Foolish Policies And The Rule Of Brezhnev example essay topic

Khrushchevs Rule Was Characterised By Foolish And Hare-brained Schemes, Brezhnevs Offered Nothing Khrushchevs rule was characterised by foolish and hare-brained schemes, Brezhnevs offered nothing but stagnation. Analyse the domestic history of the USSR in the period 1953-1980 in the light of this assertion. In 1953 the ruthless and powerful ruler of the USSR Josef Stalin died thus ending a period of Russian history which saw the worlds first communist state grow from a country crippled by civil war to one of the worlds two superpowers. As with Lenin before him Stalin left no clear successor and it wasnt until 1956 that Nikita Khrushchev became the first notable leader of the party (after Malenkov and Bulganin).

Leonid Brezhnev then followed him as leader. The rule of Khrushchev has been described, as being characterised by hare-brained and foolish policies and the rule of Brezhnev has been described as a time of stagnation. This essay will evaluate each of the leaders domestic policies and attempt to conclude whether these assertions are correct. One of Khrushchevs first domestic policies once he had come to power was the process of de-Stalinisation. This involved dismantling the system that Stalin had created, and ending his reign of terror. It also tied in with a number of his other domestic polices including harbouring the growth of consumerism, and aiming to overtake the USA in consumerism.

It all began in 1956 at the Twentieth Party Congress where Khrushchev denounced Stalin in a bitter attack on his polices and his rule of the USSR. The policy of de-Stalinisation involved releasing and pardoning tens of thousands of the gulag inmates across the USSR, and turning the USSR away from the ways of Stalin. This also involved talking of peaceful co-existence with the west and re-patching a relationship with the Yugoslavian leader Tito who Stalin had attempted to undermine in previous years. Khrushchev also changed the focus of the five-year plans away from heavy industry, which Stalin had kept them focused on since their creation, to consumer goods in an attempt to raise the standard of living within the USSR. Khrushchev even boasted on a trip to the USA that the USSR would overtake them within a few years. The policy of de-Stalinisation was a good idea on Khrushchevs part as the Soviet people had come to hate Stalin due to his reign of terror and therefore changing that part of the country was a good move.

It was however unwise of Khrushchev to believe that he could completely remove everything which Stalin had setup and had had influence over. The assertion claims that Khrushchevs rule was characterised by foolish hare-brained schemes. This policy was neither hare-brained nor foolish in its implementation but it was foolish in its belief that everything could be changed and that people would forget Stalins regime. Again changing the focus of the five-year plans away from heavy industry was a good idea yet had some problems. The five-year plans had been shown to be flawed. They were inefficient and due to a lack of incentives or punishments on the completion or failure of the five-year plan respectively, the population were not compelled to meet the targets set.

Khrushchevs most ambitious policy was that of the Virgin Lands, which he first implemented before he came to power in 1954. At the time of Khrushchevs rule it had been generally admitted that Stalins policy of collectivisation was a failure and therefore Khrushchev being of a peasantry background decided to change agricultural policy. He ended centralised decision-making changing it to a local level. The Virgin Lands policy involved using previously unarmed or virgin areas of land for agriculture. Khrushchev hoped to exploit these areas for agriculture.

Some examples of virgin areas of land included Siberia and Kazakhstan. Volunteers, primarily komosot or young communists were sent along with 120,000 tractors to farm these areas. There were a number of problems with the Virgin Lands policy which included a lack of enthusiasm within the groups of komosot, a lack of local knowledge, a lack of storage facilities for crops produced and finally and most importantly the land chosen was unsuitable for farming. These problems led to the failure of the Virgin Lands policy and to a severe food shortage within the USSR. Their problem was so bad Khrushchev was forced to import grain from the USSRs arch enemy in the cold war, the USA. This was a major humiliation for the USSR, which lost a lot of prestige due to this failure.

Overall the Virgin Lands scheme was a hare-brained idea on Khrushchevs part. The idea of being able to grow crops in areas not suitable for doing so was absurd and therefore led to one of the most humiliating incidents to occur to the USSR during the whole of the cold war. In October 1964 after a power struggle within the party Khrushchev was removed from his position and it was one of those involved with his sacking, Leonid Brezhnev, that became the new party leader. Brezhnev was more like Stalin than Khrushchev and therefore slowed down the policy of de-Stalinisation, which had been begun by Khrushchev. Brezhnev took time to consolidate his control of the Soviet leadership only gaining supreme power in 1977 after being made head of state. Brezhnev believed that Khrushchev had made too many changes of personnel during his time as the party leader.

This led to him not wanting to gain ultimate power through the removal of people, then replacing them with people loyal to him. He decided that he would gain his support by promoting his allies when the position became vacant, usually via the death of the predecessor. The major job Brezhnev had to make sure he had an ally at the head of was the KGB and he secured this by appointing Yuri Andropov, quite early into his rule. (Who happened to become the next leader of the USSR after Brezhnev.) Brezhnevs unwillingness to promote quickly led to an overall age increase. Within the politburo between 1960 and 1978 the average age of members rose by ten years. This policy did lead to a stagnation of the USSR, as there were no new ideas being circulated through the politburo, as the personnel were not being replaced.

Brezhnev also was unwilling, like Khrushchev before him, to adapt or change the five-year plans. So the lack of incentives being offered to workers and managers succeeded in keeping productivity levels low. The average Soviet worker during his rule was half as productive as the average American worker. This low productivity level led to the failure to complete the Ninth five-year plans targets between 1971 and 1975 in certain areas, notably agriculture and industry, although the production of consumer goods did increase. This failure did lead to an increased stagnation of the Soviet Union particularly its economy throughout the 1970's and the 1980's, even though there were a number of huge industrial projects including the opening of gas and oil fields in Siberia during the 1970's.

Brezhnev, again like Khrushchev before him, realised that the USSRs agriculture needed a major overhaul. This was especially necessary after the failure of Khrushchevs Virgin Lands policy to produce any extra food. Brezhnev decided to allow increased ownership of private land to the peasants. This meant that they could have their own plot of land and they could grow their own food. The requirement of this policy was that any excess grown by the peasants would be bought by the state. This policy led to peasants growing only enough food to support themselves leading to Brezhnev having to again buy grain from the USA.

This was because the peasants chose to not sell any excess food to the state but to use it for blat a bartering system which operated across the whole of the Soviet Union. This policy did not lead to the stagnation of Soviet agriculture it merely succeeded in continuing the stagnation that had started under Khrushchevs rule. The communist system was very rigid and allowed very few opportunities for individual expression of ones belief or thoughts. This lack of expression led to a slow development of the economic and social structure, as people were not allowed to put across their ideas and thoughts. This also had some social consequences including a massive increase in alcoholism rates then giving the USSR the highest rate in the world.

This was along with one of the highest rates of divorce and abortion in the world. This problem although not created under the Brezhnev rule, was not solved and probably did worsen throughout his rule and led to the increased stagnation of the Soviet Union. Overall it can be concluded that the assertion that Khrushchevs rule was filled with hare-brained schemes and that Brezhnevs rule was a period of stagnation is partially correct. Khrushchevs rule was characterised by a number of different policies most of which failed. These however were not hare-brained or foolish when they were implemented, with the exception of the Virgin Lands policy they were just not successful.

However the assertion about Brezhnevs rule is correct, there was stagnation in the USSR during his rule in the three main areas of the country the economy, the agriculture and the social wellbeing of the people. This meant that by 1980 the USSR had failed to prove that communism was better than capitalism and was a weak country with an unproductive economy. It wasnt until the appointment of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 that the USSR began a whole scale restructuring of the Soviet system. 3 ce.