare the mat. for the Politburo meeting. It was a bad night (insomnia). It seems Mao died. September 11, Saturday. I hunted and went bear hunting in the evening. Arrived at 2:30 am. I didn't see the bear. 1977 April 10, Sunday. My arm hurt again and I had a completely sleepless night. I was at home in the country having lunch. Borscht made from fresh cabbage - keshanka. Rest. I was in the yard. I finished reading the materials. I watched hockey: USSR national team - Sweden. The result is 4:2 in favor of the USSR. July 12. I came to Crimea on vacation. I was driving a Rolls-Royce with Victoria Petrovna, Galochka, and my nanny. July 20. Breakfast. Shaving. Swam in the sea for 1 hour 10 minutes, then in the pool. I went to the pier. They killed a goat. Dinner. Distribute material about Chelomey's transport rocket throughout the Politburo. About the operation to expose the espionage activities of US embassy workers. I agree with the draft resolution and the awards given to the people who carried out this operation. They scored dominoes with Chernenko. August 6. Signed the protocol of the Politburo of the Central Committee. Swam in the sea for 42 minutes, in the pool - 28. Walked on the pier. We played dominoes with Chernenko. We won. Fidel Castro says about the Chinese that they are traitors in the international communist movement. October 22. I was in the Central Committee - I took the money and gave it to Victoria Petrovna. Watched football (bad). 1978 March 9. Conducted by the Politburo. Received Arafat. I was at the hockey game. May 1st. I was on Red Square - a demonstration. In the evening I watched hockey USSR - Finland: 10:2. 1979 May 14. Encrypted information about the meeting. Gave Tsukanov 17,000 rubles. for a deposit in a savings bank. Bequeathed to Victoria Petrovna. Signature on gramophone records. November 22. Conducted by the Politburo of the Central Committee. We exchanged views on the situation in Afghanistan. Amin shoots a lot of shots. 1980 January 16. I spoke with Andropov - the castle. Dinner. Fussing with the lock from the safe in the Kremlin. January 23. I spoke on the phone with Chernenko about Sakharov. I also spoke with Suslov about Sakharov; what to do. He gave Zagladin the task of meeting with Shelman-Belmas and explaining Sakharov’s tricks. I talked with Andropov about Sakharov... March 11, 1982. Conducted by the Politburo of the Central Committee. Received a salary of 350 rubles. 40 k. BREZHNEV with fellow soldiers BREZHNEV and Nixon L.I. Brezhnev visiting President Nixon in St. Clemente, California, 1973. Henry Kissinger was accompanied by actress Jill St. John, who, um, pleased Leonid Ilyich Commander of the 11th Separate Army Air Defense Lieutenant General Igor Mikhailovich Maltsev reports to the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev. A rare shot - the head of the Soviet state put his hand to his temple, like the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the USSR
With the death of Brezhnev interesting story happened - I predicted it. Once I dreamed that I was reading in the newspaper about Brezhnev’s funeral. All the rank of plane tree - obituary, photo in the newspaper. I told my neighbor, writer Irina Shkarovskaya. She joked: "It's a fool's dream." When, 6 days later, I called her to take the keys that I had left, Irina Isaevna, who looked out, saw me, and suddenly began to back away, back away, and extended her finger at me: “You... You... You! How did you guess?!! Brezhnev died !" And what’s interesting is that all the official photographs from the funeral were the same, but in one newspaper (I don’t remember which one) a photo was found from exactly the angle that I dreamed about

On November 10, 1982, the Soviet Union shuddered with forebodings. USSR television, which is faithful to the TV program schedule to the same extent as airliners carrying the top officials of the state are faithful to the schedule, suddenly did not show a gala concert dedicated to Police Day.

In modern times, it’s the same as if a program was not aired at the same time without explanation Andrey Malakhov and KVN. And when late in the evening the announcer, finishing his broadcast, suddenly did not announce the program for the next day, it became clear that something out of the ordinary had happened.

The next morning the whole country found out that he had died. General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Leonid Brezhnev.

The most beautiful leader

The man who led the country for 18 years has passed away. The hero of numerous jokes, a politician with whom the concept of “the era of stagnation” is firmly associated.

For three days the country was plunged into mourning. Then the state of mourning will become familiar - one by one, elderly and sick Soviet politicians will pass away. However, it was Brezhnev's death that caused a real sense of depression in society.

The country understood that an era had passed, and it was unclear what would replace it. An acquaintance of mine who was passing through at the time conscript service in the army, he recalled the feeling of confusion and even slight fear that gripped him and his colleagues in those days. “How will we continue?” – a silent question hung in the air.

When in 1964, after the displacement Nikita Khrushchev From the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, his place was taken by 58-year-old Leonid Brezhnev, most leading Soviet party leaders perceived him as a temporary, transitional figure.

