Brezhnev's Stagnation
From Moscowiki
Khruschev’s Thaw was followed by a period of stagnation and political marasmus when Leonid Brezhnev came to power bringing bureaucracy and corruption. After his death the Politburo (the ruling top of the Communist Party) had no intention of letting a younger generation in, so Brezhnev was succeeded by 68-year-old Andropov and 72-year-old Chernenko. People joked that it was a period of the “Swan lake” ballet because it was shown on TV all day long when another General Secretary would leave this sinful planet forever.
