View source for Leonid Brezhnev

{{Short description|Leader of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982}}
{{redirect|Brezhnev}}
{{good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Leonid Brezhnev
| native_name         = {{nobold|Леонид Брежнев}}
| native_name_lang    = ua
| image               = Leonid Brezhnev, Staatshoofden, portretten, Bestanddeelnr 925-6564 (cropped)(2).jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 1972
| office              = [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]{{efn|Known as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 14 October 1964 to 8 April 1966. The office was subsequently renamed back to General Secretary at the [[23rd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|23rd Party Congress]],{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=48}} which had been its name from 1922 to 1952.{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=59}}}}
| term_start          = 14 October 1964
| term_end            = 10 November 1982
| predecessor         = [[Nikita Khrushchev]] {{nwr|(as First Secretary)}}
| successor           = [[Yuri Andropov]]
| order2              = 4th
| office2             = List of heads of state of the Soviet Union#Heads of the Soviet Union (1922–1991){{!}}Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet
| 1blankname2         = [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|Leader]]
| 1namedata2          = ''Himself''
| 2blankname2         = [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union#List of vice presidents|Deputy]]
| 2namedata2          = Vasily Kuznetsov
| term_start2         = 16 June 1977
| term_end2           = 10 November 1982
| predecessor2        = [[Nikolai Podgorny]]
| successor2          = [[Vasily Kuznetsov (politician)|Vasily Kuznetsov]] (acting)<br>Yuri Andropov
| leader3             = Nikita Khrushchev
| term_start3         = 7 May 1960
| term_end3           = 15 July 1964
| predecessor3        = [[Kliment Voroshilov]]
| successor3          = [[Anastas Mikoyan]]
| office4             = [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union#Secretariat|Second Secretary of the<br />Communist Party of the Soviet Union]]
| term_start4         = 15 July 1964
| term_end4           = 14 October 1964
| predecessor4        = [[Frol Kozlov]]
| successor4          = Nikolai Podgorny{{Collapsed infobox section begin|Additional positions}}
| office5             = [[Communist Party of Kazakhstan (Soviet Union)#First Secretaries|First Secretary of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan]]
| term_start5         = 8 May 1955
| term_end5           = 6 March 1956
| predecessor5        = [[Panteleimon Ponomarenko]]
| successor5          = [[Ivan Yakovlev (politician)|Ivan Yakovlev]]
| office6             = [[Communist Party of Moldavia#First Secretaries|First Secretary of the Communist Party of Moldavia]]
| term_start6         = 3 November 1950
| term_end6           = 16 April 1952
| predecessor6        = [[Nicolae Coval]]
| successor6          = [[Dimitri Gladki]]
{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1906|12|19|df=yes}}
| birth_place         = [[Kamianske|Kamenskoye]], Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1982|11|10|1906|12|19|df=yes}}
| death_place         = [[Zarechye, Zarechye Work Settlement, Odintsovsky District, Moscow Oblast|Zarechye]], Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
| death_cause         = [[Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev|Heart attack]]
| resting_place       = [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]], Moscow
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Viktoria Brezhneva|Viktoria Denisova]]|1928}}
| children            = {{ubl
 | [[Galina Brezhneva]]
 | [[Yuri Brezhnev]]
}}
| signature           = Leonid Brezhnev Signature.svg
| profession          = {{hlist|[[Metallurgical]] engineer|civil servant}}
| party               = [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|CPSU]] (1929–1982)
| residence           = Zarechye, Moscow Oblast
| allegiance          = Soviet Union
| branch              = [[Soviet Armed Forces]]
| serviceyears        = 1941–1982
| rank                = [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]] {{nwr|(1976–1982)}}
| commands            = [[Soviet Armed Forces]]
| battles             = {{Tree list}}
* [[World War II]]
* [[Soviet–Afghan War]]
{{Tree list/end}}
| awards              = [[List of awards and honours received by Leonid Brezhnev|Full list]]
| footnotes           = {{collapsible list
| titlestyle       = background-color:#FCF;text-align:center;
| title            = Central institution membership
| bullets          = on
| 1957–1982: Full member, [[20th Presidium of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|20th]], [[22nd Presidium of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|22nd]], [[23rd Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|23rd]], [[24th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|24th]], [[25th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]], [[26th Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]] Politburo
| 1956–1982: Member, [[20th Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|20th]], [[22nd Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|22nd]], [[23rd Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|23rd]], [[24th Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|24th]], [[25th Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]], [[26th Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]] Secretariat
| 1956–1957: Candidate member, [[20th Presidium of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|20th]] Presidium
| 1952–1953: Candidate member, [[19th Presidium of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|19th]] Presidium
| 1952–1982: Full member, [[19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|19th]], [[20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|20th]], [[22nd Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|22nd]], [[23rd Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|23rd]], [[24th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|24th]], [[25th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|25th]], [[26th Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|26th]] Central Committee
}}
----
{{collapsible list
|titlestyle        = background-color:#FCF;text-align:center;
|title             = Other political offices held
|bullets           = on
| 1964–1982: Chairman, [[Defense Council (Soviet Union)|Defense Council]]
| 1964–1966: [[List of leaders of the Russian SFSR#Heads of party|Chairman]], [[Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Bureau of the Central Committee]] of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]]
| Jan–Mar 1958: Deputy chairman, Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian SFSR
| 1947–1950: First Secretary, [[Dnipropetrovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Dnipropetrovsk Regional Committee]]
| 1946–1947: First Secretary, [[Zaporizhzhia Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Zaporizhzhia Regional Committee]]
| 1940–1941: Head, Defense Industry Department of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Committee
| 1938–1939: Head, Trade Department of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Committee
| 1937–1938: Deputy chairman, Dnipropetrovsk City Council
| 1936–1937: Director, Dnipropetrovsk Regional Committee
}}
----
{{collapsible list
|titlestyle        = background-color:#FCF;text-align:center;
|title             = Military offices held
|bullets           = on
| 1953–1954: Deputy Head, [[Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy]]
| 1953: Head, Political Department of the [[Minister of Defence (Soviet Union)|Ministry of the Navy]]
| 1945–1946: Head, Political Directorate of the [[Carpathian Military District]]
| May–Jul 1945: Head, Political Directorate of the [[Fourth Ukrainian Front]]
| 1944–1945: Deputy Head, Political Directorate of the [[Fourth Ukrainian Front]]
| 1943–1944: Head, Political Department of the [[18th Army (Soviet Union)|18th Army of the North Caucasian Front]]
| 1942–1943: Deputy Head, Political Department of the Black Sea Group of the Transcaucasian Front
| 1941–1942: Deputy Head, Political Department of the Southern Front
}}
<div style="text-align: center;">'''[[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|Leader of the Soviet Union]]'''<br />
{{flatlist|
* {{big|'''←'''}} [[Nikita Khrushchev|Khrushchev]]
* [[Yuri Andropov|Andropov]] {{big|'''→'''}}
}}</div>
}}
{{Leonid Brezhnev series}}
'''Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev'''{{family name footnote|Ilyich|Brezhnev|lang=Eastern Slavic}}{{efn|{{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|r|ɛ|ʒ|n|ɛ|f}};<ref>{{Cite Collins Dictionary|Brezhnev}}</ref> {{langx|ru|Леонид Ильич Брежнев}} {{IPA|ru|lʲɪɐˈnʲit ɨˈlʲjidʑ ˈbrʲeʐnʲɪf||a= Ru-Leonid Ilich Brezhnev.ogg}};<ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/brezhnev "Brezhnev"]. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref> <br/>{{langx|uk|Леонід Ілліч Брежнєв|Leonid Illich Brezhniev}}  {{IPA|uk|leoˈn⁽ʲ⁾id iˈl⁽ʲ⁾ːidʒ ˈbrɛʒnʲeu̯|}}.}} (19 December 1906{{snd}}10 November 1982)<ref>{{cite book |last=Jessup |first=John E. |title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945–1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hP7jJAkTd9MC&dq=Leonid+Ilyich+Brezhnev+10+november+1982&pg=PA91 |publisher=Greenwood |date=11 August 1998 |pages=91 |isbn=978-0-313-28112-9}}</ref> was a Soviet politician who served as [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] from 1964 until [[Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev|his death]] in 1982. He also held office as [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]] (head of state) from 1960 to 1964 and later from 1977 to 1982. His tenure as General Secretary and [[leader of the Soviet Union]] was second only to [[Joseph Stalin]]'s in duration.

Leonid Brezhnev was born to a working-class family in [[Kamianske|Kamenskoye]] (now Kamianske, [[Ukraine]]) within the [[Yekaterinoslav Governorate]] of the [[Russian Empire]]. After the [[October Revolution]] created the Soviet Union, Brezhnev joined the ruling Communist party's youth league in 1923 before becoming an official party member in 1929. When [[Operation Barbarossa|Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941]], he joined the [[Red Army]] as a [[Political commissar|commissar]] and rose rapidly through the ranks to become a major general during World War II.  After the war ended, Brezhnev was promoted to the party's Central Committee in 1952 and became a full member of the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] by 1957. In 1964, he took part in the removal of [[Nikita Khrushchev]] as [[leader of the Soviet Union]] and replaced him as [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|First Secretary of the CPSU]]. When Khrushchev was ousted, Brezhnev formed a [[triumvirate]] alongside [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Premier]] [[Alexei Kosygin]] and [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union#Secretariat|CC Secretary]] [[Nikolai Podgorny]] that initially led the country in Khrushchev's place.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Borrero  |first1=Mauricio |date=2006 |editor-last=Coppa |editor-first=Frank J. |title=Encyclopedia of Modern Dictators:From Napoleon to the Present |publisher=Peter Lang Publishing, Inc. |orig-date= |pages=35–38;37 |chapter=Brezhnev, Leonid Ilyich 1906-1982 |chapter-url= |isbn=0-8204-5010-3 }}</ref>{{sfn|Bacon|2002|p=13}}{{sfn|Daniels|1998|p=36}} By the end of the 1960s, he had successfully consolidated power to become the dominant figure within the Soviet leadership.<ref>{{harvnb|McCauley|1997|p=49}} "In October 1964, Brezhnev became First Secretary (renamed General Secretary in 1966) of the Party with Aleksei Kosygin taking over as USSR Prime Minister, and Nikolai Podgorny becoming Soviet President. Just as after Stalin's death there was a collective leadership but Brezhnev wanted to become boss. His opportunity came in 1968 when the Prague Spring developed to such an extent that it appeared that the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia might lose power. In August 1968 the Soviet Union and several of its allies intervened and began the process of 'normalisation'. Brezhnev, as Party leader, took prime position during the conflict because Czechoslovakia was a socialist country and therefore under the supervision of the Soviet Communist Party. Kosygin who had launched some useful reforms, was pushed aside as economic orthodoxy became the order of the day. He lacked the political guts to fight for primacy. By 1969, one can regard Brezhnev as top dog."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Reynolds|2000|pp=329–330}} "...For several years after Khrushchev's demise [in 1964], power within the [Soviet] collective leadership remained both dispersed and balanced: Nikolai Podgorny, the hard-line head of state, dominated relations with Third World countries; Prime Minister Kosygin handled the economy and urged détente with the West; Brezhnev, the party secretary, looked after Eastern Europe, harping on the threat from Germany and the United States. Gradually, in the late 1960s, Brezhnev maneuvered his way into preeminence. Partly, like Stalin and Khrushchev before him, he used his control of the party apparatus to promote allies and topple enemies. But he also raised his profile by moving into the foreign-policy arena, stealing some of Kosygin's ideas while retaining his own reputation as a hard-liner on security. It was Brezhnev who put the new 'peace program' to the twenty-fourth party congress in April 1971. During the summer, Gromyko indicated that in future Nixon should write to Brezhnev, and not Kosygin, about foreign policy."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Rigby|1989|pp=41–42}} "The record suggest that at least up to the late 1960s the power and authority of the new General Secretary were hardly adequate to ensure coherent and expeditious top-level decision-making. From about 1969 [Brezhnev's] primacy gradually became more evident and soon a 'cult' emerged embodying formulas that marked him out as clearly superordinated over the other party and state leaders. Gradually he succeeded in insinuating old cronies into high level posts and the first of them appeared in the top executive bodies. In 1977 Brezhnev was able to add to the General Secretaryship the post of President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, a post whose importance had been builty up in the preceding years. In his last years in office the 'cult' intensified and several more of his old associates were added to the top executive."</ref>

Brezhnev's governance improved the Soviet Union's international standing while stabilizing the position of its ruling party at home. Whereas Khrushchev regularly enacted policies without consulting the Politburo, Brezhnev was careful to minimize dissent among the party elite by reaching decisions through consensus thereby restoring the semblance of [[Collective leadership in the Soviet Union|collective leadership]]. Additionally, while pushing for [[détente]] between the two [[Cold War]] superpowers, he achieved nuclear parity with the [[United States]] and strengthened Moscow's dominion over [[Eastern Bloc|Central and Eastern Europe]]. Furthermore, the massive arms buildup and widespread military interventionism under Brezhnev's leadership substantially expanded Soviet influence abroad, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. By the mid-1970s, numerous observers argued the Soviet Union had surpassed the United States to become the world's strongest military power.

