Who ruled the Soviet Union. General secretaries of the USSR in chronological order

Image caption The royal family hid the illness of the heir to the throne

The controversy over the health of President Vladimir Putin brings to mind Russian tradition: the first person was considered as an earthly deity, the commemoration of which was disrespectful and was not supposed to be in vain.

Possessing virtually unlimited lifelong power, the rulers of Russia fell ill and died like mere mortals. They say that in the 1950s, one of the liberal-minded young “stadium poets” once said: “They only have no control over heart attacks!”

Discussion of the personal lives of leaders, including their physical condition, was prohibited. Russia is not America, where analysis data of presidents and presidential candidates and their blood pressure figures are published.

Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, as you know, suffered from congenital hemophilia - a hereditary disease in which the blood does not clot normally, and any injury can lead to death from internal hemorrhage.

The only person capable of improving his condition in some way still incomprehensible to science was Grigory Rasputin, who was, in modern terms, a strong psychic.

Nicholas II and his wife categorically did not want to make public the fact that their only son was actually disabled. Even ministers are only general outline They knew that the Tsarevich had health problems. Ordinary people, seeing the heir during rare public appearances in the arms of a hefty sailor, they considered him a victim of an assassination attempt by terrorists.

Whether Alexey Nikolaevich would subsequently be able to lead the country or not is unknown. His life was cut short by a KGB bullet when he was less than 14 years old.

Vladimir Lenin

Image caption Lenin was the only Soviet leader whose health was an open secret

The founder of the Soviet state died unusually early, at 54, from progressive atherosclerosis. An autopsy showed cerebral vascular damage incompatible with life. There were rumors that the development of the disease was provoked by untreated syphilis, but there is no evidence of this.

Lenin suffered his first stroke, which resulted in partial paralysis and loss of speech, on May 26, 1922. After this, he spent more than a year and a half at his dacha in Gorki in a helpless state, interrupted by short remissions.

Lenin is the only Soviet leader about whose physical condition no secret was made. Medical bulletins were published regularly. At the same time, until the last days, his comrades assured that the leader would recover. Joseph Stalin, who visited Lenin in Gorki more often than other members of the leadership, published optimistic reports in Pravda about how he and Ilyich cheerfully joked about reinsurance doctors.

Joseph Stalin

Image caption Stalin's illness was reported the day before his death

"Leader of the Nations" in recent years suffered from severe damage to the cardiovascular system, probably aggravated by an unhealthy lifestyle: he worked a lot, turning night into day, ate fatty and spicy foods, smoked and drank, and did not like to be examined and treated.

According to some reports, the “doctors’ affair” began when professor-cardiologist Kogan advised a high-ranking patient to get more rest. The suspicious dictator saw this as someone’s attempt to remove him from business.

Having started the “doctors’ case,” Stalin was left without any qualified medical care. Even those closest to him could not talk to him about this topic, and he intimidated the staff so much that after a stroke that happened on March 1, 1953 at the Nizhny Dacha, he lay on the floor for several hours, since he had previously forbidden the guards to disturb him without calling him.

Even after Stalin turned 70, public discussion of his health and forecasts of what would happen to the country after his departure were absolutely impossible in the USSR. The idea that we would ever be left “without him” was considered blasphemous.

The people were first informed about Stalin's illness the day before his death, when he had long been unconscious.

Leonid Brezhnev

Image caption Brezhnev "ruled without regaining consciousness"

In recent years, Leonid Brezhnev, as people joked, “ruled without regaining consciousness.” The very possibility of such jokes confirmed that after Stalin the country had changed a lot.

The 75-year-old Secretary General had plenty of aging diseases. Mention was made, in particular, of sluggish leukemia. However, it is difficult to say what exactly he died from.

Doctors spoke of a general weakening of the body caused by the abuse of sedatives and sleeping pills and causing memory loss, loss of coordination and speech disorder.

In 1979, Brezhnev lost consciousness during a Politburo meeting.

“You know, Mikhail,” Yuri Andropov said to Mikhail Gorbachev, who had just been transferred to Moscow and was not used to such scenes, “we must do everything to support Leonid Ilyich in this situation. This is a question of stability.”

Brezhnev was politically killed by television. In earlier times, his condition could have been hidden, but in the 1970s, regular appearances on screen were avoided, including in live, it was impossible.

The obvious inadequacy of the leader, combined with the complete lack of official information, caused an extremely negative reaction from society. Instead of pitying the sick person, the people responded with jokes and anecdotes.

Yuri Andropov

Image caption Andropov suffered from kidney damage

Yuri Andropov suffered from severe kidney damage for most of his life, from which he eventually died.

The disease caused increased blood pressure. In the mid-1960s, Andropov was intensively treated for hypertension, but this did not produce results, and there was a question about his retirement due to disability.

Kremlin doctor Yevgeny Chazov made a dizzying career thanks to the fact that he gave the head of the KGB the correct diagnosis and gave him about 15 years of active life.

