Events in the foreign policy of the USSR called the Brezhnev Doctrine. The Brezhnev Doctrine: the essence, an example of its use in practice

All of Eastern Europe and part of central Europe (Germany) came under the control of the USSR. Nominally, the countries, excluding Yugoslavia, were independent democratic states, but the practice of relations with the Soviet Union showed something completely different. Starting from 1945-1944 in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, leaders who were proteges of the Soviet leadership came to power. With the apparent turbulent activity within the political of these countries, the heads of the communist parties were completely dependent on the leaders from Moscow. So it was until 1968, when a young democratic reformer Alexander Dubcek appeared in Czechoslovakia, who pursued a broad liberal policy in his country until the federalization of Czechoslovakia.

Beginning of the implementation of the Brezhnev Doctrine

In the 1960s, Czechoslovakia began the transition to the so-called "socialism with human face».

"Socialism with a human face" is economic system which prioritizes the welfare of the people. Military spending under such a system was significantly reduced.

The reforms carried out in Czechoslovakia did not suit the Soviet leadership. Departure from ideals was cited as the official reason for discontent, and Dubcek was accused of violating the principle by which the proletarian class consciousness was placed above the national one. Dubcek led Czechoslovakia along the path of independence from the USSR, introduced freedom, movement and began administrative reform. After several reforms of Dubcek, the USSR sent troops into the territory of Czechoslovakia. This one entered under the name "Danube". August 21, 1968 can be considered the day of the emergence of the Brezhnev Doctrine - a method of military and economic coercion of the countries of the socialist bloc to follow the unquestioning leadership of the USSR. The Brezhnev Doctrine implied open interference in the internal affairs of countries of Eastern Europe to impose their will, primarily in the public sphere of state life. Since the events in Czechoslovakia in 1968, the Soviet secret services have persecuted dissidents in Eastern Europe with the same tenacity as in their homeland. The actions of the USSR, called the Brezhnev Doctrine by Western political scientists, originated long before the Prague Spring. So, back in 1956, Khrushchev military suppressed the liberation movement in Hungary, which demanded the departure of the pro-Soviet leadership of his country.

The Brezhnev Doctrine after the Prague Spring

In the 60s, the growth and strengthening of the military-political bloc of the Warsaw Pact began, which in fact was necessary for the USSR to be located on the border with Western Europe. The failure of the revolution in Czechoslovakia led to the fact that Soviet troops stayed in this country until 1990.

The Prague Spring has become a kind of symbol in the struggle of people for their rights. By analogy with the events in Prague in 1968, revolutions in the Arab countries in the 21st century were named.

The same circumstances affected Hungary and the GDR. After 1968, the military contingent of the Soviet Union was present everywhere throughout Eastern Europe. Now, any attempt to deviate from the fairway of the Soviet foreign policy course of the USSR could respond with immediate forceful intervention. The Brezhnev Doctrine as a Course foreign policy lasted almost half a century.

One can relate to the history of the USSR in different ways, but one cannot be denied - during this period, our state became a superpower. And the heyday came at the time of the so-called "era of stagnation", the time of the leadership of the country by "dear Leonid Ilyich." The foreign policy of this time was named as "Brezhnev's doctrine".

The essence and origin of the Brezhnev Doctrine

Its main theses were formed by Brezhnev in his speech in 1968 before the Polish United workers' party. WITH " light hand”the National Security Adviser of the United States of that time - Richard Allen, the concept of the“ Brezhnev Doctrine ”was launched. The core of the doctrine was reduced to the principles limited sovereignty and closed on the full primacy of the USSR on the territory of the Warsaw Pact countries. The features of the doctrine are:

• In foreign policy - diligently avoid full-fledged participation in the world's "hot" conflicts.
• In domestic politics- to maintain its undeniable supremacy among the countries of the socialist bloc.
• In the theory of communism - to shift the time frame.

The third feature had a very important ideological significance; all the mistakes of the movement towards communism were justified at its expense. So, now that stage, which, according to Lenin, should already have come and be called the "victory of communism", was pushed back in time, and the current state of life began to be called "developed socialism." Extending these terms, introducing new stages in the process of building communism, exposing all this in a scientific and ideological form, it became possible to hide many shortcomings in terms of the economy.