Conversely, Brezhnev's leadership also witnessed a significant increase in [[Political repression in the Soviet Union|repression]] and [[Censorship in the Soviet Union|censorship]] throughout the Soviet Union compared with the relatively liberal years of the [[Khrushchev Thaw]].<ref>{{harvnb|Zubok|2009|pp=190–191}} "Both Stalinists and anti-Stalinists approved of Khrushchev's removal in October 1964. People who supported the Thaw and de-Stalinization believed that Khrushchev was a spent force and any future leadership would be better than his. Soon, however, they realized how wrong they were. The new guard in the Kremlin quickly terminated de-Stalinization from above. The majority of party leaders and ideologists did not like what they saw in the educated strata of society; growing individualism, creeping Westernism, popularity of American music and mass culture, growing pacifism, and pluralistic attitudes. Where the party ideologists failed, the KGB began to step in: a special division of Soviet secret police had the task of 'guiding' Soviet cultural and intellectual elites and 'shielding' them from 'harmful influences'...[¶]The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968 substantiated the fears of the Soviet anti-Stalinist intelligentsia that the post-Khrushchev leadership might take the country in a neo-Stalinist direction. The crushing of the Prague Spring and its 'socialism with a human face' dashed the hopes of many educated Soviet patriots that the existing system could be reformed...[¶] Under Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet leadership abandoned reformist projects. It was content to live with the fossilized ideology and sought to repress cultural dissent and force its participants into exile and immigration."</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Saxonberg |first=Steven |date=2013 |title=Transitions and Non-Transitions from Communism: Regime Survival in China, Cuba, North Korea, and Vietnam |url= |location= |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=76 |isbn=978-1-107-02388-8 |access-date= |quote=...Brezhnev was trapped in a conservative legacy. He had come to power in order to end Khrushchev's experiments, which had threatened 'the security of tenure of Soviet officials'. He therefore set about immediately to undo Khrushchev's political and economic reforms. He eliminated the newly created regional economic councils, and reinstated the central economic ministries. He also reversed Khrushchev's cultural thaw, by tightening censorship and increasing control over cultural expression.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Coleman |first=Fred |date=1996 |title=The Decline and Fall of the Soviet Empire: Forty Years That Shook the World, From Stalin to Yeltsin |url= |trans-title= |language= |location= |publisher=MacMillan Publishers |pages=26–27 |isbn=0-312-16816-0 |access-date= |quote=To Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, even Khrushchev's limited de-Stalinization risked going too far. Under Brezhnev, the posthumous rehabilitation of Stalin's purge victims virtually ceased. There could be no clearer signal of a change in thinking at the top. In the Brezhnev years, Russians began fearing that a return to Stalinist repression, or re-Stalinization, was a real danger. [¶]It never got that bad. There was no need to restore the mass terror. Brezhnev accomplished what he wanted simply by keeping the threat alive. His KGB secret police...remained above the law...They were the living symbol of Brezhnev's rule, the enforcement machinery he showed the nation he was keeping oiled and ready. Arrest a few leading dissidents and sentence them to life-threatening conditions in the Gulag, and the rest of the population, still haunted by the Stalinist past, would get the message: toe the line or all is lost...[¶]Taking yet another page from Stalin's lesson book, they determined to give their narrow repressions a firm legal base. During the second year of Brezhnev's eighteen-year rule, the criminal code was revised to punish 'anti-Soviet activities'. From then on, anyone who criticized the Soviet leaders or their policies or the system could be locked away in a labor camp or expelled from the country...[¶]These laws, regarded in the West as repulsive, served their purpose in Russia, effectively crushing dissent for two decades...Brezhnev proved there was no essential need to re-Stalinize. Simply halting the de-Stalinization produced the desired results—at least for a while.}}</ref> Ultimately, Brezhnev's hostility towards political and economic reform ushered in an era of socioeconomic decline referred to as the [[Era of Stagnation]]. In addition to pervasive corruption within the country, this period was characterized by the shrinking availability of consumer goods and declining economic growth. 

After 1975, Brezhnev's health rapidly deteriorated and he increasingly withdrew himself from governing the country despite remaining its highest authority. He eventually [[Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev|died]] on 10 November 1982 and was succeeded as General Secretary by [[Yuri Andropov]]. Upon coming to power in 1985, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] denounced Brezhnev's government for its inefficiency and inflexibility before [[perestroika|launching a campaign]] to [[Liberalization|liberalize]] the Soviet Union. Notwithstanding the backlash to his regime's policies in the mid-1980s, Brezhnev's rule has received consistently high approval ratings in public polls conducted in post-Soviet Russia.

==Early life and early career==
=== 1906–1939: Origins ===
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born on 19 December 1906 in [[Kamianske|Kamenskoye]] (now Kamianske, [[Ukraine]]) within the [[Yekaterinoslav Governorate]] of the [[Russian Empire]] to [[metalworker]] Ilya Yakovlevich Brezhnev (1874–1934) and his wife, Natalia Denisovna Mazalova (1886–1975).{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=xvi,17}} His father lived in [[Brezhnevo, Kursk Oblast|Brezhnevo]]<!-- The village had this name during the Russian Empire. TASS is GUNREL, but I believe it is good enough for this comment. https://web.archive.org/web/20211217112550/https://tass.ru/opinions/13219185-->, [[Kursk Governorate]], before moving to Kamenskoye. The parents of Brezhnev's mother came from [[Yenakiieve]].<ref name="Whistle">{{cite journal |last1=Brezhnev |first1=Leonid |title=Воспоминания. Жизнь по заводскому гудку |journal=[[Kommunist]] |date=1981 |pages=13–14 |url=https://www.e-reading.club/chapter.php/83903/0/leonid-brezhnev-zhizn-po-zavodskomu-gudku.html |trans-title=Memories: Life by the Factory Whistle |language=ru |issn=0131-1212}}</ref> Brezhnev's ethnicity was given as [[Ukrainian people|Ukrainian]] in some documents, including his passport,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/a/ac/Brezhnev_LI_ListKadr_1942.jpg |title=Wikimedia commons: L.I. Brezhnev military card}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brezhnev_LI_OrKrZn_NagrList_1942.jpg?uselang=ru |title=File:Brezhnev LI OrKrZn NagrList 1942.jpg}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brezhnev_LI_Pasport_1947.jpg?uselang=en |title=File:Brezhnev LI Pasport 1947.jpg |date=11 June 1947}}</ref> and Russian in others.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Brezhnev_LI_OrOtVo_NagrList_1943.jpg |title=Brezhnev LI OrOtVo NagrList 1943.jpg |date=18 September 1943 |type=image |via=[[Wikimedia Commons]]}}</ref>{{sfn|Bacon|2002|p=6}}

Brezhnev's niece wrote that in 1913, Brezhnev enrolled in a [[parish school]]. Two years later, he was admitted to a grammar school.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=19}} Brezhnev left Kamenskoe for Kursk due to the [[1921–1923 famine in Ukraine|famine of 1921–1923]] and got employment as a [[porter (carrier)|porter]] at a [[cooking fat]] factory.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=23-24}} 

In 1923, Brezhnev joined the [[Komsomol]], the Bolshevik youth organization. His biographer Paul J. Murphy believed  he did it for careerist reasons.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=26}} In the same year, Brezhnev enrolled at a college and four years later got a degree in [[land management]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=xvi}} He started to work a year before graduation, first as a trainee in the [[Byelorussian SSR]] and, after receiving the diploma, in the [[Kursk Governorate]] and later in the  [[Ural Oblast (1923–1934)|Ural Oblast]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=28}} During his work there, Brezhnev applied for [[CPSU|Communist Party]] membership in 1929, spending two years as a candidate before becoming a full Party member two years later.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=27,35}} Brezhnev  reached a position of the head of land registry of [[Yekaterinburg|Sverdlovsk]] in 1930, but relinquished it just half a year later to move to [[Moscow]] to enroll at the Institute of Agricultural Machinery. Historian [[Susanne Schattenberg]] speculates that he did so to avoid the excesses of [[Soviet collectivization|collectivization]] that the Soviet Union was undergoing at that time.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=33-34}} 

Brezhnev did not stay in Moscow for long and left only two months later due to a housing shortage.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=34}} Initially, he worked as a fitter at a plant in [[Zaporozhye]]. A year later, he enrolled in an evening program to study [[thermal engineering]], while simultaneously working at the [[Dnieper Metallurgical Combine]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=35}} While still a student, Brezhnev was appointed as the director of the Workers’ Faculty in 1933.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=37}} He graduated from the institute in 1935,{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=47}} but worked as an engineer for less than half a year before being drafted into the [[Red Army]]. During his one-year service, Brezhnev received military training in [[Chita, Zabaykalsky Krai|Chita]] and became a [[political commissar]] of a tank division.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=40}}

During Stalin's [[Great Purge]], Brezhnev was one of many [[apparatchik]]s who exploited the resulting openings in the government and the party to advance rapidly in the regime's ranks.{{sfn|Bacon|2002|p=6}} In 1936, he was appointed director of the Dniprodzerzhynsk Technical College and a year later he became deputy chairman of the Kamenskoye city soviet.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=40,46}} In May 1938, he obtained a position in Dnepropetrovsk and met [[Nikita Khrushchev]], who had just taken control of the Ukrainian Communist Party.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=xvii,44}} This relationship would be decisive for Brezhnev's future career. In 1939, he was appointed propaganda secretary of the Dnipropetrovsk party committee.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=xvii}}{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=47}} During this time, Brezhnev took the first steps toward building a network of supporters which came to be known as the "[[Dnipropetrovsk Mafia]]" that would greatly aid his rise to power.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=51}}

=== 1941–1945: World War II ===
When [[Operation Barbarossa|Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union]], Brezhnev was tasked with overseeing mobilization plans and the evacuation of Soviet factories. In July, he requested to be drafted into the military and was assigned to the [[Southern Front (Soviet Union)|Southern Front]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=55}} During the retreat of Soviet forces, he returned to Dnepropetrovsk and remained in the city up to 25 August, the day it fell. In Autumn, Brezhnev was made deputy of political administration for the Southern Front, with the rank of Brigade-Commissar (equivalent to Colonel).{{sfn|Green|Reeves|1993|p=192}}{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=56}} During this period, Brezhnev developed his contacts with Khrushchev further, directly serving under his leadership from July to October 1941.{{sfn|Murphy|1981|p=65–66}}

When the Germans occupied [[Reichskommissariat Ukraine|Ukraine]] in 1942, Brezhnev was sent to the [[Caucasus]] as deputy head of political administration of the [[North Caucasus Front]].{{sfn|Murphy|1981|p=72}} In April 1943 he became head of the Political Department of the 18th Army.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=59}} Later that year, the 18th Army became part of the [[1st Ukrainian Front]], as the Red Army regained the initiative and advanced westward through Ukraine.{{sfn|Murphy|1981|p=80}} In 1944, Brezhnev was promoted to the rank of major general as Soviets successfully pushed German forces out of [[Transcarpathia]].{{sfn|Murphy|1981|p=88}} At the end of the war in Europe, Brezhnev was chief political commissar of the [[4th Ukrainian Front]], which entered [[Prague]] in May 1945, after the German [[German Instrument of Surrender|surrender]].{{sfn|Green|Reeves|1993|p=192}}

==Rise to power==
=== Promotion to the Central Committee ===
[[File:Леонид Брежнев (1950).jpg|thumb|Brezhnev in 1950]]
At the end of the war, Brezhnev was the head of the political administration of the [[Carpathian Military District]] and oversaw the [[Sovietization]] of newly incorporated territories.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=65–66}} He left the position in June 1946,{{sfn|Dönninghaus|Savin|2025|p=327}} and a few months later was appointed the first secretary of the [[Zaporizhzhia]] regional party committee,{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=76}} where his deputy was [[Andrei Kirilenko (politician)|Andrei Kirilenko]], one of the most important members of the [[Dnipropetrovsk Mafia]].{{sfn|Bacon|2002|p=12}}{{sfn|Mitrokhin|2011|p=30}} After working on reconstruction projects in Ukraine, he returned to Dnipropetrovsk in November 1947 as regional first party secretary.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=83}} In 1950 Brezhnev became a deputy of the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]], the Soviet Union's [[supreme state organ of power]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=92}} In July that year he was sent to the [[Moldavian SSR]] and appointed Party First Secretary of the [[Communist Party of Moldova]],{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=48}} where he was responsible for completing the introduction of collective agriculture.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=104}} [[Konstantin Chernenko]], a loyal addition to the "mafia", was working in Moldova as head of the [[agitprop]] department, and one of the officials Brezhnev brought with him from Dnipropetrovsk was the future USSR Minister of the Interior, [[Nikolai Shchelokov]].{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=48}}{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=107–108}}

In 1952, Brezhnev met with [[Stalin]] who subsequently promoted him to the Communist Party's [[Central Committee]] as a candidate member of the Presidium (formerly the [[Politburo]]) and made him a member of the [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Secretariat]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=112}} Following Stalin's death in March 1953, Brezhnev was demoted to first deputy head of the political directorate of the Army and Navy.{{sfn|Bacon|2002|p=7}}{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=114–115}} He remained close to the main events, as he participated in the arrest of [[Lavrentiy Beria]] in June. In August, he was promoted to [[lieutenant general]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=115}}

=== Advancement under Khrushchev ===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-B0628-0015-035, Nikita S. Chruschtschow.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|195px|[[Nikita Khrushchev]], the leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and Brezhnev's main patron]]

Brezhnev's patron Khrushchev succeeded Stalin as General Secretary, while Khrushchev's rival [[Georgy Malenkov]] succeeded Stalin as Chairman of the [[Council of Ministers]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=119}} In February 1954, Brezhnev was appointed second secretary of the [[Communist Party of Kazakhstan|Communist Party]] of the [[Kazakh SSR]], where he worked under [[Panteleimon Ponomarenko]] who was Malenkov's protege.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=120}} Following Khrushchev's victory over Malenkov, Ponomarenko was removed in May 1955 and Brezhnev was promoted to First Secretary in August.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=123,136}} In Kazakhstan, Brezhnev oversaw the construction of the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]]{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=151}} and conducted the [[Virgin Lands campaign]]. He was recalled to Moscow in 1956, before it became clear that the campaign would turn out to be disappointing.{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=48}} 

