Yegor Ligachev
Encyclopedia
Yegor Kuzmich Ligachev is a Russian politician who was a high-ranking official in the Communist Party
of the Soviet Union
(CPSU). Originally a protege of Mikhail Gorbachev
, Ligachev became a challenger to his leadership.
. Between 1938 and 1943 he attended the Ordzhonikidze Institute for Aviation in Moscow and attained a technical engineering degree. Ligachev joined the Communist Party at the age of 24 in 1944, later studying at the Higher Party School in 1951.
, where he was born, and took him to some of the highest functions of the Party. Ligachev was often regarded as Gorbachev's second man, holding important posts such as Secretary for Ideology. However, Ligachev lost his posts in 1990, a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union
, resigning from his political career at the 28th Party Congress. Ligachev was critical of Yeltsin and Gorbachev to an extent, although he is often held as most remarkable for being Gorbachev's primary critic.
of the Novosibirsk
Komsomol
, before becoming Deputy Chairman of the Novosibirsk Soviet
, and then Secretary of the Novosibirsk Obkom between 1959 and 1961.
Ligachev's first major post was attained in 1961, when he began working in the CPSU Central Committee
. In 1965, he became First Secretary of the Party in Tomsk
, Siberia
. He was to hold this position until 1983, when he was discovered by Yuri Andropov
and made head of the Party Organization Department and a Secretary of the Central Committee.
In 1966, Ligachev was elected a candidate member of the Central Committee, and ten years later in 1976 he was promoted to a full member. When Mikhail Gorbachev
became General Secretary in 1985, Ligachev was promoted to become a Secretary of higher status, and was generally viewed as one of Gorbachev’s primary allies: he had helped organize a pro-Gorbachev faction in hope of having Gorbachev succeed Andropov in 1984, although this attempt failed (instead, Konstantin Chernenko
was chosen as a stop-gap candidate). Ligachev was made head of the Secretariat
.
However, Ligachev rapidly became an opponent of Gorbachev, as he opposed Gorbachev’s policies of perestroika
and glasnost
. These policies distanced himself from Gorbachev, and by 1988 he was recognized as the leader of the more conservative, anti-Gorbachev faction of Soviet politicians. Ligachev served in the Politburo
between 1985 and 1990. Ligachev, having made some speeches criticising Gorbachev, was demoted from his more prestigious position as Secretary for Ideology to Secretary for Agriculture in 1988.
Perhaps the highlight of Ligachev's career was the 28th Congress of the CPSU
in 1990. Ligachev criticized Gorbachev for circumventing the Party via Soviet Presidency, and he argued Glasnost had gone too far. During the Party Congress, Ligachev challenged Gorbachev for the office of General Secretary, standing as the "Leninist
" candidate. Having been defeated, Ligachev left the Politburo and went into temporary retirement.
as a member for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
, a position he currently holds, and became the Duma’s oldest member.
Ligachev remains an active politician in the Communist Party and has been a member of its Central Committee
since co-founding the party in 1993. However, he lost his seat in the Duma in 2003, when he polled 23.5% of the vote against United Russia
candidate Vladimir Zhidkikh's 53.0%.
Ligachev released his memoirs in 1996, titled Inside Gorbachev's Kremlin: The Memoirs of Yegor Ligachev. The Memoirs reveal Gorbachev's role in the USSR's dissolution, from a personal, up-close perspective. Serge Schmemann of the NY Times wrote that the author was driven "to seek explanations for what went wrong, to understand his own role" and while the reviewer wished for more intrigue (in the form of detailed accounts of events other than the dissolution of the USSR), he believed the book was an interesting and detailed account of that period from the perspective of an "honest Bolshevik".
However, in 1988, Ligachev denied that he was leading a conservative faction, saying that the Party leadership were united behind Gorbachev. He also rejected suggestions after the fall of the Soviet Union that he had been opposed to Gorbachev in his memoirs and in speeches. Ligachev clearly demonstrated conservative ideas in his opposition of Yeltsin's political ideas, on the other hand, opposing the principles of glasnost. He later repudiated his opposition to Gorbachev's policies, saying it was "only too late [he] discerned a social democrat in Gorbachev".
Ligachev denied time and again that he was opposed to Gorbachev in sources including his memoirs.
Ligachev's economically hard-line views were upheld in speeches he made to the CPSU's Congress in 1990. The following deplored privatization of the economy:
However, in this speech he also rejected the idea he was a conservative, saying he was a realist. Ligachev also stated earlier that "the slackening of state discipline" was "among the reasons for the troubled state of the economy". Furthermore, together with KGB head Viktor Chebrikov
, Ligachev took several opportunities before he was demoted to Secretary for Agriculture in 1988 to warn against rapid reform.
