Konstantin Chernenko is a Soviet party and statesman. He was elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, but he stayed in this post for only a year.
Childhood, youth
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was born on September 24, 1911 in the village of Bolshaya Tes. His father mined non-ferrous metal, and his mother was actively engaged in crop production. The mother of the future secretary general passed away very early. Konstantin Chernenko at that time was only 8 years old. The father, left with four children, soon married. Relations in children with a stepmother did not work out.
Chernenko graduated from a village school, and in 1934 he was called up for military service. Almost at the same time he was elected secretary of the party organization of the frontier post. After the war, he became secretary of the Krasnoyarsk regional committee of the party.
Career
Konstantin Chernenko’s career was rapidly gaining momentum, which was surprising for a young man with not the most brilliant education. In the climb up the career ladder, his half-sister Valentina helped, who had certain connections in the Krasnoyarsk Communist Party.
In 1943-1945, Chernenko studied at the Higher School of Party Organizers, located in the capital. In the postwar years, he worked as secretary of the Penza regional party committee. Senior management decided to transfer him to the central office in Moscow, but within a few weeks the decision was canceled. The reason was questions about the moral character of a candidate for a high post. Chernenko was known for his many love affairs.
Since 1950, Konstantin Ustinovich worked as head of the propaganda and agitation department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Moldova. There he met Leonid Brezhnev and since then his career has been inextricably linked with the career of Leonid Ilyich. In 1953, Chernenko graduated from one of the departments of Chisinau University and became a certified history teacher. When Leonid Brezhnev was transferred to Moscow, he was also sent to the capital to manage the propaganda department of the CPSU Central Committee.
Since 1960, Chernenko headed the secretariat of the PVS of the USSR, and a little later began to head the main department of the Central Committee. When Brezhnev came to power, Chernenko’s career began to rapidly gain momentum. Konstantin Ustinovich managed to work in various positions, but in fact was the right hand of the Secretary General. He was called the "gray cardinal." It was Chernenko who took part in the discussion of matters of national importance, accompanied Brezhnev on almost all business trips.
Many considered Chernenko the main successor of Leonid Ilyich. But, when the head of state did not become, the general secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU was not elected, but Andropov. As General Secretary, Andropov spent only 2 years and in 1984, power passed to Chernenko.
At the time of his appointment to the highest state post, Konstantin Ustinovich was already 73 years old. He had health problems, but that did not stop him from undertaking a series of reforms. Chernenko was guided by the course taken by his predecessor, but also with him a number of innovations were adopted:
- a ban on rock music;
- school reform carried out;
- strengthened role of trade unions.
During the reign of Chernenko, relations with China and Spain improved significantly, but everything was still difficult with the United States. There is an opinion that the struggle against corruption initiated by Andropov under Chernenko stopped, but this is not so. Many high-profile cases under Konstantin Ustinovich were developed, but little was written about this in the press. During the year of rule, several economic reforms were planned, but they were not destined to be implemented.
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was awarded many state awards. He was awarded:
- four orders of Lenin;
- three orders of the Red Banner of Labor;
- medal "60 years of the armed forces of the USSR";
- Order of Karl Marx (German Democratic Republic).
Chernenko spent only a year as General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. He spent half his time at the Central Clinical Hospital due to a sharp deterioration in his state of health. The walls of the hospital sometimes even held meetings of the Politburo. According to some reports, the Secretary General tried to leave his post, but did not receive consent. Historians and political scientists give different assessments of Chernenko’s rule. Most of them believe that Konstantin Ustinovich did not manage the government, but it was not so much the lack of necessary knowledge and harsh nature that prevented him, but a serious illness.