Leonid Brezhnev led the USSR from 1964 to 1982. Photo: www.russianlook.com

Brezhnev did not stand out for his charisma, was not a major ideologist or an outstanding economic figure. Overseeing the space program from the CPSU Central Committee, the future Secretary General was never a key figure in this project. And Nikita Khrushchev himself considered the appointment of Leonid Ilyich as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1960 to strengthen his own power.

Brezhnev did not seem to anyone a figure capable of playing his own political game.

Perhaps what Brezhnev really could not be denied was personal charm. In 1952, he himself drew attention to the handsome man in the corridors of power Joseph Stalin.“What a handsome Moldovan!” – the leader said, looking at the head of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova, Leonid Brezhnev. Stalin made only one mistake: the future Secretary General was from Ukraine. But the beauty of young Brezhnev was appreciated not only by Joseph Vissarionovich, but also by women, whose attention Leonid Ilyich was not deprived of until his very last days.

But Brezhnev, who for the time being kept a secondary role, took full advantage of his chance. Leonid Ilyich turned out to be a master of subtle political intrigue, with the help of which he managed to get rid of all competitors by placing important posts people loyal to him.

The era of rapid “stagnation”

The times of Brezhnev were truly “vegetarian”: the overthrown Khrushchev, albeit under the supervision of the special services, quietly and peacefully ended his days in the status of a personal pensioner of union significance. Other outplayed competitors were relegated to third roles, but did not progress through the stage and were not relegated to the status of “enemies of the people.”

After the revolutionary-military upheavals, industrialization, collectivization of the Stalinist period, after the massive construction of communism during the Khrushchev era, Leonid Brezhnev brought both the elite and the country as a whole what they craved most of all - stability.

Development did not stop altogether, but became smoother and more balanced. It was during the reign of Leonid Brezhnev that the Soviet Union reached the second, or even the first, level in the world in most economic indicators. Eighth Five-Year Plan - from 1966 to 1970. - turned out to be the most successful in all the years of the existence of the planned economy of the USSR. It was under Brezhnev that the head of government became Alexey Kosygin, whose economic reforms were aimed at increasing the efficiency, profitability and financial independence of enterprises.

It was during this period of time that the state became closely involved in improving the well-being of citizens.

The issues of increasing production and improving the quality of consumer goods became one of the key issues during the Brezhnev era.

Leonid Brezhnev and Alexey Kosygin on the podium of the mausoleum, 1976. Photo: www.russianlook.com

During the 18 years of Brezhnev's rule, the USSR economy grew two and a half times, state spending on social expenses increased three times, and the growth of real consumption of the population increased two and a half times. It was under Leonid Brezhnev that the pace of housing construction in the USSR reached 60 million square meters per year. We must not forget the fact that we are talking about free housing, which the state provided to those on the waiting list, and did not sell it at prices unaffordable to the majority.

Under Brezhnev, electricity production in the country increased threefold, large-scale gasification of housing was carried out - the number of apartments with gas stoves increased from 3 to 40 million.

It was during the Brezhnev period that the development of Siberian oil and gas fields began, the creation of a system of export oil and gas pipelines, which to this day serve as the main source of filling the state budget.

The list of results of the rapid development of the USSR under the leadership of Leonid Brezhnev can be continued indefinitely.

We should not forget that it was during this period that the Soviet Union reached the pinnacle of its power in the international arena, moving from confrontation to peaceful coexistence and cooperation with the West.

Late recognition

The main thing that Brezhnev gave the country was confidence in the future. Eternal self-sacrifice for the sake of the future faded into the background, and the possibility of a prosperous existence here and now appeared.

But the last phrase is always remembered. The policy of “personnel stability” announced by Brezhnev had reverse side– aging managers remained in their positions even when the effectiveness of their activities fell to almost zero.

The Secretary General himself became a victim of this “stability” - an aging and seriously ill man, who himself raised the question of his resignation, turned out to be a puppet in the hands of his entourage. The desire to preserve their own position turned out to be more important for them than the prospects for the country's development.

While the ill Brezhnev, who had fallen into senile sentimentality, with childish spontaneity rejoiced at new awards and titles, clouds were already gathering over the country.

The needs of the population, which had acquired material wealth, grew faster than the capabilities of the economy. Party officials, disdaining state ideology, actively engaged in personal enrichment.

The once handsome Brezhnev, turning into a ruin, into recent years became a national laughing stock and the hero of endless jokes. The “Vegetarian Time” did not threaten its authors with severe punishment, and folklore flourished in all its glory:

“Politburo meeting. Brezhnev stands up and says:

– I propose to award Comrade Brezhnev the order posthumously.

They tell him:

- So you haven’t died yet!

Brezhnev answers:

“And in the meantime I’ll vilify him like that.”

