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Probably the least interesting and least talked about Soviet leader (not counting the ones who were only there for <2 years), I don’t really know much about him myself but I was feeling randomly curious so I skimmed NATOpedia to get a rough impression.

It seems like the Brezhnev-era would be the best time to be alive in the USSR, though that has to do more with external circumstances - he didn’t have to deal with a lack of industrialization or invasions either during the revolution or WWII. However, economic growth was slow, despite the government investing in basic necessities and in agricultural production. In terms of technology, during this time, the USSR made the poor decision to use IBM’s designs rather than investing in domestic computer development, which may have set them back and contributed to brain drain.

In terms of foreign policy, Brezhnev deviated from Khrushchev’s focus on missiles by focusing more on strengthening conventional military forces, increasing spending eightfold to 12% of GNP by the time of his death. He continued the policy of detente, and (perhaps because of the military investment) negotiated and signed the SALT treaties, reducing the past nuclear brinkmanship. At the same time, he resumed support for the Vietnamese communists who Khrushchev had abandoned due to their refusal to negotiate a partition. However, he also made the disastrous decision to invade Afghanistan. He also sent troops into Czechoslovakia to suppress what I assume was a color revolution.

Did his uninspiring leadership and failure to address economic stagnation contribute to Gorbachev’s dismantling of the USSR? Or perhaps that was already set in motion from Kruschev, (or caused afterward by Gorby), and the take is that he did a decent job steering the country through a relatively peaceful era, prioritizing human needs like housing over consumer goods?

For that matter, I’m kind of puzzled as to why his policies weren’t more effective, I would expect providing things like housing would stimulate the economy by providing more consumer consumption (though perhaps the problem was supply not keeping up with demand?), and the USSR still had to rely on food imports despite pretty substantial investments in agriculture. For a critical take on him, I’m not sure what he should’ve done differently.

However, I don’t really have a dog in the fight - if there is a fight. Do people have strong opinions about Brezhnev? I’m mostly just curious to hear people’s perspectives.