Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich - biography, years of life. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

21.08.2019

Leonid Brezhnev is a famous political leader who was active in Soviet time. He spent almost 20 years at the pinnacle of power in the Soviet Union, first as Secretary General Central Committee of the CPSU, and then as head of the USSR.

The "Brezhnev era" was marked by stagnation, as the country's economy was completely destroyed due to failed reforms, which subsequently led to the collapse of the Union. Brezhnev's reign modern Russia is assessed differently in society - some consider it the best ruler XX century, and others even today offer him sarcasm “words of gratitude” for the collapse of the country, which became inevitable following the reign of Leonid Ilyich.

Childhood and youth

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born on December 19, 1906 in the village of Kolomenskoye in the Yekaterinoslav province, which today has become the Ukrainian metallurgical city of Dneprodzerzhinsk in the Dnepropetrovsk region. His parents, Ilya Yakovlevich and Natalya Denisovna, were ordinary working people. Future leader USSR was the first-born in the family; later he had a younger sister, Vera, and a brother, Yakov. The Brezhnev family lived in modest conditions in small apartment, but at the same time the children were surrounded by the love and care of their parents, who tried to compensate them material goods with your attention.

Leonid Ilyich’s childhood was essentially not very different from the children of that time; he grew up as an ordinary yard boy who loved to chase pigeons. In 1915 the future political figure He entered a classical gymnasium, and immediately after graduating in 1921 he went to work at an oil mill. In two years labor activity Brezhnev joined the Komsomol and then went to study at a local technical school to become a land surveyor. In 1927, he received a land surveyor diploma, which allowed him to work in his specialty, first in the Kursk province, and then in the Urals as the first deputy head of the district land administration.

In 1930, Leonid Ilyich moved to Moscow, where he entered the local Agricultural Institute of Mechanical Engineering, and a year later transferred to evening studies at the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute. At the time of receipt higher education future politician At the same time, he works as a fireman at the Dneprovsky Metallurgical Plant. Then he joins the All-Union communist party Bolsheviks.

After graduating from the institute in 1935 and receiving an engineering diploma, Leonid Brezhnev went to serve in the army, where he received his first officer rank of lieutenant. Having repaid his debt to his homeland, the future head of the USSR returned to his native Dneprodzerzhinsk and became the director of the metallurgical technical school. In 1937, the biography of Leonid Brezhnev completely switched to politics, which he was actively involved in until the end of his days.

Party activities

Political career Leonid Brezhnev began as the head of a department of the regional committee of the Communist Party in Dnepropetrovsk. That period of Brezhnev’s activity occurred during the Great Patriotic War. Then he took Active participation in the mobilization of the Red Army and was involved in the evacuation of the country's industry. He then served in political positions in the active army, for which he was awarded the rank of major general.

IN post-war years the future head of the USSR was engaged in the restoration of enterprises destroyed during the war, while paying attention to party activities, holding the post of first secretary of the regional committee of the Zaporozhye Communist Party, where he was appointed on the recommendation of the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Nikita Khrushchev, with whom he had by that time developed a trusting relationship. Friendship with Khrushchev became the “passing ticket” for Brezhnev on the path to power.

While at the top of the Communist Party, Leonid Brezhnev met the then head of the USSR, Joseph Stalin, who in 1950 appointed the loyal communist to the post of first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee of Moldova. At the same time, the politician became a member of the Presidium of the Party Central Committee and the head of the Main Political Directorate of the Navy and the Soviet Army.

After Stalin's death, Brezhnev lost his job, but in 1954, again under the patronage of Khrushchev, he became secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, in whose position he was engaged in the development of virgin lands and actively took part in preparations for the construction of the Baikonur cosmodrome. Also then, the future head of the USSR oversaw the development space technology in the country and participated in the preparation of the first manned space flight, which was carried out by Yuri Gagarin.

