In the later period of the CPSU's rule, extravagance in the Soviet Union gradually emerged. In the Brezhnev period, hedonism, bureaucracy, and formalism intensified, which actually reflected the many problems in the Soviet Union in the construction of party style.
It has been said that the prosperity of brezhnev's era was created by Brezhnev, and I think this is inaccurate. It is true that Brezhnev committed to reform in the early days of his administration and achieved some results.
But we must be clear that the prosperity of the Brezhnev era is first and foremost a succession of prosperity, and without the economic accumulation of the Stalin period and the tough reforms of the Khrushchev period, the Brezhnev era would not have enjoyed an era of "prosperity".
In fact, Russians had a different view of Brezhnev, the leader of the Soviet Union. I don't know when it began, on the Russian stage, Brezhnev and Gorbachev became the object of ridicule among Russian artists, the former famous for medals and oil, and the latter famous for burying the Soviet Union.
In the eyes of most Russians, Brezhnev should be a bloated old man with medals all over his body and limited mobility. Because of this, Russian artists also used Brezhnev as a subject to please the audience.
Why, then, should the head of state of the Soviet Union look so miserable? This may have something to do with what Brezhnev did during his administration.
According to sources, Afanassiyev, who was the editor-in-chief of Pravda, had this to say about Brezhnev: "I have two Brezhnev in my mind, one before the summer of 1976 and the other Brezhnev after that summer. The former is energetic and productive, while the latter is seriously ill and likes to be flattered and covet honor. ”
In fact, not only Afanassiyev, but also many high-level Soviet leaders had similar views of Brezhnev. They thought that the early Brezhnev was more humble, that he never put up a chief shelf, and that as long as you were right, you could argue with him. The later Brezhnev was an extreme, he was violent and irritable, liked to be alone in the villa, especially liked medals and honors.
So why did Brezhnev change so much, and did there really be "two" Brezhnev in the Soviet Union?
It all started with the Plenum of the Central Committee of the USSR held in October 1964. During the Plenum of the Central Committee of the USSR, Brezhnev joined forces with the Soviet bureaucracy to remove Khrushchev, who was on vacation, from the center of power. In fact, the struggle for power and profit was not uncommon in the Soviet Union, when Beria and Malenkov were ousted by Khrushchev, but Khrushchev never expected that his close associates would launch a coup d'état and oust himself, which made Khrushchev unable to let go for a long time.
But no matter how Khrushchev complained, Brezhnev had already stepped onto the political altar, which is an undeniable fact.
After Brezhnev came to power, in order to consolidate power, he revived the democratic style of Lenin's era. According to the recollection of Kremlin staff, Brezhnev's democratic and friendly style at that time made the country once lament that "the inner-party democracy advocated in the Lenin era has returned." ”
As the new leader of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev also had ambitions to make a career to fade the light of the Khrushchev era. At this time, Brezhnev was in his old age, his body was strong, and he was assisted by a group of capable doers, and soon the country showed a thriving trend.
Fortunately, Brezhnev had a good time, and the advent of the oil age made the Soviet Union a lot of money. This was an unimaginably large sum of wealth, so the Soviet economy, which had fallen into a period of dead ends, immediately came to life, and the wheel of history turned a corner and was caught in a "false prosperity" track.
The glorious achievements of the Soviet Union made Brezhnev so excited that he was overwhelmed. Some bureaucrats also began to tout him as the "Lenin of the day", all of which made Brezhnev flutter, indulging in beautiful fantasies and wanting to become the most outstanding leader of the Soviet Union.
Therefore, Brezhnev believed that the Soviet Union should reward him for his merits, which should be why Brezhnev was so demanding of medals and honors. Of course, he had contributed during the Great Patriotic War and was eager to receive the honor of the medal of servicemen.
During Brezhnev's reign, it is difficult to say exactly how many medals were awarded to people, but it is now clear that he did not give himself fewer medals. For example, Brezhnev, the highest honor of the Soviet Union, received 19 medals, and in addition to this, he received three honorary titles named after Lenin.
If awarding medals is nothing, then the inability to govern is a fatal blow. According to the recollections of Kremlin guards, after Brezhnev's condition worsened, his speech function became severely impaired, and he became slurred and irritable. It follows from this that the disease has made Brezhnev physically weak, and his spirit has also developed abnormalities.
Can such a slow-moving, ineffectual old man still control a vast country? In this sense, the decade-long politics of the elderly did indeed plunge the Soviet Union into the political abyss.