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

In 2014, the Georgian president died, and during the USSR - the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was 86 years old, and his name was Edward Shevardnadze. This person will also be discussed below.

Komsomol

Edward Shevardnadze, whose photo is 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 the school as a teacher of Russian language and literature, and Edik himself worked as a postman from ten years on.

During the fierce reprisals of 1937, Edward's father escaped arrest, hiding from the NKVD. He was saved by a member of the People's Commissariat, who had studied with him before. Edward himself enrolled in a medical college, which he graduated with honors. But the medical practice, he sacrificed a political career, which began with the post of the released secretary of the Komsomol. His career developed rapidly, and at 25 he became the first secretary of the Kutaisi City Committee of the Komsomol.

Later, he was noticed after the reaction of the Georgian youth to Khrushchev's report at the 20th Party congress. Tbilisi activists came out with an aggressive protest at the initiative to debunk the personality cult of Stalin. As a result, troops were entered into the city and a force was used, of which 21 people were victims. Kutaisi remained aloof from the unrest. It is impossible to say exactly what role Eduard Shevardnadze played in this, but he was promoted. A year later he headed the Komsomol within the entire Georgian Republic.

Anticorruption activity

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

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

The methods of combating bribery, applied by Eduard Shevardnadze, his biography preserved because of the wide resonance that they had in society. For example, at one of the meetings of the Georgian Central Committee, he asked the assembled officials to demonstrate the wristwatch. As a result, with the exception of the newly appointed first secretary with his modest "Glory", the prestigious and expensive "Seiko" were all in attendance. Another time he banned the taxi, but on the street it was still full of cars with characteristic signs. This is worth noting, because unlike the present time, private wagons were classified as unearned income and condemned.

However, it was not possible to completely get rid of bribery from the environment of the administrative apparatus. Among the reviews of this period there are also those who call all his activities a showy, as a result of which some thieves in law took the place of others.

Political flexibility

Shevardnadze Eduard Amvrosievich acquired a special popularity among the republic's population in 1978, and the reason for this was a political conflict because of the official language. The situation was such that only three republics in the USSR had their own national dialects as official state languages. Georgia was among them. In all other regions of the Soviet Union, the concept of the state language was not prescribed in the Constitution. In the course of the adoption of a new version of the Constitution, this feature was decided to remove and extend to all republics a common practice. However, this proposal did not have to taste to local citizens, and they gathered near the government building with peaceful protest. Eduard Shevardnadze immediately contacted Moscow and personally persuaded Brezhnev that this decision should be postponed. He did not follow the path customary for the Soviet authorities, to please the Party. Instead, the leader of the republic came out to the people and publicly said: "Everything will be the way you want." This greatly increased his rating and added weight in the eyes of citizens.

Simultaneously with this, however, he promised to fight to the last with ideological enemies. For example, he said that the capitalist pig-house would be cleaned to the bones. Very flattered, Eduard Shevardnadze spoke about Moscow politics and personally about Comrade Brezhnev. His flattery passed all conceivable limits even under the conditions of the Soviet regime. Shevardnadze responded positively to the introduction of Soviet military units into Afghanistan, insisting that it was the "only true" step. This and much more led to the fact that the opposition of the leader of Georgia often reproached him for insincerity and deceit. Strictly speaking, these same claims remain relevant even today, after Eduard Amvrosievich died. Shevardnadze answered evasively in his life, explaining that he did not vouch for 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 the critical attitude towards Stalin and the Stalinist regime, which Eduard Shevardnadze translated into his politics. 1984, for example, is the year of the premiere of the film "Repentance" Tengiz Abuladze. This film produced a notable resonance in the society, because Stalinism is sharply condemned in it. And this picture came out thanks to Shevardnadze's personal efforts.

