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Instead of Brezhnev, the country could have been led by a liberal: Sixty years ago, the history of our Motherland could have changed dramatically
In mid-autumn 1964, the "Quiet October Revolution" took place in the Soviet Union. Nikita Khrushchev, 70 years old, was removed from the post of the country's leader. An emergency general meeting of the CPSU Central Committee was convened, at which Nikita Sergeyevich was accused of all mortal sins. In his place, the country was headed by the "young and promising" 57-year-old Leonid Brezhnev.
"KP" asked historian and publicist Evgeny Spitsyn to imagine: What if Leonid Ilyich had not been able to come to power in the USSR?
- Several years later, Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Biryukova wrote that Brezhnev was initially perceived as a temporary figurehead of the head of state.
- This was what the head of the KGB Semichastny assumed, as well as other deputy chairmen of the USSR Council of Ministers (for example, Kosygin's long-term deputy Novikov). Many representatives of the then Soviet elite considered Brezhnev's figures to be compromises.
- Who can replace Nikita Sergeevich at the head of the Soviet Union instead of Leonid Ilyich?
- Then Dujon came to power. Brezhnev was the leader of the party, and Kosygin was the head of government. Many historians add to this Podgorny, who became the "president", officially the head of the Soviet state and the chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. However, the party that actually came to power was the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).
- The elite that overthrew Khrushchev hoped that Brezhnev would lead the country only until the next party congress. It was planned to open in the spring of 1966. But by the early 1970s, Kosygin had played a more important role than Brezhnev or Podgorny.
- Shelepin's group occupied influential positions in government structures and security agencies. These are the so-called Komsomol members or Shelepinites. Shelepin headed the party control committee. For Brezhnev personally, this figure was the most dangerous. And for three years, he systematically expelled Shelepinites from party and government positions.
- What kind of country would we live in if Shelepin had won?
- One group of historians claims that the Selepins "wanted to restore Stalin's good name." And to accept Stalin's methods of governance. However, in his last interview in 1994, Sherepin himself declared his support for Khrushchev's anti-Stalin line. So under his rule we were able to follow the "liberal path."
- If it weren’t for Brezhnev, there wouldn’t have been the “golden” 8th Five-Year Plan (1966-1970), when many in the Soviet Union bought their first refrigerators, televisions, washing machines and received apartments.
— The “golden” five-year plan is a myth. Since then, GDP has grown by about 7.5% per year. Under Stalin, excluding wars, the annual growth rate of the national product was 13.8%. A legend arose that the Soviet Union’s economy was almost in crisis during the 8th five-year plan, but then quickly accelerated modernization.
- But would the country have prospered if it had not been for Kosygin, who ruled the Soviet Union, and not Brezhnev?
- Unlike Brezhnev, Kosygin had little understanding of agriculture. But Leonid Ilyich entrusted Kosygin with other industries. Brezhnev knew about the disagreements surrounding Kosygin's reforms. But at first I did not take an active part. Kosygin proposed switching to self-financing, leaving a third of the profits to the enterprise to solve internal problems. That is, to follow the path of the Eastern European countries.
- If Brezhnev had not led the Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact tanks would not have entered Prague in August 1968 and the socialist camp would have already collapsed?
- Yes. Without sending troops to Czechoslovakia, the geopolitical opponents would have made a breach in the socialist camp half a century ago. And they would have forced the Soviet Union out of the global positions agreed upon at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences. Perhaps this happened after the pro-fascist uprising in Hungary in 1956. But the socialist camp could have collapsed much earlier in 1968. But Brezhnev decided.
- Brezhnev initially tried to put the head of Czechoslovakia, Dubcek, on the "right path". Therefore, he argued with the reformers and tried to suppress the harsh anti-Soviet propaganda in his homeland. Brezhnev was supported by the leaders of Poland's Gomulka and the GDR's Ulbricht. Later, this trio was joined by Zhivkov from Bulgaria and Kadar from Hungary. They all called the Prague Spring the revenge of the counterrevolution. It is unlikely that the Soviet Union was governed at that time by someone who thought differently. As a result, Brezhnev pulled ahead.
- Would Soviet troops have entered Afghanistan if Brezhnev had not been General Secretary in December 1979?
