Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov
Born June 15, 1914, in Russia, Andropov left school when he was 16, holding a variety of jobs before entering Komsomol (the Communist Youth League) in 1930. A beneficiary of Stalin's purges, he rose rapidly, becoming first secretary of the Yaroslav Komsomol (1938) and first secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee in the newly created Karelo-Finnish Republic (1940-1944). During World War II, Andropov took part in partisan guerrilla activities. After the war, he held positions in the Karelo-Party apparatus before being transferred to the Communist Party's Central Committee in Moscow (1951).
Following Stalin's death (March 1953) Andropov was demoted to Budapest as a counselor in the Soviet Embassy (1953) but promoted to ambassador to Hungary in 1954. Over the next three years he watched events that led to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Andropov played an important role in the Soviet decision to invade Hungary in 1956. His steady stream of reports to Moscow warned of growing unrest in Hungary. He also gave his views on the strength of the Hungarian leadership's position. Moscow's decision to invade was based in part on Andropov's reports. Andropov cabled a request for Soviet military assistance to Moscow from Erno Gero, first secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party. According to Maj. Gen. Bela Kiraly, former Hungarian military commander of Budapest, Andropov also assured the Nagy government that the Soviets had no intention of invading, although he knew otherwise.
Andropov returned to Moscow to head the newly created Central Committee Department for Liaison with Socialist Countries (1957-1967), was elevated to the Central Committee Secretariat (1962) and was appointed head of the KGB in May 1967. During his tenure, KGB methods were "refined." Dissent was severely repressed, and dissidents frequently confined to psychiatric hospitals. The most famous dissidents were "allowed" to emigrate to avoid negative world opinion. In 1973 Andropov became a full member of the Politburo, retaining that position after giving up his KGB post in 1982.
Just days after Brezhnev's death (November 10, 1982), Andropov became the Communist Party's general secretary. In the 15 months he ruled before his death, Andropov tried to improve the efficiency of the Soviet economy. His foreign policy stance reflected the Soviet status quo. During Andropov's tenure, the U.S.S.R. remained in the war in Afghanistan. He also tried to persuade the Europeans not to allow U.S. President Ronald Reagan to station Pershing missiles in Germany.
It was also during Andropov's time as Soviet leader that Soviet forces shot down a civilian, South Korean airliner, killing all 269 people on board. Scholars still debate whether Andropov would have proved to be a real reformer had he lived. He died on February 9, 1984, at age 69, of acute kidney failure.