Eduard Shevardnadze: biography, political career, photo, causes of death

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:43

In 2014, the President of Georgia died, and during the Soviet era, the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was 86 years old, and his name was Eduard Shevardnadze. This person will be discussed below.

Komsomol

Eduard Shevardnadze, whose photos are located in the article, was born in 1928. It happened in Georgia, in the village of Mamati. The family in which Eduard Shevardnadze was born was large and not very rich. His father worked at school as a teacher of Russian language and literature, and Edik himself worked as a postman from the age of ten.

During the fierce repressions of 1937, Eduard's father escaped arrest by hiding from the NKVD. His life was saved by one of the employees of the People's Commissariat, who had previously studied with him. Edward himself entered the medical college, which he graduated with honors. But he sacrificed medical practice to a political career, which he began with the post of the released secretary of the Komsomol. His career developed rapidly, and at the age of 25 he became the first secretary of the Kutaisi City Komsomol Committee.

Later he was noticed after the reaction of the Georgian youth to Khrushchev's report at the XX Congress of the Party. Tbilisi activists came out with an aggressive protest against the initiative to debunk Stalin's personality cult. As a result, troops were brought into the city and force was used, the victims of which were 21 people. Kutaisi remained aloof from the riots. It is impossible to say exactly what role Eduard Shevardnadze played in this, but he was promoted. A year later, he was already heading the Komsomol within the framework of the entire Georgian Republic.

Anti-corruption activities

From the post of secretary, Eduard Amvrosievich Shevardnadze was transferred in 1968 to the post of republican minister of the interior. On the one hand, it was an increase, but a rather specific one. There were unwritten rules in the administrative apparatus of the Soviet government, according to which the occupation of a general's position in the police was the final stage of a career, because they were never transferred back to politics. Thus, this place was a dead end in terms of career development. But Eduard Amvrosievich Shevardnadze, whose biography is full of interesting twists and turns, managed to get out of this situation.

The fact is that the Soviet Caucasus was a very corrupt region and this point stood out against the background of everything else, also far from ideal, the Union. The anti-corruption campaign unleashed by the Kremlin needed reliable people who did not tarnish their reputation. And Shevardnadze had just such a reputation, which was reported to Brezhnev. As a result, he was sent for an internship as the first secretary of the Tbilisi City Committee. BUTa year later, in 1972, he headed the republic. Moreover, only four years later he received membership in the Central Committee of the CPSU, which was due to him on duty. The result of Shevardnadze's first anti-corruption five-year plan was the dismissal of about forty thousand people. At the same time, 75% were convicted according to the law - about thirty thousand.

The methods of combating bribery that Eduard Shevardnadze used, his biography has preserved due to the wide resonance they had in society. For example, at one of the meetings of the Georgian Central Committee, he asked the assembled officials to demonstrate wristwatches. As a result, with the exception of the newly appointed first secretary with his modest “Glory”, everyone ended up with prestigious and expensive “Seiko”. On another occasion, he banned the operation of taxis, but the street was still full of cars with characteristic features. This is worth noting because, unlike today, private transport was classified as unearned income and condemned.

However, he failed to completely eliminate bribery from the environment of the administrative apparatus. Among the reviews of this period, there are those who call all his activities a window dressing, as a result of which some thieves in law took the place of others.

Political flexibility

Eduard Amvrosievich Shevardnadze gained particular popularity among the population of the republic in 1978, and the reason for this was a political conflict over the official language. The situation was such that only three republics in the USSR had officialstate languages their national dialects. Georgia was among them. In all other regions of the Soviet Union, the concept of the state language was not spelled out in the Constitution. In the course of the adoption of a new version of the Constitution, it was decided to remove this feature and extend the general practice to all republics. However, this proposal was not to the taste of local citizens, and they gathered in front of the government building with a peaceful protest. Eduard Shevardnadze immediately contacted Moscow and personally convinced Brezhnev that this decision should be postponed. He did not follow the path familiar to the Soviet authorities, to please the Party. Instead, the leader of the republic went out to the people and said publicly: "Everything will be as you want." This increased his rating many times over and added weight in the eyes of citizens.

