Birthday Quote 19th dec

Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev 19 December 1906 (O.S. 6 December) – 10 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who led the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982 as the General Secretary of the Central Committee (CC) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), presiding over the country until his death and funeral in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in duration. During Brezhnev's rule, the global influence of the Soviet Union grew dramatically, in part because of the expansion of the Soviet military during this time. His tenure as leader was marked by the beginning of an era of economic and social stagnation in the Soviet Union.

As the leader of the Soviet Union, Brezhnev's conservatism and carefulness to reach decisions by consensus with the rest of the Politburo resulted in sustained political stability within the country. However, his hostility towards reform and active cultivation of cronyism ushered in a period of pervasive corruption and socioeconomic decline that came to be known as the Brezhnev Stagnation. Such internal problems were further compounded by an enormous arms buildup that eventually grew to comprise 12.5% of the nation's GNP.

Whatever else may divide us, Europe is our common home; a common fate has linked us through the centuries, and it continues to link us today.

Leonid I. Brezhnev

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