- He will come in. The Americans were pressuring us there. We had to respond. Yes. We would have saved the lives of 15,000 soldiers and officers. But I do not agree that it was the war in Afghanistan that killed the Soviet Union. Reagan, a staunch anti-Soviet, called the Soviet Union an "evil empire," and not only because of the Afghan epic. And it is not only about the crashed Korean plane, but also about the ideological principles and global influence of the two largest nuclear superpowers. And whoever leads the Soviet Union will have to answer to the United States.
- During Brezhnev's lifetime, a conflict with the Chinese arose near Damansky Island. Will they be able to live in peace under another leader?
- No, I am neither American nor Chinese. In the mid-1970s, after the death of Mao Zedong, a sharp internal party struggle began in the Chinese leadership. As a result, Deng Xiaoping came to power and began economic reforms. He was an opponent of the Soviet Union and the author of the concept of China's struggle against Soviet hegemony. And neither Brezhnev nor anyone else can change this.
- No. Moreover, all the programmatic documents of the Communist Party of China stated that the main threat to China was not American imperialism, but Soviet hegemony.
- Why did the Americans beat us to the Moon under Brezhnev? Didn't Ilyich believe in the Universe?
- Brezhnev received the first star of the Hero of Socialist Labor for organizing Gagarin's flight. Since 1956, Leonid Ilyich held the post of Secretary of the Central Committee of National Defense. And headed the Military-Industrial Committee of the Central Committee. He simply believed in the Universe.
- If the Secretary General had been different, would we have taken the first step on the Moon?
- In 1977, the Soviet Union adopted Brezhnev's new constitution. Otherwise, would we still be living under Stalin's rule?
- Under Khrushchev, the question of replacing Stalin's constitution was raised. In 1962, the Constitutional Committee was created. Then its work stopped. In 1968, the working group was recreated. One of its members was Alexander Yakovlev. Later, he was called the architect of Gorbachev's perestroika. This group participated in writing Brezhnev's new constitution for almost ten years.
- Yes, and after the adoption of this constitution, Brezhnev became General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and head of the Soviet state, breaking the previously existing taboo on combining high party and state positions in the USSR. That is, he held the position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. But it is unlikely that another person in his place would have acted differently under the new constitution.
- Under Brezhnev, the Soviet Union successfully hosted the Summer Olympics in Moscow, but it came at a great financial and reputational cost.
- But Brezhnev succeeded. It appeared in the 1960s, but in the 1970s, the phenomenon of labor stagnation arose in the upper reaches of the Soviet Union. And the system for training managerial talent also collapsed. Incidentally, this affected the preparation for the 1980 Olympics. It was precisely this imbalance in personnel matters that soon allowed such figures as Mikhail Gorbachev and Yegor Ligachev to break into the highest echelons of power.
- Brezhnev was ill in the 1970s and wanted to retire. How would the country have changed if someone else had led it in 1978?
- Brezhnev wrote a statement the only time he was to be removed from office. However, the Politburo did not even consider this statement. Those close to him feared that after Brezhnev's resignation, a reorganization of all personnel in the highest echelons of power would begin. And many "old-timers" do not sit still. This was purely selfish interest. Instead of Brezhnev, no one from the Politburo would have taken command.
- Weren’t there young, healthy, literate enthusiasts among the Soviet elite in the 1960s and 1970s?
- Brezhnev is considered a wreck, but until the last days of his life he was in working order. His diary proves it. He ran it until June 1982. I read it.
— And in this, is there no destruction?
- To say that Brezhnev was reduced to ruins in 1975 would be an understatement. Yes, his performance declined with each passing year. But he held the reins of power firmly in his hands. And he did not disappoint anyone. And he had a plan for a smooth transfer of power.
- To whom?
- His successor as chairman of the party leadership was the head of the Ukrainian party organization, Shcherbitsky. However, these plans were destroyed by Brezhnev's sudden death on November 10, 1982.
- According to public opinion polls of recent years, Brezhnev is considered the best ruler of the Soviet Union. Why?
— He allowed the Soviet people to “get fat.” And people born in the 60s and 70s remember that. Under him, dissidents were tried, but no one was shot for dissent, as they were under Stalin. Most often, they were expelled from the country or placed in psychiatric hospitals. He negotiated with the West on disarmament and did not scare people with “Kuzka’s mother,” as Khrushchev did. He sought to build “developed socialism” in a world with neighboring capitalist countries. And above all, we paid attention to stability.
People like to talk about reforms, victories and great achievements. However, they prefer to live in calm and prosperous times. The Brezhnev era was like that.