Swift Change of Power In the Soviet Union WHAT IT COULD MEAN - Gene H Hogberg - February 1983

Gene H Hogberg

Athens, Greece The death of Leonid I. Brezhnev, 75, had been long expected. He had suffered from a variety of illnesses for a long time. Nevertheless it still came as somewhat of a surprise. Only three days earlier on Sunday, November 14, Mr. Brezhnev had delivered a tough speech from the Kremlin denouncing Western, especially American, military policies, promising to "crush" any attacks from the so-called imperialists. Far more surprising than Mr. Brezhnev's demise was the swift accession to power, before the week was out, of his successor. The party's new General Secretary- the top political office in the U.S.S.R.-is Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov, age 68, one of the two candidates (the other being Konstantin Chernenko) long-rumored for the leading role. It is significant that the honor of announcing the new leader went to Mr. Chernenko, thus indicating an attempt on the part of the hierarchy of Soviet power to close ranks around the new leader in a public display of unity. Also significant is the fact that in his speech, Mr. Chernenko stressed that it was now "twice, three times more important to conduct party affairs collectively ." This was seen as a clear reminder to Mr. Andropov of the principle of collective leadership, a policy refined during Mr. Brezhnev's 18 years of rule. In his acceptance speech Mr. Andropov took a tough line. He backed up a call for hard work at home, in order to spur the stagnant Soviet economy, with an uncompromising message for the West similar to his predecessor's message a few days previously. "We know full well," he said, "the imperialists will never meet one's pleas for peace. It can be upheld only by resting on the invincible might of the Soviet armed forces." - Information Supplied By: Herbert W Armstrong Library