ABSTRACT
Whatever the conscripts may have felt, the war had been a boon for the officer corps. It brought not only sizeable perks but the chance to hone military skills in battle and win a reputation that could propel the lucky few to higher, even the highest ranks. The military chronicler and ideological camp-follower Aleksandr Prokhanov called them the 'Afghan Brotherhood', a charmed circle of able and battle-tested professional soldiers bound by common experiences and a common solidarity. For the rise and mutual support of cliques based on such ties was by no means unique to the USSR, but was certainly an entrenched part of its history. Khrushchev had his 'Stalin grad group', including the Second World War hero, Marshal Zhukov. Brezhnev had served at the front - albeit in rather less illustrious manner than his later hagiographies claimed - and had personal ties with three Defence Ministers: R. D. Malinovskii, A. A. Grechko and his friend and ally Dmitrii Ustinov. In 1966, 32 per cent of the Politburo had spent at least seven years in military or military-related occupations, though this had fallen to 15 per cent by 1987. Andropov had also been active in the war, especially coordinating partisan operations in the north-west, and had established at least cordial relations with the military during his tenure at the Lubyanka. Chernenko inherited Brezhnev's stable. The assumption was that these veterans of the USSR's only 'proper' war for 40 years would be no exception. Of course, a difference this time was that Gorbachev was the first post-war Soviet leader not to come to office both with military experience and a ready-made array of uniformed friends, clients and contacts.