The collapse of the Brezhnev Doctrine

The USSR's evasion of participation in world conflicts ended when it had to send its regular troops to Afghanistan.

US President Reagan said on this occasion: “... the diligent reluctance of the “soviets” to interfere in world conflicts, but still the forced introduction of troops into Afghanistan, led to the overturning of the doctrine, and this was the key to success [the collapse of the USSR].” After that, the “Gorbachev Doctrine” began to operate, which in the West was called “My Way”.

Western politicians and diplomats called the foreign policy of the USSR in the 60-80s of the last century the Brezhnev Doctrine. It is not possible to specifically name the year, since the policy, as already indicated, was carried out during the 60-80s of the twentieth century, but the concept itself appeared in 1968. In short, the USSR reserved the right to interfere in the affairs of the countries of the socialist camp in order to ensure political stability and close cooperation. In addition, it was planned to actively cooperate on military issues with third world countries loyal to the Soviet Union.

Politics of Brezhnev's predecessors

The emergence of the Brezhnev Doctrine cannot be seen in isolation from the political actions of his predecessors. Thus, Lenin emphasized defense against external opponents and considered it necessary to educate a new (proletarian) officer corps, while Stalin organized the world's largest army, equipped with the necessary weapons and military equipment.

The policy of Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev in foreign policy can be characterized by the words "build-up of forces." The leader of the Communist Party emphasized the development nuclear weapons, military space exploration and the beginning of military assistance to third world countries. Brezhnev's policy is a continuation of the build-up of forces.

General concept of the Brezhnev Doctrine

After Khrushchev thaw"tightening the screws" began under the leadership of Brezhnev. This is one of the most difficult to analyze and controversial periods in Soviet history. Each General Secretary of the USSR was distinguished by his own special methods of conducting public affairs. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev actually became the head of state when he was already 58 years old. His views on the development of the country, methods of conducting domestic and foreign policy subsequently by foreign politicians and public figures called the Brezhnev Doctrine.

The doctrine was first published in the well-known Soviet newspaper Pravda in 1968. The main essence and second name of the political course is the doctrine of limited sovereignty, that is, the elimination and elimination of hot world conflicts, collective decision-making.

The main position of the policy was that Soviet Union reserves the right to interfere in the affairs of any country of the socialist camp by any means. The purpose of the possible intervention was declared to be the desire to prevent deviations from the construction of socialism, including by military means. It was about Romania, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, East Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria. Repeatedly Soviet government was on the verge of using military force. The Brezhnev Doctrine also included the promise of military, financial and other kinds of assistance to third world states.

Military intervention in Czechoslovakia

What events are associated with the Brezhnev Doctrine? One example of the application of the course in practice was the entry of Soviet military forces into Czechoslovakia in 1968. Operation Danube, which ended the reforms of the Prague Spring, began on August 21, 1968. From the USSR, about 500 thousand people were allocated, about five thousand armored personnel carriers and tanks. The contingent was commanded by General Pavlovsky.

There were practically no military operations on the territory of Czechoslovakia. There were still some cases of attacks by the military, but the locals did not resist. During the invasion, 108 citizens were killed, more than 500 were injured.

The cause of military aggression was the Prague Spring - a period liberal reforms in Czechoslovakia, associated with changes aimed at the decentralization of power, the expansion of the rights and freedoms of citizens. "Socialism with a human face" guaranteed the citizens of Czechoslovakia freedom of speech, movement, and practically abolished censorship in the media. This course was not approved by the USSR, as a result of which allied troops were introduced into the state.

Today, the Brezhnev doctrine has become overgrown with caricatures and has completely outlived itself, but in the seventies of the last century it was a strategically competent and right step, which made it possible to direct the foreign policy of the Soviet Union in a peaceful direction and avoid potential military conflicts near the country's borders and even on its territory.

Doctrine of Sinatra under M. Gorbachev

The Brezhnev Doctrine remained in force until the late eighties. Under the next leader of the USSR, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, it was replaced by a different approach, which contemporaries jokingly called the Sinatra Doctrine. This meant the famous song of the American singer called My Way. The political course was characterized by the refusal to keep countries dependent on the Soviet Union in the sphere of their influence.

