26th CPSU Congress
A01=Baruch A. Hazan
Author_Baruch A. Hazan
Brezhnev's reign
Category=NH
Central Committee Plenum
Central Committee Secretary
CPSU Central Committee
CPSU Central Committee Apparatus
CPSU Central Committee Plenum
CPSU Central Committee Politburo
CPSU Committee
CPSU Congress
CPSU Delegation
Dinmukhamed Kunayev
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Gorbachev
Gorbachev's reforms
Krasnaya Zvezda
Kremlin decision making
Kremlin power struggle
Marshal Ustinov
MVD Official
party elite power struggle
Politburo leadership dynamics
RSFSR Supreme Soviet
Sovetskaya Rossiya
Soviet bureaucracy analysis
Soviet leadership transition analysis
Soviet mass media influence
Soviet political succession
Soviet politics
Stavropol Kray
Supreme Soviet Presidium
Supreme Soviet Session
USSR Council
USSR Supreme Soviet
USSR Supreme Soviet Presidium
Viktor Grishin
Youngest Man
Product details
- ISBN 9780367006532
- Weight: 660g
- Dimensions: 149 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 07 Jun 2019
- Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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From 1982 to 1985, the period on which this book focuses, the Soviet Union was governed by a succession of ailing old men—Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko—who, supported by an equally elderly Politburo, were often physically incapable of controlling and directing the bureaucratic state machine and party organization. This unprecedented situation precipitated a secret and bitter power struggle within the top Soviet leadership between two main factions: the Chernenko apparatchiks, who had risen to power under Brezhnev and owed their positions to him; and the supporters of Andropov, including the younger, more dynamic, and power-hungry members of the party elite, who had been advocating fairly bold reforms to deal with the grave social and economic problems facing the USSR. Dr. Hazan provides a detailed analysis of this hidden power struggle as he examines the final years of Brezhnev's reign and the brief ascendancies of Andropov and Chernenko. These rapid changes led to the demise of the old guard in the Politburo and the emergence of a new breed of leader in Mikhail Gorbachev, culminating in the final consolidation of his power at the 27th CPSU Congress. Drawing on an extensive range of primary sources and using vivid examples of how the factions exploited the gigantic propaganda machine of the Soviet mass media, the author looks behind the Kremlin's walls to explore the essence of Soviet politics. The book describes the power base of each of the recent Soviet leaders and analyzes the steps they took to consolidate their positions and tighten controls over the bureaucracy and the military.
Baruch A. Hazan teaches at the Institute of European Studies, Vienna, Austria. He is the author of The East European Political System (Westview, 1985), Olympic Sports and Propaganda Games (1982), and Soviet Impregnational Propaganda (1982).
