Gromyko's political career started in 1939 in the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (renamed Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1946). He became the Soviet ambassador to the United States in 1943, leaving that position in 1946 to become the SovietPermanent Representative to theUnited Nations in New York. Upon his return to Moscow he became aDeputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and laterFirst Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and eventually Foreign Minister. He went on to become the Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1952.
UponKonstantin Chernenko's selection asGeneral Secretary on 13 February 1984, Andrei Gromyko formed an unofficialtriumvirate alongside Ustinov and Chernenko that governed the Soviet Union through the end of the year.[7][8][9] However, following Gorbachev's election as General Secretary in March 1985, Gromyko was removed from office as foreign minister and appointed to the largely ceremonial post ofChairman of thePresidium of theSupreme Soviet of the USSR. He ultimately retired from political life in 1988, and died the following year inMoscow.
Gromyko was born to a poor "semi-peasant, semi-worker"Belarusian family[10] in theBelarusian village of Staryye Gromyki, nearGomel, on 18 July 1909. Gromyko's father, Andrei Matveyevich, worked as a seasonal worker in a localfactory. Andrei Matveyevich was not a very educated man, having only attended four years of school, but knew how to read and write. He had fought in theRusso-Japanese War of 1904–1905.[11] Gromyko's mother, Olga Yevgenyevna, came from a poor peasant family in the neighbouring city of Zhelezniki. She attended school only for a short period of time as, when her father died, she left to help her mother with theharvest.[12]
Gromyko grew up near the district town ofVetka where most of theinhabitants were devotedOld Believers in theRussian Orthodox Church.[13] Gromyko's own village was also predominantlyreligious, but Gromyko started doubting thesupernatural at a very early age. His first dialog on the subject was with his grandmother Marfa, who answered his inquiry aboutGod with "Wait until you get older. Then you will understand all this much better". According to Gromyko, "Other adults said basically the same thing" when talking about religion. Gromyko's neighbor at the time, Mikhail Sjeljutov, was afreethinker and introduced Gromyko to new non-religious ideas[14] and told Gromyko thatscientists were beginning to doubt the existence of God. From the age of nine, after theBolshevik revolution, Gromyko started readingatheistpropaganda inflyers andpamphlets.[15] At the age of thirteen (13), Gromyko became a member of theKomsomol and heldanti-religious speeches in the village with his friends as well as promotingCommunist values.[16]
Gromyko was elected First Secretary of the localKomsomol chapter at the beginning of 1923.[18] FollowingVladimir Lenin's death in 1924, the villagers asked Gromyko what would happen in the leader's absence. Gromyko remembered a communist slogan from the heyday of the October Revolution: "The revolution was carried through by Lenin and hishelpers." He then told the villagers that Lenin was dead, but "his aides, the Party, still lived on."[19]
When he was young, Gromyko's mother Olga told him that he should leave his home town to become an educated man.[20] Gromyko followed his mother's advice and, after finishing seven years ofprimary school andvocational education in Gomel, he moved toBorisov to attendtechnical school. Gromyko became a member of theAll-Union Communist Party Bolsheviks in 1931, something he had dreamed of since he learned about the "difference between a poor farmer and a landowner, a worker and a capitalist". Gromyko was voted in as secretary of his party cell at his first party conference and used most of his weekends doing volunteer work.[19] Gromyko received a very smallstipend to live on, but still had a strong nostalgia for the days when he worked as a volunteer. It was about this time that Gromyko met his future wife,Lydia Grinevich. Grinevich was the daughter of a Belarusian peasant family and came fromKamenki, a small village to the west ofMinsk.[21] She and Gromyko had two children,Anatoly and Emiliya.[22]
After studying inBorisov for two years, Gromyko was appointedprincipal of asecondary school inDzyarzhynsk, where he taught, supervised the school, and continued his studies. One day, a representative from theCentral Committee of theCommunist Party of Byelorussia offered him an opportunity to do post-graduate work in Minsk.[23] Gromyko traveled to Minsk for an interview with the head of the university, I.M. Borisevich, who explained that a new post-graduate program had been formed for training in economics; Gromyko's record in education and social work made him a desirable candidate. Gromyko advised Borisevich that he would have difficulty living on a meager student stipend. Borisevich assured him that on finishing the program, his salary would be at the party's top pay grade – "a decent living wage". Gromyko accepted the offer, moving his family to Minsk in 1933. Gromyko and the other post-graduates were invited to an anniversary reception[24] at which, as recounted in Gromyko'sMemoirs:
We were amazed to find ourselves treated as equals and placed at their table to enjoy what for us was a sumptuous feast. We realised then that not for nothing did the Soviet state treat its scientists well: evidently science and those who worked in it were highly regarded by the state.[25]
After that day of pleasantry, Gromyko for the first time in his life wanted to enterhigher education, but without warning, Gromyko and his family were moved in 1934 toMoscow, settling in the northeasternAlexeyevsky District.[25] In 1936, after another three years of studying economics, Gromyko became a researcher and lecturer at theSoviet Academy of Sciences. His area of expertise was theUS economy, and he published several books on the subject. Gromyko assumed his new job would be a permanent one, but in 1939 he was called upon by aCentral Committee Commission which selected new personnel to work indiplomacy. (TheGreat Purge of 1938 opened many positions in the diplomatic corps.) Gromyko recognised such familiar faces asVyacheslav Molotov andGeorgy Malenkov. A couple of days later he was transferred from the Academy of Sciences to thediplomatic service.[26]
