The Soviet Union under Brezhnev / / William Tompson

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910958082803321
• Autore: Tompson William J.
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: London ; ; New York : , : Routledge, , 2014
• ISBN: 1-317-88171-0; 1-138-13597-6; 1-315-84005-7; 1-317-88172-9
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (372 p.)
• Collana: Seminar Studies In History
• Disciplina: 947/.0853; 947.0853
• Soggetti: Soviet Union Politics and government 1953-1985
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: First published 2003 by Pearson Education Limited.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Cover; Half Title; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; Acknowledgements; Chronology; Part One: Introduction; 1. The Soviet Union at the end of the Khrushchev Era; The Fall of Nikita Khrushchev; The New Leaders; Soviet Society a Decade After Stalin's Death; The Soviet Union and the World in 1964; Part Two: Analysis; 2. Leadership Politics; High Politics and Brezhnev's Consolidation of Power; Brezhnev as Politician: Mannequin or Machiavellian?; 'Two Brezhnevs'?; The Soviet Elite in the Brezhnev Era; 3. Policy-Making in the Brezhnev Era; Brezhnev as Policy-maker: From Consensus to Stagnation?The Role of the Politburo and Secretariat; Taking Advice: Information, Institutions and Expertise; Policy-making in Practice: The Case of Arms Control; 4. Foreign Policy from Cuba to Helsinki; The Defence Build-up of the 1960s; Managing the Bloc; War in Vietnam and US-Soviet Relations; The Road to Superpower Détente; China; The Soviet Union and the Developing World; The Era of High Détente; 5. From Helsinki to the Second Cold War; Arms Control and Trade; Détente Under Strain; China; Afghanistan; Poland; Conflicting Expectations and the Failure of DétenteAfter Détente; 6. Economic Policy under Brezhnev and Kosygin; Soviet Industry Under the Kosygin Reforms and After; The Limits of Reform; Soviet Agriculture in ; the Brezhnev Era; Blind Spots in Economic Policy and the 'Obsession with Growth'; 7. Economic Performance; Growth Performance Under Brezhnev and Kosygin; The Failure of the Centrally Planned Economy; Détente, Foreign Trade and the 'Scientific and Technical Revolution'; Living Standards and Household Welfare; 8. Socio-Economic and Demographic Change; Urbanisation and Education; The 'Social Contract' Under StrainEmerging Demographic Problems; Nationalities Policy Under Brezhnev; 9. Culture and Ideas; Culture High and Low; The Crackdown on Dissent; The Changing Nature of Dissidence; Growing Room for 'Permitted Heterodoxy'; Part Three: Assessment; 10. Brezhnev's Legacy to Gorbachev; Brezhnev's Twilight; The Andropov Interregnum; The Chernenko Interlude; State and Society at the End of the Brezhnev Era; Part Four: Documents; Glossary; Who's Who; Guide to Further Reading; Bibliography; Index
• Sommario/riassunto: The Soviet Union Under Brezhnev provides an accessible post-Soviet perspective on the history of the USSR from the mid-1960's to the mid-1980's. It challenges both the 'evil empire' image of the USSR that was widespread in the early 1980's and the 'stagnation' label attached to the period by Soviet reformers under Gorbachev.The book makes use of a range of memoirs, interviews, archival documents and other sources not available before 1990 to place Brezhnev and his epoch in a broader historical context. The author: examines high politics, foreign policy and policy making explores broader