Although not mentioned in his memoirs to any notable extent, Ligachev played a notable role in dismissing Yeltsin, arguing with him for long periods of time in 1987. Ligachev opposed Yeltsin's idea that Party officials enjoyed greater privilege. He became well known after the phrase "Boris, you are not right!", that was quoted widely in 1990s.
Ligachev was considered "Second Secretary" of the Central Committee (and thus the Soviet Union) for most of his time in the Politburo.
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
(CPSU). Originally a protege of Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, Ligachev became a challenger to his leadership.
Early life
Ligachev was born on November 29, 1920 in Dubinkino, not far from NovosibirskNovosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
. Between 1938 and 1943 he attended the Ordzhonikidze Institute for Aviation in Moscow and attained a technical engineering degree. Ligachev joined the Communist Party at the age of 24 in 1944, later studying at the Higher Party School in 1951.
Political career
Ligachev's career began in SiberiaSiberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, where he was born, and took him to some of the highest functions of the Party. Ligachev was often regarded as Gorbachev's second man, holding important posts such as Secretary for Ideology. However, Ligachev lost his posts in 1990, a year before the dissolution of the Soviet Union
Dissolution of the Soviet Union
The dissolution of the Soviet Union was the disintegration of the federal political structures and central government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , resulting in the independence of all fifteen republics of the Soviet Union between March 11, 1990 and December 25, 1991...
, resigning from his political career at the 28th Party Congress. Ligachev was critical of Yeltsin and Gorbachev to an extent, although he is often held as most remarkable for being Gorbachev's primary critic.
In the USSR
Ligachev was First SecretaryGeneral Secretary
The office of general secretary is staffed by the chief officer of:*The General Secretariat for Macedonia and Thrace, a government agency for the Greek regions of Macedonia and Thrace...
of the Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
Komsomol
Komsomol
The Communist Union of Youth , usually known as Komsomol , was the youth division of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The Komsomol in its earliest form was established in urban centers in 1918. During the early years, it was a Russian organization, known as the Russian Communist Union of...
, before becoming Deputy Chairman of the Novosibirsk Soviet
Soviet (council)
Soviet was a name used for several Russian political organizations. Examples include the Czar's Council of Ministers, which was called the “Soviet of Ministers”; a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia; and the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union....
, and then Secretary of the Novosibirsk Obkom between 1959 and 1961.
Ligachev's first major post was attained in 1961, when he began working in the CPSU Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
. In 1965, he became First Secretary of the Party in Tomsk
Tomsk
Tomsk is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Tom River. One of the oldest towns in Siberia, Tomsk celebrated its 400th anniversary in 2004...
, Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. He was to hold this position until 1983, when he was discovered by Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
and made head of the Party Organization Department and a Secretary of the Central Committee.
In 1966, Ligachev was elected a candidate member of the Central Committee, and ten years later in 1976 he was promoted to a full member. When Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
became General Secretary in 1985, Ligachev was promoted to become a Secretary of higher status, and was generally viewed as one of Gorbachev’s primary allies: he had helped organize a pro-Gorbachev faction in hope of having Gorbachev succeed Andropov in 1984, although this attempt failed (instead, Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was a Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985...
was chosen as a stop-gap candidate). Ligachev was made head of the Secretariat
Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee
The Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee was a key body within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and was responsible for the central administration of the party as opposed to drafting government policy which was usually handled by the Politburo...
.
However, Ligachev rapidly became an opponent of Gorbachev, as he opposed Gorbachev’s policies of perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...
and glasnost
Glasnost
Glasnost was the policy of maximal publicity, openness, and transparency in the activities of all government institutions in the Soviet Union, together with freedom of information, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the second half of the 1980s...
. These policies distanced himself from Gorbachev, and by 1988 he was recognized as the leader of the more conservative, anti-Gorbachev faction of Soviet politicians. Ligachev served in the Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
between 1985 and 1990. Ligachev, having made some speeches criticising Gorbachev, was demoted from his more prestigious position as Secretary for Ideology to Secretary for Agriculture in 1988.
Perhaps the highlight of Ligachev's career was the 28th Congress of the CPSU
28th Congress of the CPSU
28th Congress of the CPSU was held in Moscow. It was held a year ahead of the traditional schedule and turned out to be the last Communist Party of the Soviet Union congress in the history of the party....
in 1990. Ligachev criticized Gorbachev for circumventing the Party via Soviet Presidency, and he argued Glasnost had gone too far. During the Party Congress, Ligachev challenged Gorbachev for the office of General Secretary, standing as the "Leninist
Leninism
In Marxist philosophy, Leninism is the body of political theory for the democratic organisation of a revolutionary vanguard party, and the achievement of a direct-democracy dictatorship of the proletariat, as political prelude to the establishment of socialism...