In June 1982, at the plenum of the Central Committee, when the speaker called from the podium to “give a party assessment” to the rumor mongers, Andropov unexpectedly intervened and said in a harsh tone that “ last time warns" those who talk too much in conversations with foreigners. According to researchers, he meant, first of all, leaks of information about their health.

In September, Andropov went on vacation to Crimea, caught a cold there and never got out of bed. In the Kremlin hospital, he regularly underwent hemodialysis - a blood purification procedure using equipment that replaces the normal functioning of the kidneys.

Unlike Brezhnev, who once fell asleep and did not wake up, Andropov died long and painfully.

Konstantin Chernenko

Image caption Chernenko rarely appeared in public and spoke breathlessly

After Andropov's death, the need to give the country a young, dynamic leader was obvious to everyone. But the old members of the Politburo nominated 72-year-old Konstantin Chernenko, who was formally man No. 2, as general secretary.

As the former Minister of Health of the USSR Boris Petrovsky later recalled, they all thought exclusively about how to die at their posts; they had no time for the country, and even more so, no time for reforms.

Chernenko had been suffering from emphysema for a long time, while heading the state, he almost did not work, rarely appeared in public, spoke, choking and swallowing his words.

In August 1983, he suffered severe poisoning after eating fish on vacation in Crimea, which he had personally caught and smoked from his dacha neighbor, USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Vitaly Fedorchuk. Many were treated to the gift, but nothing bad happened to anyone else.

Konstantin Chernenko died on March 10, 1985. Three days earlier, elections to the Supreme Soviet were held in the USSR. The television showed the Secretary General walking up to the ballot box with an unsteady gait, dropping a ballot into it, languidly waving his hand and muttering: “Okay.”

Boris Yeltsin

Image caption Yeltsin, as far as is known, suffered five heart attacks

Boris Yeltsin suffered from severe heart disease and reportedly suffered five heart attacks.

The first president of Russia was always proud of the fact that nothing bothered him, he went in for sports, swam in ice water and largely built his image on this, and was accustomed to endure ailments on his feet.

Yeltsin's health deteriorated sharply in the summer of 1995, but with elections ahead, he refused extensive treatment, although doctors warned of "irreparable harm to his health." According to journalist Alexander Khinshtein, he said: “After the elections, at least cut them, but now leave me alone.”

On June 26, 1996, a week before the second round of elections, Yeltsin suffered a heart attack in Kaliningrad, which was hidden with great difficulty.

On August 15, immediately after taking office, the president went to the clinic where he underwent coronary artery bypass surgery. This time he conscientiously followed all the doctors’ instructions.

In conditions of freedom of speech, it was difficult to hide the truth about the state of health of the head of state, but those around him tried their best. In extreme cases, it was recognized that he had ischemia and temporary colds. Press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky said that the president rarely appears in public because he is extremely busy working with documents, but his handshake is ironclad.

Separately, the issue of Boris Yeltsin’s relationship with alcohol should be mentioned. Political opponents constantly discussed this topic. One of the main slogans of the communists during the 1996 campaign was: “Instead of the drunken Elya, we will choose Zyuganov!”

Meanwhile, Yeltsin appeared in public “under the influence” the only time - during the famous conducting of the orchestra in Berlin.

The former head of the presidential security, Alexander Korzhakov, who had no reason to defend his former boss, wrote in his memoirs that in September 1994, in Shannon, Yeltsin did not get off the plane to meet with the Prime Minister of Ireland not because of intoxication, but because of a heart attack. After a quick consultation, the advisers decided that they should let people believe the “alcoholic” version rather than admit that the leader was seriously ill.

Resignation, regime and peace had a beneficial effect on Boris Yeltsin’s health. He lived in retirement for almost eight years, although in 1999, according to doctors, he was in serious condition.

Is it worth hiding the truth?

According to experts, illness is, of course, not a plus for a statesman, but in the era of the Internet, hiding the truth is pointless, and with skillful PR, you can even extract political dividends from it.

As an example, analysts point to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who made his fight against cancer good advertising. Supporters got a reason to be proud that their idol does not burn in the fire and even in the face of illness thinks about the country, and they rallied around him even more.

22 years ago, on December 26, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a declaration on the cessation of existence Soviet Union, and the country in which most of us were born is gone. Over the 69 years of the existence of the USSR, seven people became its head, whom I propose to remember today. And not just remember, but also choose the most popular of them.
And since New Year soon after all, and given that in the Soviet Union the popularity and attitude of the people towards their leaders was measured, among other things, by the quality of the jokes written about them, I think it would be appropriate to remember the Soviet leaders through the prism of jokes about them.

