Selected Speeches and Writings on Foreign Affairs (305P)

by Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev

English, Russian (translation)

305 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1978

About the author

Soviet leader Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, instrumental in removing Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev from power in 1964, served as general secretary of the Communist party of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1964; the invasions of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Afghanistan in 1979 evidenced adherence to his doctrine, which, enunciated in 1968, asserted ability to intervene in any country of Warsaw pact in which people threatened the government.

Brezhnev often overshadowed Aleksei Nikolayevich Kosygin.

From the central committee, he presided over the country until his death. His eighteen-year term ranked as second lengthiest only to that of Joseph Stalin. The expansion of the military during this time of his rule in part caused the dramatic global influence. Some countries in the west condemned his move to support the fragile local Marxist government. People often criticized his tenure as leader for marking the beginning of a period of economic stagnation, overlooking serious problems that eventually led to the dissolution in 1991.