In Moscow, Brezhnev became a candidate member of the [[Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Politburo]] and was appointed secretary of Defense Industry.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=141}} In this position, he oversaw the development of the Soviet missile and nuclear arms programs.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=151}}<ref name="soyouthinkyoucandance">{{cite news |author=Hough, Jerry F. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dQoAAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA49 |page=49 |title=Soviet succession and policy choices |work=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]] |date=November 1982 |access-date=11 May 2010}}</ref> In June 1957, he backed Khrushchev in his struggle with Malenkov's Stalinist old guard in the Party leadership, the so-called "[[Anti-Party Group]]". Following the Stalinists' defeat, Brezhnev became a full member of the Politburo.{{sfn|McCauley|1997|p=48}}  In May 1960, he was promoted to the post of Chairman of the [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet]], making him the nominal head of state, although the real power resided with Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party and Premier.{{sfn|Hough|Fainsod|1979|pp=242,371}}

===Replacement of Khrushchev as First Secretary===
Khrushchev's position as Party leader was secure until about 1962, but as he aged, he grew more erratic and his performance undermined the confidence of his fellow leaders. The Soviet Union's mounting economic problems also increased the pressure on Khrushchev's leadership.{{sfn|Taubman|2003|pp=582,614}} Brezhnev remained outwardly loyal to Khrushchev, but became involved in a 1963 plot to remove him from power, possibly playing a leading role. Also in 1963, Brezhnev succeeded [[Frol Kozlov]], another Khrushchev protégé, as Secretary of the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]], thereby positioning himself as Khrushchev's likely successor.{{sfn|Taubman|2003|pp=614–615}} Khrushchev made him [[Second Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Second Secretary]], or deputy party leader, in 1964.{{sfn|Taubman|2003|p=616}}

[[File:Kekkonen kuuntelee.jpg|thumb|upright=1.55|Brezhnev (center) partaking in a hunting outing with Khrushchev (far left) and Finnish president [[Urho Kekkonen]] (second from right) in 1963, one year before Khrushchev's ousting]]

After returning from [[Scandinavia]] and [[Czechoslovakia]] in October 1964, Khrushchev, unaware of the plot, went on holiday to the [[Pitsunda]] resort on the [[Black Sea]].{{sfn|Service|2009|pp=376}} [[Anastas Mikoyan]] visited Khrushchev, hinting that he should not be too complacent about his present situation.{{sfn|Service|2009|pp=376}} [[Vladimir Semichastny]], head of the [[KGB]], was a crucial part of the conspiracy, as it was his duty to inform Khrushchev if anyone was plotting against his leadership.{{sfn|Service|2009|pp=376–377}} [[Nikolay Ignatov]], whom Khrushchev had sacked, discreetly requested the opinion of several [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] members. After some false starts, fellow conspirator [[Mikhail Suslov]] phoned Khrushchev on 12 October and requested that he return to Moscow to discuss the state of [[Soviet agriculture]].{{sfn|Service|2009|p=377}} Finally, Khrushchev understood what was happening, and said to Mikoyan, "If it's me who is the question, I will not make a fight of it."{{sfn|Service|2009|p=377}} Mikoyan wanted to remove Khrushchev from the office of First Secretary but retain him as the [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Chairman]] of the [[Council of Ministers (Soviet Union)|Council of Ministers]], but the rest of the Presidium, headed by Brezhnev, wanted to remove him from active politics altogether.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=377}}

Brezhnev and Suslov appealed to the Central Committee, blaming Khrushchev for economic failures, and accusing him of [[Voluntaryism|voluntarism]] and immodest behavior. Influenced by Brezhnev's allies, Politburo members voted on 14 October to remove Khrushchev from office.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=377–378}}{{sfn|Taubman|2003|p=5}} Some members of the Central Committee wanted him to undergo punishment of some kind, but Brezhnev, who had already been assured the office of the General Secretary, saw little reason to punish Khrushchev further.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=378}} Brezhnev was appointed First Secretary on the same day, but at the time was believed to be a transitional leader, who would only "keep the shop" until another leader was appointed.{{sfn|McNeal|1975|p=164}} [[Alexei Kosygin]] was appointed [[head of government]], and Mikoyan was retained as [[head of state]].{{sfn|Taubman|2003|p=16}} Brezhnev and his companions supported the general party line taken after Stalin's death but felt that Khrushchev's reforms had removed much of the Soviet Union's stability.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=378}} When Khrushchev left the public spotlight, there was no popular commotion, as most Soviet citizens, including the [[intelligentsia]], anticipated a period of [[Economic stability|stabilization]], steady development of Soviet society and continuing economic growth in the years ahead.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=378}}

Political scientist [[George W. Breslauer]] has compared Khrushchev and Brezhnev as leaders. He argues they took different routes to build legitimate authority, depending on their personalities and the state of public opinion. Khrushchev worked to decentralize the government system and empower local leadership, which had been wholly subservient; Brezhnev sought to centralize authority, going so far as to weaken the roles of the other members of the Central Committee and the Politburo.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Breslauer |first1=George W. |author1-link=George W. Breslauer |title=Khrushchev and Brezhnev as leaders : building authority in Soviet politics |date=1982 |publisher=Allen & Unwin |isbn=9780043290408 |pages=274–279}}</ref>

== Leader of the Soviet Union (1964-1982) ==
{{further|History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)}}

===Consolidation of power===
{{further|Collective leadership in the Soviet Union}}
{{multiple image
 |header=Other members of the governing [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union#List of troikas|Troika]]
 |align=right
 |direction=horizontal
 |image1=A. Kosygin 1967.jpg
 |width1=145
 |caption1=[[Alexei Kosygin]]
 |image2=Nikolai Podgorny Bundesarchiv cropped-2.jpg
 |width2=145
 |caption2= [[Nikolai Podgorny]]
}}
Upon replacing Khrushchev as the party's First Secretary, Brezhnev became the ''[[de jure]]'' supreme authority of the Soviet Union. However, he was initially forced to govern as part of an unofficial [[Triumvirate#Soviet Union|Triumvirate]] (also known by its Russian name ''[[List of leaders of the Soviet Union#List of troikas|Troika]]'') alongside the country's [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Premier]], [[Alexei Kosygin]], and [[Nikolai Podgorny]], a [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union#Secretariat|Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee]] and later [[List of heads of state of the Soviet Union|Chairman of the Presidium]].<ref>{{harvnb|Bacon|2002|p=32}}: "In the mid-1960s appraisals of Brezhnev centered on the new leadership of the Soviet Union as a whole. Just as in the early Khrushchev years, it was not immediately apparent after 1964 who wielded how much power in the Soviet hierarchy. The immediate talk was of a triumvirate of Brezhnev at the head of the Communist Party, Kosygin as prime minister (Chairman of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers), and ― after December 1965 ― Podgorny as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Daniels|1998|p=36}}: "Podgorny, a longtime member of the [party] apparatus, joined the Secretariat in 1963 with Brezhnev, which made him also figure as a candidate for supreme power. At first number-three in the post-Khrushchev troika, along with the new Secretary-General Brezhnev and Prime Minister Kosygin, Podgorny rose more recently to the number-two position in Communist protocol, after Brezhnev but ahead of Kosygin. Overall, this history indicates that the post of President of the Republic, long a merely honorary one, ha[d] acquired growing importance and influence in the Communist hierarchy."</ref> Due to Khrushchev's disregard for the rest of the Politburo upon combining his leadership of the party with that of the Soviet government, a plenum of the Central Committee in October 1964 forbade any single individual from holding both the offices of [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]] and [[Premier of the Soviet Union|Premier]].{{sfn|Service|2009|p=378}}

During his consolidation of power, Brezhnev first had to contend with the ambitions of [[Alexander Shelepin]], the former chairman of the [[KGB]] and current head of the [[People's Control Commission|Party-State Control Committee]]. In early 1965, Shelepin began calling for the restoration of "obedience and order" within the Soviet Union as part of his own bid to seize power.{{sfn|Service|2003|p=379}} Towards this end, he exploited his control over both state and party organs to leverage support within the regime. Recognizing Shelepin as an imminent threat to his position, Brezhnev mobilized the Soviet collective leadership to remove him from the Party-State Control Committee before having the body dissolved altogether on 6 December 1965.{{sfn|Roeder|1993|p=110}}

[[File:RIAN archive 36535 Secretary general of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev after speaking at the VLKSM Central Committee plenary session.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|Brezhnev following a speech to the 1968 Komsomol Central Committee plenary session in his capacity as General Secretary. By then, he had reestablished the post as the top authority in both name and practice.]]

Additionally, by the end of 1965, Brezhnev had Podgorny removed from the Secretariat, thereby significantly curtailing the latter's ability to build support within the party apparatus.{{sfn|Roeder|1993|pp=79–80}} In the ensuing years, Podgorny's network of supporters was steadily eroded as the protégés he cultivated in his rise to power were removed from the Central Committee.<ref>{{harvnb|Willerton|1992|p=68}}: "Podgorny's Khar'kov network was among the largest of the Brezhnev period. Its size reflected both Podgorny's important role in Ukraine during the 1950s and early 1960s as well as his status as Brezhnev's main political rival. Podgorny developed this network not only while he was moving up in the Ukrainian party apparatus, but also during his career as Ukrainian party boss (1957 to 1963)...An investigation of the Khar'kov party organization and publication of a CPSU [Central Committee] declaration on its deficiencies in 1965 severely weakened this elite cohort. Highly placed protégés only moved downward during the Brezhnev period. [Vitaly] Titov, who had headed the Party Organs Department and had been promoted as a party Secretary in 1962, was quickly demoted in 1965 from the CPSU Secretariat and transferred to head the troubled Kazakh party organization. Podgorny's successor in Ukraine, Piotr Shelest, was ultimately ousted in favor of Brezhnev's longtime protégé, Shcherbitsky. Shelest's position in the all-union party hierarchy was never an especially important one, although his position had merited a brief membership in the Politburo. [¶]Those Podgorny associates who became CC members had moved up from Khar'kov and Kiev in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s. Some advanced to Moscow with Podgorny...Nearly all were 'retired' either when Shelest was ousted or when Podgorny was removed in 1977."</ref> By 1977, Brezhnev was secure enough in his position to replace Podgorny as head of state and remove him from the Politburo altogether.<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|2009|p=403}}: "[In 1965] Podgorny took Mikoyan's place as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, combining that with his Politburo membership. He held both offices until Brezhnev felt strong enough unceremoniously to remove him in 1977. By then Brezhnev decided he had waited long enough to add the dignity of becoming formal head of state to his party leadership."</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Guerrier|2020|p=1314}}: "In 1977 Brezhnev engineered Podgorny's removal from the Politburo and then from the chairmanship of the Supreme Soviet on June 16. Brezhnev assumed the chairmanship himself while remaining first secretary, thus gaining diplomatic status as head of state while also maintaining the real power that came as leader of the CPSU."</ref>

After sidelining Shelepin and Podgorny as threats to his leadership in 1965, Brezhnev directed his attentions to his remaining political rival, Alexei Kosygin. In the 1960s, U.S. National Security Advisor [[Henry A. Kissinger|Henry Kissinger]] initially perceived Kosygin to be the dominant leader of [[Soviet foreign policy]] in the Politburo. Within the same timeframe, Kosygin was also in charge of economic administration in his role as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. However, his position was weakened following his enactment of several economic reforms in 1965 that collectively came to be known within the Party as the "[[Kosygin reform]]s". Due largely to coinciding with the [[Prague Spring]] (whose sharp departure from the Soviet model led to its armed suppression in 1968), the reforms provoked a backlash among the party's old guard who proceeded to flock to Brezhnev and strengthened his position within the Soviet leadership.<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|2009|p=403}}:"Kosygin was so prominent in the earlier post-Khrushchev years that as late as 1970 Henry Kissinger
mistakenly thought that he was ‘the dominant figure in foreign
policy in the Politburo’ ... Kosygin continued, however, to be in charge of
detailed economic administration in his role as Chairman of the
Council of Ministers... However, even his modest proposals for change became linked in arguments behind the scenes with the developments in Czechoslovakia ... The fact
that economic reform in Czechoslovakia had in 1968 been
accompanied by dangerous political reform helped to discredit
the very word ‘reform’ in the Soviet Union."</ref> In 1969, Brezhnev further expanded his authority following a clash with Second Secretary Mikhail Suslov and other party officials who thereafter became firm supporters of his leadership over the Party.<ref>{{harvnb|Bacon|2002|pp=13–14}}: "By the end of the [1960s], T.H. Rigby argued that a stable oligarchic system had developed in the Soviet Union, centered around Brezhnev, Podgorny, and Kosygin[;] plus Central Committee secretaries Mikhail Suslov and Andrei Kirilenko. Accurate though this assessment was at the time, its publication coincided with the further strengthening of Brezhnev's position by means of an apparent clash with Suslov. [¶] At a Central Committee plenum in December 1969, Brezhnev gave a frank speech on economic matters, which had not been agreed with other Politburo members in advance. This independent line both surprised and angered colleagues, particularly Suslov, Shelepin, and first deputy prime minister Kiril Mazurov, who wrote a joint letter critical of the speech which they intended to be discussed at the next Plenum in March 1970. Brezhnev, however, exerted pressure on Suslov and his colleagues, the Plenum was postponed, the letter withdrawn, and the General Secretary emerged with greater authority and pledges of authority from his erstwhile critics."</ref>