Much later it will become clear: they were laughing not at the unfortunate old man, exhausted by illness, but at the system, which turned out to be unable to stop the presence of a virtually incompetent person in the highest government post.

To be honest, the country was waiting for the death of Leonid Brezhnev, just as his exhausted relatives were waiting for the death of his long and seriously ill grandfather.

When this finally happened, citizens, having seen off the Secretary General on his last journey, began to expect changes for the better.

How expensive the peace that the Brezhnev era gave people is worth will become clear only after the great upheavals of perestroika, the collapse of the USSR and the “dashing 90s.” Three decades later, Russians, who have sensed the difference, recognize Leonid Brezhnev as one of the best leaders in the history of the country in various opinion polls.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, whose years of rule fell on the so-called era of stagnation, does not cause such heated debate among his compatriots as Stalin or even Khrushchev. However, this personality also evokes very contradictory assessments, and the corresponding period left very different impressions in the public consciousness.

Leonid Brezhnev. Years of USSR rule

Today, this period is associated primarily with light industry and the Union’s growing lag behind its main Western competitor in

Heavy. Leonid Brezhnev, whose reign spanned 1964-1982, even came to power in an unusual way for those times. In the previous forty years of existence 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 a change of power could and did take place only after their deaths. Nikita Khrushchev put an end to totalitarianism in the state, including party purges. The 20th Congress of the CPSU in 1956 contributed a lot to this. The state has never again had such a large-scale and single leader. As a result, Khrushchev was removed by party decision in 1964. His successor was Leonid Brezhnev, whose years of rule began with the decision of the plenum. This period became 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. To be fair, it is worth noting that one of Leonid Ilyich’s first political decisions in office was the rollout of economic reforms. The activity, which began in 1965, was aimed at partially transferring it to a market track. The independence of large companies was significantly expanded economic enterprises states, instruments were introduced to ensure material

employee incentives. And indeed, the reform began to produce brilliant results. Brezhnev period became the most successful in the entire history of the country. However, the reformers never completed their undertakings. The reform, which provided for economic liberalization, which provided obvious results, was not supported 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. In fact, the half-hearted nature of the reforms determined the slowdown in the pace of development already in the early 1970s. In addition, at this time oil deposits were discovered in Siberia, promising easy income for the treasury, after which government leaders finally lost interest in reforming the economic and public life. In the future, the well-known trends of “tightening the screws” are increasingly growing (mass executions have never been repeated, but homes for the mentally ill have become the talk of the town), a decrease in the profitability of production, when the industry required more and more investments, but produced less and less results. The imbalance of the state economy is becoming increasingly evident. The need to invest resources in negatively affects the lungs, resulting in the notorious commodity shortage.

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

In addition to internal problems, despite all efforts, failures in the international arena are becoming increasingly obvious. If in the Khrushchev era, despite all its absurd epics, the USSR spoke on an equal footing with the United States during the period and was the first in space exploration, then in 1969 the Americans were for the first time ahead of the Union in landing on the Moon. The last great success of the domestic space program was the first successful landing of a spacecraft on Mars. Fermentation is beginning more and more intensely in the friendly republics of the socialist camp. to a large extent laid the foundation for the problems that clearly manifested themselves during perestroika and pushed the state to the final collapse.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born on December 19, a Soviet statesman and party leader who held senior leadership positions in the Soviet state hierarchy for 18 years: from 1964 until his death in 1982. Veteran of the Great Patriotic War. Participant in the Victory Parade on Red Square on June 24, 1945.
First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in 1964-1966, from 1966 to 1982 - General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1960-1964 and 1977-1982. Marshal of the Soviet Union (1976).
Hero of Socialist Labor (1961) and four times Hero of the Soviet Union (1966, 1976, 1978, 1981). Laureate of the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations” (1973) and the Lenin Prize for Literature (1979).
In 1978 he was awarded the Order of Victory; in 1989 this award was posthumously canceled by decree of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of the USSR M. S. Gorbachev.
In total, Brezhnev had 117 Soviet and foreign state awards.
According to the results of a public opinion poll in 2013, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was recognized as the best head of state in Russia (USSR) in the 20th century