At the same time, however, he promised to fight ideological enemies to the last. For example, he said that he would clean the capitalist pigsty to the bone. Eduard Shevardnadze spoke very flatteringly about Moscow politics and personally about Comrade Brezhnev. His flattery crossed all conceivable limits even under the conditions of the Soviet regime. Shevardnadze spoke positively about the introduction of Soviet military units into Afghanistan, insisting that this was "the only right" step. This and many other things led to the fact that the Georgian leader's opposition often reproached him for insincerity and deceit. As a matter of fact, these same claims remain relevant even today, after Eduard Amvrosievich died. Shevardnadze answered them evasively during his lifetime, explaining thathe allegedly did not curry favor with the Kremlin, but tried to create conditions in order to better serve the interests of the people.

It is interesting to note such a fact as a critical attitude towards Stalin and the Stalinist regime, which was broadcast in his policy by Eduard Shevardnadze. 1984, for example, is the year of the premiere of the film "Repentance" by Tengiz Abuladze. This film produced a noticeable response in society, because in it Stalinism is sharply condemned. And this picture came out thanks to the personal efforts of Shevardnadze.

Gorbachev's assistant

Friendship between Shevardnadze and Gorbachev began when the latter was the first secretary of the Stavropol Regional Party Committee. According to the memoirs of both, they talked quite frankly, and in one of these conversations Shevardnadze said that "everything is rotten, everything needs to be changed." Less than three months later, Gorbachev headed the Soviet Union and immediately invited Eduard Amvrosievich to his place with a proposal to take the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs for him. The latter agreed, and so instead of the former Shevardnadze, the leader of Georgia, Shevardnadze, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, appeared. This appointment made a splash not only in the country, but throughout the world. Firstly, Eduard Amvrosievich did not speak any foreign language. And secondly, he did not have any foreign policy experience. However, for Gorbachev's purposes, he was ideally suited, since he met the requirements of "new thinking" in the field of politics and diplomacy. As a diplomat, he behaved unconventionally for a Soviet politician: he joked,maintained a fairly relaxed atmosphere, allowed himself some liberties.

However, he miscalculated with his own team, deciding to leave all the employees of the ministry in their places. Shevardnadze neglected the personnel reshuffle, as a result of which the old team split into two parts. One of them supported the new chief and admired his style, manners, memory and professional qualities. The other, on the contrary, stood up in opposition and called everything that the new head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does stupidity, and he himself was a Kutaisi Komsomol member.

The military especially disliked Shevardnadze. The Foreign Minister, to their obvious displeasure, argued that the greatest danger to Soviet citizens was the poverty of the population and the technological superiority of competing states, and not American missiles and aircraft. The military is not used to such an attitude. Always getting everything they needed under the regime of Brezhnev and Andropov, officials from the Ministry of Defense came into open confrontation with Shevardnadze, openly vilifying and harshly criticizing him at various events. For example, at the disarmament talks, Mikhail Moiseev, chief of the General Staff, told the representatives of the United States that, unlike the "eccentric" Soviet diplomats, they have normal ones.

When the Soviet troops were withdrawn from Eastern Europe, hatred for the head of the Foreign Ministry intensified, since service within Germany or Czechoslovakia was a cherished goal for many. In the end, a meeting of the leaders of the Ministry of Defense demanded that the government giveGorbachev on trial. Subsequently, many experts argued that the reason for the Kremlin's harsh policy in the Caucasus in the 1990s was the personal hostility of the Russian military towards Shevardnadze. In addition, many adherents of the Soviet system of values were extremely annoyed by the position of Eduard Amvrosievich in relation to the countries of the West, which offered to see them not as enemies and competitors, but as partners. Even Gorbachev himself, under pressure from the dissatisfied, was seriously thinking about changing the minister.