Brezhnev was adept at politics within the Soviet Union. Unlike Khrushchev, he did not make decisions without consulting with his colleagues and hearing their opinions.{{sfn|Bacon|2002|pp=10–11}} By the early 1970s, Brezhnev had successfully consolidated his position as [[first among equals]] within the Politburo. While Kosygin continued to hold office as Premier until shortly before his death in 1980, Brezhnev's dominance over the Soviet leadership remained secure from the mid-1970s<ref>{{harvnb|Willerton|1992|pp=58, 62–63, 256}}: "The Brezhnev network constituted a broad coalition of politicians and interests which was in an organizational position to structure the [Soviet] policy agenda. Trusted subordinates guided those state organizations critical to the realization of the Brezhnev program. Meanwhile, members of this network linked a number of important regional party organizations, both within the RSFSR and outside it, to the regime in Moscow...In general, network members headed the [Central Committee] departments responsible for cadres, party work, and important sectors of the economy. By the mid-1970s, the Politburo members and CPSU secretaries supervising these departments were all Brezhnev protégés. From an organizational standpoint, the Brezhnev-led network of patronage factions was the dominant element in the [Soviet] national leadership..."</ref> up until his eventual death in 1982.{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=403}}

===Domestic policies===

====Ideological development====
{{Main|Real socialism}}
Ideologically, Brezhnev's rule was associated with the doctrine of [[Developed Socialism]]. This concept initially appeared in the [[Eastern Bloc]] countries during the 1960s, was rhetorically adopted by Brezhnev in 1971, took the central position at the [[25th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Party Congress in 1976]], and was inscribed in the [[1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union|Constitution the following year]].{{sfn|Sandle|2002|pp=166–167}}

Brezhnev has defined it as the [[Soviet socialism|Soviet-style socialism]], which he believed had been successfully constructed in the Soviet Union. It emphasized the advanced technological developments with the use of nuclear power in production, computer planning, as well as a highly mechanized agriculture. Under developed socialism all social strata within the Soviet Union were closer to each other than ever before due to the highly developed productive force in the country.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=243–244}}<ref>{{cite web |last1=Leonid |first1=Brezhnev |date=2 September 2015 |title=Brezhnev on the Theory of Developed Socialism |url=https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1980-2/our-little-father/our-little-father-texts/brezhnev-on-the-theory-of-developed-socialism/ |access-date=29 October 2023 |website=Seventeen Moments in Soviet History |publisher=World Marxist Review}}</ref> 

One of the main reasons behind the doctrine was an attempt to secure Soviet leadership among the Socialist bloc by presenting the USSR as a country that had reached a more advanced level of socialist development which other countries were yet to achieve.{{sfn|Sandle|2002|p=166}} Domestically, Developed Socialism was a response to the inability to reach communism by 1980, as had been promised by Khrushchev.{{sfn|Sandle|2002|p=176}} It entrenched Party rule and promoted conservativism and caution by focusing on gradual change.{{sfn|Sandle|2002|p=171}}

====Repression====
[[File:RIAN archive 101740 Yury Andropov, Chairman of KGB.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Yuri Andropov]], the [[List of Chairmen of the KGB|chairman of the KGB]] who presided over the pervasive crackdown under Brezhnev's regime]]

Brezhnev's stabilization policy included ending the [[Liberalization|liberalizing]] reforms of Khrushchev, and clamping down on cultural freedom.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=380}} This policy gradually led to an increasingly authoritarian and conservative attitude.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=381}}{{sfn|Sakwa|1999|p=339}}

By the mid-1970s, there were an estimated 10,000 political and religious prisoners across the Soviet Union, living in grievous conditions and suffering from malnutrition. Many of these prisoners were [[political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union|considered by the Soviet state to be mentally unfit]] and were hospitalized in [[mental asylum]]s across the Soviet Union. Under Brezhnev's rule, the KGB infiltrated most, if not all, anti-government organisations, which ensured that there was little to no opposition against him or his power base. {{sfn|Service|2009|p=382}} 

The trial of the writers [[Yuli Daniel]] and [[Andrei Sinyavsky]] in 1966, the first such public trials since Stalin's reign, marked the reversion to a repressive cultural policy.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=381}} Under [[Yuri Andropov]] the state security service (in the form of the [[KGB]]) regained some of the powers it had enjoyed under Stalin. However, there was no return to the purges of the 1930s and 1940s, and Stalin's legacy remained largely discredited among the Soviet [[intelligentsia]].{{sfn|Service|2009|p=382}}

====Economics====
{{split section|date=December 2025}}
=====Economic growth until 1973=====
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:0 15px;"
! Period
! style="line-height:100%" | Annual GNP growth <br /><small>(according to<br />the [[CIA]])</small>
! style="line-height:100%" | [[Net material product|Annual NMP growth]]<br /><small>(according to<br />[[Grigorii Khanin]])</small>
! style="line-height:100%" | Annual NMP growth<br /><small>(according to<br />the USSR)</small>
|-
| 1960–1965
| 4.8{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 4.4{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 6.5{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
|-
| 1965–1970
| 4.9{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 4.1{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 7.7{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
|-
| 1970–1975
| 3.0{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 3.2{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 5.7{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
|-
| 1975–1980
| 1.9{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 1.0{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 4.2{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
|-
| 1980–1985
| 1.8{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 0.6{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
| 3.5{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}}
|-
| colspan=4|{{efn|Western specialists believe that the [[net material product]] (NMP; Soviet version of [[gross national product]] [GNP]) contained distortions and could not accurately determine a country's economic growth; according to some, it greatly exaggerated growth. Because of this, several specialists created GNP figures to estimate Soviet growth rates and to compare Soviet growth rates with the growth rates of capitalist countries.{{sfn|Kotz|Weir|2007|p=35}} Grigorii Khanin published his growth rates in the 1980s as a "translation" of NMP to GNP. His growth rates were (as seen above) much lower than the official figures, and lower than some Western estimates. His estimates were widely publicized by conservative [[think tank]]s as, for instance, [[The Heritage Foundation]] of Washington, D.C. After the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, Khanin's estimates led several agencies to criticize the estimates made by the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA). Since then the CIA has often been accused over overestimating Soviet growth. In response to the criticism of CIA's work, a panel led by economist [[James R. Millar]] was established to check out if this was in fact true. The panel concluded that the CIA were based on facts, and that "Methodologically, Khanin's approach was naive, and it has not been possible for others to reproduce his results."{{sfn|Kotz|Weir|2007|p=39}} Michael Boretsky, a [[Department of Commerce]] economist, criticized the CIA estimates to be too low. He used the same CIA methodology to estimate West German and American growth rates. The results were 32% below the official GNP growth for West Germany, and 13 below the official GNP growth for the United States. In the end, the conclusion is the same, the Soviet Union grew rapidly economically until the mid-1970s, when a systematic crisis began.{{sfn|Kotz|Weir|2007|p=40}}
:Growth figures for the Soviet economy varies widely (as seen below):
'''[[Eighth Five-Year Plan (Soviet Union)|Eighth Five-Year Plan]] (1966–1970)'''
* Gross national product (GNP): 5.2%{{sfn|Kort|2010|p=322}} or 5.3%{{sfn|Bergson|1985|p=192}}
* [[Gross national income]] (GNI): 7.1%{{sfn|Pallot|Shaw|1981|p=51}}
* [[Investment|Capital investment]]s in agriculture: 24%{{sfn|Wegren|1998|p=252}}

'''[[Ninth Five-Year Plan (Soviet Union)|Ninth Five-Year Plan]] (1971–1975)'''
* GNP: 3.7%{{sfn|Kort|2010|p=322}}
* GNI: 5.1%{{sfn|Pallot|Shaw|1981|p=51}}
* Labour productivity: 6%{{sfn|Arnot|1988|p=67}}
* Capital investments in agriculture: 27%{{sfn|Wegren|1998|p=252}}

'''[[Tenth Five-Year Plan (Soviet Union)|Tenth Five-Year Plan]] (1976–1980)'''
* GNP: 2.7%{{sfn|Kort|2010|p=322}}
* GNP: 3%{{sfn|Bergson|1985|p=192}}
* Labour productivity: 3.2%{{sfn|Arnot|1988|p=67}}
'''[[Eleventh Five-Year Plan (Soviet Union)|Eleventh Five-Year Plan]] (1981–1985)'''
}}
|}

Between 1960 and 1970, Soviet agriculture output increased by 3% annually. Industry also improved: during the [[Eighth Five-Year Plan (Soviet Union)|Eighth Five-Year Plan]] (1966–1970), the output of factories and mines increased by 138% compared to 1960.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=389}} The [[1965 Soviet economic reform|economic reform of 1965]] was initiated by Kosygin, though its origins are often traced back to the Khrushchev Era. The reform introduced market principles to Soviet enterprises to reduce their dependence on plan indicators. It was ultimately cancelled by the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]], though the Committee admitted that economic problems did exist{{sfn|Sakwa|1999|p=341–342}}

Under Brezhnev, the Politburo abandoned Khrushchev's [[decentralization]] experiments. By 1966, two years after taking power, Brezhnev abolished the [[Sovnarkhoz|Regional Economic Councils]], which were organized to manage the regional economies of the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=389}} The Politburo became aggressively [[Reformism|anti-reformist]] and the Soviet Union could not afford to maintain its massive subsidy for the [[Eastern Bloc]] in the form of cheap oil and gas exports.{{sfn|Service|2009|pp=385–386}} Brezhnev attempted to raise the standard of living by increasing the production of consumer goods during the [[Ninth Five-Year Plan (Soviet Union)|Ninth Five-Year Plan]], but it was ultimately unsuccessful, and the bulk of the state investment remained in industrial capital-goods production.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=407}}

By the early 1970s, the Soviet Union had the world's second largest industrial capacity, and produced more steel, oil, [[pig-iron]], cement and tractors than any other country.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=397}} Before 1973, the Soviet economy was expanding at a faster rate than that of the American economy (albeit by a very small margin). The USSR also kept a steady pace with the economies of Western Europe. Between 1964 and 1973, the Soviet economy stood at roughly half the output per head of Western Europe and a little more than one third that of the U.S.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=47}} In 1973, the process of catching up with the rest of the West came to an end and the [[Era of Stagnation]] was apparent.<ref>{{cite book|first=William J. |last=Tompson|title=The Soviet Union under Brezhnev|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F8UeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA78|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|pages=78–82|isbn=9781317881728}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Richard W. Judy |author2=Robert W. Clough|title=in Marshall C. Yovits, ed. "Advances in Computers" vol. 29|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M2vUopRmnXcC&pg=PA252|year=1989|page=252|publisher=Academic Press |isbn=9780080566610}}</ref>

=====Economic stagnation until 1982=====
The [[Era of Stagnation]] is a term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev to describe the time when Brezhnev was in power and his inability to deal with changing times.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|pp=1–2}} The CIA estimated that the Soviet economy peaked in the early 1970s. After that, economic growth began to slow down due to the prioritization of heavy industry and military spending over [[Consumer goods in the Soviet Union|consumer goods]].{{sfn|Oliver|Aldcroft|2007|pp=275–277}} The social stagnation was stimulated by the growing demands of unskilled workers, labor shortages and a decline in productivity and labor discipline.{{sfn|Sakwa|1999|p=339}}

The GNP growth rate fell to 1% to 2% per year, falling behind the rate for the United States.{{sfn|Oliver|Aldcroft|2007|pp=275–277}}{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=40}} The Soviet Union outproduced the U.S. in the heavy industry,{{sfn|Oliver|Aldcroft|2007|p=275}} but due to the cumbersome procedures of the centralized planning system, Soviet industries were incapable of the innovation needed to meet public demand.<ref name=ScottChapter3>{{cite book|last=Shane|first=Scott|title=Dismantling Utopia: How Information Ended the Soviet Union|year=1994|publisher=Ivan R. Dee|location=Chicago|isbn=978-1-56663-048-1|pages=75 to 98|chapter=What Price Socialism? An Economy Without Information|quote=It was not the gas pedal but the steering wheel that was failing}}</ref> The Soviets had almost no access to microcomputers, and the availability of cars and phones per capita was lower than in its Eastern satellites.{{sfn|Oliver|Aldcroft|2007|p=276}} This gap was also seen in agriculture, where the Soviet Union was import-dependent.{{sfn|Oliver|Aldcroft|2007|p=279}} In 1978, all satellites surpassed the Soviet Union in meat and egg production per capita, and Hungary produced more wheat.{{sfn|Oliver|Aldcroft|2007|p=276}} 

In 1971, Brezhnev acknowledged that vast military expenditure slowed the growth of the Soviet economy.{{sfn|Oliver|Aldcroft|2007|p=277}}  However, he was able to defer economic collapse by selling oil to Western Europe and arms to the [[Arab World]].{{sfn|Oliver|Aldcroft|2007|p=275}}

====Agricultural policy====
[[File:25th anniversary of conquering virgin land. USSR block. 1979.jpg|thumb|USSR postage stamp of 1979, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the [[Virgin Lands Campaign]]]]
Brezhnev's agricultural policy reinforced conventional methods for organizing the [[Collective farming|collective farms]]. Output quotas continued to be imposed centrally.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=400}} Brezhnev also continued Khrushchev's policy of amalgamating farms. In order to address problems such as insufficient production of fodder crops and a declining sugar beet harvest, he allowed the enlargement of privately owned plots and pushed for an increase in state investments in farming, which amounted to an all-time high in the 1970s of 27% of all state investment. {{sfn|Service|2009|p=401}}<ref>Alec Nove, "Soviet agriculture under Brezhnev." ''Slavic Review'' 29.3 (1970): 379-410. [https://scholar.archive.org/work/wu4a74j3k5eb7bwiil6iyowfwi/access/wayback/https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/88259DF09E703647C76FEAC3161A6B41/S0037677900141518a.pdf/div-class-title-soviet-agriculture-under-brezhnev-div.pdf online]</ref>

Robert Service characterized the Soviet government's involvement in agriculture under Brezhnev as generally "unimaginative" and "incompetent".{{sfn|Service|2009|p=402}}  Since Khrushchev's rule, the import of cereal had become a staple of Soviet policy. When Brezhnev had difficulty sealing commercial trade agreements with the United States, he turned to other countries such as [[Argentina]]. In 1976, the Politburo issued a resolution that ordered [[kolkhoz]]es close to each other to collaborate in their efforts to increase production. In the meantime, the state's subsidies to the food-and-agriculture sector did not prevent bankrupt farms from operating at a loss as rises in the price of produce were offset by the increased cost of fuel and other resources.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=402}}

Brezhnev's call for an increase in the maximum size of privately owned plots within the Soviet Union removed important obstacles for the expansion of agricultural output but did not solve underlying problems. These included the growing shortage of skilled workers, the payment of workers in proportion to the quantity rather than quality of their work, and farm machinery that was too large for small collective farms and the roadless countryside. {{sfn|Service|2009|p=403}} Under Brezhnev, private plots yielded 30% of the national agricultural production when they cultivated only 4% of [[agriculture in the Soviet Union|the land]]. This was seen by some as proof that de-collectivization was necessary to prevent Soviet agriculture from collapsing, but leading Soviet politicians shrank from supporting such drastic measures due to ideological and political interests.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=402}}

====Society====
[[File:RIAN archive 734809 Members of Moscow's Soviets, Communist and civic organisations attend International Women's Day meeting.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Brezhnev at International Women's Day celebrations, 1973]]

Over the eighteen years that Brezhnev ruled the Soviet Union, average income per head increased by half, slightly less growth than what it had been the previous years; three-quarters of this growth came in the 1960s and early 1970s.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=45}} This can be explained by the end of the post-war recovery.<ref>{{harvnb|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=47}}: In the first half of the Brezhnev period income per head expanded at 3.5 per cent per annum, slightly less fast than over the previous fourteen years which were still dominated by post-war recovery and a return to the pre-war trend.</ref>  Consumption per head rose by an estimated 70% under Brezhnev.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=48}} Most of the increase in consumer production in the early Brezhnev era can be attributed to the [[Kosygin reform]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Slavkina |first1=Maria V. |editor1-last=Borodkin |editor1-first=Leonid I. |title=Экономическая история: Обозрение. Выпуск 8 |date=2002 |publisher=[[Moscow State University]] |location=Moscow |pages=94–96 |url=https://www.hist.msu.ru/Labs/Ecohist/OB8/slavkina.htm |language=ru |chapter=Социальные аспекты "косыгинской" реформы середины 1960-х - 1970-х годов (анализ динамики показателей уровня жизни населения) [Social Aspects of the "Kosygin" Reform of the Mid-1960s - 1970s (Analysis of the Dynamics of Population Living Standards Indicators)] |trans-title=Economic History: Review. Issue 8}}</ref>

When the Soviet Union's economic growth stalled in the 1970s, the [[standard of living]] and [[Eastern Bloc economies#Housing quality|housing quality]] improved significantly.{{sfn|Sakwa|1998|p=70}}<ref name="Miller 1989 p. ">{{cite book | last=Miller | first=W.G. | title=Toward a More Civil Society?: The USSR Under Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev : an Assessment by the American Committee on U.S.-Soviet Relations | publisher=Ballinger | year=1989 | isbn=978-0-88730-220-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OFFpAAAAMAAJ | quote=Brezhnev's economic programs had led to increases of industrial productivity as well as higher standards of living for most Soviet citizens. | page=58}}</ref> The Soviet leadership under Brezhnev tried to improve the living standard in the Soviet Union by extending [[social benefits]].{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=28}} Despite some improvements, the situation for ordinary Russians remained bad. Alcoholism, suicide, mental illness and divorce were on the rise.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=417}} The living space remained rather small, with the average Soviet person living on 13.4 square metres.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=418}} The standard of living in the Russian Republic was lower than that of the Estonian or Georgian ones, a disparity that led to resentment among Russians.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=423}}

Government industries such as factories, mines and offices were staffed by undisciplined personnel, this ultimately led, according to Robert Service, to a "work-shy workforce".{{sfn|Service|2009|p=417}} The Soviet Government had no effective counter-measure, because of the country's lack of unemployment.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=417}} The state provided recreation facilities and annual holidays for hard-working citizens.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=421}}

In Brezhnev's Soviet Union, social rigidity became a common feature of Soviet society. Within the country's workforce, incompetence alone was not treated as a sufficient cause for dismissal. Consequently, those holding management positions were able to occupy them indefinitely regardless of the quality of their performance, thereby reducing advancement opportunities for those below them. {{sfn|Service|2009|p=422}}

===Foreign and defense policies===

====Invasion of Czechoslovakia====
[[File:(Srpen68)Horici sovetsky tank.jpg|thumb|A Soviet T-55 tank catches fire while battling Czech protesters during the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia]].]]
The first crisis for Brezhnev's regime came in 1968, with the attempt by the Communist leadership in [[Czechoslovakia]], under [[Alexander Dubček]], to liberalize the Communist system ([[Prague Spring]]).{{sfn|Herd|Moroney|2003|p=5}} In July, Brezhnev publicly denounced the Czechoslovak leadership as "[[Revisionism (Marxism)|revisionist]]" and "anti-Soviet". Despite his hardline public statements, Brezhnev was not the one pushing hardest for the use of military force in Czechoslovakia when the issue was before the Politburo.{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=398}} Archival evidence suggests that Brezhnev{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=398}} initially sought a temporary compromise with the reform-friendly Czechoslovak government when their dispute came to a head. However, in the end, Brezhnev concluded that he would risk growing turmoil domestically and within the Eastern bloc if he abstained or voted against Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia.{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=399}}

As pressure mounted on him within the Soviet leadership to "re-install a revolutionary government" within Prague, Brezhnev ordered the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia]], and Dubček's removal in August. Following the Soviet intervention, he met with Czechoslovak reformer {{ill|Bohumil Šimon (politik KSČ)|cs}}, then a member of the Politburo of the [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak Communist Party]], and said, "If I had not voted for Soviet armed assistance to Czechoslovakia you would not be sitting here today, but quite possibly I wouldn't either."{{sfn|Brown|2009|p=398}} The invasion led to a drop in the belief in the Communist system among Czechoslovaks and prompted a rise of [[Eurocommunism]], which was critical of the Soviet Union.{{sfn|Brown|2009|pp=465,539}}

====Vietnam War====
[[File:North Vietnamese SA-2.jpg|thumb|North Vietnamese troops pose in front of a Soviet [[S-75 Dvina|S-75]] missile launcher.]]
Under Khrushchev, the Soviet Union initially supported [[North Vietnam]] out of "fraternal solidarity". However, as the war escalated, Khrushchev urged the North Vietnamese leadership to give up the quest of liberating [[South Vietnam]].{{sfn|Loth|2002|pp=85–86}} After Khrushchev's ousting, Brezhnev resumed aiding the communist resistance in Vietnam.{{sfn|Loth|2002|p=86}} Over the course of the war, Brezhnev's regime would ultimately ship $450&nbsp;million worth of arms annually to [[North Vietnam]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sarin|first1=Oleg|last2=Dvoretsky|first2=Lev|title=Alien Wars: The Soviet Union's Aggressions Against the World, 1919 to 1989|url=https://archive.org/details/alienwarssovietu00sari|url-access=registration|publisher=Presidio Press|year=1996|isbn=978-0891414216|pages=[https://archive.org/details/alienwarssovietu00sari/page/93 93–4]}}</ref>

The [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] administration privately discussed a diplomatic end to the conflict with the Soviets. Once that failed due to North Vietnamese rejection, they pursued a treaty on arms control, which did not materialize because of infighting in the Kremlin and the escalation of the war.{{sfn|Loth|2002|p=86}} Further attempts at reconciliation led to the [[Glassboro Summit Conference (1967)|Glassboro Summit Conference]] in the U.S., which, despite a friendly atmosphere, did not lead to any breakthroughs.{{sfn|Loth|2002|pp=86–87}} Newly elected U.S. President Richard Nixon visited [[Moscow Summit (1972)|Moscow in 1972]] to, among other things, negotiate on the Vietnam War, but nothing was agreed upon.{{sfn|Anderson|Ernst|2007|pp=50–51}} Ultimately, years of Soviet military aid to North Vietnam finally bore fruit when collapsing morale among U.S. forces compelled their complete withdrawal from South Vietnam by 1973, thereby making way for the country's unification under communist rule two years later.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XaIc8X-Lc48C|title=The Rise and Fall of an American Army: U.S. Ground Forces in Vietnam, 1963–1973|last=Stanton|first=Shelby L.|date=18 December 2007|publisher=Random House Publishing Group|isbn=9780307417343|pages=339, 358–362}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kolko|first=Gabriel|title=Anatomy of a War: Vietnam, the United States, and the Modern Historical Experience|url=https://archive.org/details/anatomyofwarviet00kolk|url-access=registration|publisher=Pantheon Books|year=1985|page=457|isbn=978-0394747613}}</ref>

====Sino–Soviet relations====
[[File:Nicolae Ceaușescu, Deng Xiaoping & Leonid Brejnev, 1965.jpg|thumb|left|[[Deng Xiaoping]] (left) and Brezhnev (right) with [[Nicolae Ceaușescu]] in Bucharest, 1965]]
Soviet [[Diplomacy|foreign relations]] with the People's Republic of China quickly deteriorated after [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s attempts to reach a ''rapprochement'' with more liberal Eastern European states such as [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]] and with the west.<ref name="obit">{{cite news |last=Whitman |first=Alden |title=Khrushchev's human dimensions brought him to power and to his downfall |newspaper=The New York Times |date=12 September 1971 |url=http://select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F30B1FF7355B137A93C0A81782D85F458785F9 |access-date=5 October 2010}} (fee for article, but available free [https://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0417.html here])</ref> When Brezhnev consolidated his power base in the 1960s, China was descending into crisis because of [[Mao Zedong]]'s [[Cultural Revolution]], which led to the decimation of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] and other ruling offices. Brezhnev, a pragmatic politician who promoted the idea of "stabilization", could not comprehend why Mao would start such a "self-destructive" drive to finish the [[socialist revolution]].{{sfn|Kornberg|Faust|2005|p=103}} 

In the aftermath of the [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia]], the Soviet leadership proclaimed the [[Brezhnev Doctrine]]: any threat to "socialist rule" in any state of the [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet Bloc]] was a threat to all of them, and would justify the intervention.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Glazer |first=Stephen G. |title=The Brezhnev Doctrine |journal=International Lawyer |volume=5 |issue=1 |date=1971 |pages=169–179 |url=https://scholar.smu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4221&context=til |jstor=40704652}}</ref>{{sfn|Kornberg|Faust|2005|p=103}}  This new policy increased tension not only with the Eastern Bloc, but also the Asian communist states. By 1969, relations with other communist countries had deteriorated to a level where Brezhnev was not even able to gather five of the fourteen ruling communist parties to attend an international conference in Moscow. In the aftermath of the failed conference, the Soviets concluded, "there was no leading center of the international communist movement."{{sfn|Kornberg|Faust|2005|p=104}} Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] repudiated the Brezhnev Doctrine in the late 1980s, as the Kremlin accepted the peaceful overthrow of Soviet rule in all its [[Satellite state#Post-World War II|satellite countries]] in Eastern Europe.<ref>{{Cite book |editor-last=Jentleson |editor-first=Bruce W. |editor-last2=Paterson |editor-first2=Thomas G. |title=Encyclopedia of US foreign relations |date=1997 |volume=1 |pages=180–181}}</ref>

Later in 1969, the deterioration in bilateral relations culminated in the [[Sino–Soviet border conflict]].{{sfn|Kornberg|Faust|2005|p=104}} The Sino–Soviet split had chagrined Premier [[Alexei Kosygin]] a great deal, and for a while he refused to accept its irrevocability; he briefly visited Beijing in 1969 in an effort to ease the tension between the USSR and China.{{sfn|Zubok|2009|pp=194–195}} By the early 1980s, both the Chinese and the Soviets were issuing statements calling for a normalization of relations between the two states. The conditions given to the Soviets by the Chinese were the reduction of Soviet military presence on the Sino–Soviet border, the withdrawal of Soviet troops in Afghanistan and the [[Mongolian People's Republic]]; furthermore, China also wanted the Soviets to end their support for the [[Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia]]. Brezhnev responded in his March 1982 speech in [[Tashkent]] where he called for the normalization of relations. Full Sino–Soviet normalization of relations would take years, until the last Soviet ruler, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], came to power.{{sfn|Kornberg|Faust|2005|p=105}}