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born in Kamenskoye, Yekaterinoslav province (now Dneprodzerzhinsk, Dnepropetrovsk region of Ukraine) in the family of Ilya Yakovlevich Brezhnev (1874-1930) and Natalya Denisovna Mazalova (1886-1975).
His father and mother were born and lived in the village before moving to Kamenskoye. Brezhnevo (now Kursk district, Kursk region). Brezhnev's father was a technical worker at a metallurgical plant - a “fabricator”.
Brother - Brezhnev Yakov Ilyich (1912-1993). Sister - Brezhneva Vera Ilyinichna (1910-1997).
In various official documents, including a passport, L. I. Brezhnev’s nationality was indicated as Ukrainian or Russian (see the “Documents” section of this article).
In 1915 he was admitted to the classical gymnasium of the city of Kamenskoye, from which he graduated in 1921.
Since 1921, Leonid Ilyich worked at the Kursk Oil Mill, and in 1923 he joined the Komsomol.
In 1923-1927 he studied at the Kursk Land Surveying and Reclamation College. Having received the qualification of a 3rd category land surveyor, he worked as a land surveyor for several months in the village. Terebreno, Krasnoyaruzhsky volost, Grayvoronsky district, Kursk province, then in the Kokhanovsky district of the Orsha district of the Belarusian SSR (now Tolochinsky district).
In 1927 he married Victoria Denisova.
In March 1928, Brezhnev was transferred to the Urals, where he worked as a land surveyor, head of the regional land department, deputy chairman of the Bisertsky district executive committee of the Ural region (1929-1930), and deputy head of the Ural regional land department.

In September 1930, he left the Urals and entered the Moscow Institute of Agricultural Engineering named after M.I. Kalinin, and in the spring of 1931 he was transferred to the evening faculty of the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute. Simultaneously with his studies, he works as a mechanic at
In 1935 he graduated from the institute and received a diploma in thermal power plants.
Member of the CPSU(b) since October 24, 1931.
In 1935-1936 he served in the army: cadet and political instructor of a tank company in Transbaikalia (the village of Peschanka, 15 km southeast of the city of Chita). He studied at courses in motorization and mechanization of the Red Army, after which he received his first officer rank- Lieutenant. In 1982, after the death of L. I. Brezhnev, his name was assigned to the Peschansky Tank Training Regiment.
In 1936-1937 he was the director of the metallurgical technical school in Dneprodzerzhinsk. In 1937
Since May 1937, deputy chairman of the Dneprodzerzhinsk City Executive Committee. Since 1937 he worked in party bodies. In Dneprodzerzhinsk, Leonid Brezhnev lived in a modest two-story four-apartment building No. 40 on Pelina Avenue. Now it is called “Lenin’s House”. According to former neighbors, really loved chasing pigeons from the dovecote that stood in the yard (now in its place is a garage). The last time he visited his family nest was in 1979, taking photographs with its residents as a souvenir.
Since 1938, head of the department of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, since 1939, secretary of the regional committee.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he took part in the mobilization of the population into the Red Army and was involved in the evacuation of industry. Then he serves in political positions in the active army: deputy head of the political department of the Black Sea Group of Forces of the North Caucasus Front (1941-1943), head of the political department of the 18th Army, deputy head of the political department of the Southern Front (1943-1945).

At the beginning of 1942, for participation under the command of R. Ya. Malinovsky in the offensive Barvenkovo-Lozovsky operation in the south of the Kharkov region, Brezhnev received his first Order of the Red Banner.

Being a brigade commissar, when the institution of military commissars was abolished in October 1942, instead of the expected rank of general, he was certified as a colonel.

In 1943 he participated in the liberation of Novorossiysk. During the preparation of the operation to liberate the city, he repeatedly visited the Malaya Zemlya bridgehead on west bank Tsemes Bay. For the liberation of Novorossiysk he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree.

The head of the political department of the 18th Army, Colonel Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, sailed to Malaya Zemlya forty times, and this was dangerous, since some ships on the way were blown up by mines and died from direct shells and aircraft bombs. One day, the seiner on which Brezhnev was sailing ran into a mine, the colonel was thrown into the sea... he was picked up by sailors...
- S. A. Borzenko in the article “225 days of courage and courage” (“Pravda”, 1943)
“The head of the political department of the 18th Army, Colonel Comrade, took an active part in repelling the German offensive. Brezhnev. The crew of one heavy machine gun (private Kadyrov, Abdurzakov, from the replenishment) became confused and did not open fire in a timely manner. Before the German platoon took advantage of this, they approached our positions to throw a grenade. Comrade Brezhnev physically influenced the machine gunners and forced them into battle. Having suffered significant losses, the Germans retreated, leaving several wounded on the battlefield. By order of Comrade Brezhnev’s crew fired aimed fire at them until they were destroyed.”

Since June 1945, Leonid Brezhnev was the head of the political department of the 4th Ukrainian Front, then the head of the political department of the Carpathian Military District.

Participated in the suppression of the movement for the independence of Ukraine - armed units of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN).

At the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945 on Red Square in Moscow, L. I. Brezhnev was the commissar of the combined regiment of the 4th Ukrainian Front, and walked at the head of the column along with the front commander.

From August 30, 1946 to November 1947, first secretary of the Zaporozhye regional party committee (appointed on the recommendation of N. S. Khrushchev). He supervised the restoration of enterprises and the Dnieper hydroelectric station destroyed during the war. For his success in reviving the Zaporizhstal metallurgical plant, L. I. Brezhnev received his first Order of Lenin on December 7, 1947.