Gorbachev's meeting with the President of the United States

Mikhail Gorbachev's meeting with US President George W. Bush in 1989 is considered to be the actual end of the doctrine. During the Malta Summit, the heads of the two powers formally declared the end of cold war, although this fact is still a matter of controversy. The media then called the meeting the second most important after the Yalta Conference in 1945, during which Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt discussed plans for the post-war world order.

The Brezhnev Doctrine was first published in the Pravda newspaper back in 1968, far from us. The main essence of the doctrine gave it a second name - "the doctrine of limited sovereignty."

In order to understand the essence of this direction, it is necessary to go back to the period after the Second World War, which significantly changed the balance of power in Europe. After the Soviet Union defeated fascism, it undoubtedly began to dictate certain conditions in the world space. This manifested itself primarily in the spread of socialism to the west of Europe and in the strengthening of the positions of pro-communist forces in the parliaments of such states as Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, and so on. Only Yugoslavia came to its senses in time from communist dominance and quickly turned its vector towards the developed capitalist countries. The countries of Eastern Europe, for greater control, were united in a new military alliance - the Warsaw Treaty Organization - the Warsaw Treaty Organization, which arose in 1955. This made it possible to further polarize the world political arena: two clear opposing sides appeared, the capitalist and socialist camps. The leaders of the Soviet Union have always set the tone for the socialist camp. Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, whose foreign policy also bore the imprint of his personality, was no exception. It was a qualitatively new course, which differed from the direction of previous politicians, as it was built taking into account the mistakes of Stalin and Khrushchev.

What are the features of the course? Brezhnev's foreign policy was primarily aimed at maneuvering and self-eliminating from hot world conflicts. Brezhnev was by nature a patient and rather cautious politician, in addition, at the end of his reign, after suffering a stroke, he tried not to get involved in major disputes between the giants of this world. In most cases, Leonid Ilyich only agreed with obvious, uncompromising decisions aimed at appeasement. And those party members who last years stood behind Brezhnev, did not dare to go to the world level in foreign policy - they preferred to "do things" within their own country. Brezhnev's doctrine also had one more feature - collective decision-making. In most cases, this was a complete sham, since all decisions were made by the leader, and for the world community this was the decision of a number of countries. Of course, outwardly it looked much more democratic, but it is worth remembering that all these countries were members of the Warsaw Pact, which means they were puppets in the hands of the Soviet Union.

Outwardly, such decisions were supported by an excellent ideological background. The Brezhnev Doctrine was built on the rallying of the peoples of the countries of Eastern Europe, who had to be clearly aware that the foreign policy of the Union is the policy of proletarian internationalism, which means equality, sovereignty and independence. Therefore, all actions carried out by the Soviet state were considered quite justified, because they were carried out within the framework of achieving this very equality, sovereignty and independence. And it does not matter that sometimes, in order to implement certain measures, it was necessary to use military force, as was done in Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

Another pillar on which the Brezhnev doctrine was built was the change in the chronological framework for the achievement of communism. Rather, communism itself, to which they had been moving since the time of V.I. Lenin, was now referred to as developed socialism, and its achievement was prolonged forward for hundreds of years. This made it possible to hide many failures and shortcomings in terms of the economy, which no longer promised the Soviet people a bright future in ten to twenty years. And for a long time, the desire for socialism was proposed by L. I. Brezhnev to live in peace and harmony with countries of various types of development, for example, capitalist ones. This was the reason for Brezhnev's tolerance for developed countries Europe, active rapprochement with some of them.

The Brezhnev doctrine has now revealed its entire caricature essence, but in the seventies of the last century it was a competent and correct strategic step, which made it possible to avoid military conflicts in the future and direct the foreign policy of the Union to a peaceful direction.

Abbreviated:

"BREZHNEV DOCTRINE", in Western historiography, the name of the policy of limiting the sovereignty of the countries of the socialist camp, carried out by the USSR from the late 1960s to the 1980s. Its main provisions were formulated by L. I. Brezhnev, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, at the 5th Congress of the Polish United Workers' Party in November 1968. The doctrine, recognizing the presence of weak links in the socialist camp, the possibility of restoring capitalism, declared the goal of all socialist countries to preserve the integrity of the socialist camp (including by military force). The Brezhnev Doctrine was a response to the events in Czechoslovakia that interrupted the onset of the Prague Spring