1st Edition

Brezhnev and the Decline of the Soviet Union

By Thomas Crump Copyright 2014
256 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

256 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

256 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Leonid Brezhnev was leader of the Soviet Union from 1964-1982, a longer period than any other Soviet leader apart from Stalin. During Brezhnev’s time Soviet power seemed at its height and increasing. Living standards were rising, the Soviet Union was a nuclear power and successful in its space missions, and the Soviet Union's influence reached into all part of the world. Yet, as this book, which... Read more

Foreword by former Foreign Secretary Rt. Hon. Lord David Owen  Preface  Part 1: Introduction  1. The Ukrainian Crucible  2. Brezhnev and World War II  3. The Death of Stalin and Rise of Khrushchev  Part 2: Brezhnev’s Domestic Politics  4. Brezhnev’s Life at the Top  5. Confronting the Military Industrial Complex  6. Dissidence and Human Rights  Part 3: International Politics: Peacemaker under pressure  7. The Soviet Bloc, the Brezhnev Doctrine and Ostpolitik  8. US Presidents and the Nuclear Arms Race  9. The Mixed Blessings Brought by Brezhnev’s New German Friendship: The Helsinki conference and its aftermath  10. Brezhnev’s Blind Spot: Africa and Middle East  11. South and Central Asia: Challenges that Brezhnev could not ignore  12. Brezhnev’s Confrontation with China  Part 4: Brezhnev and the Fall of the Soviet State  13. Downhill all the Way

Biography

Thomas Crump was a lecturer in anthropology at the University of Amsterdam and is the author of twelve books.