Having finished A Failed Empire my perception of Leonid Brezhnev is totally shaken. Its a miracle he became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1965! Throughout my life he was the quintessential symbolic Russian Bear. In 1956 he fainted dead away upon meeting Khrushchev, due to Khrushchevs gruff manner. For several years in the mid 1950s he lived in Prague, and was a close personal friend Alexander Dubcek the leader of the 1968 Prague Spring. In 1968, Brezhnev had to control the hardliners and limit their intervention in Czechoslovakia, it upset him and stressed him out so much he had to start taking opiate based sedatives. His increasing use of these in his battle with the Kremlin hardliners lead to such a debilitating addiction by 1973 he effectively was unable to govern except at a distance. All this due to his dedication to peace and trying to manage the cuckoos in the Kremlin. What a contrast to our perception of him in the West!
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 15:25:59 +0000
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