Governing body

Leonid Brezhnev's path to power ended with a conspiracy against Nikita Khrushchev, who was subsequently removed from government and party positions. Then the post of First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee went to Leonid Ilyich, who on his way eliminated all his opponents and placed devoted people in key positions, including Yuri Andropov, Nikolai Tikhonov, Konstantin Chernenko, Semyon Tsvigun, Nikolai Shchelokov.

Since 1964, with the arrival of Brezhnev, they returned to the country conservative tendencies and gradually growing negativity both in the economy of the USSR and in the social and spiritual life of society. The Brezhnev party apparatus saw in its leader the sole defender of the system, therefore the government rejected any reforms in order to preserve the previous regime of power endowed with broad privileges. The country formally returned to the “Leninist” principles of collective leadership, the country’s party apparatus completely subordinated the state apparatus, all ministries became ordinary executors of party decisions, and there were no non-party leaders left in the top leadership.

The growth of bureaucracy and bureaucratic arbitrariness, corruption and embezzlement became the key epithets characterizing the power of the USSR during the years of Brezhnev's rule. The development of the foreign-industrial complex became a special concern of the new ruler, since he did not find solutions to the internal stagnant crisis in society and was completely focused on foreign policy. At the same time, the Union began to again use repressive measures against “dissidents” who tried to protect their rights in the USSR.

The achievements of Leonid Brezhnev during the reign of the Soviet state as a whole consisted of achieving political détente 70s, when agreements were concluded with the United States on the limitation of strategic offensive weapons. He also signed the Helsinki Agreements, which confirmed the integrity of the inviolability of Europe's borders and agreement to non-interference in internal affairs foreign countries. In 1977, Brezhnev signed the Soviet-French declaration on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

All these processes were crossed out by the introduction Soviet troops to Afghanistan. The participation of the USSR in the Afghan conflict led to the introduction of an anti-Soviet UN Security Council resolution, as well as sectoral Western sanctions, mainly affecting the gas industry. The USSR's participation in the Afghan conflict lasted almost 10 years and took the lives of about 40 thousand Soviet soldiers. Then the United States announced “ cold war» USSR, and Afghan mujahideen turned into an anti-Soviet war squad led by American leadership.

Under the leadership of Brezhnev, the USSR also took part in the Vietnam and Middle East military conflicts. During the same period the head Soviet state gave consent to the occupation of Czechoslovakia by the Warsaw Pact countries, and in 1980 began preparing military intervention to Poland, which significantly worsened the world community's attitude towards the USSR.

The results of Leonid Brezhnev's reign resulted in the final collapse of the country's economy, which his successors were unable to restore. At the same time, many today consider the “Brezhnev era” better times for the Soviet people.

Personal life

Leonid Brezhnev's personal life was stable. He was married once to Victoria Denisova, whom he met in 1925 at a dance in the college dormitory. Historians claim that family life The leader of the USSR was calm - his wife took care of the house and children, and he took care of politics.

Over the years life together Victoria gave birth to her husband's children Yuri and Galina, who in her youth was one of the most scandalous figures Soviet elite. At the same time, there were a lot of legends about Brezhnev’s love affairs, which have never been confirmed in modern history.

The Secretary General was distracted from everyday work by hunting and cars. Brezhnev left home almost every weekend to disconnect from everyday problems, which on weekdays he experienced exclusively with the help of sedative pills, without which he could not live and work. He also regularly went to various theatrical performances and circus performances, attended sports matches and even attended the ballet. Such an “active” vacation became an outlet for Leonid Ilyich, who found himself in full power political system of that time, requiring complete dedication from the leader.

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev rose to the heights of power from the very bottom of the workers, so he clearly understood what a hard life was. He was not wasteful, he transferred every penny he earned to a savings book, and his needs were no different from an ordinary “little” person. At the same time, he did everything possible to soviet people for the first time they put on normal shoes and clothes, got housing and household appliances, purchased personal cars and improved their diet. This is why people are nostalgic for the Brezhnev era, when the country began to pay increased attention to improving the well-being of ordinary people.