In 1947-1950 he worked as first secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk regional party committee. He did a lot for the post-war reconstruction of the city and industrial enterprises. In 1948, he was awarded the medal “For the restoration of ferrous metallurgy enterprises in the South.”
Since the summer of 1950 - first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova. He remained in this post until October 1952, when, after a personal meeting with Stalin at the 19th Congress of the CPSU, he was first elected as a member of the Central Committee, and at the post-congress plenum of the Central Committee he was elected secretary of the Central Committee and a candidate member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the party. He was also a member of the standing commissions of the Presidium of the Central Committee - on foreign affairs and on defense issues (in the latter from November 19, 1952).

After Stalin's death in March 1953, Brezhnev was relieved of both posts and appointed head of the political department of the Navy Ministry. According to Mlechin, with the merger of the Military and Naval Ministries that followed in the same month to form the Ministry of Defense, their political bodies were also merged, and Brezhnev was left without a job. In May 1953, Brezhnev sent a letter to the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR G. M. Malenkov with a request to send him to work in the party organization of Ukraine. By order of the USSR Minister of Defense No. 01608 of May 21, 1953, Brezhnev was returned to the cadres of the Soviet army.

According to P. A. Sudoplatov and General K. S. Moskalenko, among the 10 armed generals summoned to the Kremlin on June 26, 1953 to arrest L. P. Beria, there was L. I. Brezhnev.

From May 21, 1953 to February 27, 1954, Deputy Chief of the Main political management Soviet Army and Navy. Lieutenant General (08/04/1953).

In 1954, at the suggestion of N.S. Khrushchev, he was transferred to Kazakhstan, where he first worked as the second, and since 1955, as the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the republic. Supervises the development of virgin lands. Participates in preparations for the construction of the Baikonur Cosmodrome in central Kazakhstan.

Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee for the defense industry from February 1956 to July 1960, in 1956-1957 a candidate member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, since 1957 member of the Presidium (from 1966 - Politburo) of the CPSU Central Committee.

From May 1960 to July 1964 - Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. At the same time, from June 1963 to October 1964 - Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
As the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, L.I. Brezhnev participated in resolving issues related to the construction of the Baikonur Cosmodrome and inspected the progress of work on the construction of launch complexes. He wrote:

The experts understood well: it would be faster, easier, and cheaper to settle in the Black Lands. There is a railway, a highway, water, and electricity, the whole area is inhabited, and the climate is not as harsh as in Kazakhstan. So the Caucasian option had many supporters. At that time I had to study a lot of documents, projects, references, discuss all this with scientists, business executives, engineers, and specialists who in the future would launch rocket technology into space. Gradually, a well-founded decision took shape in my mind. The Central Committee of the party advocated the first option - the Kazakh one. ... Life has confirmed the expediency and correctness of such a decision: land North Caucasus saved for agriculture, and Baikonur transformed another region of the country. The missile range had to be put into operation quickly, the deadlines were tight, and the scale of work was enormous.

As Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, L. I. Brezhnev oversaw issues of the military-industrial complex, including the development of space technology. For preparing the first manned flight into space (Yu. A. Gagarin, April 12, 1961) he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor (the decree was not published)

In 1964, he participated in organizing the removal of N. S. Khrushchev. Leonid Brezhnev suggested that V. E. Semichastny, the chairman of the KGB of the USSR during the preparation of the October plenum of the CPSU Central Committee in 1964, physically get rid of N. S. Khrushchev. Member of the Politburo, Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee (1964-1973), First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (1963-1972) Pyotr Efimovich Shelest recalls:

I told Podgorny that I met in Zheleznovodsk with V. E. Semichastny, former chairman KGB of the USSR during the preparation of the Plenum of the Central Committee of 1964. Semichastny told me that Brezhnev offered him to physically get rid of N.S. Khrushchev by arranging a plane crash, a car accident, poisoning or arrest.
Podgorny confirmed all this and said that Semichastny and them all these “options” for eliminating Khrushchev were rejected...

All this will become known someday! And how will “our leader” look in this light?
October 14 p.m. The Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU took place. The Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee granted the request of Comrade N.S. Khrushchev to relieve him of his duties as First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR due to his advanced age and deteriorating health. The Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee elected Comrade L. I. Brezhnev as the First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

At the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee on October 14, 1964, Brezhnev was elected First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee for the RSFSR
Formally, in 1964, a return to the “Leninist principles of collective leadership” was proclaimed. Along with Brezhnev, A. N. Shelepin, N. V. Podgorny and A. N. Kosygin played an important role in the leadership.

The fact is that initially the figure of Brezhnev as Secretary General was not considered permanent. And he knew this very well.

