How the climate of the Cold War contributed to the development of the topic in general
The climate of the Cold War contributed to the position of Leonid Brezhnev because he became the president of the communist party which made him the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet after Stalin and Khrushchev. Allowing him to make all the decisions for the benefit of the USSR by meeting other foreign figures that eventually gave him more power.
Who the person was, by explaining a bit about their upbringing and the important events that put them in a position to be influential
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev was born during 1906 in December in kamenskoye, Ukraine. He, like his father became a steelworker as an engineer in the eastern part of his home country where he also got into Komsomol aka VLKSM was a youth organization (communist party). There he was educated about being an agricultural surveyor during 1923. In 1931 Brezhnev joined the main party which is the CPSU (communist party of the Soviet Union). Eventually in 1938 he was assigned party political chief at Dnepropetrovsk. During WW2 he was the political commissar in charge of political education in a military unit to the Southern Army. Before that he was studying in a tank school that helped him get into the position of the political commissar. He was able to bring the new republic under the power of the Soviet Union. In the beginning of the 1970’s Leonid Brezhnev became very significant as a political representative in the communist party. Along with being the first secretary of the communist group he also became part of the Supreme Soviet as the president. During his ruling the economy of the Soviet Union started to fall and the changes had to stop until after Brezhnev’s death in 1982.
What group/organization/institution/country they served, and the position they held within that group
The Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev guided Leonid Brezhnev to become the Chairman and president of the Supreme Soviet, a very crucial stage for him to rise in power. Later that helped him take control of the USSR in 1964. After Joseph Stalin passed away in 1953, Khrushchev managed to strengthen his power which lead him to becoming the First secretary of the communist group of the Soviet Union. Being the First Secretary held the most power allowing them to take control of communist party’s system in the USSR. The Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet handled visitors from other countries as well as government issues. During 1960 in May Brezhnev took the position of president after Khrushchev gave him the name. Although the title didn’t give a lot of power, Brezhnev was able to deal with many foreign significant individuals as well as visiting other countries representing the Soviet Union. Leonid Brezhnev took advantage of the chances he had and that lead him to become better and stronger. In 1964 Brezhnev became the first secretary after Khrushchev. Brezhnev managed to keep that position till he died for 18 years.
2 other significant individuals from history (could be on the list above, but doesn’t have to be) that this person was involved with in one way or another
After Brezhnev was successful in taking the new republic under the domination of the communist party, it caught Joseph Stalin’s attention and Leonid was then invited to be a part of the Politburo. That is where Brezhnev met Khrushchev which is the second significant individual after Stalin. After Stalin’s death in 1953 Nikita Khrushchev was the one that rose to power. He guided Brezhnev to become the president of the Supreme Soviet which lead to the growth of his power in 1964.
What this person did that made them so significant - Who was impacted by their actions and why did/does it matter?
Leonid Brezhnev’s leadership is recognized for the massive buildup of nuclear arms, but at great cost of the Soviet economy. While a summit conference took place in Vienna, the president of the United Jimmy Carter and Brezhnev signed the SALT-II (Strategic Arms Limitation talks/treaty) agreement to handle the limitations of the nuclear weapons. This never worked out and it was one of the most controversial United States/Soviet treaties of the cold war. The first SALT treaty during in 1972 was successful however the second resulted in many issues caused by the SALT-I. The first SALT agreement restricted many nuclear weapons which kept many issues undetermined. In 1979 both the countries were very impatient to fix the agreement. The United States feared the the Soviets were using more advanced weapons which is what gave the Soviets motivation. The USSR was concerned that the relationship between the U.S. and China was strong. This treaty would leave the U.S. defenseless because of the wide variety of weapons that wasn’t mentioned in the treaty. The debate over this agreement continued for months. In 1979 during december the USSR invaded Afghanistan with their weapons. This attack almost stopped the chances of SALT-II from passing. Jimmy Carter made sure of this by removing the agreement from the Senate in 1980 (The second agreement was dispatched to the Senate to ratify it because of the tension between the USSR and America) hence keeping the treaty unratified. During the 1980’s both sides decided it would be best to keep the agreement as it is until new negotiations take place.
The person’s lasting impact on the Cold War, and the future of the world - Include one or more groups of people in this discussion
About 850,00 - 2,000,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan and millions (about 5-10 million) of them became refugees, due to the Soviet Union’s invasion, and moved to countries like Iran and Pakistan. They used weapons like booby traps, mines and chemical related weapons. They kidnapped the women there with their helicopters while searching for the Mujahideen (Muslim Afghan warriors). Incidents like this happened in various places in Afghanistan. The Soviets would abduct very young women and rape them. The Soviet Union carelessly killed Afghan soldiers and civilians to make sure that the locals were understanding what was happening around them. During 1985 in five villages the Soviets killed more than 600 civilians which triggered the Mujahideen to attack back. The Soviet’s would stick around villages with many people and there they would slaughter and murder families including the children.