In early 1939, Gromyko started working for thePeople's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in Moscow. He became the Head of the Department of Americas, and because of his position Gromyko met withUnited States ambassador to the Soviet UnionLawrence Steinhardt. Gromyko believed Steinhardt to be "totally uninterested increating good relations between the US and the USSR"[27] and that Steinhardt's predecessorJoseph Davies was more "colourful" and seemed "genuinely interested" in improving the relations between the two countries.[28] Davies received theOrder of Lenin for his work in trying to improve diplomatic relations between the US and the USSR. After heading the Americas department for 6 months, Gromyko was called upon byJoseph Stalin, the Soviet leader. Stalin started the conversation by telling Gromyko that he would be sent to the Soviet embassy in the United States to becomesecond-in-command. "The Soviet Union," Stalin said, "should maintain reasonable relations with such a powerful country like the United States, especially in light of the growingfascist threat".Vyacheslav Molotov contributed with some minor modifications but mostly agreed with what Stalin had said.[29] "How are your English skills improving?," Stalin asked; "Comrade Gromyko, you should pay a visit or two to an American church and listen to their sermons. Priests usually speak correct English with good accents. Do you know that the Russian revolutionaries, when they were abroad, always followed this practice to improve their skills in foreign languages?" Gromyko was quite amazed about what Stalin had just told him but he never visited an American church.[30]
Gromyko had never been abroad before and, to get to the United States, he had to travel viaairplane throughRomania,Bulgaria andYugoslavia toGenoa,Italy, where he boarded a ship to the United States.[31] He later wrote in hisMemoirs thatNew York City was a good example on how humans, by the "means of wealth and technology are able to create something that is totally alien to our nature". He further noticed the New York working districts which, in his own opinion, were proof of the inhumanity ofcapitalism and of the system's greed.[32] Gromyko met and consulted with most of the senior officers of theUnited States government during his first days[33] and succeededMaxim Litvinov as ambassador to the United States in 1943. In hisMemoirs Gromyko wrote fondly of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt[34] even though he believed him to be a representative of thebourgeoisie class.[35] During his time as ambassador, Gromyko met prominent personalities such as British actorCharlie Chaplin,[36] and British economistJohn Maynard Keynes.[37]
Gromyko was a Soviet delegate to theTehran,Dumbarton Oaks,Yalta andPotsdam conferences.[38] In 1943, the same year as theTehran Conference, the USSRestablished diplomatic relations with Cuba and Gromyko was appointed the Soviet ambassador toHavana.[39] Gromyko claimed that the accusations brought against Roosevelt by Americanright-wingers, that he was asocialist sympathizer, were absurd.[40] While he started out as a member delegate Gromyko later became the head of the Soviet delegation to theSan Francisco conference after Molotov's departure. When he later returned to Moscow to celebrate the Soviet victory in theGreat Patriotic War, Stalin commended him saying a good diplomat was "worth two or three armies at the front".[41]
Gromyko often used the Sovietveto power in the early days of the United Nations. So familiar was a Soviet veto in the early days of the UN that Gromyko became known asMr Nyet, literally meaning "Mr. No". During the first 10 years of the UN's history, the Soviet Union used its veto 79 times. In the same period, theRepublic of China used the veto once,France twice, and the others not at all.[46] On 14 May 1947, Gromyko advocated theone-state solution to theIsraeli–Palestinian conflict, and thetwo-state solution as the second best option in the case that "relations between theJewish andArab populations of Palestine ... proved to be so bad that it would be impossible to reconcile them".[47]
Gromyko was appointed Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom at a June 1952 meeting withJoseph Stalin in theKremlin. Stalin paced back and forth as normal, telling Gromyko about the importance of his new office, and saying "The United Kingdom now has the opportunity to play a greater role in international politics. But it is not clear in which direction the British government with their great diplomatic experience will steer their efforts [...] This is why we need people who understand their way of thinking". Gromyko met withWinston Churchill in 1952, not to talk about current politics, but nostalgically, about World War II. Gromyko met Churchill again in 1953 to talk about their experiences during World War II before returning to Russia, when he was appointed as theDeputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.[48]
During his initial days as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Gromyko devoted most of his time battling theInternational Department (ID) of theCommunist Party of the Soviet Union underBoris Ponomarev. Ponomarev advocated an expanded role for the ID in Soviet foreign relations but Gromyko flatly refused. A top Soviet official,Valentin Falin, said the ID "interfered in the activities" of Gromyko and his ministry countless times. Gromyko disliked both Ponomarev and the power sharing between the ID and the foreign ministry.[49] However, even in the midst of such political infighting, Gromyko presided over many key junctures in the Soviet Union's diplomacy throughout his tenure as Foreign Minister.
