Konstantin Chernenko

Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko (??????????? ?????????? ?????????) (September 24, 1911 – March 10, 1985) was a Soviet politician and General Secretary of the CPSU who led the Soviet Union from February 13, 1984 until his death just thirteen months later. Chernenko was also Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from April 11, 1984, until his death.

Chernenko in office

Chernenko represented a return to the hard-line policies of the Brezhnev era. He supported a greater role for the labour unions, reform in education, and trimming of bureaucracy. In foreign policy, he escalated the Cold War with the United States and negotiated a trade pact with the People's Republic of China.

Related Topics:
Cold War - United States - People's Republic of China

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Chernenko's poor health made him unable to govern effectively. His frequent absences from office left little doubt that his reign had only been an interim measure in a longer struggle between conservatives and reformers.

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Chernenko's time in office did bring some significant policy changes. The large scale personnel changes and corruption investigations from the Andropov regime had ended. Chernenko paid greater attention to public opinion. He invested in consumer goods, public services and agriculture. And he called for reduction in the Party's micromanagement of the Soviet economy. The KGB repression of Soviet dissidents increased under the Chernenko government.

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The only major personnel change Chernenko made was firing the chief of General Staff, Nikolay Ogarkov, an advocate of less spending on consumer goods who promoted putting money into weapons research and development.

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