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Now we have almost forgotten what a political joke is - most jokes about current politicians are paraphrased jokes from Soviet times. Although there are also witty and original ones, for example, here is an anecdote from the time Yulia Tymoshenko was in power: There is a knock on Tymoshenko’s office, the door opens, a giraffe, a hippopotamus and a hamster enter the office and ask: “Yulia Vladimirovna, how will you comment on the rumors that you use drugs?”.
In Ukraine, the situation with humor about politicians is generally somewhat different than in Russia. In Kyiv they believe that it is bad for politicians if they are not laughed at, it means they are not interesting to the people. And since in Ukraine they still make elections, the PR services of politicians even order laughs at their bosses. It is no secret, for example, that the most popular Ukrainian “95th Quarter” takes money to ridicule the person who paid. This is the fashion for Ukrainian politicians.
Yes, they themselves sometimes don’t mind making fun of themselves. There was once a very popular anecdote about oneself among Ukrainian deputies: The session of the Verkhovna Rada ends, one deputy says to another: “It was such a difficult session, we need to rest. Let's go out of town, take a few bottles of whiskey, rent a sauna, take girls, have sex...” He answers: “How? In front of girls?!!”.

But let's return to the Soviet leaders.

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The first ruler of the Soviet state was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. For a long time The image of the leader of the proletariat was beyond the reach of jokes, but during the Khrushchev and Brezhnev times in the USSR, the number of Leninist motives in Soviet propaganda increased sharply.
And the endless glorification of Lenin’s personality (as it usually happened in almost everything in the Union) led to the exact opposite desired result- to the appearance of many jokes ridiculing Lenin. There were so many of them that even jokes about jokes about Lenin appeared.

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In honor of the centenary of Lenin's birth, a competition has been announced for the best political joke about Lenin.
3rd prize - 5 years in Lenin's places.
2nd prize - 10 years of strict regime.
1st prize - meeting with the hero of the day.

This is largely explained by the tough policy pursued by Lenin’s successor Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin, who in 1922 took the post of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. There were also jokes about Stalin, and they remained not only in the materials of the criminal cases brought against them, but also in people’s memory.
Moreover, in jokes about Stalin one can feel not only a subconscious fear of the “father of all nations,” but also respect for him, and even pride in their leader. Some kind of mixed attitude towards power, which apparently was passed on to us from generation to generation at the genetic level.

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- Comrade Stalin, what should we do with Sinyavsky?
- Which Synavsky is this? Football announcer?
- No, Comrade Stalin, writer.
- Why do we need two Synavskys?

On September 13, 1953, shortly after the death of Stalin (March 1953), Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev became the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. Since Khrushchev’s personality was filled with deep contradictions, they were reflected in jokes about him: from undisguised irony and even contempt for the leader of the state to a rather friendly attitude towards Nikita Sergeevich himself and his peasant humor.

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The pioneer woman asked Khrushchev:
- Uncle, dad said the truth, that you launched not only a satellite, but also agriculture?
- Tell your dad that I plant more than just corn.

On October 14, 1964, Khrushchev was replaced as First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee by Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, who, as you know, was not averse to listening to jokes about himself - their source was Brezhnev’s personal hairdresser Tolik.
In a certain sense, the country was lucky then, because what came to power, as everyone soon became convinced, was a kindly, non-cruel man who did not make any special moral demands on himself, his comrades, or the Soviet people. And the Soviet people responded to Brezhnev with the same anecdotes about him - kindly and not cruel.

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At a Politburo meeting, Leonid Ilyich pulled out a piece of paper and said:
- I want to make a statement!
Everyone stared at the piece of paper.
“Comrades,” Leonid Ilyich began to read, “I want to raise the issue of senile sclerosis. Things have gone too far. Vshera at the funeral of comrade Kosygin...
Leonid Ilyich looked up from the piece of paper.
- For some reason I don’t see him here... So, when the music started playing, I was the only one who thought of asking the lady to dance!..

On November 12, 1982, Brezhnev’s place was taken by Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, who previously headed the Committee state security, and adhered to a rigid conservative position on fundamental issues.
The course proclaimed by Antropov was aimed at socio-economic transformations through administrative measures. The harshness of some of them seemed unusual to the Soviet people in the 1980s, and they responded with appropriate anecdotes.

On February 13, 1984, the post of head of the Soviet state was taken by Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko, who was considered a contender for the post of General Secretary even after Brezhnev’s death.
He was elected as a transitional intermediate figure in the CPSU Central Committee while it was undergoing a struggle for power between several party groups. Chernenko spent a significant part of his reign at the Central Clinical Hospital.

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The Politburo decided:
1. Appoint Chernenko K.U. General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.
2. Bury him on Red Square.

On March 10, 1985, Chernenko was replaced by Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, who carried out numerous reforms and campaigns that ultimately led to the collapse of the USSR.
And Soviet political jokes about Gorbachev, accordingly, ended.

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- What is the peak of pluralism?
- This is when the opinion of the President of the USSR absolutely does not coincide with the opinion of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

Well, now the poll.

Which leader of the Soviet Union, in your opinion, was the best ruler USSR?