One of his first tests as his country's chief diplomat came in 1958 when he addressedMao Zedong's request for the Soviet Union to back his planned war withTaiwan. During their discussions, Mao flabbergasted Gromyko by telling him that he was willing to sacrifice the lives of "300 million people" to bring about the Republic of China's annexation. Gromyko affirmed to Mao that his proposal would never get the approval of the Soviet leadership. Upon learning of this discussion,Moscow terminated theSoviet-Chinese nuclear program along with variousindustrialization projects in thePeople's Republic of China.[50]
Years later during theCuban Missile Crisis, Gromyko met U.S. PresidentJohn F. Kennedy while acting under instructions from the current Soviet leader,Nikita Khrushchev. In hisMemoirs, Gromyko wrote that Kennedy seemed "out of touch" when he first met him, and was more "ideologically driven" than "practical". In a 1988 interview, he further described Kennedy as nervous and prone to making contradictory statements involving American intentions towards Cuba.
Gromyko, in addition to John F. Kennedy, held important political discussions withDean Rusk, a former United States Secretary of State, in regards to the Cuban Missile Crisis. He defended his state's actions, stating that the Soviet Union had every right to be present in Cuba, especially considering the fact that the United States had establishedtheir own missiles in Turkey. To Gromyko it seemed ironic the Soviet Union was blamed for their presence in Cuba, yet America had established countless offoreign military bases worldwide. After several negotiations, Gromyko mentioned: "By Rusk's behavior it was possible to observe how painfully the American leaders are suffering the fact that the Soviet Union decisively has stood on the side of Cuba",[51] showing Rusk's "weak character".
Later, under the leadership ofLeonid Brezhnev, Gromyko played a key role in the establishment ofdétente, a new phase of Soviet–American relations characterized by a significant reduction of tensions which lasted until 1979. In furtherance of this new arrangement, he oversaw the signing of theTreaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on 1 July 1968, theABM andSALT I treaties in 1972, and theAgreement on the Prevention of Nuclear War in 1973. During his 28 years as Minister of Foreign Affairs Gromyko supported the policy of disarmament, stating in hisMemoirs that "Disarmament is the ideal of Socialism".[52]
In 1973, Gromyko was promoted to a full voting member of thePolitburo, the Soviet Union's highest decision-making body.[56] According to Christian Schmidt-Häuer, the "exceptional memory and confidence in his experience" that served Gromyko well in the past began to make him inflexible, unimaginative and "devoid of a long-term vision" for the USSR upon reaching the peak of his power and influence.[57] By the time Andropov and Chernenko rose to the top of the Soviet leadership, Gromyko frequently found himself advocating a harder line than his superiors.[57]
Gromyko at the Stockholm Conference in 1984
As Brezhnev's poor health increasingly impaired his ability to govern from the mid-1970s onward, Gromyko began to dictate Soviet policy alongside KGB ChairmanYuri Andropov and Defense MinisterDmitry Ustinov for the rest of Brezhnev's rule.[58][59] After Brezhnev's death in 1982, Andropov was voted in as General Secretary by the Politburo. Immediately after his appointment, Andropov asked Gromyko if he wanted to take over Brezhnev's old office of theChairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. However, Gromyko turned down Andropov's offer, believing Andropov would eventually take the office for himself.[60]
Ever since being appointed Foreign Minister in February 1957, Gromyko never challenged the authority of those chosen to lead the Soviet Union by the Central Committee. However, this changed when the ailingKonstantin Chernenko rose to become the country'sde jure ruler. Unimpressed by the new leader's feeble grasp of foreign relations and weak standing in the Politburo, Gromyko aggressively asserted control over Soviet diplomacy to the point of regularly interrupting and contradicting Chernenko in front of other world leaders.[61] Thus, despite Chernenko's interest in revivingdétente, the longtime Foreign Minister's distrust of "the West" meant there was no attempt to return to such a policy.
After Chernenko's death in 1985, Gromyko nominatedMikhail Gorbachev for the General Secretary on 11 March 1985. In supporting Gorbachev, Gromyko knew that the influence he carried would be strong.[62] Upon being elected, Gorbachev relieved Gromyko as foreign minister and replaced him withEduard Shevardnadze. Subsequently, he was appointed to the largely honorary position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.[63]
Gromyko held the office of theChairman of thePresidium of the Supreme Soviet; although de jure he was head of state, in practice this was a largely ceremonial role and his influence in ruling circles diminished. A number ofFirst World journalists believed Gromyko was uncomfortable with many of Gorbachev's reforms,[64] however, in hisMemoirs Gromyko wrote fondly of Gorbachev and the policy ofperestroika. