Brezhnev & Stalin: Identical Leaders

Both Leonid Brezhnev & Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union, using similar methods in their governing. Both were repressive leaders during their respective years in power, using brutal tactics to subdue political opposition. Stalin employed Soviet gulags, in which political prisoners were worked or starved to death, and arranged massive purges within the Communist Party and the army. Brezhnev brought back a new era of political repression after a decade of political relaxation following Stalin's death. But while Stalin unleashed unlimited political terror on the populace, Brezhnev's policies' were more reserved and subtle. A common practice of dealing with political opponents was to have them declared be mentally insane and lock them away in insane asylums across the Soviet Union. Both regimes also created a cult of personality revolving around both leaders, though Stalin's far surpassed.
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Stalin and Brezhnev both oversaw growth of their country's economy during their individual rules. Stalin initiated economic progressivism through the Five Year Plan, which sough to industrialize the country. Post-war Russia also experienced a economic boom during the final years of Stalin's rule. Brezhnev's regime rode the wave of this economic growth. However, during the 1970s, the country began to run into stagnation which continued up into Brezhnez death in 1982. Both dictators negotiated with Western nations. Stalin worked with America and Great Britain during the war, but the relationship between the Allies deteriorated in the years following the war. Brezhnez came to power at a major peak during the Cold War. Brezhnez's negotiations with the United States during the 1970s, however, led to a period of relaxed relations between the two countries.

Sources include:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Brezhnev

http://www.historyguide.org/europe/brezhnev.html