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

23 (6.4 % )

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

114 (31.8 % )

Who ruled after Stalin in the USSR? It was Georgy Malenkov. His political biography was a truly phenomenal combination of both ups and downs. At one time, he was considered the successor to the leader of the peoples and was even the de facto leader of the Soviet state. He was one of the most experienced apparatchiks and was famous for his ability to think many moves ahead. In addition, the one who was in power after Stalin had a unique memory. On the other hand, he was expelled from the party during the Khrushchev era. They say that he has not yet been rehabilitated, unlike his associates. However, the one who ruled after Stalin was able to withstand all this and remain faithful to his cause to death. Although, they say, in his old age he overestimated a lot...

Career start

Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was born in 1901 in Orenburg. His father worked for railway. Despite the fact that noble blood flowed in his veins, he was considered a rather minor employee. His ancestors came from Macedonia. The grandfather of the Soviet leader chose the army path, was a colonel, and his brother was a rear admiral. The party leader’s mother was the daughter of a blacksmith.

In 1919, after graduating from a classical gymnasium, Georgy was drafted into the Red Army. The next year he joined the Bolshevik Party, becoming a political worker for an entire squadron.

After the Civil War, he studied at the Bauman School, but, having quit his studies, began working in the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee. It was 1925.

Five years later, under the patronage of L. Kaganovich, he began to head the organizational department of the capital city committee of the CPSU (b). Note that Stalin really liked this young official. He was intelligent and devoted to the General Secretary...

Malenkov selection

In the second half of the 30s, purges of the opposition took place in the capital's party organization, which became a prelude to future political repressions. It was Malenkov who then led this “selection” of the party nomenklatura. Later, with the sanction of the functionary, almost all the old communist cadres were repressed. He himself came to the regions in order to intensify the fight against “enemies of the people.” Sometimes he witnessed interrogations. True, the functionary, in fact, was only an executor of the direct instructions of the leader of the peoples.

On the roads of war

When the Great Patriotic War broke out, Malenkov managed to show his organizational talent. He had to professionally and fairly quickly resolve many economic and personnel issues. He always supported developments in the tank and missile industries. In addition, it was he who gave Marshal Zhukov the opportunity to stop the seemingly inevitable collapse of the Leningrad Front.

In 1942, this party leader ended up in Stalingrad and was involved, among other things, in organizing the defense of the city. On his orders, the city population began to evacuate.

In the same year, thanks to his efforts, the Astrakhan defensive region was strengthened. Thus, modern boats and other watercraft appeared in the Volga and Caspian flotillas.

Later he accepted active participation in preparation for the battle on the Kursk Bulge, after which he focused on restoring the liberated territories, heading the corresponding committee.

Post-war time

Malenkov Georgy Maximilianovich began to turn into the second figure in the country and party.

When the war ended, he dealt with issues related to the dismantling of German industry. By and large, this work was constantly criticized. The fact is that many of the influential departments tried to get this equipment. As a result, a corresponding commission was created, which made an unexpected decision. German industry was no longer dismantled, and enterprises that were based in the territories of East Germany began to produce goods for the Soviet Union as reparations.

Rise of a functionary

In mid-autumn 1952, the Soviet leader instructed Malenkov to deliver a report at the next congress of the Communist Party. Thus, the party functionary was essentially presented as Stalin’s successor.

Apparently, the leader nominated him as a compromise figure. It suited both the party leadership and the security forces.

A few months later, Stalin was no longer alive. And Malenkov, in turn, became the head of the Soviet government. Of course, before him this post was occupied by the deceased Secretary General.

Malenkov reforms

Malenkov's reforms began literally immediately. Historians also call them “perestroika” and believe that this reform could greatly change the entire structure of the national economy.

The head of government in the period after Stalin's death announced to the people absolutely new life. He promised that the two systems - capitalism and socialism - would coexist peacefully. He was the first leader of the Soviet Union to warn against atomic weapons. In addition, he intended to put an end to the policy of the cult of personality by moving to collective leadership of the state. He recalled that the late leader criticized members of the Central Committee for the cult planted around him. True, there was no significant reaction to this proposal from the new prime minister at all.

In addition, the one who ruled after Stalin and before Khrushchev decided to lift a number of bans - on border crossings, foreign press, customs transit. Unfortunately, new chapter tried to present this policy as a natural continuation of the previous course. That is why Soviet citizens, in fact, not only did not pay attention to “perestroika”, but also did not remember it.

Decline of a career

By the way, it was Malenkov, as the head of government, who came up with the idea of ​​halving the remuneration of party officials, that is, the so-called. "envelopes". By the way, before him, Stalin also proposed the same thing shortly before his death. Now, thanks to the corresponding resolution, this initiative was implemented, but it caused even greater irritation on the part of the party nomenklatura, including N. Khrushchev. As a result, Malenkov was removed from office. And his entire “perestroika” was practically curtailed. At the same time, “ration” bonuses for officials were restored.