Death

Leonid Brezhnev died on November 10, 1982 from sudden cardiac arrest during sleep. The death of the leader of the USSR occurred on state dacha“Zarechye-6” shocked the entire Soviet Union, which plunged into mourning for several days. According to historians, Brezhnev’s health began to fail from the beginning of 1970, when the Secretary General practically did not sleep for days due to the Prague Spring.

Even then, during meetings, one could notice a violation of his diction, which was associated with the uncontrolled use of sedatives. At the end of 1974, the comrades of the Soviet leader realized that Leonid Ilyich was “ending up” as independent politician, since the work of his apparatus was entirely concentrated in the hands of Konstantin Chernenko, who had a facsimile, as well as the ability to put stamps under government documents with Brezhnev's signature.

At the same time, the first person to learn about Brezhnev’s death was Yuri Andropov, who was the second person in the country after Leonid Ilyich. He instantly arrived at the scene of the Secretary General’s death and immediately took Brezhnev’s briefcase, in which the politician kept incriminating evidence on all members of the Politburo. Only a day later he allowed the public to be notified of the death of the head of the USSR.

Leonid Brezhnev was buried on November 15, 1982 on Red Square near the Kremlin wall in Moscow. Leaders of 35 countries from all over the world attended his funeral, which made the farewell to the Secretary General the most magnificent and pompous after Stalin’s funeral. A lot of people were present at the funeral of the Soviet leader, some of whom could not hold back their tears and sincerely regretted the death of Leonid Ilyich.

Years of life: December 19, 1906 - November 10, 1982
Years of reign: 1966 - 1982

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev- Soviet party and statesman. First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee since 1964 (since 1966 General Secretary) and Chairman of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR in 1960-1964. and since 1977 Marshall Soviet Union.

Brief biography of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev born on December 19, 1906 in the village of Kamenskoye, Ekaterinoslav province (nowadays Dneprodzerzhinsk).

L. Brezhnev's father, Ilya Yakovlevich, was a metallurgist.

Brezhnev's mother, Natalya Denisovna, had the surname Mazelova before her marriage.

In 1915 Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev entered the zero class of a classical gymnasium.

In 1921, Leonid Brezhnev graduated from labor school and took his first job at the Kursk Oil Mill.

The year 1923 was marked by joining the Komsomol.

In 1927 Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev Graduated from the Kursk Land Management and Reclamation College.

After studying, Leonid Ilyich worked for some time in Kursk and Belarus.

In 1927 - 1930 Brezhnev holds the position of land surveyor in the Urals. Later he became the head of the district land department, was deputy chairman of the District Executive Committee, and deputy head of the Ural Regional Land Department. He took an active part in collectivization in the Urals.

In 1928 Leonid Brezhnev got married.

In 1931, Brezhnev joined the All-Russian Communist Party of the Bolsheviks.

In 1935, he received a diploma from the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute, being a party organizer.

In 1937 he entered the metallurgical plant named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky as an engineer and immediately received the position of deputy chairman of the Dneprodzerzhinsk City Executive Committee.

In 1938, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was appointed head of the department of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, and a year later received a position as secretary in the same organization.

During the Great Patriotic War Brezhnev ranks leadership positions: deputy Head of the 4th Political Directorate Ukrainian Front, head of the Political Department of the 18th Army, head of the Political Department of the Carpathian Military District. He ended the war with the rank of major general, although he had “very weak military knowledge.”

In 1946 L.I. Brezhnev was appointed 1st Secretary of the Zaporozhye Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks), and a year later in the same position he was transferred to the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee.

In 1950, he became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and in July of the same year - 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Moldova.

In October 1952, Brezhnev received from Stalin the position of Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and became a member of the Central Committee and a candidate member of the Presidium of the Central Committee.