====Soviet–U.S. relations====
[[File:Ford signing accord with Brehznev, November 24, 1974.jpg|thumb|Brezhnev (seated right) and [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] Gerald Ford signing a joint [[Message|communiqué]] on the [[Strategic Arms Limitation Talks|SALT]] treaty in Vladivostok]]
During his eighteen years as [[List of leaders of the Soviet Union|Leader of the USSR]], Brezhnev's signature foreign policy innovation was the promotion of [[détente]]. While sharing some similarities with approaches pursued during the [[Khrushchev Thaw]], Brezhnev's policy significantly differed from Khrushchev's precedent in two ways. The first was that it was more comprehensive and wide-ranging in its aims, and included signing agreements on arms control, crisis prevention, East–West trade, European security and human rights. The second part of the policy was based on the importance of equalizing the military strength of the United States and the Soviet Union.<ref name="z265">{{cite book | last=Charen | first=Mona|author-link=Mona Charen | title=Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got It Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First | publisher=Skyhorse Publishing | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-62157-914-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ZleDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT186 | page=186}}</ref> Defense spending under Brezhnev between 1965 and 1970 increased by 40%, and annual increases continued thereafter. In the year of Brezhnev's death in 1982, 12% of GNP was [[Soviet Armed Forces|spent on the military]].{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=90}} This build up led numerous observers – including Western ones – to argue that by the mid-1970s the USSR had surpassed the United States as the world's strongest military power.<ref name="b449">{{cite book | last=Brement | first=M. | title=Reaching Out to Moscow: From Confrontation to Cooperation | publisher=Bloomsbury Academic | year=1991 | isbn=978-0-275-94073-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d-cRkl_kq-AC | author-link=Marshall Brement| page=23|quote=Soviet forces were more numerous, better trained, better equipped ... led many Western observers to argue that the Soviet Union had actually surpassed the United States as the world's strongest military power.}}</ref><ref name="Shlapentokh 2017 p. 118">{{cite book | last=Shlapentokh | first=V. | title=A Normal Totalitarian Society: How the Soviet Union Functioned and How It Collapsed | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2017 | isbn=978-1-315-48272-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RjwrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA118 | page=118}}</ref><ref name="Economist Publications 1982 p. ">{{cite book | title=Pakistan & Gulf Economist | publisher=Economist Publications | issue=v. 1, nos. 27-40 | year=1982 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMbsAAAAMAAJ |quote=Leonid Brezhnev was the builder of militarily the most powerful country of the world that USSR is today - a fact that even its adversary, the United States of America acknowledges. | page=7}}</ref>

At the [[Moscow Summit (1972)|1972 Moscow Summit]], Brezhnev and U.S. president [[Richard Nixon]] signed the [[SALT I]] Treaty.<ref>{{cite web |title=SALT 1 |url=https://1997-2001.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/salt1.html |publisher=[[Department of State (United States)|Department of State]] |access-date=11 April 2010 }}</ref> The first part of the agreement set limits on each side's development of nuclear missiles.<ref>{{cite book|last=Axelrod|first=Alan|title=The Real History of the Cold War A New Look at the Past|publisher=Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.|isbn=978-1-4027-6302-1|page=380|date=2009}}</ref> The second part of the agreement, the [[Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty]], banned both countries from designing systems to intercept incoming missiles so neither the U.S. or the Soviet Union would be emboldened to strike the other without fear of nuclear retaliation.<ref name=fonertreaty>{{cite book|last=Foner|first=Eric|title=Give Me Liberty!: An American History|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|isbn=978-0393935530|edition=3|page=815|date=1 February 2012}}</ref>

In 1979, Henry Kissinger acknowledged that his policy of détente was faltering by the mid-1970s.<ref>{{harvnb|McCauley|2008|p=113}}: The approach being legislated did not deter Soviet expansion. That increased, and the same domestic divisions that had spawned the confrontation prevented an effective response. The Soviet Union was not induced to behave in a more reasonable manner. The Administration had no illusions about Soviet purposes.</ref> The détente had rested on the assumption that a "linkage" of some type could be found between the two countries, with the U.S. hoping that the signing of [[SALT I]] and an increase in Soviet–U.S. trade would stop the aggressive growth of communism in the third world. This did not happen, as evidenced by Brezhnev's continued military support for the [[Viet Cong|communist guerillas]] fighting against the U.S. during the [[Vietnam War]].{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=75}}

[[File:Henry Kissinger, Leonid Brezhnev, President Gerald Ford, and Andrei Gromyko.jpg|thumb|left|Brezhnev (second from left in front row) poses for the press in 1975 during negotiations for the [[Helsinki Accords]].]]

After [[Gerald Ford]] lost the presidential election to [[Jimmy Carter]],{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=76}} American foreign policies became more overtly aggressive in vocabulary towards the Soviet Union and the [[communist bloc|communist world]]. Attempts were also made to stop funding for repressive anti-communist governments and organizations the United States supported.{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=77}} While at first standing for a decrease in all defense initiatives, the later years of Carter's presidency would increase spending on the U.S. military.{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=76}} When Brezhnev authorized the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, Carter, following the advice of his [[National Security Adviser (United States)|National Security Adviser]] [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], denounced the intervention, describing it as the "most serious danger to peace since 1945".{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=77}} The U.S. stopped all grain exports to the Soviet Union and boycotted the [[1980 Summer Olympics]] held in Moscow. The Soviet Union responded by boycotting the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] held in Los Angeles.{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=77}}

During Brezhnev's rule, the Soviet Union reached the peak of its political and strategic power in relation to the United States. As a result of the limits agreed to by both superpowers in the first SALT Treaty, the Soviet Union obtained parity in nuclear weapons with the United States for the first time in the Cold War.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/thelife/apolitician/thepresident/index.php|title=The President|access-date=11 May 2010|publisher=Richard Nixon Presidential Library|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090827045220/http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/thelife/apolitician/thepresident/index.php|archive-date=27 August 2009}}</ref>{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=8}} Additionally, as a result of negotiations during the Helsinki Accords, Brezhnev succeeded in securing the legitimization of Soviet hegemony over Central and Eastern Europe.{{sfn|Hiden|Made|Smith|2008|p=209}}

====Intervention in Afghanistan====
{{main|Soviet–Afghan War}}
After the [[Saur Revolution|communist revolution]] in Afghanistan in 1978, authoritarian actions forced upon the populace by the Communist regime led to the [[War in Afghanistan (1978–present)|Afghan civil war]], with the [[mujahideen]] leading the popular backlash against the regime.{{sfn|Kakar|1997|p=15}} To stabilize the situation, Afghanistan's leader [[Nur Muhammad Taraki]] visited Moscow and asked for a military intervention in March 1979. Brezhnev was against it and was ready only to send an additional 500 civilian and military specialists, doubling the current number.{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|pp=49–50}}<ref name="Rasanayagam"/> Taraki visited Moscow again in September, where Brezhnev cautioned him that his confrontation with another Afghanistan leader, [[Hafizullah Amin]], could damage the revolutionary cause and urged for a reconciliation.{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|p=62}} Shortly after that, Taraki was assassinated on Amin's order. This, together with the Soviet desire to assert its influence in [[Central Asia]], were the factors that led the Soviet Union to intervene.{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|p=73}}{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=77}}

The decision to invade Afghanistan was taken unanimously in December 1979 by the Politburo leadership, an unsubstantiated KGB report that Amin was a CIA agent was used as a justification.{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|pp=77–78}} German historian [[Susanne Schattenberg]] writes that Brezhnev was no longer in charge of foreign policy due to his deteriorating health condition, allowing other members of the Politburo to lead him.<ref>{{harvnb|Schattenberg|2021|p=322}}: However,his aides doubted he knew what he was signing at this stage: ‘Strictly speaking, Brezhnev no longer had to be persuaded, since by then he had little idea what he was being told.’ The main issue, then, was not his occasional absence, but his overall condition resulting from his addiction to pills; he was no longer in charge of foreign policy, he was allowing the troika to lead him.</ref> The operation was expected to be swift and generate little opposition from the USA.{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=57}} The initial invasion was successful{{sfn|Crump|2013|p=194}}, and in February 1980, the Soviets started to consider withdrawal, with Brezhnev agreeing that it would take a year or two.{{sfn|Braithwaite|2011|p=270}} Ultimately, the war dragged on far longer, lasting nearly a decade and involving hundreds of thousands of troops.<ref name="Rasanayagam">{{cite book |last1=Rasanayagam |first1=Angelo |title=Afghanistan. A Modern History : Monarchy, Despotism Or Democracy? The Problems of Governance in the Muslim Tradition |date=2003 |publisher=I. B. Tauris |isbn=9781860648465 |pages=86,93}}</ref>

====Brezhnev Doctrine====
{{main|Brezhnev Doctrine}}
{{further|Soviet reaction to the Polish crisis of 1980–1981}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-F0418-0001-020, Berlin, VII. SED-Parteitag, 2.Tag.jpg|thumb|Brezhnev at a [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|Party congress]] in East Berlin in 1967]]
In the aftermath of the [[Prague Spring]]'s suppression, Brezhnev announced that the Soviet Union had the right to interfere in the internal affairs of its satellites to "safeguard socialism". This became known as the [[Brezhnev Doctrine]],{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=XXIV}} although it was really a restatement of existing Soviet policy, as enacted by Khrushchev in [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956|Hungary in 1956]]. Brezhnev reiterated the doctrine in a speech at the Fifth Congress of the [[Polish United Workers' Party]] on 13 November 1968:{{sfn|Herd|Moroney|2003|p=5}}

{{blockquote|When forces that are hostile to socialism try to turn the development of some socialist country towards capitalism, it becomes not only a problem of the country concerned, but a common problem and concern of all socialist countries.|sign=Brezhnev|source=Speech to the Fifth Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party in November 1968}}

Later in 1980, a [[Polish crisis of 1980–1981|political crisis]] emerged in [[Polish People's Republic|Poland]] with the emergence of the [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] movement. By the end of October, Solidarity had 3 million members, and by December, had 9&nbsp;million. In a public opinion poll organised by the Polish government, 89% of the respondents supported Solidarity.{{sfn|Byrne|Paczkowski|2008|p=11}} With the Polish leadership split on what to do, the majority did not want to impose [[martial law]], as suggested by [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]]. The Soviet Union and other states of the [[Eastern Bloc]] were unsure how to handle the situation, but [[Erich Honecker]] of [[East Germany]] pressed for military action. In a formal letter to Brezhnev, Honecker proposed a joint military measure to control the escalating problems in Poland. A [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] report suggested the [[Soviet Armed Forces|Soviet military]] were mobilizing for an invasion.{{sfn|Byrne|Paczkowski|2008|p=14}}

In 1980–81 representatives from the [[Eastern Bloc]] nations met at the [[Kremlin]] to discuss the Polish situation. Brezhnev eventually concluded on {{nowrap|10 December}} 1981 that it would be better to leave the domestic matters of Poland alone, reassuring the Polish delegates that the USSR would intervene only if asked to.{{sfn|Byrne|Paczkowski|2008|p=21}} This effectively marked the end of the Brezhnev Doctrine. Notwithstanding the absence of a Soviet military intervention, [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]] ultimately gave in to Moscow's demands by imposing a [[Martial law in Poland|state of war]], the Polish version of martial law, on 13 December 1981.<ref>{{cite news |title=Martial Law |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/special_report/1999/09/99/iron_curtain/timelines/poland_81.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |access-date=17 April 2010}}</ref>

===Cult of personality===
[[File:1977 CPA 4774.jpg|thumb|Soviet souvenir sheet commemorating Brezhnev's enactment of the [[1977 Constitution of the Soviet Union|1977 Soviet Constitution]].]]
The last years of Brezhnev's rule were marked by a growing [[cult of personality|personality cult]]. His love of medals (he received over 100) was well known, so in December 1966, on his 60th birthday, he was awarded the [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]. Brezhnev received the award, which came with the [[Order of Lenin]] and the Gold Star, three more times in celebration of his birthdays.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=8}} On his 70th birthday he was awarded the rank of [[Marshal of the Soviet Union]], the Soviet Union's highest military honour. After being awarded the rank, he attended an 18th Army Veterans meeting, dressed in a long coat and saying "Attention, the Marshal is coming!" He also conferred upon himself the rare [[Order of Victory]] in 1978, which was posthumously revoked in 1989 for not meeting the criteria for citation. A promotion to the rank of [[Generalissimo of the Soviet Union]], planned for Brezhnev's seventy-fifth birthday, was quietly shelved due to his ongoing health problems.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=9}}

Brezhnev's eagerness for undeserved glory was shown by his memoirs recalling his military service during World War II, which treated the [[Malaya Zemlya|minor battles]] near [[Novorossiysk]] as a decisive military theatre.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=403}} Despite his book's apparent weaknesses, it was awarded the [[Lenin Prize for Literature]] and was hailed by the [[Printed media in the Soviet Union|Soviet press]].{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=9}} The book was followed by [[Brezhnev's trilogy|two other books]], one on the [[Virgin Lands campaign]].<ref>{{cite news |author=Abdullaev, Nabi |title=Brezhnev Remembered Fondly 100 Years Since Birth |url=http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=19803 |work=[[The St. Petersburg Times (Russia)|The St. Petersburg Times]] |access-date=11 April 2010 |date=19 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121072945/http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=19803 |archive-date=21 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Health problems===
Brezhnev's personality cult was growing at a time when his health was in rapid decline. His physical condition was deteriorating; he had been a heavy smoker until the 1970s,<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=When Will Brezhnev Meet His Maker? |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1982/04/11/when-will-brezhnev-meet-his-maker/0100879c-d4bc-4f70-8e73-0304bb43088a/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=11 April 1982 |access-date=22 January 2019 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> had become addicted to [[Hypnotic|sleeping pills]] and [[Sedative|tranquilizers]].{{sfn|Schattenberg|2017|pp=585–589}} Over the years Brezhnev had become [[Obesity|overweight]].{{sfn|Service|2009|p=404}} From 1973 until his death, his [[central nervous system]] underwent chronic deterioration and he had several minor strokes as well as [[insomnia]]. In 1975 he suffered his first heart attack.<ref>Post, Jerrold M. ''Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World: The Psychology of Political Behavior (Psychoanalysis & Social Theory)'', p. 96.</ref> When receiving the [[Order of Lenin]], Brezhnev walked shakily and fumbled his words. According to one American intelligence expert, United States officials knew for several years that Brezhnev had suffered from severe [[arteriosclerosis]] and believed he had suffered from other unspecified ailments as well. In 1977, American intelligence officials publicly suggested that Brezhnev had also been suffering from [[gout]], [[leukemia]] and [[emphysema]] from decades of heavy smoking,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/13/world/4-serious-ailments-plagued-brezhnev.html |work=The New York Times |first=Lawrence K. |last=Altman |title=4 Serious Ailments Plagued Brezhnev |date=13 November 1982}}</ref> as well as chronic [[bronchitis]].<ref name=":0" />

