Yuri Andropov

Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (????? ????????????? ?????????), (June 2 (O.S.) = June 15 (N.S.), 1914 – February 9, 1984) was a Soviet politician and General Secretary of the CPSU from November 12, 1982 until his death just sixteen months later.

Rise to power

Following Stalin's death in March 1953, Andropov was demoted and "exiled" to the Soviet Embassy in Budapest by Georgy Malenkov. He played an important role in the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956.

Related Topics:
Stalin - March - 1953 - Budapest - Georgy Malenkov - Soviet invasion - Hungary - 1956

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Andropov returned to Moscow to head the Department for Liaison with Socialist Countries (1957-1967) and was promoted to the Central Committee Secretariat in 1962, succeeding Mikhail Suslov, and in 1967 he was appointed head of the KGB. In 1973 Andropov became a full member of the Politburo, although he did not resign as head of the KGB until 1982.

Related Topics:
1957 - 1967 - Central Committee - 1962 - Mikhail Suslov - KGB - 1973 - Politburo - 1982

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A few days after Brezhnev's death (November 10, 1982), Andropov was the surprise appointment to General Secretary over Konstantin Chernenko. He was the first head of the KGB to become General Secretary. He quickly added the posts of President of the USSR and chairman of the Defence Council. His appointment was received in the West with apprehension, in view of his roles in the KGB and in Hungary.

Related Topics:
Brezhnev - November 10 - 1982 - Konstantin Chernenko - President of the USSR

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In 1978, as head of intelligence, Andropov called his station chief in Warsaw when Pope John Paul II was elected, asking how he had allowed such a thing to happen. On his question being deflected, he ordered the First Chief Directorate of the KGB to analyze the situation, with particular attention to determining if a German-American conspiracy was at work. He supposed that President Carter's national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was a leader of a conspiracy to undermine Communism in Poland by selecting a Pole as Pope. (Ref: The New Yorker, April 11, 2005, p. 21.)

Related Topics:
1978 - Pope John Paul II - Zbigniew Brzezinski

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