Discord with Gorbachev

Gorbachev's radical changes were poorly received by the Soviet nomenklatura. The active democratization of society and economic reforms, as well as the policy of glasnost, were met with desperate resistance. The ultra-orthodox communists blamed Shevardnadze for almost everything that happened in the camp of the bad. The second half of the 1980s was marked by a crack that appeared in relations between the leader of the USSR Gorbachev and the head of the Foreign Ministry. The result of this was the voluntary resignation of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990. Moreover, Eduard Amvrosievich did not coordinate his demarche with anyone. As a result, diplomats from all over the world panicked, as did Gorbachev himself, who had to apologize and justify himself for the actions of his former ally, who was Eduard Shevardnadze. His biography, however, includes a second attempt to take the place of the head of the Foreign Ministry.

Return to the post of Foreign Minister

As far as is known, the decision to return to the post of head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was not an easy one for Shevardnadze. With an offerto do this Gorbachev turned to him immediately after the coup. However, Edward's first reaction was refusal. Nevertheless, when the collapse of the USSR became a very real threat, he nevertheless agreed to provide his assistance. When the White House was attacked in August 1991, Shevardnadze was among its defenders. His presence there was very beneficial for Gorbachev, because he told the whole world - both the Soviet nomenklatura and the West - that everything was returning to its place, and the consequences of the putsch were a thing of the past. Many people believed that Shevardnadze was not interested in the USSR, but only in Georgia. Shevardnadze allegedly wanted and in every possible way sought the collapse of the Union in order to make the republic a state independent of the Kremlin. However, this is not so - he tried to the last to prevent the collapse of the USSR and made every effort for this. For example, refusing to travel abroad, he spent time visiting the capitals of the republics. He realized that sovereign Russia, headed by Boris Yeltsin, would not become his home and there he would not be offered any position. But his efforts were not crowned with success. All in all, his second attempt at the same spot lasted only three weeks.

Sovereign Georgia leadership

The collapse of the USSR for the former minister of 63 years meant the prospect of a calm and carefree life anywhere in the world. But instead, at the suggestion of the Georgian government apparatus, he decided to head sovereign Georgia. It happened in 1992, after the overthrow of Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Contemporaries often compared his return to his homeland withepisode of calling the Varangians to Russia. The desire to put the internal affairs of the republic in order played an important role in his decision. But he failed to complete this task: Georgian society was not fully consolidated. His world authority did not help him, and among other things, armed criminal leaders provided serious resistance. After assuming the post of head of Georgia, Shevardnadze had to deal with the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were provoked by his predecessor. Influenced by the military, as well as public opinion, he agreed in 1992 to send troops to these territories.

Presidency

Shevardnadze won the presidential elections twice - in 1995 and 2000. They were distinguished by a significant preponderance, but he still did not become a universally recognized national hero. He was often criticized for economic instability, for weakness in relation to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as for the corruption of the state apparatus. Twice he was assassinated. The first time, in 1995, he was injured by a bomb blast. Three years later, they tried to kill him again. However, this time the president's motorcade was fired upon from machine guns and a grenade launcher. The head of state was saved only thanks to an armored car. It is not known exactly who carried out these attacks. In the first case, the main suspect is Igor Giorgadze, the former head of the Georgian security service. However, he himself, however, denies his involvement in the organization of the assassination attempt and hides in Russia. But regarding the second episode, versions were put forward at various times that itorganized by Chechen fighters, local bandits, opposition politicians and even the Russian GRU.

Resignation

In November 2003, as a result of parliamentary elections, the victory of Shevardnadze's supporters was announced. However, opposition politicians announced the falsification of the election results, which provoked mass unrest. This event is recorded in history as the Rose Revolution. As a result of these events, Shevardnadze accepted his resignation. The new government gave him a pension, and he went to live out his life in his own residence in Tbilisi.

Eduard Shevardnadze: cause of death

Eduard Amvrosievich completed his life on July 7, 2014. He died at the age of 87 as a result of a severe and prolonged illness. The grave of Shevardnadze, the photo of which is located above, is located in the park area of his residence in the government quarter of Krtsanisi, where he lived in recent years. His wife's grave is also located there.