In the 1970s The defense capability of the USSR has reached very high level, the Soviet armed forces could single-handedly resist the combined armies of the entire NATO bloc. The authority of the USSR at that time was unusually high in the countries of the “third world”. But having gotten involved in the 1980s. into the arms race, especially in the fight against the " star Wars“The USSR began to spend extremely large amounts of money on military purposes to the detriment of the civilian sectors of the economy. The country began to experience a shortage of consumer goods and food products.

Since the late 1970s. large-scale corruption began at all levels of government. A serious foreign policy mistake of Leonid Brezhnev (according to historians) was the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1980, during which the USSR became involved in the internal political struggle of different clans of Afghan society.

Around the same time, L. Brezhnev's health condition sharply deteriorated; he raised the question of his resignation several times, but his associates, guided by personal interests and the desire to remain in power, persuaded him not to retire.

Death of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

By the end of the 1970s. Brezhnev's personality cult was observed in the country. Leonid Ilyich remained in power until his death. The Brezhnev era during the reign of M. Gorbachev was called the “years of stagnation.”

At the end of his life, Leonid Brezhnev had the title of Hero and was a holder of the highest orders of all socialist countries, as well as orders Latin America and Africa.

On November 7, 1982, he took part in the parade; several hours of standing in the cold turned out to be fatal for the head of state.

He was buried on Red Square in Moscow near the Kremlin wall.

Brezhnev was married to Victoria Petrovna Goldberg (1907-1995) from December 11, 1927 until his death. They had 2 children - Galina (1929-1998) and Yuri (*1933).

Laureate of the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations” (1973) and the Lenin Prize for Literature (1979).

In the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk there is a bust of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, installed in 1976. On the building of the Dneprodzerzhinsk State Technical University, where L. I. Brezhnev studied, there is a memorial plaque with a bas-relief of the Secretary General. On September 16, 2004, a monument to him was unveiled in Novorossiysk.

The image of Brezhnev is reflected in cinema: “Soldiers of Freedom”, 1977; "On Deribasovskaya good weather...", 1992; “Forward for the Hetman’s Treasures”, 1993; " Gray wolves", 1993; " Last days", "Nixon", USA; TV series "Brezhnev", 2005; "Galina", 2008.

L. Brezhnev loved to play dominoes.

Leonid Ilyich is the only person in the entire history of the existence of the USSR who possessed 5 gold stars of the Hero: one star of the Hero of Socialist Labor and four stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union, as well as a holder of the Order of Victory.

Based on materials from the Internet resource http://kremlion.ru and the magazine "Science and Life".

Led the country from October 14, 1964 to November 10, 1982. Positions held: First Secretary Central Committee Communist Party of the Soviet Union
October 14, 1964 – April 8, 1966
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
April 8, 1966 - November 10, 1982
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (1906–1982), General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1964 to 1982. Born on December 6 (19), 1906 into a Russian family in Dneprodzerzhinsk (until 1936 - Kamenskoye) in southeastern Ukraine.

In 1923 he joined the Komsomol; from 1931 – member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). In 1935 he graduated from the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute. After passing military service Brezhnev was involved in party work and quickly made a career in the party apparatus of the Dnepropetrovsk region. He was promoted during the purges of the late 1930s with the support of N.S. Khrushchev, at that time the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. He was the head of the political department of the 4th Ukrainian Front during the Great Patriotic War.

In 1950, Khrushchev brought Brezhnev into central authorities party, after which he was twice appointed as the highest party leader at the republican level - in Moldova (1950–1952) and Kazakhstan (1955–1956). Brezhnev was responsible for the implementation of the development program Agriculture in Kazakhstan (development of virgin lands). In 1957 he became a member of the Politburo of the CPSU, and in 1960–1964 - chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

In 1964, Brezhnev participated in the October plot to remove Khrushchev from power, whose voluntaristic leadership of the country was causing increasingly serious discontent. Brezhnev became the first (from 1966 - General) Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, and the Council of Ministers was headed by A.N. Kosygin. In 1977, Brezhnev also became head of state (chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Council).