Upon suffering a stroke in 1975, Brezhnev's ability to lead the Soviet Union was significantly compromised. As his ability to define Soviet foreign policy weakened, he increasingly deferred to the opinions of a hardline [[brain trust]] comprising KGB Chairman [[Yuri Andropov]], longtime foreign minister [[Andrei Gromyko]], and Defense Minister [[Andrei Grechko]] (who was succeeded by [[Dmitriy Ustinov]] in 1976).{{sfn|Brutents|1998|p=502}}{{sfn|Schattenberg|2017|p=533}}

The Ministry of Health kept doctors by Brezhnev's side at all times, and he was brought back from near death on several occasions. The most notable instance was in 1976, when Brezhnev suffered a near-fatal stroke that left him clinically dead and could've killed him sooner before the doctors resuscitated him.{{sfn|Tompson|2014|p=21}} At this time, most senior officers of the CPSU wanted to keep Brezhnev alive. Even though an increasing number of officials were frustrated with his policies, no one in the regime wanted to risk a new period of domestic turmoil which might be caused by his death.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=404}} Western commentators started guessing who Brezhnev's heir apparent was. The most notable candidates were [[Andrei Kirilenko (politician)|Andrei Kirilenko]] and Mikhail Suslov, who were both older than Brezhnev, and [[Fyodor Kulakov]], who was younger; Kulakov died of [[natural causes]] in 1978.{{sfn|Wesson|1978|p=252}}

===Last years and death===
{{main|Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev}}
[[File:Prunariu with Brezhnev.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Photo of an ailing Brezhnev (second from left) on 1 June 1981, a year before his death]]
Brezhnev's health worsened in the winter of 1981–82. While the Politburo was pondering the question of who would succeed, all signs indicated that the ailing leader was dying. The choice of the successor would have been influenced by Suslov, but he died at the age of 79 in January 1982. Andropov took Suslov's seat in the [[Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee Secretariat]]; by May, it became obvious that Andropov would make a bid for the office of the [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary]]. With the help of fellow [[KGB]] associates, he started circulating rumors that political corruption had become worse during Brezhnev's tenure as leader, in an attempt to create an environment hostile to Brezhnev in the Politburo. Andropov's actions showed that he was not afraid of Brezhnev's wrath.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=426}}{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|pp=352–353,357}}

In March 1982 Brezhnev received a [[concussion]] and fractured his right [[clavicle]] while touring a factory in Tashkent, after a metal [[baluster|balustrade]] collapsed under the weight of a number of factory workers, falling on top of Brezhnev and his security detail.{{sfn|Schattenberg|2017|pp=591,593}} This incident was reported in Western media as Brezhnev having suffered a [[stroke]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Doder |first=Dusko |title=Brezhnev Reported to Be Seriously Ill |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/04/02/brezhnev-reported-to-be-seriously-ill/6d0d96b5-c23c-40a3-ba62-ddcac96dc7fd/ |newspaper=Washington Post |date=2 April 1982 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211108210850/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1982/04/02/brezhnev-reported-to-be-seriously-ill/6d0d96b5-c23c-40a3-ba62-ddcac96dc7fd/ |archive-date=8 November 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Schmemann |first=Serge |title=Brezhnev At Rally, Scotching 4 Weeks of Mystery and Rumor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/23/world/brezhnev-at-rally-scotching-4-weeks-of-mystery-and-rumor.html |work=The New York Times |issue=45292 |volume=131 |date=23 April 1982}}</ref> After a month-long recovery, Brezhnev worked intermittently through November. On 7 November 1982, he was present standing on the [[Lenin's Mausoleum]]'s balcony during the annual military parade and demonstration of workers commemorating the 65th anniversary of the [[October Revolution]].<ref>{{cite web |title=USSR: MARKING THE 65TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT OCTOBER SOCIALIST REVOLUTION |url=https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/1048187 |access-date=15 August 2023 |publisher=Reuters}}</ref> The event marked Brezhnev's final public appearance before dying three days later after suffering a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]].{{sfn|Service|2009|p=426}} He was honored with a state funeral after a three-day period of nationwide mourning. He is buried in the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]] in [[Red Square]],<ref>{{cite news |title=1982: Brezhnev rumors sweep Moscow |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/10/newsid_2516000/2516417.stm |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=10 November 1982 |access-date=15 April 2010}}</ref> in one of the twelve individual tombs located between the Lenin's Mausoleum and the [[Moscow Kremlin Wall]]. A number of countries including Cuba, Nicaragua, Mozambique, Afghanistan, India and others had declared national mourning over his death.<ref>{{cite news |title=World Praises, Condemns Brezhnev |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/11/12/World-praises-condemns-Brezhnev/9560405925200 |publisher=UPI |date=12 November 1982}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | title=Data India | publisher=Press Institute of India | year=1982 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5H1DAAAAYAAJ | page=569}}</ref>

National and international statesmen from around the globe attended his funeral. His wife and family were also present.<ref>{{cite news |title=At Brezhnev's Bier, Grandeur, Gloom, and the Lurking Presence of the KGB |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/13/world/at-brezhnev-s-bier-grandeur-gloom-and-the-lurking-presence-of-the-kgb.html |work=The New York Times |volume=132 |issue=45496 |date=13 November 1982 |page=A4}}</ref> Brezhnev was dressed for burial in his Marshal's uniform along with his medals.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=426}}

==Legacy==
{{main|Legacy of Leonid Brezhnev}}
[[File:Leonid brezhnev grave kremlin wall necropolis july 2016.jpg|upright|thumb|Brezhnev's tomb in the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]]]]

Brezhnev presided over the Soviet Union for longer than any other person except [[Joseph Stalin]]. He is remembered for donning the mantle of a peacemaker and a common-sense statesman.<ref name="Wright Casey">{{cite book | last1=Wright | first1=J. | last2=Casey | first2=S. | title=Mental Maps in the Era of Détente and the End of the Cold War 1968–91 | publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-137-50096-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vCLeCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21| page=21}}</ref> He is often criticised for the prolonged Era of Stagnation, in which fundamental economic problems were ignored and the Soviet political system was allowed to decline. During Mikhail Gorbachev's tenure as leader there was a sharp increase in criticism of Brezhnev's leadership, including claims that he followed "a fierce neo-Stalinist line" while consistently failing to modernize the country and change with the times.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=2}} The intervention in Afghanistan, which was one of the major decisions of his career, also significantly undermined both the international standing and the internal strength of the Soviet Union.{{sfn|McCauley|2008|p=77}}

Brezhnev fared better when compared to his successors and predecessors in Russia.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=5}} In a 1999 poll, he ranked as the best Russian leader of the 20th century.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=5}} In an opinion poll by VTsIOM in 2007 the majority of Russians chose to live during the Brezhnev era rather than any other period of 20th century Soviet history.<ref name="Rosbalt.ru">{{cite web |url=http://www.rosbalt.ru/2007/04/25/294470.html |title=ВЦИОМ: Лучшие лидеры&nbsp;— Брежнев и Путин |publisher=Rosbalt.ru |language=ru |date=25 April 2007 |access-date=15 April 2010 |archive-date=12 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071112055121/http://www.rosbalt.ru/2007/04/25/294470.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In a [[Levada Center]] poll conducted in 2013, Brezhnev beat [[Vladimir Lenin]] and Joseph Stalin (respectively) as Russia's favorite leader in the 20th century with 56% approval.<ref name="RIA Novosti">{{cite web |url=http://en.rian.ru/russia/20130522/181291682/Brezhnev-Pips-Lenin-as-Russia%27s-Favorite-20th-Century-Ruler.html |title=Brezhnev Beats Lenin as Russia's Favorite 20th Century Ruler |agency=RIA Novosti |date=22 May 2013 |access-date=24 May 2013}}{{dead link|date=February 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> In another poll in 2013, Brezhnev was voted the best Russian leader of the 20th century.<ref name="Kolyandr 2013">{{cite web |last=Kolyandr |first=Alexander |title=Brezhnev Tops List of Most Popular 20th-Century Moscow Rulers |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/emergingeurope/2013/05/22/brezhnev-tops-list-of-most-popular-20th-century-moscow-rulers/ |website=The Wall Street Journal |date=22 May 2013 |access-date=25 November 2020}}</ref> In a 2018 [[Sociological group "RATING"|Rating Sociological Group]] poll, 47% of Ukrainian respondents had a positive opinion of Brezhnev.<ref>{{cite news |title=Survey shows Ukrainians most negatively regard Stalin, Lenin and Gorbachev |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/survey-shows-ukrainians-most-negatively-regard-stalin-lenin-and-gorbachev.html |work=Kyiv Post |date=20 November 2018}}</ref>

In the West, the [[Era of Stagnation|stagnation hypothesis]] is generally accepted with regards to the rule of Brezhnev.{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=6}}

==Personality traits==
[[File:Leonid Brezhnev by Edmund S. Valtan ppmsc.07952.jpg|thumb|upright|Caricature of Brezhnev by [[Edmund S. Valtman]], 1968]]
Russian historian [[Roy Medvedev]] emphasizes the bureaucratic mentality and personality strengths that enabled Brezhnev to gain power. He was loyal to his friends, vain in desiring ceremonial power, and refused to control corruption inside the party. Especially in foreign affairs, Brezhnev increasingly took all major decisions into his own hands, without telling his colleagues in the Politburo.<ref>Roy Medvedev, "Brezhnev-A Bureaucrats Profile", ''Dissent'' (Spring 1983): 224–233.</ref> He deliberately presented a different persona to different people, culminating in the systematic glorification of his own career.<ref>John Dornberg, '' Brezhnev: The Masks of Power'' (1974).</ref>

Brezhnev's vanity made him the target of many [[Russian political jokes|political jokes]].{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=9}} [[Nikolai Podgorny]] warned him of this, but Brezhnev replied, "If they are poking fun at me, it means they like me."{{sfn|Bacon|Sandle|2002|p=29}}

In keeping with [[Socialist fraternal kiss|traditional socialist greetings]], Brezhnev kissed many politicians on the lips during his career. One of these occasions, with [[Erich Honecker]], was the subject of ''[[My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love]]'', a mural painted on the [[Berlin Wall]] after its opening and dismantlement.<ref name="corbis">{{cite web |url=http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/42-21927891/kiss-of-soviet-leader-brezhnev-and-east |title=Kiss of Soviet Leader Brezhnev and East German President Honecker |publisher=[[Branded Entertainment Network|Corbis]] |access-date=6 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420081848/http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/42-21927891/kiss-of-soviet-leader-brezhnev-and-east |archive-date=20 April 2016 |url-status=dead}} Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and East German President Erich Honecker kiss on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the German Democratic Republics.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/BE083888/president-brezhnev-kissing-jimmy-carter|title=President Brezhnev Kissing Jimmy Carter}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.diomedia.com/public/;jsessionid=96EF87F3269069A54FE271059D67DA19.worker2en/10715239/imageDetails.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130615191913/http://www.diomedia.com/public/;jsessionid=96EF87F3269069A54FE271059D67DA19.worker2en/10715239/imageDetails.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 June 2013|title=Dubcek and Brezhnev}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Brezhnev Hugs Poland's Ruler |date=1 March 1982 |newspaper=The Deseret News |agency=Associatged Press |page=1 |via=Google News |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19820301&id=CP0yAAAAIBAJ&pg=5262,8257}}</ref>