" candidate. Having been defeated, Ligachev left the Politburo and went into temporary retirement.
Russian Federation
After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Ligachev became a notable communist politician in the Russian Federation. Ligachev was elected three times to the Russian State DumaState Duma
The State Duma , common abbreviation: Госду́ма ) in the Russian Federation is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia , the upper house being the Federation Council of Russia. The Duma headquarters is located in central Moscow, a few steps from Manege Square. Its members are referred to...
as a member for the Communist Party of the Russian Federation
Communist Party of the Russian Federation
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is a Russian political party. It is the second major political party in the Russian Federation.-History:...
, a position he currently holds, and became the Duma’s oldest member.
Ligachev remains an active politician in the Communist Party and has been a member of its Central Committee
Central Committee
Central Committee was the common designation of a standing administrative body of communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, whether ruling or non-ruling in the twentieth century and of the surviving, mostly Trotskyist, states in the early twenty first. In such party organizations the...
since co-founding the party in 1993. However, he lost his seat in the Duma in 2003, when he polled 23.5% of the vote against United Russia
United Russia
United Russia is a centrist political party in Russia and the largest party in the country, currently holding 315 of the 450 seats in the State Duma. The party was founded in December 2001, through a merger of the Unity and Fatherland-All Russia parties...
candidate Vladimir Zhidkikh's 53.0%.
Ligachev released his memoirs in 1996, titled Inside Gorbachev's Kremlin: The Memoirs of Yegor Ligachev. The Memoirs reveal Gorbachev's role in the USSR's dissolution, from a personal, up-close perspective. Serge Schmemann of the NY Times wrote that the author was driven "to seek explanations for what went wrong, to understand his own role" and while the reviewer wished for more intrigue (in the form of detailed accounts of events other than the dissolution of the USSR), he believed the book was an interesting and detailed account of that period from the perspective of an "honest Bolshevik".
Significance
Ligachev became one of Gorbachev’s primary critics, accused of leading a conservative faction. Although publicly endorsing perestroika, Ligachev was opposed to Gorbachev’s attempts to expand Soviet authority and limit the responsibilities of party officials. Ligachev did not support the decision to end the CPSU’s monopoly of political power in 1990, nor did he support Gorbachev’s response to the gradual withdrawal of Soviet authority in Eastern Europe, saying, for example, that "We should not overlook the impending danger of the accelerated reunification of Germany".However, in 1988, Ligachev denied that he was leading a conservative faction, saying that the Party leadership were united behind Gorbachev. He also rejected suggestions after the fall of the Soviet Union that he had been opposed to Gorbachev in his memoirs and in speeches. Ligachev clearly demonstrated conservative ideas in his opposition of Yeltsin's political ideas, on the other hand, opposing the principles of glasnost. He later repudiated his opposition to Gorbachev's policies, saying it was "only too late [he] discerned a social democrat in Gorbachev".
Ligachev denied time and again that he was opposed to Gorbachev in sources including his memoirs.
Ligachev's economically hard-line views were upheld in speeches he made to the CPSU's Congress in 1990. The following deplored privatization of the economy:
However, in this speech he also rejected the idea he was a conservative, saying he was a realist. Ligachev also stated earlier that "the slackening of state discipline" was "among the reasons for the troubled state of the economy". Furthermore, together with KGB head Viktor Chebrikov
Viktor Chebrikov
Viktor Mikhailovich Chebrikov ) was a Soviet Union public official and security administrator and head of the KGB from December 1982 to October 1988....
, Ligachev took several opportunities before he was demoted to Secretary for Agriculture in 1988 to warn against rapid reform.
Although not mentioned in his memoirs to any notable extent, Ligachev played a notable role in dismissing Yeltsin, arguing with him for long periods of time in 1987. Ligachev opposed Yeltsin's idea that Party officials enjoyed greater privilege. He became well known after the phrase "Boris, you are not right!", that was quoted widely in 1990s.
Ligachev was considered "Second Secretary" of the Central Committee (and thus the Soviet Union) for most of his time in the Politburo.
Sources
- Inside Gorbachev's Kremlin: The Memoirs of Yegor Ligachev. Pantheon Books: 1993 (ISBN 0-679-41392-8)
- Ligachev on Glasnost and Perestroika. Carl Beck Papers in Russian and East European Studies, no. 706: 1989.