Za Vashe Zdorovie

Cast your mind back to February, 1984. The Cold War was at its height. It was on this day 34 years ago, Soviet Union leader Yuri Andropov died. He was appointed in November 1982 after the death of Leonid Brezhnev, and held office for 14 months. Andropov was succeeded by Konstantin Chernenko, who himself only held office for 13 months, from February 1984 to March 1985. The cycle was broken with the elevation of the younger Mikhail Gorbachev to the position.

As author and journalist Clive James once amusingly commented, at this time, funerals for deceased Soviet leaders almost became an annual fixture, and the carriages used to carry their coffins in funeral processions held in Red Square looked like the Batmobile.

All of this was very symbolic. Just as the Soviet Union was led by a succession of sick old men in its final years, the Soviet Union itself was also crumbling. It was waging an unwinnable war in Afghanistan. Its economy was struggling. The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident provided more evidence of its decline. It was inevitable that it would collapse eventually, as it did in 1991.

This is a timely reminder that communism has been tried and failed, and it not worth trying ever again.