On January 22, 1969, during a ceremonial meeting of the crews of the Soyuz-4 and Soyuz-5 spacecraft, an unsuccessful attempt was made on L. I. Brezhnev. Junior lieutenant of the Soviet Army Viktor Ilyin, dressed in someone else's police uniform, entered the Borovitsky Gate under the guise of a security guard and opened fire with two pistols on the car in which, as he assumed, the general secretary was supposed to be traveling. In fact, cosmonauts Leonov, Nikolaev, Tereshkova and Beregovoi were in this car. Driver Ilya Zharkov was killed by shots and several people were wounded before the accompanying motorcyclist knocked the shooter down. Brezhnev himself was driving in a different car (and according to some sources, even on a different route) and was not injured.

In 1967, Brezhnev made official visits to Hungary, in 1971 - France, in 1973 - Germany, in 1974 - Cuba.

On March 22, 1974, Brezhnev was awarded the military rank of Army General (bypassing the rank of Colonel General)

Brezhnev, in the course of the apparatus struggle, managed to eliminate Shelepin and Podgorny and place people personally loyal to him in key positions (Yu. V. Andropov, N. A. Tikhonova, N. A. Shchelokova, K. U. Chernenko, S. K. Tsvigun[ Note 1]). Kosygin was not eliminated, but the economic policy systematically sabotaged by Brezhnev.

To us, people close to us at that time senior management countries, it was known that there were certain tensions between them. And Brezhnev more than once, in conversations with us, regional committee secretaries, spoke disapprovingly of the government’s activities. That, they say, it does not work well enough, and many issues have to be resolved in the Central Committee, that is, he emphasized the shortcomings in the work of the Council of Ministers. And it was absolutely clear to everyone that these arrows were aimed at Kosygin.

The party apparatus believed in Brezhnev, viewing him as its protege and defender of the system. According to Roy Medvedev and L.A. Molchanov, the party nomenklatura rejected any reforms, sought to maintain a regime that provided it with power, stability and broad privileges, and it was during the Brezhnev period that the party apparatus completely subordinated the state apparatus, ministries and executive committees became simple executors of party decisions bodies, and non-party leaders have practically disappeared

In 1968, after a series of interstate negotiations with the participation of the heads of socialist countries (except Romania), Brezhnev and his comrades in the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee decided to send troops to Czechoslovakia to suppress the Prague Spring. On August 18, a meeting of the leaders of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary took place in Moscow, where military-political measures were agreed upon, the implementation of which began 2 days later. Brezhnev was inhibited, his reactions were inadequate, and during the negotiations the Secretary General’s diction was impaired. Aides demanded to know whether Brezhnev could continue negotiations. Brezhnev himself muttered something, tried to get up, and a reaction arose that frightened the entire Politburo. Kosygin sat next to Brezhnev and saw how he gradually began to lose the thread of the conversation.

“His tongue began to tangle,” said Kosygin, “and suddenly the hand with which he was supporting his head began to fall. He should be taken to the hospital. Nothing terrible would have happened.” This was our first sign of weakness. nervous system Brezhnev and the perverted reaction to sleeping pills in connection with this.

There is a statement that in November 1972, Brezhnev suffered a stroke with serious consequences. However, academician Chazov, who treated Brezhnev, refutes this:

In his life, he [Brezhnev] suffered a myocardial infarction only once, while being the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova. In 1957 there were minor changes in the heart, but they were only focal in nature. Since then he has had no heart attack or stroke.

Before Prince Philip visited the USSR in 1973, the Foreign Office provided him brief characteristics the people he was about to meet. Leonid Brezhnev was described there as “a strong-willed man, radiating confidence and competence, without possessing a brilliant intellect. Despite his flourishing appearance, he suffered several heart attacks. Loves hunting, football and driving; doesn’t speak English.”

US President Jimmy Carter with the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. L. I. Brezhnev. Vienna, 1979
At the beginning of 1976 he suffered clinical death. After this, he was never able to physically recover, and his serious condition and inability to govern the country became more and more obvious every year. Brezhnev suffered from asthenia (neuropsychic weakness) and atherosclerosis of cerebral vessels. He could only work for an hour or two a day, after which he slept, watched TV, etc. He developed a drug addiction to the sleeping pill Nembutal.

A syringe is enough - and the secretary general becomes a puppet in someone's hands. I suspect that it was medical intervention that made Brezhnev a parody of Brezhnev...

On May 22-30, 1972, the first official visit of the US President to Moscow took place in the entire history of Soviet-American relations. During the meeting between Brezhnev and Richard Nixon, the Treaty between the USSR and the USA on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (AB Treaty), the Interim Agreement between the USSR and the USA on Certain Measures in the Field of Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (SALT-1), and the Basics of Relations between the USSR were signed and the USA.

