Best Soviet Leader?

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It's a nasty job, but a job that has to be done under a dictatorship of one class over another. I'd rather the state deal with real dissent than risk letting ordinary citizens create an even worse situation.

I agree with Fellow Comrade, and this I feel is the defining point in the argument.

The idea of random citizens groups coming out to put down protests assumes that people don't have other interests besides 'defending the revolution'. Ordinary people in socialist countries worked, looked for goods, liked to relax and enjoy themselves just like people everywhere, whereas intelligence services and police, in those countries which had the correct ideological line and genuine revolutionary spirit, tended to be the most committed, efficient, and uncorruptable group in the state apparatus, and probably in the country (this was especially true in the case of the Soviet Union).

Being that historical and future states fought/will be fighting a battle against capitalists, nationalists and other incredibly powerful forces capable of manipulating the public will, optimistic talk of workers who have magically woken up to how much better life under socialism is (which btw it won't be in the first post-revolutionary years) is a bit of a stretch to me.

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They were... until Brezhnev's time. I really don't see why such a vast country as the USSR would have to import grain.

No need for the hatin' on Brezhnev, comrade. His leadership during the 1970s gave the USSR at its most peaceful and prosperous period in the 20th century. If he resigned in 1977, after the signing of the new constitution and the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Revolution he probably would have gone down as one of the greatest leaders in Russian history.

As for the importation of grain: Remember, it was mostly low quality feed grain for animals. The imports showed not that the Soviets were getting desperate, but that consumers were beginning to eat more meat than ever before - a sign of growing prosperity.

The Brezhnev Stagnation was real, and applied not only to economic planning, but to politics and social life as well (i.e. stability at the expense of progress). I'm just urging caution against oversimplifying the whole period of Brezhnev's leadership based on whatever flaws existed and were exacerbated during the last few years of his leadership. Remember that while there were some people in the Brezhnev generation of leaders that were political apparatchiks and had no position being where they were -like Chernenko and Tikhonov, there were many others, including Aliev, Andropov, Gromyko, and Ustinov (off the top of my head) who were competent, excellent administrators and devoted communists. Brezhnev chose these men, and did preside over what many Russians judge to be the best period in 20th century Russian history.

Some achievements of the Brezhnev era:

* The partial rehabilitation of Stalin, including recognition of his achievements in industrializing the country and his key role as leader during the Second World War, and the appearance of neutral/positive portrayals in films and television programs
* A growing harmonization of relations between the Soviet state and non-state groups, like religious organizations
* The continuing expansion in the Soviet space program, which included the first space stations in the form of the Salyut program, and the famous and internationally popular Intercosmos program.
* The 1977 Soviet Constitution, which clarified roles, rights, and responsibilities, and which was adapted to the new conditions facing the country
* The 1977 revised anthem, which put an end to the strange situation of an anthem without lyrics
* The 1980 Moscow Olympics, which despite the politically motivated boycott of many countries were successful and grandiose
* The aiding of Vietnam in its war against US imperialism, and of Ghana, Congo, Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia in Africa. While the Soviets suffered setbacks in Egypt and Iraq, relations were solidified with Syria, South Yemen, Libya, and India.
* The quick squashing of the Prague Spring with a minimum of loss of life
* A successful detente with the Nixon and Ford administrations, and growing positive relations with West Germany, Italy and France.
* A recognition of Soviet parity in nuclear and conventional armaments, which became formalized during the SALT talks
* The 1975 Helsinki Final Treaty, which solidified post-war borders and finally gave formal recognition as to the legitimacy of Eastern European socialist states