Nevertheless, the former head of government remained in the cabinet. He led all Soviet power plants, which began to operate much more successfully and efficiently. Malenkov also promptly resolved issues related to the social welfare of employees, workers and their families. Accordingly, all this increased his popularity. Although she was tall without it. But in the middle of the summer of 1957, he was “exiled” to the hydroelectric power station in Ust-Kamenogorsk, in Kazakhstan. When he arrived there, the whole city rose to greet him.

Three years later, the former minister headed the thermal power plant in Ekibastuz. And also upon arrival, many people appeared carrying his portraits...

Many did not like his well-deserved fame. And the very next year, the one who was in power after Stalin was expelled from the party and sent into retirement.

Recent years

Once retired, Malenkov returned to Moscow. He retained some privileges. In any case, he bought food in a special store for party officials. But, despite this, he periodically went to his dacha in Kratovo by train.

And in the 80s, the one who ruled after Stalin suddenly turned to Orthodox faith. This was, perhaps, his last “turn” of fate. Many saw him in the temple. In addition, he periodically listened to radio programs about Christianity. He also became a reader in churches. By the way, during these years he lost a lot of weight. This is probably why no one touched him or recognized him.

He passed away at the very beginning of January 1988. He was buried at the Novokuntsevo churchyard in the capital. Note that he was buried according to Christian rites. There were no reports of his death in the Soviet media of those times. But in Western periodicals there were obituaries. And very extensive...

General Secretaries (General Secretaries) of the USSR... Once upon a time, their faces were known to almost every resident of our huge country. Today they are only part of history. Each of these political figures committed actions and deeds that were assessed later, and not always positively. It should be noted that the general secretaries were chosen not by the people, but by the ruling elite. In this article we will present a list of general secretaries of the USSR (with photos) in chronological order.

J.V. Stalin (Dzhugashvili)

This politician was born in the Georgian city of Gori on December 18, 1879 in the family of a shoemaker. In 1922, while V.I. was still alive. Lenin (Ulyanov), he was appointed first general secretary. It is he who heads the list of general secretaries of the USSR in chronological order. However, it should be noted that while Lenin was alive, Joseph Vissarionovich played a secondary role in governing the state. After the death of the “leader of the proletariat,” a serious struggle broke out for the highest government post. Numerous competitors of I.V. Dzhugashvili had every chance of taking this post. But thanks to uncompromising and sometimes even harsh actions and political intrigues, Stalin emerged victorious from the game and managed to establish a regime of personal power. Let us note that most of the applicants were simply physically destroyed, and the rest were forced to leave the country. In a fairly short period of time, Stalin managed to take the country into a tight grip. In the early thirties, Joseph Vissarionovich became the sole leader of the people.

The policy of this USSR Secretary General went down in history:

• mass repressions;
• collectivization;
• total dispossession.

In the 37-38 years of the last century, mass terror was carried out, in which the number of victims reached 1,500,000 people. In addition, historians blame Joseph Vissarionovich for his policy of forced collectivization, mass repressions that occurred in all layers of society, and the forced industrialization of the country. On domestic policy The country was affected by some character traits of the leader:

• sharpness;
• thirst for unlimited power;
• high self-esteem;
• intolerance of other people's judgment.

Personality cult

Photos of the Secretary General of the USSR, as well as other leaders who have ever held this post, can be found in the presented article. We can say with confidence that Stalin’s personality cult had a very tragic impact on the fate of millions of the most different people: scientific and creative intelligentsia, government and party leaders, military.

For all this, during the Thaw, Joseph Stalin was branded by his followers. But not all the leader’s actions are reprehensible. According to historians, there are also moments for which Stalin deserves praise. Of course, the most important thing is the victory over fascism. In addition, there was a fairly rapid transformation of the destroyed country into an industrial and even military giant. There is an opinion that if it were not for Stalin’s personality cult, which is now condemned by everyone, many achievements would have been impossible. The death of Joseph Vissarionovich occurred on March 5, 1953. Let's look at all the general secretaries of the USSR in order.

N. S. Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeevich was born in the Kursk province on April 15, 1894, into an ordinary working-class family. Participated in civil war on the side of the Bolsheviks. He was a member of the CPSU since 1918. At the end of the thirties he was appointed secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. Nikita Sergeevich headed the Soviet Union some time after the death of Stalin. It should be said that he had to compete for this post with G. Malenkov, who chaired the Council of Ministers and at that time was actually the leader of the country. But still, the leading role went to Nikita Sergeevich.

During the reign of Khrushchev N.S. as Secretary General of the USSR in the country:

1. The first man was launched into space, and all sorts of developments in this area took place.
2. A huge part of the fields were planted with corn, thanks to which Khrushchev was nicknamed the “corn farmer.”
3. During his reign, active construction of five-story buildings began, which later became known as “Khrushchev buildings.”

