Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Brezhnev Era
- Politics
- Consolidation of power
- October 1964 - Initially collective leadership
- Brezhnev - first secretary
- Kosygin - Prime minister (C of M)
- Brezhnev's priorities: 1. reassure unpredicatbility and instability over.
2. make political position secure
- Promoted his supporters - e.g. Chernenko - 'Dnieper Mafia'.
- powerful by 1966
- 1970 - Kosygin had retired from public view - 1976 - Brezhnev universally acclaimed leader
- Corruption
- elected who he liked to control KGB
- Andropov in KGB and Politburo member
- End of reign
- stability
- Stability of cadres
- assured the Nomenklatura system.
- average age of politicians rose from 58 in 1960 to 68 in 1978
- "No dynamism or longing for radical change" - laver
- Poltiburo meetings: 1960 - 3-6 hours but by 1980 30-40 mins
- Economics
- Agriculture
- Positives:
- Peasants given internal passports
- Stability - increased procurement prices
Anmerkungen:
- Westwood - "better to have a stable though imperfect chain of command than a system constantly in the throws of upheaval."
Thompson - end to hurricane 'campaignist' approach.
- increased investment - tripled - 1976-80 - 26.2%
Anmerkungen:
- But US only invested 4% but had food to feed country.
- Peasants satisfied 70% of their needs
- wages only 10% lower than urban
- Negatives:
- Growth poor - prod growth -4%
- Shortage of goods - riots in Sverdiovsk
- 1977 - government subsidies of 19,000 million roubles
- criticism of the link/brigade system - RAPO's
- Had to import 40 million tonnes annually
- 30% ag output from private plots - only 4% cultivated area
- Industry
- Positives
- More consumer goods
- Trade unions formed to support human rights
- Politburo listened to intellectuals and experts more
Anmerkungen:
- Thompson "Brez era - witnessed widening of channels through which individuals, groups and institutions could influence the policy process"
- material wellbeing
- secure and more freedom at work
Anmerkungen:
- Negatives
- Westwood - decline in GNP: 5% in early 1960s to 2% in late 80s
- Less than 1% growth in iron
- construction weak and transport inadequacies
Anmerkungen:
- Policies of Gospan - quick fix character
- economy less suited to centralised planning - more complex
- Westwood - "economy using yesterday's methods, investments and products."
- Shturm - storming common - poor quality goods
- short-termism - deliberately
set low targets
- Defence burden - 15-17% (some say 25-30%)
- Superficial growth - oil and gold price increase fivefold
- Standard of Living/ social
- Improvements
- planned growth of consumer goods - average 70% - meat increase 40.5%
- Proportion of households with TV - 1965: 24% - 1984: 96%
- problems
- increased wages but not much higher standards
- Shortages and queues - people saved up
- but the privileged could easily buy food - dissatisfaction
- Foreign Policy
- War in Afghanistan
- Prague Spring 1968
- Detente
- Relations
with China
- Dissidence/intellectuals
- Human Rights
- Supression of culture