|
|
"Yuri
Vladimirovich! The people will not follow you!" |
In the first half of the 1980s Soviet politics
revealed an astonishing paradox: the frail and
ailing supreme leader seemed to be the key to
ensuring the stability and strength of the system. A
brutal and tyrannical leader like Stalin was no
longer required to maintain the regime. The “cult of
personality” gave place to a “cult without
personality” and a nominal leader, who ensured
bureaucratic consensus by showing due respect for
the rights and privileges of the party elite.
The advent of the more activist and strong-minded leader Yuri
Andropov (1914–84), who succeeded Brezhnev in 1982, sent shock waves
through the system, threatening to undermine its conservative
foundations. However, his tenure was too short to effect any lasting
change: in February 1984 Andropov himself died.
As Andropov's bad health became common
knowledge (he was attached to a
dialysis machine by the end), several jokes made
the rounds:
- "Comrade Andropov is the most turned on man
in Moscow!"
-
-
- "Comrade Andropov is sure to light up any
discussion!"
- "Why did Brezhnev go abroad, and Andropov
did not? Because Brezhnev ran on batteries, but
Andropov needed an outlet."
-
- (Reference to
Brezhnev's pacemaker and Andropov's dialysis
machine).
Related reading &
slideshows:
|
|
|
|
JOKES |
 |
|
|
|
Jokes
about Rulers |
|
Images &
Video |

 |
|