Brezhnev's main passion was driving foreign cars given to him by leaders of state from across the world. He usually drove these between his [[dacha]] and the Kremlin with, according to historian Robert Service, flagrant disregard for public safety.{{sfn|Service|2009|p=384}} When visiting the United States for a summit with [[Richard Nixon]] in 1973, he expressed a wish to drive around Washington in a [[Lincoln Continental]] that Nixon had just given him; upon being told that the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] would not allow him to do this, he said "I will take the flag off the car, put on dark glasses, so they can't see my eyebrows and drive like any American would" to which [[Henry Kissinger]] replied "I have driven with you and I don't think you drive like an American!"<ref>{{cite book|title=Kissinger's Year: 1973|last=Horne|first=Alistair|pages=159–160}}</ref> He was also an avid fan of sports, and supported [[HC CSKA Moscow|CSKA Moscow]] in [[ice hockey]] and [[FC Spartak Moscow|Spartak Moscow]] in [[Association football|football]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-21 |title=Генсек СССР Брежнев хотел развернуть самолет, чтобы посмотреть футбол в Киеве. Решение изменил в последний момент - 21 апреля 2023 - Sport24 |url=https://sport24.ru/news/football/2023-04-21-leonid-brezhnev-glava-tsk-kpss-lyubil-futbol-za-kogo-bolel-spartak-tsska-skandal-v-futbole |access-date=2025-07-04 |website=sport24.ru |language=ru}}</ref> Kissinger claimed Brezhnev had on one occasion postponed a meeting on nuclear weapons because he did not want to miss a soccer match.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hannigan |first=Dave |title=How Henry Kissinger spoke football when playing politics |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/how-henry-kissinger-spoke-football-when-playing-politics-1.3252429 |access-date=2025-08-08 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
[[File:Л. И. Брежнев с женой Викторией, 1927 год.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.79545|Young Brezhnev with his wife [[Viktoria Brezhneva|Viktoria]], 1927]]
Brezhnev was married to [[Viktoria Brezhneva|Viktoria Denisova]] (1908–1995). He had a daughter, [[Galina Brezhneva|Galina]],{{sfn|Service|2009|p=384}} and a son, [[Yuri Brezhnev|Yuri]].{{sfn|Chiesa|1991|p=23}} His niece [[Lyubov Brezhneva]] published a memoir in 1995 which claimed that Brezhnev worked systematically to bring privileges to his family, including appointments, apartments, private luxury stores, private medical facilities, and immunity from prosecution.<ref>Luba Brezhnev, ''The World I Left Behind: Pieces of a Past'' (1995). Discussion of Party corruption covered in Konstantin M. Simis, ''USSR: The Corrupt Society'' (1982) ([https://www.jstor.org/stable/825581 Online review]).</ref>

==Honours==
{{main|List of awards and honours received by Leonid Brezhnev}}
Brezhnev received four times the [[Hero of the Soviet Union]] award, as well as the highest awards of socialist states such as [[Hero of the People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Hero of the German Democratic Republic|East Germany]], [[Hero of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]], [[Hero of the Republic of Cuba|Cuba]], [[Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic|Mongolia]], and [[Hero of Labour (Vietnam)|Vietnam]].{{sfn|Dönninghaus|Savin|2025|p=364–367}}{{sfn|Schattenberg|2021|p=341}}

==See also==
* [[Attempted assassination of Leonid Brezhnev]]
* [[Bibliography of the post-Stalinist Soviet Union]]
* [[Neo-Stalinism]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{reflist}}

==General and cited references==
{{See also|Bibliography of the Russian Revolution and Civil War|Bibliography of Stalinism and the Soviet Union|Bibliography of the Post Stalinist Soviet Union}}
{{Library resources box}}
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* {{Cite book |last=Dallin |first=David J. |author-link=David J. Dallin |title=Soviet foreign policy after Stalin |date=1960 |ol=5800875M |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Daniels |first=Robert Vincent |title=Russia's Transformation: Snapshots of a Crumbling System |date=1998 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=0-8476-8709-0}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Dönninghaus |first1=Victor |last2=Savin |first2=Andrei |author1-link=Victor Dönninghaus|date=2014 |title=Leonid Brezhnev: Public Display Versus the Sacrality of Power |journal=Russian Studies in History |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=71–93 |doi=10.2753/RSH1061-1983520404 |ref=none}}
*{{cite book |last1=Dönninghaus |first1=Victor |first2=Andrei |last2=Savin |author1-link=Victor Dönninghaus|title=Леонид Брежнев. Опыт политической биографии |date=2025 |publisher=ЛитРес |isbn=9785047794532 |language=ru |trans-title=Leonid Brezhnev. An Experience of Political Biography}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gaddis |first=John Lewis |url=https://archive.org/details/coldwarnewhistor00gadd |title=The Cold War: A New History |publisher=[[Penguin Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1594200625 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Green |first1=William |title=The Soviet Military Encyclopedia: A–F |last2=Reeves |first2=W. Robert |publisher=[[Westview Press]] |year=1993 |isbn=978-0813314297}}
* {{Cite encyclopedia |title=Podgorny, Nikolai Viktorovich (1903-1983) |encyclopedia=The Cold War: The Definitive Encyclopedia and Document Collection |publisher=ABC-CLIO |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBAFEAAAQBAJ |access-date=2023-04-23 |last=Guerrier |first=Steven W. |date=2020 |editor-last=Tucker |editor-first=Spencer C. |isbn=9781440860768}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Herd |first1=Graeme P. |title=Security Dynamics in the former Soviet Bloc |last2=Moroney |first2=Jennifer D. |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2003 |isbn=978-0415297325 |volume=1}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Hiden |first1=John |title=The Baltic Question during the Cold War |last2=Made |first2=Vahur |last3=Smith |first3=David J. |publisher=Routledge |year=2008 |isbn=978-0415569347}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hornsby |first=Robert |title=The Soviet Sixties |date=2023 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=9780300250527 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Hough |first1=Jerry |author-link1=Jerry Hough |title=How the Soviet Union is Governed |last2=Fainsod |first2=Merle |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=1979 |isbn=978-0674410305}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kakar |first=M. Hassan |title=Afghanistan: The Soviet Invasion and the Afghan Response, 1979–1982 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1997 |isbn=978-0520208933}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Kornberg |first1=Judith |title=China in World Politics: Policies, Processes, Prospects |last2=Faust |first2=John |publisher=[[UBC Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-1588262486}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kort |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Kort |title=The Soviet Colossus: History and Aftermath |publisher=[[M. E. Sharpe]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7656-2387-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kotkin |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Kotkin |title=Armageddon Averted: The Soviet Collapse, 1970-2000 |date=2008 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195368642 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |language=en |ol=23187388M |ref=none |orig-year=2001}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Kotz |first1=David Michael |title=Russia's Path from Gorbachev to Putin: The Demise of the Soviet System and the New Russia |last2=Weir |first2=Fred |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-70146-4}}
* {{Cite book |last=Loth |first=Wilfried |title=Overcoming the Cold War: a history of détente, 1950–1991 |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-333-97111-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=McCauley |first=Martin |title=Who's who in Russia since 1900 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1997 |isbn=0-415-13898-1}}
* {{Cite book |last=McCauley |first=Martin |url=https://archive.org/details/russiaamericacol00mcca |title=Russia, America and the Cold War, 1949–1991 |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-0582279360}}
* {{Cite book |last=McNeal |first=Robert |title=The Bolshevik Tradition: Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev |publisher=Spectrum |year=1975 |asin=B001VLGRB8}}
* Magnúsdóttir, Rósa. "The Lives and Times of Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail Gorbachev." ''Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History'' 21.1 (2020): 207–217. [https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/28/article/747875/summary excerpt]
* {{Cite book |last=Murphy |first=Paul J. |title=Brezhnev: Soviet Politician |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |year=1981 |isbn=978-0899500027}}
* Nove, Alec. "Soviet agriculture under Brezhnev." ''Slavic Review'' 29.3 (1970): 379–410. [https://scholar.archive.org/work/wu4a74j3k5eb7bwiil6iyowfwi/access/wayback/https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/88259DF09E703647C76FEAC3161A6B41/S0037677900141518a.pdf/div-class-title-soviet-agriculture-under-brezhnev-div.pdf online]
* {{Cite book |last1=Oliver |first1=Michael J. |title=Economic Disasters of the Twentieth Century |last2=Aldcroft |first2=Derek Howard |publisher=[[Edward Elgar Publishing]] |year=2007 |isbn=978-1848441583}}
* Ostrovsky, Alexander. [https://ru.bookshome.net/book/3299571/e53580 Кто поставил Горбачёва? (Who put Gorbachev?)](2010). {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807112401/https://ru.bookshome.net/book/3299571/e53580 |date=7 August 2022}}. {{ISBN|978-5-699-40627-2}}.
* {{Cite book |last1=Pallot |first1=Judith |title=Planning in the Soviet Union |last2=Shaw |first2=Denis |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |year=1981 |isbn=978-0-85664-571-6 |page=51}}
*{{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=David |author-link= |date=2000 |title=One World Divided:A Global History Since 1945 |publisher=W.W. Norton |isbn=0-393-04821-7}}
*{{cite book |last1=Rigby |first1=T.H. |author-link1= |editor-last1=Brown |editor-first1=Archie |date=1989  |chapter=The Soviet Political Executive, 1917-1986 |chapter-format= |title=Political Leadership in the Soviet Union |location=Bloomington, Indiana |publisher=Indiana University Press |pages=4–53 |isbn=0-253-21228-6}}
* {{Cite book |last=Roeder |first=Philip G. |title=Red Sunset: The Failure of Soviet Politics |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=1993 |isbn=0691019428}}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Rutland |first1=Peter |first2=Victoria |last2=Smolkin-Rothrock |title=Looking Back at Brezhnev |journal=Russian History |volume=41 |issue=3 |date=2014 |pages=299–306 |doi=10.1163/18763316-04103001 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sakwa |first=Richard |title=Soviet Politics in Perspective |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0415071536}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sakwa |first=Richard |title=The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union: 1917–1991 |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |isbn=978-0582784659}}
*{{cite book |last1=Sandle |first1=Mark |editor1-last=Bacon |editor1-first=Edwin |title=Brezhnev Reconsidered |date=2002 |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan Ltd |isbn=978-0-333-79463-0 |pages=165–187 |chapter=Brezhnev and Developed Socialism: The Ideology of Zastoi?}}
* Schattenberg, Susanne. "Emotions and Play-acting in the Cold War: How Leonid Brezhnev Won and Lost the West's Trust", ''Soviet and Post-Soviet Review'' 45.3 (2018): 313–341. [https://brill.com/view/journals/spsr/45/3/article-p313_313.xml online]
* {{Cite book |last=Schattenberg |first=Susanne |title=Leonid Breschnew: Staatsmann und Schauspieler im Schatten Stalins: eine Biographie |date=2017 |publisher=[[Böhlau Verlag]] |isbn=978-3-412-50209-6 |location=Wien |language=de |doi=10.7788/9783412509934 |oclc=1041432319 |s2cid=186937428}}
* {{cite book|last=Schattenberg |first=Susanne|title=Brezhnev: The Making of a Statesman"|date=2021|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|isbn=9780755642113}}
* {{Cite book |last=Service |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Service (historian) |title=A History of Modern Russia: From Nicholas II to Vladimir Putin |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=2003 |isbn=0-674-01801-X}}
* {{Cite book |last=Service |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Service (historian) |title=History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-first Century |publisher=[[Penguin Books Ltd]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-0674034938 |edition=3}} ([https://archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28a%20history%20of%20Russia%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28Robert%20service%29 online]).
*{{cite book |last1=Mitrokhin |first1=Nikolai |author1-link=:ru:Митрохин, Николай Александрович |editor1-last=Smith |editor1-first=Jeremy |title=Khrushchev in the Kremlin:Policy and Government in the Soviet Union, 1953–64 |date=2011 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9781136831829 |pages=26–40 |chapter=The rise of political clans in the era of Nikita Khrushchev: The first phase, 1953–1959}}
* Szumski, Jakub. "Leonid Brezhnev and Edward Gierek: The making and breaking of an uneven friendship." ''The Soviet and post-Soviet Review'' 45.3 (2018): 253–286. [https://www.academia.edu/download/58235422/10.1163_18763324-20181290.pdf online]{{Dead link|date=June 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
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* {{Cite book |last=Wegren |first=Stephen |title=Agriculture and the State in Soviet and Post-Soviet Russia |publisher=[[University of Pittsburgh Press]] |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-8229-8585-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Wesson |first=Robert G. |title=Lenin's Legacy: The Story of the CPSU |publisher=[[Hoover Press]] |year=1978 |isbn=978-0817969226}}
* {{Cite book |last=Willerton |first=John P. |title=Patronage and Politics in the USSR |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1992 |isbn=0521392888}}
* {{Cite book |last=Zemtsov, Ilya |url=https://archive.org/details/chernenkolastbol00zemt |title=Chernenko: The Last Bolshevik: The Soviet Union on the Eve of Perestroika |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |year=1989 |isbn=0-88738-260-6 |ref=none}}
* {{Cite book |last=Zubok |first=Vladislav |url= |title=A Failed Empire: the Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev |publisher=[[UNC Press]] |date=2009 |orig-date=1st pub. 2007 |isbn=978-0-8078-5958-2 }}
* Zubok, Vladislav. "‘Do not think I am soft...’: Leonid Brezhnev." in ''Mental Maps in the Era of Détente and the End of the Cold War 1968–91'' (2015): 6-23. [https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9781137500960_2 online]
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{sister project links|c=Category:Leonid Brezhnev|d=yes|q=yes|s=yes|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|wikt=no|species=no}}

* [https://www.net-film.ru/en/found-page-1/?search=qBrezhnev Archival footage of Leonid Brezhnev – Net-Film Newsreels and Documentary Films Archive]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100804021102/http://alsos.wlu.edu/qsearch.aspx?browse=people%2FBrezhnev%2C+Leonid Annotated Bibliography for Leonid Brezhnev from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues]
* [https://archive.org/details/OurSoursePeaceandSocialism ''Our Course: Peace and Socialism''. Collection of Brezhnev's 1973 speeches]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101026205938/http://cccp.tv/person/leonid_brezhnev/ CCCP TV Videoprograms with L. Brezhnev on Soviet TV portal] (in Russian)
* [http://ria.ru/society/20061219/57182352.html Brezhnev's rules in 14 points by RIA Novosti] (in Russian)
* [https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/230483213.pdf The Anti-Imperialist Empire: Soviet Nationality Policies under Brezhnev] by Jason A. Roberts, 2015

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brezhnev, Leonid}}
[[Category:Leonid Brezhnev| ]]
[[Category:1906 births]]
[[Category:1982 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Kamianske]]
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[[Category:Brezhnev family|Leonid]]
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