Brezhnev was a consistent supporter of the policy of detente - in 1972 in Moscow he signed important agreements with US President R. Nixon; V next year he visited the USA; in 1975 he was the main initiator of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and the signing of the Helsinki Agreements. In the USSR, his 18 years in power turned out to be the calmest and most stable in social terms; housing construction(almost 50 percent of the housing stock of the USSR was built), the population received free apartments, a system of free medical care developed, all types of education were free, and the aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and military industries developed. On the other hand, Brezhnev did not hesitate to suppress dissent both in the USSR and in other countries " socialist camp"- in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the GDR.

In the 1970s, the defense capability of the USSR reached such a level that the Soviet armed forces could single-handedly withstand the combined armies of the entire NATO bloc. The authority of the Soviet Union at that time was unusually high in the countries of the “third world”, which, thanks to the military power of the USSR, which balanced the policies of the Western powers, could not fear NATO. However, having become involved in the arms race in the 1980s, especially in the fight against the Star Wars program, the Soviet Union began to spend prohibitively large amounts of money on military purposes at the expense of the civilian sectors of the economy. The country began to experience an acute shortage of consumer goods and food products; “food trains” from the provinces arrived in the capital, on which residents of remote areas exported food from Moscow.

Since the late 1970s, large-scale corruption began at all levels of government. Brezhny’s serious foreign policy mistake was the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in 1980, during which significant economic and military resources were diverted to support the Afghan government, and the USSR became involved in the internal political struggle of various clans of Afghan society. Around the same time, Brezhnev’s health condition deteriorated sharply; he raised the question of his resignation several times, but his Politburo comrades, primarily M.A. Suslov, driven by personal interests and the desire to remain in power, persuaded him not to retire. By the end of the 1980s, the country had already observed a personality cult of Brezhnev, comparable to a similar cult of Khrushchev. Surrounded by the praise of his aging colleagues, Brezhnev remained in power until his death. The system of “praising the leader” was preserved even after Brezhnev’s death – under Andropov, Chernenko and Gorbachev.

During the reign of M.S. Gorbachev, the Brezhnev era was called the “years of stagnation.” However, Gorbachev's "leadership" of the country turned out to be much more disastrous for it and ultimately led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

See also:
BREZHNEV LEONID ILYICH (TSB) FROM THE BIOGRAPHICAL CHRONICLE OF L.I. BREZHNEV
1906, December 19. Born into the family of Ilya Yakovlevich and Natalya Denisovna Brezhnev in the city of Kamenskoye (from 1936 - Dneprodzerzhinsk) of the Yekaterinoslav province in Ukraine.

1915. Admitted to the Kamensk men's classical gymnasium.

1921. Graduates from the First Labor School (former gymnasium) in Kamenskoye. Fireman at the Dnieper Metallurgical Plant. Worker at an oil mill in Kursk.

1923. Enters the Kursk Land Management College to study and joins the Komsomol.

1927. Graduates from technical school and begins working as a land surveyor in the Kursk region.

1927–1928. Moves to Sverdlovsk, works as deputy district land commissioner, head of the land department in the Sverdlovsk region.

1929. Accepted as a candidate member of the CPSU(b).

1930. Works as deputy head of the district land administration in Sverdlovsk.

1930–1931. Student at the Kalinin Institute of Agricultural Machinery in Moscow.

1931. Chairman of the trade union committee of the Institute. Arsenichev in Kamenskoye. October 24. Accepted as a member of the CPSU(b).

1932–1933. Secretary of the party committee of the Arsenichev Institute in Kamenskoye.

1933–1935. Director of the metallurgical technical school in Kamenskoye.

1935. Graduates with honors from the Arsenichev Institute in Kamenskoye (in absentia) and receives the specialty of thermal engineer. Works as a shift supervisor in the power shop at the Dzerzhinsky plant.

1935. Cadet at the armored school in Chita. Political instructor of the tank company of the 14th mechanized corps of the DCK.

1937–1938. Deputy Chairman of the City Council of Dneprodzerzhinsk.

