BREZHNEV DOCTRINE Meaning and
Definition
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The Brezhnev Doctrine, also known as the "Brezhnev Doctrine of Limited Sovereignty," was a foreign policy doctrine adopted by the Soviet Union during the leadership of General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. It was officially proclaimed in 1968 following the Warsaw Pact's intervention in Czechoslovakia, and it remained a guiding principle for Soviet international relations until the late 1980s.
The Brezhnev Doctrine asserted the Soviet Union's right to intervene militarily in any socialist country that was deemed to be under threat from capitalist imperialism or internal counter-revolutionary movements. It essentially provided justification for the USSR to suppress any attempts by its satellite states to introduce political, economic, or social reforms that deviated from the Soviet model of communism.
According to the doctrine, the socialist countries were regarded as part of a unified socialist camp, and any changes that risked destabilizing this unity were seen as dangerous to the entire socialist system. The Soviet Union believed that it had the duty and responsibility to protect this socialist unity by intervening in the affairs of other countries to prevent any perceived threats from destabilizing the region.
The Brezhnev Doctrine was a significant departure from the earlier policy of "socialism in one country" promoted by Joseph Stalin. It solidified Soviet control over its satellite states in Eastern Europe and provided a framework for justifying military interventions, such as those in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and Afghanistan in 1979.
The doctrine ceased to be officially recognized after Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985 and initiated a policy of openness and reform known as perestroika.
Etymology of BREZHNEV DOCTRINE
The term "Brezhnev Doctrine" is derived from the name of Leonid Brezhnev, who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 to 1982. The doctrine itself refers to the foreign policy strategy adopted by the Soviet Union during Brezhnev's tenure.
The Brezhnev Doctrine was officially articulated in 1968 and was a response to the events that took place in Czechoslovakia that year. In August 1968, a period known as the Prague Spring, Czechoslovakia attempted to pursue political reforms and liberalization of its communist regime. This movement resulted in concerns among Soviet leaders about losing their influence over Czechoslovakia and potentially setting a precedent for other Eastern European countries to follow suit.
