15 months of hope from Andropov, or Why the end of the KGB general secretary's rule is called the beginning of the collapse of the USSR

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Yuri Andropov was at the helm of the Soviet Union for only 15 months. There is still controversy about his role in the formation of a new country. Some are convinced that the short-term leadership was a harbinger of collapse in 1991, others believe that the "Andropov course" of the USSR would have successfully avoided crisis and destruction. Historians do not agree on the way in which Andropov was going to lead the Land of the Soviets. Perhaps, if this hidden democrat and supporter of radical reforms had lived a little longer, the country would have changed beyond recognition.

Promising reforms and Andropovka vodka

In difficult hungry years, Andropov arrived at the Rybinsk School of the River Fleet, where they provided a hostel and paid a scholarship. He was forced to somehow get settled in life, not being able to count on outside help. By that time, he had a seven-year school in his life's piggy bank, poor eyesight and poor health. Having realized the most ambitious goals on his own, Andropov came to the highest Soviet power.

Most people pinned great hopes on the new secretary general. Many were disappointed with the musty atmosphere of the Brezhnev era. Despite his advanced age and chronic renal failure, Andropov hoped that he would be enough for several years of productive work. And he began to act without races. The new leader skillfully met the expectations of the society. In addition to serious industry reforms, one colorful gastronomic episode is known. In the last years of Brezhnev's rule, vodka in the USSR turned into a product of elite consumption. Alcohol became an expensive hobby in the Soviet country. Andropov understood that it was necessary to fight drunkenness, but his approach to solving problems in society was fundamentally different. From the first months of his reign, vodka fell in price and began to be called with gratitude among the people "Andropovka".

Moreover, even the word "vodka" itself began to be deciphered as "this is how kind he is, Andropov." And the barrier to drunkenness on the initiative of the secretary general was the strengthening of discipline and strict suppression of abuses in the workplace. There were regular raids on department stores and cinemas, and business leaders were seriously responsible for the parasitism of their subordinates.

Mass layoffs and gingerbread

Taking the chair of the country's first manager, Andropov immediately got rid of his longtime enemy - the favorite of Brezhnev and Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov. An unkind rivalry between the MVD and the KGB has existed since the days when Andropov was the head of the latter. Shchelokov sympathetically covered manifestations of corruption, preferring grateful accomplices who ensure his luxurious existence. The ascetic Andropov condemned this.

The new secretary general removed the powers from 37 regional leaders from the old cage. But this was only the start of much more ambitious plans. The idea of reforming the USSR was born to him back in 1965 in the place of the secretary of the Central Committee. After proposing a plan for broad economic changes personally to Brezhnev, the country took a course on cosmetic reforms by Kosygin's authorship. Andropov's initiatives were rudely ignored, and he himself was removed from the Central Committee apparatus, instructed to command the KGB. But now an old unfulfilled dream loomed in front of him.

He understood that the country was being pulled down by mismanagement and the godfather's system of government. Losses from negligence and embezzlement became alarmingly large even for such a large state. Therefore, Andropov's measures were tough. But besides the whip, Andropov had gingerbread for the people. He expanded the self-supporting independence of enterprises with the right of managers to personally dispose of part of the material assets. The labor collective from now on directly participated in the distribution of monetary incentives. With the light hand of Andropov, the flourishing of cooperative movements and the private sector of the economy started. Having reached the 10% threshold of the country's GDP, he helped to overcome the stagnation. Remaining planned, the Soviet economy slowly but surely went up.

Attempt to divide the USSR into states and the threat of separatism

Yuri Andropov's assistant Arkady Volsky often recalled how grandiose the chief's plans were. Day and night, supervising bold innovations in parallel in several sectors, he pored over the project of administrative reform of the country. Andropov wanted to replace the national republics with states, which were supposed to be based not on national but on economic interests. But the main prerequisite for such a decision was still to prevent the collapse of the Union.

The prudent and wise manager was well aware that with the slightest weakening of oppression in the country, separatist movements would intensify. He played ahead of the curve, trying to prevent unrest amid growing nationalism in the outdated and obsolete system of the USSR. In parallel with the territorial reform, there were changes in the structure of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Andropov left for this ministry the functions of criminologists and teaching staff.

The protection of public order was entrusted to the National Guard, created on the basis of the internal troops. Guards service took place strictly in a non-native region, which was supposed to ensure impartial observance of duties in the event of riot suppression. The role of the KGB, which has acquired its own paramilitary structures, has also strengthened. Andropov gave the order to build a professional army, and by reducing the draft he compensated for the unrest in society over the growing role of the security forces.

Stalinism with a human face and a tough response to the Americans

Andropov was ready for any international challenges to the country entrusted to him. Abroad, the political system he formed behind the eyes was nicknamed Stalinism with a human face. The authority of the Secretary General, which is growing within the country, has also grown among foreign colleagues, which was facilitated by a reasonable and at the same time tough foreign policy. Andropov normalized relations with China, which resulted not only in increased trade, but also in an anti-American military alliance. He gave a mirrored response to every threatening US initiative.

In the Warsaw Pact countries, Vietnam and Cuba, missiles with nuclear warheads were quickly deployed. In the midst of state reform, Andropov died. Feeling the return of the former liberties, the national elites relaxed. One after another, the participants in the Warsaw Pact emerged from Moscow's influence and, accordingly, foreign military bases were closed. Historians call this period the start of the collapse of the USSR, stretching over the years.

Although all, without exception, the general secretaries of the USSR made colossal concessions to their allies, gifting them with help and territories, receiving nothing in return.