Khrushchev became one of the initiators of the “thaw” in foreign and domestic policy, the rehabilitation of victims of repression. This politician made an unsuccessful attempt to modernize the party-state system. He also announced a significant improvement (on a par with capitalist countries) in living conditions for the Soviet people. At the XX and XXII Congresses of the CPSU, in 1956 and 1961. accordingly, he spoke harshly about the activities of Joseph Stalin and his cult of personality. However, the construction of a nomenklatura regime in the country, the forceful dispersal of demonstrations (in 1956 - in Tbilisi, in 1962 - in Novocherkassk), the Berlin (1961) and Caribbean (1962) crises, the aggravation of relations with China, the building of communism by 1980 and the well-known political call to “catch up and overtake America!” - all this made Khrushchev’s policy inconsistent. And on October 14, 1964, Nikita Sergeevich was relieved of his position. Khrushchev died on September 11, 1971, after long illness.

L. I. Brezhnev

The third in order on the list of general secretaries of the USSR is L. I. Brezhnev. Born in the village of Kamenskoye in the Dnepropetrovsk region on December 19, 1906. Member of the CPSU since 1931. He took the position of General Secretary as a result of a conspiracy. Leonid Ilyich was the leader of a group of members of the Central Committee (Central Committee) that removed Nikita Khrushchev. The era of Brezhnev's rule in the history of our country is characterized as stagnation. This happened for the following reasons:

• except for the military-industrial sphere, the country's development was stopped;
• The Soviet Union began to lag significantly behind Western countries;
• Repression and persecution began again, people again felt the grip of the state.

Note that during the reign of this politician there were both negative and favorable sides. At the very beginning of his reign, Leonid Ilyich played a positive role in the life of the state. He curtailed all the unreasonable undertakings created by Khrushchev in the economic sphere. In the first years of Brezhnev's rule, enterprises were given more independence, material incentives, and the number of planned indicators was reduced. Brezhnev tried to establish good relationship with the USA, but he never succeeded. But after the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, this became impossible.

Period of stagnation

By the late 70s - early 80s, Brezhnev's circle was more concerned about their own clan interests and often ignored the interests of the state as a whole. The politician’s inner circle pleased the sick leader in everything and awarded him orders and medals. The reign of Leonid Ilyich lasted for 18 years, he was in power the longest, with the exception of Stalin. The eighties in the Soviet Union are characterized as a “period of stagnation.” Although, after the devastation of the 90s, it is increasingly presented as a period of peace, state power, prosperity and stability. Most likely, these opinions have a right to be, because the entire Brezhnev period of rule is heterogeneous in nature. L.I. Brezhnev held his position until November 10, 1982, until his death.

Yu. V. Andropov

This politician spent less than 2 years as Secretary General of the USSR. Yuri Vladimirovich was born into the family of a railway worker on June 15, 1914. His homeland is the Stavropol Territory, the city of Nagutskoye. Party member since 1939. Due to the fact that the politician was active, he quickly rose through the ranks. career ladder. At the time of Brezhnev’s death, Yuri Vladimirovich headed the State Security Committee.

He was nominated for the post of General Secretary by his comrades. Andropov set himself the task of reforming the Soviet state, trying to prevent the impending socio-economic crisis. But, unfortunately, I didn’t have time. During the reign of Yuri Vladimirovich special attention was given labor discipline at workplaces. While serving as Secretary General of the USSR, Andropov opposed the numerous privileges that were provided to employees of the state and party apparatus. Andropov showed this by personal example, refusing most of them. After his death on February 9, 1984 (due to a long illness), this politician was least criticized and most of all aroused public support.

K. U. Chernenko

On September 24, 1911, Konstantin Chernenko was born into a peasant family in the Yeisk province. He has been in the ranks of the CPSU since 1931. He was appointed to the position of General Secretary on February 13, 1984, immediately after Yu.V. Andropova. While governing the state, he continued the policies of his predecessor. He served as Secretary General for about a year. The death of the politician occurred on March 10, 1985, the cause was a serious illness.

M.S. Gorbachev

The politician's date of birth was March 2, 1931; his parents were simple peasants. Gorbachev’s homeland is the village of Privolnoye in the North Caucasus. He joined the ranks of the Communist Party in 1952. He acted as an active public figure, so he quickly moved up the party line. Mikhail Sergeevich completes the list of general secretaries of the USSR. He was appointed to this position on March 11, 1985. Later he became the only and last president of the USSR. The era of his reign went down in history with the policy of “perestroika”. It provided for the development of democracy, the introduction of openness, and the provision of economic freedom to the people. These reforms of Mikhail Sergeevich led to mass unemployment, a total shortage of goods and the liquidation of a huge number of state-owned enterprises.

