ABSTRACT
A different image seems more appropriate and correct: Chernenko as a symbol and likeness of the Soviet system that produced him, that he faithfully served, and that he incarnated. Before Chernenko all Soviet leaders were, in one way or another, more or less out of step with the social realities surrounding them. Chernenko’s personality should therefore be looked upon as formed by the interaction between his personal weakness and the immense power of the regime. The Bolshevik Revolution could have left only dim memories in Chernenko’s mind, but they were likely to have been ones of pillage and arson, when grain was burned to the root along with the whole estates of wealthier peasants, which initiated the class warfare in the country. Chernenko had no doubts: the kulaks were betraying the Revolution, burning grain, raping women, killing children. Chernenko was earning something of higher value than the gold his father dreamt of: the trust of the Party.
