ABSTRACT
The leadership changes in the Soviet Union were, in many respects, even more important for the G D R . Leonid Brezhnev died in 1982 to be replaced by Yuri Andropov who died in 1984. His successor was the ailing Konstantin Chernenko whose demise in 1985 led to the dynamic Mikhail Gorbachev taking over as Soviet party leader. The changes at the top of the Soviet party had brought changes lower down and not since the 1930s had there been so vast a turnover of the Soviet political and administrative élite in so short a period. During Gorbachev’s first year a majority of the Politburo and the Presidium of the Council of Ministers was either moved in or moved up. At 55 the new General Secretary represented the rise to power of the generation who had not fought in the war and had not held office under Stalin. This age difference alone meant that he came to office as a very different man from the other Communist leaders in East Europe, including the 73-year-old (in 1985) Honecker. The S E D leaders could not be sure what the Soviet leadership changes would mean for the G D R .