On June 18-26, 1973, Brezhnev made a return visit to the United States, held negotiations with Nixon in Washington, which resulted in the signing of an agreement on preventing nuclear war, non-use nuclear weapons, Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. On behalf of American businessmen, Nixon gave Brezhnev a car worth 10 thousand dollars. Brezhnev stayed for several days at Nixon's villa in San Clemento (California). Brezhnev’s visit took place at a difficult moment for Nixon, recalled USSR Ambassador to the USA Anatoly Dobrynin; his influence and authority in the USA was experiencing a crisis, which ended on August 9, 1974 with his resignation. During Brezhnev's visit, the Watergate hearings, which were broadcast on television throughout the United States, were interrupted for a week. The film “In the Name of Peace on Earth” was shot about Brezhnev’s visit to the USA.

On November 23-24, 1974, a working meeting between Brezhnev and US President Gerald Ford took place in the Vladivostok region. During the meeting, a Joint Soviet-American Statement was signed, in which the parties confirmed their intention to conclude a new agreement on SALT for the period until the end of 1985.

On June 18, 1979, in Vienna, Brezhnev and US President Jimmy Carter signed the Treaty between the USSR and the USA on the Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (SALT II Treaty).

After the invasion Soviet troops In Afghanistan in December 1979, high-level contacts between the USSR and the USA were curtailed. The next meeting took place only in November 1985, when Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

Nevertheless, a US state delegation led by Vice President George H. W. Bush and Secretary of State George Shultz arrived in Moscow for Brezhnev’s funeral in November 1982.

In the seventies, a partial reconciliation of the two systems (“détente”) took place in the international arena. It was at this time (1973) that Brezhnev received the Lenin Prize for strengthening peace between nations.

In May 1973, Brezhnev made an official visit to Germany, where for the first time the topic of the inviolability of borders in Europe was raised at the highest level. Federal Chancellor Willy Brandt answered Brezhnev evasively and, as it later turned out, insightfully: “There are no eternal borders, but no one should seek to change them by force.” An agreement was signed between the USSR and Germany. The success of Brezhnev’s visit to Germany was facilitated by the work carried out by the GDR secret service Stasi together with the Soviet foreign intelligence an operation to bribe several members of the Bundestag, which made it possible to prevent the defeat of Chancellor Brandt in parliament during the vote of confidence in him on April 27, 1972. This ensured the subsequent ratification of treaties between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Soviet Union, Poland and the German Democratic Republic, which secured the eastern borders of the Federal Republic of Germany established after the Second World War.

On March 22, 1974 (bypassing the rank of Colonel General), Brezhnev was awarded the military rank of Army General.

On August 1, 1975, Brezhnev signed the Helsinki Agreements in Helsinki, which confirmed the inviolability of borders in Europe. The Federal Republic of Germany had not previously recognized the Potsdam Agreements, which changed the borders of Poland and Germany, and did not recognize the existence of the GDR. Germany actually did not even recognize the annexation of Kaliningrad and Klaipeda to the USSR.

In the capital of Finland, Brezhnev also held a number of bilateral meetings. During a conversation with British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, according to the personal photographer Vladimir Musaelyan who accompanied the Secretary General, a funny episode occurred in which Leonid Ilyich showed his extraordinary sense of humor. As he lit his pipe, Wilson couldn't figure out where to put his case. Brezhnev immediately helped him and at the same time joked: “All the secrets of England are in my hands!”

In the early 1980s, Brezhnev stated that capitalist countries had moved from the ideology of “containing communism” proposed by Harry Truman to the idea of ​​“the convergence of the two systems” and “peaceful coexistence.” Reagan, who became President of the United States in 1981, objected, and soon after the Shield-82 military exercises conducted by the USSR in the summer of 1982, Reagan on March 8, 1983 called the USSR the “Evil Empire.”

From June 20 to 22, 1977, Brezhnev made an official visit to France and held negotiations with President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, as a result of which he signed a joint statement on the easing of international tension, the Soviet-French declaration on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and other documents.
On February 20, 1978, he was awarded the Order of Victory, for, as stated in the decree, “... a great contribution to the victory of the Soviet people and their Armed Forces in the Great Patriotic War“, outstanding achievements in strengthening the country’s defense capability, for the development and consistent implementation of the foreign policy of the Soviet state, which reliably ensures the development of the country in peaceful conditions,” which was awarded only in wartime for outstanding services in commanding the front during victories that ensured a radical change in the strategic situation. The award was canceled by decree of M. S. Gorbachev on September 21, 1989 as contrary to the status of the order.
A group of famous Soviet journalists was commissioned to write Brezhnev's memoirs ("Malaya Zemlya", "Renaissance", "Virgin Land"), designed to strengthen his political authority. As Leonid Mlechin pointed out, “Brezhnev himself not only did not participate in the work on his own memoirs, but did not even tell anything to the people who wrote them. They found some documents in the archives for them and found Brezhnev’s colleagues.” Thanks to millions of copies, Brezhnev's fee amounted to 179,241 rubles. By including the secretary general’s memoirs in school and university curricula and making them mandatory for “positive” discussion in all work collectives, party ideologists achieved the exact opposite result - L. I. Brezhnev became the hero of numerous jokes during his lifetime. People's Artist of the USSR Vyacheslav Tikhonov read the memoirs on the All-Union radio.