1938. Head of the trade department of the Dnepropetrovsk regional committee of the Communist Party (b)U.

1940. Secretary of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks) for the defense industry.

1942, March. Awarded the first military award - the Order of the Red Banner. Appointed deputy head of the political department of the Black Sea Group of Forces of the Transcaucasian Front.

1943. In connection with the abolition of old military ranks, Brigade Commissar Brezhnev was awarded a new rank - colonel. April 1st. Appointed head of the political department of the 18th Army.

1945, May. Appointed head of the political department of the 4th Ukrainian Front. June 24. Participates in the Victory Parade in Moscow. Appointed head of the political department of the Carpathian Military District.

1952, October. Delivers a speech at the 19th Congress of the CPSU. October 16. At the plenum after the end XIX Congress party is elected at the proposal of Stalin as a candidate member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

1953, March. Appointed as head of the Political Department Navy, Deputy Chief of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy. Assigned military rank Lieutenant General June 26. Included in the capture group for the purpose of arresting Beria.

1956, February. At the plenum of the Central Committee of the Party after the end of the 20th Congress of the CPSU, he was elected as a candidate member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee, Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee in charge of issues of defense, heavy engineering and capital construction.

1957, June. Sufferes a micro-infarction. June. Supports N.S. Khrushchev in his fight against the “anti-party group”, is elected a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee.

1958. Deputy Chairman of the Bureau of the CPSU Central Committee for the RSFSR (part-time).

1961. Awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labor.

1963. Elected Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

1964, July. Leaves the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, focusing on the activities of the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee.

1966, March 29. Makes a report at the XXIII Congress of the CPSU. April 8. Elected as a member of the Politburo, general secretary Central Committee of the CPSU.

1968, July–August. He presides over meetings of the Politburo, where the issue of sending troops of the Warsaw Pact countries into Czechoslovakia is decided.

1970, August 12. Signs, together with German Chancellor W. Brandt, the Moscow Treaty between the USSR and Germany.

1972, May. Signs in Moscow, together with US President Richard Nixon, the Interim Agreement on Certain Measures in the Field of Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms and the Treaty on Organization of Systems missile defense between the USSR and the USA.

1973. Awarded the International Lenin Prize “For Strengthening Peace Between Nations.”

1975, August. Participates in Helsinki in the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. November 27. Awarded by the World Peace Council with the F. Joliot Curie Gold Peace Medal.

1976, February 24. Delivers a report at the XXV Congress of the CPSU. May 8. Awarded the title of Marshal of the Soviet Union. December 19th. In connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth, he was awarded the second Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

1976. Sufferes a stroke.

1977, May 24. At the Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, a decision is made to combine the posts of General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. June 16. Elected Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.

1977. Awarded highest award in area social sciences– Gold medal named after Karl Marx.

1978. Memoirs published " Malaya Zemlya", "Renaissance", "Virgin Land". February 20th. Awarded the highest military order "Victory" (after his death, the Decree on the award was canceled). December 19th. Awarded the third "Golden Star" of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

1979, June 18. Signs in Vienna, together with D. Carter, the Treaty between the USSR and the USA on the limitation strategic weapons. December. Authorizes the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan.

1980, March 31. Presentation of the Lenin Prize in Literature. October 13. Awarded the International Golden Mercury Prize for peace and cooperation. December 18. Awarded the second order October revolution(the only award).

1981, February 23. Delivers a report at the XXVI Congress of the CPSU. December 19th. In connection with the 75th anniversary of his birth, he was awarded the fourth Gold Star medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

1982, March 23. Incident at the Tashkent Aviation Plant (collapse of an overpass along with people), during which L.I. Brezhnev received a broken collarbone right hand. 10th of November. Death of L.I. Brezhnev. 15th of November. Funeral in Moscow on Red Square.