Collapse of the Union

During the reign of this politician, the USSR collapsed. All fraternal republics of the Soviet Union declared their independence. It should be noted that in the West, M. S. Gorbachev is considered perhaps the most respected Russian politician. Mikhail Sergeevich has Nobel Prize peace. Gorbachev served as General Secretary until August 24, 1991. He headed the Soviet Union until December 25 of the same year. In 2018, Mikhail Sergeevich turned 87 years old.

I've been wanting to write for a long time. The attitude towards Stalin in our country is largely polar. Some hate him, others praise him. I always liked to look at things soberly and try to understand their essence.
So Stalin was never a dictator. Moreover, he was never the leader of the USSR. Don’t rush to chuckle skeptically. Let's do it simpler though. I will now ask you two questions. If you know the answers to them, you can close this page. What follows will seem uninteresting to you.
1. Who was the leader of the Soviet state after Lenin’s death?
2. When exactly did Stalin become a dictator, at least for a year?

Let's start from afar. In every country there is a position, holding which a person becomes the leader of that state. This is not true everywhere, but exceptions only confirm the rule. And in general, it doesn’t matter what this position is called, president, prime minister, chairman of the Great Khural, or just a leader and beloved leader, the main thing is that it always exists. Due to certain changes in the political formation of a given country, it may also change its name. But one thing remains unchanged: after the person occupying it leaves his place (for one reason or another), another always takes his place, who automatically becomes the next first person of the state.
So now the next question is - what was the name of this position in the USSR? Secretary General? Are you sure?
Well, let's take a look. This means Stalin became the General Secretary of the CPSU (b) in 1922. Lenin was still alive then and even tried to work. But Lenin was never General Secretary. He held only the position of chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. After him, Rykov took this place. Those. what happens that Rykov became the leader of the Soviet state after Lenin? I'm sure some of you haven't even heard of this name. At the same time, Stalin did not yet have any special powers of power. Moreover, from a purely legal standpoint, the CPSU(b) was at that time just one of the departments in the Comintern, along with parties in other countries. It is clear that the Bolsheviks still gave money for all this, but formally everything was exactly like that. The Comintern was then led by Zinoviev. Maybe he was the first person of the state at that time? It is unlikely that in terms of his influence on the party he was far inferior to, for example, Trotsky.
Then who was the first person and leader then? What follows is even funnier. Do you think Stalin was already a dictator in 1934? I think you will now answer in the affirmative. So this year the post of General Secretary was abolished altogether. Why? Well then. Formally, Stalin remained a simple secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. By the way, that’s how he signed all the documents later. And in the party charter there was no position of general secretary at all.
In 1938, the so-called “Stalinist” constitution was adopted. According to it, the highest executive body of our country was called the Presidium Supreme Council USSR. Which was headed by Kalinin. Foreigners called him the "president" of the USSR. You all know very well what power he actually had.
Well, think about it, you say. In Germany, too, there is a decorative president, and the Chancellor rules everything. Yes, it's true. But this was the only way it was before and after Hitler. In the summer of 1934, Hitler was elected Fuhrer (leader) of the nation in a referendum. By the way, he received 84.6% of the votes. And only then did he become, in essence, a dictator, i.e. a person with unlimited power. As you yourself understand, Stalin legally did not have such powers at all. And this greatly limits the possibilities of power.
Well, that's not the main thing, you say. On the contrary, this position was very profitable. He seemed to stand above the fight, was not formally responsible for anything and was an arbiter. Okay, let's move on. On May 6, 1941, he suddenly became Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars. On the one hand, this is generally understandable. War is coming soon and we need to have real levers of power. But the point is that during war, military power comes to the fore. And the civilian one becomes just a part of the military structure, simply put, the rear. And the military was led by the same Stalin at the post during the war Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Well, that's okay. What follows is even funnier. On July 19, 1941, Stalin also became People's Commissar of Defense. This already goes beyond any idea of ​​the dictatorship of one specific person. To make it clearer to you, it is as if General manager(and the owner) of the part-time enterprise also became Commercial Director and head of the supply department. Nonsense.
People's Commissar of Defense during war is a very minor position. During this period, the main power is taken by the General Staff and, in our case, by the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command, headed by the same Stalin. And the People's Commissar of Defense becomes something like a company foreman, who is responsible for supplies, weapons and other everyday issues of the unit. A very minor position.
This can be somehow understood during the period of hostilities, but Stalin remained People's Commissar until February 1947.
Okay, let's move on. In 1953, Stalin dies. Who became the leader of the USSR after him? What are you saying Khrushchev? Since when has a simple secretary of the Central Committee ruled the whole country?
Formally, it turns out that Malenko. It was he who became the next, after Stalin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers. I saw somewhere on the net where this was clearly hinted at. But for some reason, no one in our country later considered him to be the leader of the country.
In 1953, the position of party leader was revived. They called her First Secretary. And Khrushchev became one in September 1953. But somehow it’s very unclear. At the very end of what seemed to be a plenum, Malenkov stood up and asked how those gathered thought about electing the First Secretary. The audience answered in the affirmative (by the way characteristic feature all the transcripts of those years, remarks, comments and other reactions to certain speeches on the presidium are constantly coming from the audience. Even negative ones. People will sleep with their eyes open at such events under Brezhnev. Malenkov proposed voting for Khrushchev. Which is what they did. Somehow this bears little resemblance to the election of the country's first person.
So when did Khrushchev become the de facto leader of the USSR? Well, probably in 1958, when he threw out all the old people and also became Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Those. Can one assume that by essentially holding this position and leading the party, the person began to lead the country?
But here's the problem. Brezhnev, after Khrushev was removed from all posts, became only the First Secretary. Then, in 1966, the position of General Secretary was revived. It seems like we can assume that it was then that it actually began to mean complete guide country. But again there are rough edges. Brezhnev became the leader of the party after the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. Which. as we all know very well, it was generally quite decorative. Why then, in 1977, Leonid Ilyich returned to it again and became both General Secretary and Chairman? Did he lack power?
But Andropov had enough. He became only General Secretary.
And that's actually not all. I took all these facts from Wikipedia. If you go deeper, the devil will break his leg in all these ranks, positions and powers of the highest echelon of power in the years 20-50.
Well, now the most important thing. In the USSR, the highest power was collective. And all the major decisions on certain significant issues were made by the Politburo (under Stalin this was a little different, but essentially correct). In fact, there was no single leader. There were people (like Stalin) who, due to various reasons were considered first among equals. But no more. We cannot talk about any dictatorship. It never existed in the USSR and could never exist. Stalin simply did not have the legal leverage to make serious decisions on his own. Everything was always accepted collectively. There are many documents on this.
If you think that I came up with all this myself, then you are mistaken. This is the official position of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union represented by the Politburo and the Central Committee of the CPSU.
Don't believe me? Well, let's move on to the documents.
Transcript of the July 1953 plenum of the CPSU Central Committee. Just after Beria's arrest.
From Malenkov's speech:
First of all, we must openly admit, and we propose to write this down in the decision of the Plenum of the Central Committee, that in our propaganda in recent years there has been a deviation from the Marxist-Leninist understanding of the question of the role of the individual in history. It is no secret that party propaganda, instead of correctly explaining the role of the Communist Party as a leading force in the construction of communism in our country, strayed into a cult of personality.
But, comrades, this is not just a matter of propaganda. The question of the cult of personality is directly and directly related to the question of collective leadership.
We have no right to hide from you that such an ugly cult of personality has led to peremptory nature of individual decisions and in recent years began to cause serious damage to the leadership of the party and the country.