On December 12, 1979, Brezhnev and his closest associates decided on a special operation to change power in Afghanistan and the entry of Soviet troops into this country, which was the beginning of the USSR’s long-term participation in the intra-Afghan conflict.

... my uncle called Dmitry Ustinov every day and, using the generally accepted folklore dialect, asked: “When will this ... war end?” Angry and blushing, the general secretary shouted into the phone: “Dima, you promised me that this wouldn’t last long. Our children are dying there!”

After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which Brezhnev decided on, the West introduced sectoral sanctions against the USSR, the most sensitive of which affected the gas export industry: the Soviet Union was no longer supplied with large-diameter pipes and compressors for gas pipelines, which, according to the last Soviet Prime Minister Nikolai Ryzhkov, impetus for the construction of pipe rolling mills and the production of import-substituting domestic products for gas and oil pipelines.

In 1981, on the eve of Leonid Ilyich’s 50th anniversary in the party, a gold badge “50 years in the CPSU” was issued for him alone (for other CPSU veterans this badge was made of silver with gilding).

The fourth Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to Brezhnev in December 1981 on the occasion of his 75th birthday[
On March 23, 1982, during Brezhnev’s visit to Tashkent, a walkway collapsed on him at an aircraft manufacturing plant, full of people. As a result, Brezhnev had a broken collarbone, which later never healed. After this incident, the health of the Secretary General was completely undermined. The next day, Brezhnev was supposed to speak at a ceremonial meeting in Tashkent. They tried to persuade him to immediately return to Moscow and get treatment, but Brezhnev refused, stayed and made a speech. It seemed to those sitting in the hall and the television viewers that Brezhnev had been drinking the day before, because he was somewhat sluggish. Only the people accompanying him knew that even slight movement of his right hand was extremely painful for him, so the doctors gave him a painkiller. On November 7, 1982, Brezhnev made his last public appearance. Standing on the podium of the Lenin Mausoleum, he hosted the military parade on Red Square for several hours; however, his poor physical condition was evident even during the official shoot.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev died in his sleep on the night of November 10, 1982 at the state dacha "Zarechye-6". According to the medical examiner's report, death occurred between 8 and 9 a.m. from sudden cardiac arrest. From the published materials and evidence, it remains unclear why on that night and at the time of the discovery of the body at the dacha, Brezhnev’s personal physician Mikhail Kosarev (who usually always sat at the table with the Secretary General even during meals) was absent; there was no medical post, due to Therefore, only security guard Vladimir Sobachenkov had to carry out resuscitation measures for about an hour. This strange and inexplicable circumstance, even more than 30 years later, is pointed out, in particular, by the historian and publicist Leonid Mlechin. At the call of the head of security, Major General of the KGB of the USSR Vladimir Medvedev, the attending physician Yevgeny Chazov soon arrived, who, according to his recollections, barely glanced at the blue face of the Secretary General and realized that resuscitation was already useless. Chazov, having carefully weighed all the circumstances and consequences, decided first of all to inform everyone about the death of Secretary General Yuri Andropov, the second person in the party and state. Andropov, the first of politicians and arrived at the scene of death, immediately took Brezhnev’s personal briefcase with a digital lock, which Leonid Ilyich himself laughingly told his relatives about, as if it contained incriminating evidence on all members of the Politburo. The media reported Brezhnev’s death only a day later, on November 11 at 10 am. However, many experienced people both in the USSR and abroad, even on the day of the Secretary General’s death, guessed that something out of the ordinary had happened in the country: minor classical music was played on all radio channels, television canceled the broadcast of a festive concert dedicated to Police Day (his replaced by a screening of the film about Lenin “The Man with a Gun”), by the evening on Red Square there was an unusual crowd of black government “member-carrying” cars, which attracted the attention of Western correspondents, who made the first public assumptions on the radio.

Brezhnev was buried on November 15 on Red Square in Moscow near the Kremlin wall. According to published evidence, it was the most magnificent and pompous funeral since Stalin's in March 1953; heads of state and government from more than 35 countries of the world were present.

Among those who arrived to say goodbye to Brezhnev, the President of Pakistan, General Zia-ul-Haq, unexpectedly appeared, who actively supported the Afghan Mujahideen in the war against Soviet troops and was therefore perceived in the USSR as an unfriendly figure. Taking advantage of an unforeseen opportunity, Andropov and Gromyko held a meeting with Zia-ul-Haq in the Kremlin, and these were the first direct negotiations of the Soviet leadership on resolving the conflict in Afghanistan