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CHERNENKO, KONSTANTIN
power in 1917, and in 1929 Chernenko joined the Komsomol (Young Communist League), displaying a talent for organization. Following three years of army service, he formally joined the Communist Party in 1933 with a specialty in propaganda activities. He missed out on service in World War II and in 1943 was allowed to attend the Higher School for Party Organizers. After a series of routine assignments, he was appointed political officer to the Moldavian Republic in 1948. Two years later he befriended LEONID BREZHNEV, head of the Moldavian party, accompanying Brezhnev back to Moscow in 1956 to work in the party’s central propaganda department. He labored there four years until Brezhnev became chairman of the Presidium in 1960, and Chernenko was appointed his chief of staff. Chernenko proved himself to be an ideal associate for the ambitious Brezhnev for he was modest, publicityshy, and highly effective in his appointed role. His star continued to rise along with that of his mentor. In 1964 Brezhnev helped topple Premier NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV and became de facto leader of the Soviet Union. Chernenko advanced alongside him, and by 1971 had risen to full member of the Central Committee. By 1978 the quiet, efficient Chernenko was promoted to a full voting member of the Politburo, the highest decision-making body in the country. This also made him a contender to succeed Brezhnev as general secretary. He gained additional stature in January 1982 with an appointment as chief ideologist and subsequently assumed control of the party’s daily affairs. Brezhnev was visibly ailing by then and Chernenko was widely expected to succeed him. However, when the general secretary died on November 10, 1982, the Politburo surprisingly selected former KGB chief YURI ANDROPOV to lead the country. Chernenko, unassuming and unambitious as always, ignored the snub and continued working in the background. Andropov’s rise is viewed as a victory for younger party members, who were tired of the innate corruption and cronyism of the Brezhnev era. Many also wished to quicken the pace of badly needed reform. Andropov initiated a widespread anticorruption campaign aimed mostly at friends of the former general secretary. But his death 15 months later led to a temporary resurgence among the conservative elements in the Kremlin, and Chernenko was tapped to succeed him. Aged 72 years, he became the oldest man to ever govern the equally tottering Soviet Union. Moreover, Chernenko
was by training and disposition a doctrinaire communist and opposed to reform. His résumé was noticeably deficient in other important positions: he never ran a state enterprise, never headed a government agency, and never served as party secretary in any region of the country. His only claims to high office were as a career politician and a close associate of the now disgraced Brezhnev. As general secretary, Chernenko slowed Andropov’s anticorruption efforts and disregarded all further attempts at economic revitalization. In foreign affairs, Soviet relations with the United States had reached their nadir in consequence of new Russian missiles deployed in Europe, the invasion of Afghanistan, and the shooting down of a Korean airliner over Soviet airspace in 1983. When American president RONALD REAGAN countered by supplying covert aid to Afghan rebels and deploying Pershing II and cruise missiles to Western Europe, Chernenko—or those immediately around him—resurrected a hard propaganda line against the Americans with a shrillness not seen since the days of JOSEPH STALIN. But after boycotting the 1984 Olympic games in Los Angeles, Chernenko permitted long-suspended arms control agreements to resume in January 1985. After that his public appearances grew increasingly scarce, and it was generally assumed his health was failing. By the time Chernenko died in Moscow on March 10, 1985, a corner had been turned in the history of the Communist Party. He represented the last of the Old Guard members who had dominated the country since World War II. His tenure as head of the Soviet Union— 13 months—was the nation’s briefest and passed almost unnoticed. Significantly, only four hours after Chernenko’s demise, the Politburo elected the young and vigorous MIKHAIL GORBACHEV to advance the cause of badly needed reform. Further Reading Chernenko, K. V. Speeches and Writings. Oxford, England: Pergamon, 1985. Parker, John W. Kremlin in Transition, Vol. 1, From Brezhnev to Chernenko, 1978 to 1985. Winchester, Mass.: Allen and Unwin, 1991. Solov’ev, Vladimir. Behind the High Kremlin Walls. New York: Berkeley Books, 1987. Xenakis, Christopher I. What Happened to the Soviet Union? How and Why American Sovietologists Were Caught by Surprise. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2002.