64 THE END OF THE COLD WAR
of agriculture and rapid industrialization as well as the victory in the
Second World War. His objective was to repair the Soviet order
without destroying its foundations. He wished to start with measures
affecting the Soviet economy, Eastern Europe and America.^51 But he
had a petrified commitment to the system of power he had inherited
from Brezhnev. As his health went into steep decline, he had no
answer to the problems that he and the rest of the Politburo discerned.