This must be said in order to resolutely correct the mistakes made in this regard, draw the necessary lessons and in the future ensure in practice collectivity of leadership on the principled basis of Lenin-Stalin teachings.
We must say this so as not to repeat the mistakes associated with lack of collective leadership and with an incorrect understanding of the issue of the cult of personality, for these mistakes, in the absence of Comrade Stalin, will be three times dangerous. (Voices. Correct).

No one dares, cannot, should or wants to claim the role of successor. (Voices. Correct. Applause).
The successor of the great Stalin is a tightly knit, monolithic team of party leaders....

Those. in essence, the question of the cult of personality is not connected with the fact that someone made mistakes there (in in this case Beria, the plenum was dedicated to his arrest), but with the fact that making serious decisions alone is a deviation from the very basis of party democracy as a principle of governing the country.
By the way, from my pioneer childhood I remember such words as Democratic centralism, election from bottom to top. Purely legally, this was the case in the Party. Everyone was always chosen, from the minor secretary of the party cell to the general secretary. Another thing is that under Brezhnev this became largely a fiction. But under Stalin it was exactly like that.
And of course the most important document is ".
At the beginning, Khrushchev says what the report will actually be about:
Due to the fact that not everyone still understands what the cult of personality led to in practice, what enormous damage was caused violation of the principle of collective leadership in the party and the concentration of immense, unlimited power in the hands of one person, the Central Committee of the party considers it necessary to report materials on this issue to the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union .
Then he scolds Stalin for a long time for deviations from the principles of collective leadership and attempts to crush everything under his own control.
And at the end he concludes with a programmatic statement:
Secondly, to consistently and persistently continue the work carried out in recent years by the Central Committee of the Party to strictly observe in all Party organizations, from top to bottom, Leninist principles of party leadership and above all the highest principle - collectivity of leadership, to comply with the norms of party life, enshrined in the Charter of our party, to develop criticism and self-criticism.
Third, fully restore Leninist principles Soviet socialist democracy, expressed in the Constitution of the Soviet Union, to fight against the arbitrariness of persons who abuse power. It is necessary to completely correct the violations of revolutionary socialist legality that have accumulated over a long period as a result of the negative consequences of the cult of personality.

And you say dictatorship. The dictatorship of a party, yes, but not of one person. And these are two big differences.