| − | '''Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov''' (1914-1984) was Director of the [[KGB]] from 1967 to 1982, and in 1982 was elected General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU), succeeding [[Leonid Brezhnev]]. Despite his hard-line past, which included a leading role in the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 (he was Soviet Ambassador to [[Hungary]] at the time) and in the suppression of the [[Prague Spring]] in 1968, and the 1979 Soviet invasion of [[Afghanistan]], Andropov was perceived in the West as a moderniser, and an opponent of the stagnation and corruption which was one of many factors impeding the Soviet economy. Adropov was General Secretary at the time of the Soviet shootdown of [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] on Sept. 1, 1983 but his role in the incident is unkown. Apparently vigorous when he assumed supreme office, it was a surprise when his health rapidly declined. Following renal failure, he died on 9 February 1984 and was succeeded by the geriatric [[Konstantin Chernenko]]. | + | '''Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov''' (1914-1984) was Director of the [[KGB]] from 1967 to 1982, and in 1982 was elected General Secretary of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] (CPSU), succeeding [[Leonid Brezhnev]]. Despite his hard-line past, which included leading roles in the suppression of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 (he was Soviet Ambassador to [[Hungary]] at the time), the suppression of the [[Prague Spring]] in 1968, and the 1979 Soviet invasion of [[Afghanistan]], Andropov was perceived in the West as a moderniser, and an opponent of the stagnation and corruption which was one of many factors impeding the Soviet economy. Adropov was General Secretary at the time of the Soviet shootdown of [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] on September 1, 1983, but his role in the incident is unkown. Apparently vigorous when he assumed supreme office, it was a surprise when his health rapidly declined. Following renal failure, he died on February 9, 1984, and was succeeded by the geriatric [[Konstantin Chernenko]]. |