http://clipmarks.com/clipper/ks17manu/http://rss.clipmarks.com/clipper/ks17manu/15Clip, tag and save information that's important to you. Bookmarks save entire pages...Clipmarks save the specific content that matters to you!en-ushttp://clipmarks.com/clipmark/8AEFAE58-B315-4BA4-AAD5-802A13F88F35/<b>clipped by:</b> <a href="http://clipmarks.com/clipper/ks17manu/">ks17manu</a><br><b>clipper's remarks:</b> soviet union <br><div border="2" style="margin-top: 10px; border:#000000 1px solid;" width="90%"><div style="background-color:"><div align="center" width="100%" style="padding:4px;margin-bottom:4px;background-color:#666666;overflow:hidden;"><span style="color:#FFFFFF;font-weight:bold;">Clip Source: <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.geographia.com/russia/rushis07.htm" title="http://www.geographia.com/russia/rushis07.htm">www.geographia.com</a></span></div><div style="padding: 10px;"><div style="text-align:left;">By the 1970s, Leonid Brezhnev, as general secretary of the Communist party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), had become the next prominent Soviet leader. His tenure was marked by a determined emphasis on domestic stability and an aggressive foreign policy. The country entered a decade-long period of stagnation, its rigid economy slowly deteriorating and its political climate becoming increasingly pessimistic. When Breshnev died in 1982 he was succeeded as general secretary first by Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB, and then by Konstantin Chernenko, neither of whom managed to survive long enough to effect significant changes. In March of 1985, when Mikhail Gorbachev became general secretary, the need for reforms was pressing.</div></div></div></div><br><div style="margin-bottom: 40px;"></div>http://www.geographia.com/russia/rushis07.htmSun, 20 Jul 2008 13:09:53 GMT