Source of information: A.A. Dantsev. Rulers of Russia: XX century. Rostov-on-Don, Phoenix publishing house, 2000. Events during the reign of Brezhnev:
1968 - entry ATS troops to Prague, Czechoslovakia, in connection with the announcement of radical reforms by A. Dubcek.
1970 - Lunokhod 1 was delivered to the Moon. The first on the Moon was the automatic interplanetary station (AMS) Luna-2, which left a sign with the Soviet coat of arms back in 1959.
Since 1974 - construction of the BAM by Komsomol members.
1977 - acceptance new constitution THE USSR.
1979 - the introduction of a limited contingent of Soviet troops (OCSV) into Afghanistan to strengthen the southern borders of the Soviet Union.
1980 - Olympics in Moscow. The United States initiated a boycott of the 1980 Olympics in connection with the deployment of troops to Afghanistan, which was supported by 64 countries.

Soviet party and statesman.
First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee since 1964 (General Secretary since 1966) and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in 1960-1964. and since 1977
Marshal of the Soviet Union, 1976

Biography of Brezhnev

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev born on December 19, 1906 in the village of Kamenskoye, Ekaterinoslav province (now Dneprodzerzhinsk).

L. Brezhnev's father, Ilya Yakovlevich, was a metallurgist. Brezhnev's mother, Natalya Denisovna, had the surname Mazelova before her marriage.

In 1915, Brezhnev entered the zero class of a classical gymnasium.

In 1921, Leonid Brezhnev graduated from labor school and took his first job at the Kursk Oil Mill.

The year 1923 was marked by joining the Komsomol.

In 1927, Brezhnev graduated from the Kursk Land Management and Reclamation College. After studying, Leonid Ilyich worked for some time in Kursk and Belarus.

In 1928 Leonid Brezhnev got married.

In 1931, Brezhnev joined the All-Russian Communist Party of the Bolsheviks.

In 1935, he received a diploma from the Dneprodzerzhinsk Metallurgical Institute, being a party organizer.

In 1937 he entered the metallurgical plant named after. F.E. Dzerzhinsky as an engineer and immediately received the position of deputy chairman of the Dneprodzerzhinsk City Executive Committee.

During the Great Patriotic War, Brezhnev occupied a number of leadership positions: deputy Head of the Political Department of the 4th Ukrainian Front, Head of the Political Department of the 18th Army, Head of the Political Department of the Carpathian Military District. He ended the war with the rank of major general, although he had “very weak military knowledge.”

In 1946, L.I. Brezhnev was appointed 1st Secretary of the Zaporozhye Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks), and a year later he was transferred to the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee in the same position.

In 1950, he became a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and in July of the same year - 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Moldova.

After the death of I.V. Stalin in 1953, the rapid career of Leonid Ilyich was interrupted for a while. He was demoted and was appointed 1st Deputy Chief political management Soviet army and the fleet.

1954 - 1956, the famous uplifting of virgin soil in Kazakhstan. L.I. Brezhnev successively holds the positions of 2nd and 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Republic.

In February 1956, he regained his position as Secretary of the Central Committee.

In 1956, Brezhnev became a candidate, and a year later a member of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee (in 1966, the organization was renamed the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee). In this position, Leonid Ilyich led high-tech industries, including space exploration.

The rapidly aging composition of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee became one of the main topics of behind-the-scenes discussions in Soviet society and in various circles Western countries in the first half of the 1980s. Against the background of the funerals of prominent party figures, rumors appeared several times in the USSR and abroad that L.I. himself was dying. Brezhnev. His health, indeed, was rapidly deteriorating. He died on November 10, 1982, just three days after the traditional parade and demonstration on Red Square dedicated to the next anniversary of the October Revolution. Despite his health and bad weather, Brezhnev was among the Kremlin leadership on the podium of the Lenin Mausoleum until the end of the parade.

The circumstances are currently known last hours Brezhnev's life and what happened next. The General Secretary dined at his dacha with his entire family, and went to bed there. In all likelihood, Brezhnev died in his sleep, since when the guard tried to wake him up in the morning, he was already dead. Here, at the bedside of the General Secretary, the question of a successor was resolved. They, at the suggestion of D.F. Ustinov, became Yu.V. Andropov.

