The Soviet Union in the Outer World

When bresnev comes to power, his style is very different to a kristho dship style. He's very familiar with his colleagues and stays in close contact with them. And so the first thing he cares about is that nobody will be felt threatened by him. Sois welfare programme, or the plan to to really build a welfare state is something he has in mind.

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Now, what do you think of when you hear the name Leonid Brezhnev who ruled the Soviet Union for 18 years from the 1960s to the 1980s?

An old guy waving weakly from the Lenin mausoleum?

Well, think again! We speak with Susanne Schattenberg, the author of a new biography that systematically dismantles the stereotypical and one-dimensional view of Brezhnev as the stagnating Stalinist by drawing on a wealth of archival research and documents not previously studied in English.

The Brezhnev that emerges is a complex one, from his early apolitical years, as an aspiring actor and poetry fan, through his swift and surprising rise through the Party ranks.

We talk about his hitherto misunderstood role in Khrushchev's ousting and appointment as his successor, to his somewhat pro-Western foreign policy aims, deft consolidation and management of power, and ultimate descent into addiction and untimely death.

For Schattenberg, this is the story of a flawed and ineffectual idealist - for the West, this biography makes a convincing case that Brezhnev should be reappraised as one of the most interesting and important political figures of the twentieth century.

Buy the book here and support CWC

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I am delighted to welcome Susanne Schattenberg to our Cold War conversation…

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0:00 Introduction

2:58 Brezhnev's early life, education, and career

8:07 Start of Brezhnev's political career and navigation of Stalinist purges

23:08 Brezhnev's rise to power and relationship with Khrushchev

34:06 Brezhnev's leadership style, reforms, and international crisis

38:12 Brezhnev's portrayal as a Western statesman and health decline