Assistant to Gorbachev

The friendship between Shevardnadze and Gorbachev began when he was the first secretary of the Stavropol Territory Party. According to the memoirs of both, they spoke openly enough, and in one such conversation Shevardnadze said that "everything is rotten, everything needs to be changed." Less than three months later, Gorbachev led the Soviet Union and immediately invited Edward Amvrosievich to come to him with a proposal to him to assume the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs. The latter agreed, and instead of the former Shevardnadze, the head of Georgia, Shevardnadze, the USSR Minister of Foreign Affairs, appeared. This appointment has made furore not only in the country, but all over the world. First, Eduard Amvrosievich did not speak any foreign language. And secondly, he did not have any foreign policy experience. However, for Gorbachev's purposes, he approached perfectly, since he met the requirements of "new thinking" in politics and diplomacy. As a diplomat, he kept unconventional 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 staff of the ministry in their places. Shevardnadze neglected the personnel reshuffle, as a result of which the old collective split into two parts. One of them supported the new boss and admired his style, manners, memory and professional qualities. The other, on the contrary, stood in opposition and called everything that the new head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does, stupidity, and himself - the Kutaisi Komsomol member.

Especially the military disliked Shevardnadze. The Foreign Minister, to their obvious displeasure, argued that the greatest danger to Soviet citizens is the poverty of the population and the technological superiority of competing states, rather than American missiles and aircraft. Military to this attitude to themselves are not accustomed. Always getting everything they needed, under the regime of Brezhnev and Andropov, officials from the Ministry of Defense came out for a frank confrontation with Shevardnadze, openly criticizing and harsh criticizing him at various events. For example, in the negotiations on disarmament, Mikhail Moiseyev, the chief of staff, told the representatives of the United States that, unlike the "eccentric" Soviet diplomats, they have normal.

When Soviet troops were withdrawn from Eastern Europe, hatred for the head of the Foreign Ministry intensified, since the service within Germany or Czechoslovakia was for many a cherished goal. In the end, the meeting of the heads of the Ministry of Defense required the government to surrender Gorbachev. Subsequently, many experts argued that the cause of the Kremlin's harsh policy in the Caucasus in the 1990s was personal dislike of Shevardnadze's Russian military. In addition, many zealots of the Soviet system of values were extremely irritated by the position of Eduard Amvrosievich in relation to the countries of the West, which suggested seeing them as partners and not enemies and competitors. Even Gorbachev, being under the pressure of the discontented, seriously thought about changing the minister.

Strife with Gorbachev

The radical changes of Gorbachev were poorly met by the Soviet nomenclature. 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 virtually everything that happened in the camp of the bad. The second half of the 1980s was marked by a fissure that appeared in the relationship between Soviet leader Gorbachev and the Foreign Minister. The result was the voluntary resignation of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1990. And his demarche Edward Amvrosievich did not coordinate with anyone. As a result of diplomats from all over the world, panic broke out, as did Gorbachev himself, who had to apologize and justify himself for the actions of his former comrade-in-arms, who was Eduard Shevardnadze. His biography, however, includes a second attempt to take the place of the Foreign Minister.

Return to the post of Foreign Minister

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

Leadership of sovereign Georgia

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 the sovereign Georgia. It happened in 1992, after the overthrow of Zviad Gamsakhurdia. His return to his homeland contemporaries often compared with the episode calling the Varangians to Russia. The desire to bring the republic's internal affairs in order played an important role in its resolution. But he failed to fulfill this task: the Georgian society was not consolidated to the full. His world authority did not help him, and, among other things, serious criminal resistance was provided by armed criminal leaders. After taking the post of the head of Georgia Shevardnadze had to deal with the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were provoked by his predecessor. Being influenced by the military, as well as public opinion, he agreed in 1992 to introduce troops into these territories.

Presidency

Shevardnadze won the presidential election twice - in 1995 and 2000. They differed by a significant margin, 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 an attempt was made on him. For the first time, in 1995, he was injured by a bomb explosion. Three years later he was again tried to kill. However, this time the motorcade of the President was fired from submachine-guns and a grenade launcher. The head of state was saved only thanks to an armored car. It is not known exactly who made these attempts. In the first case, the main suspect is Igor Giorgadze, ex-head of the security service of Georgia. He himself, however, denies and hides his involvement in the organization of the assassination attempt in Russia. But concerning the second episode at different times there were put forward versions that it was organized by Chechen fighters, local bandits, opposition politicians and even the Russian GRU.

Resignation

In November 2003, as a result of the parliamentary elections, Shevardnadze's supporters were declared victorious. However, opposition politicians announced falsification of election results, which provoked mass riots. In history, this event was imprinted, like the Rose Revolution. As a result of these events, Shevardnadze accepted resignation. The new government appointed him a pension, and he went to live his life in his own residence in Tbilisi.

Eduard Shevardnadze: the cause of death

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