Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1982)

Leonid Brezhnev

Leonid Brezhnev was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and therefore de facto leader of the Soviet Union, from 1964 to his death in 1982. Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906 in Kamenskoe (modern day Ukraine). In the 1920s, in the years after the Russian Revolution, Brezhnev was employed as a land surveyor, eventually becoming a full Communist Party member in 1931 and studied at a metallurgy institute. He rose through the Party ranks in the late 1930s and during World War II, served as political commissar on the front-lines. Immediately after the war's end, Brezhnez continued his rise up the party leadership, becoming a member of the Central Committe in 1952. His power further rose in the 1950s under Nikita Krushchev, his mentor.

Despite this relationship with Krushchev, Brezhnev was instrumental in the removal of Krushchev from office in 1964, and later that year emerged as new General Secretary. During his 18-year rule, the Soviet Union reached the peak of its worldwide power and influence. Russia continued the economic growth it had experienced since World War II. It was also during this time that Russia and the United States entered into a period of detente during the early 1970s, which witnessed the negotiation of capping the number of nuclear weapons each country possessed. Despite this progress, the Soviet Union experienced increased political repression under the Brezhnev regime. Corruption and party patronage flourished during Brezhnev's rule.

During the 1970s, Russia began to experience economic stagnation, which may have been aided by Brezhnev's economic policies. In 1979, Cold War tensions flared after the Russian Army occupied Afghanistan after a communist revolution in that country. In 1982, amidst turmoil at home and abroad, Brezhnev died of a heart attack at age 75, the result of worsening health over the years. He was succeded in the party leadership by Yuri Andropov.

Sources include:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonid_Brezhnev
http://www.historyguide.org/europe/brezhnev.html