The fact that Brezhnev died Soviet authorities reported a day late, on November 11, 1982. By this time, Soviet citizens had already managed to guess what had happened. An extraordinary event was indicated by changes in the central television broadcasting schedule - the traditional concert in honor of Police Day was canceled, and the Stalinist film “Baltic Deputy” was shown instead. In connection with the death of L. I. Brezhnev, the days from November 12 to 15 were declared days of state mourning. The body of the Secretary General was displayed for farewell in the columned hall of the House of Unions. Funeral of L.I. Brezhnev - the first state ones since Stalin's times - are imprinted in the people's memory. Thus, a legend became widespread that the coffin with the body of the Secretary General could not be held and was dropped with a roar to the bottom of the grave. In fact, these were distant volleys of funeral fireworks. The bust of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev became the tenth in a row of the Kremlin necropolis.

Funeral political leader, 18 years of leading such a huge country as the Soviet Union, summed up an entire era. The figure of the winner of hundreds of awards and the hero of jokes is like a border pillar separating two socio-political systems. In November 1982, the country said goodbye not only to Brezhnev, it said goodbye to itself. The subsequent short reign of Yu.V. Andropov and K.U. Chernenko could not give her a second wind to live on. “The Five-Year Plan of Magnificent Funerals,” that’s what this time would later be called. The country was waiting for change.

In order to perpetuate the memory of Leonid Ilyich, the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Council of Ministers of the USSR made a number of renamings of Soviet cities, streets and districts. So, from 1982 to 1988, the Cheryomushkinsky district of Moscow was called Brezhnevsky, in the same years the city of Naberezhnye Chelny was named after him, where during his time in power a building was built automobile plant"Kamaz". In the city of Dneprodzerzhinsk, where L.I. Brezhnev was born and spent his youth, there is a bust of the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, installed in 1976, as it should be in the USSR, in the homeland of the twice hero of the Soviet Union. On the building of the Dneprodzerzhinsk State Technical University, where L.I. Brezhnev studied from 1931 to 1935, there is a memorial plaque with the corresponding text and a bas-relief of the Secretary General. After his death, one of the city's districts was named after him. Memory L.I. Brezhnev was immortalized in Dnepropetrovsk.

E.I.CHAZOV. HOW THE LEADERS LEAVE

November 10, after three holidays, I, as always, arrived at work at 8 am. Before I could enter the office, the bell rang government communications, and I heard the broken voice of Volodya Sobachenkov from Brezhnev’s guard, who was on duty that day. “Evgeny Ivanovich, Leonid Ilyich urgently needs resuscitation,” was all he said on the phone. Throwing it to the secretary on the move to “ Ambulance“I urgently went to Brezhnev’s dacha, I jumped into the waiting car and, to the sound of a siren, passed Kutuzovsky Prospekt and Minskoe Highway, 12 minutes later (before the ambulance arrived) I was at Brezhnev’s dacha in Zarechye.

In the bedroom I found Sobachenkov performing a cardiac massage, as we taught him. One glance was enough for me to see that Brezhnev had already died several hours ago. From Sobachenkov’s story, I learned that Brezhnev’s wife, who suffered diabetes mellitus, got up at 8 a.m. because at that time the nurse was injecting her with insulin. Brezhnev was lying on his side, and, believing that he was sleeping, she left the bedroom. As soon as she left, V. Sobachenkov came to Brezhnev to wake him up and help him get dressed. It was he who found Brezhnev dead. The ambulance doctors arrived after me and began to carry out full resuscitation measures. It was clear to me that everything was over, and this activity was more of a formal nature. Two problems confronted me - how to tell his wife about Brezhnev’s death, who only 30 minutes ago had left the bedroom, where she had been lying next to her deceased husband for several hours, and the second - who and how to inform about the current situation.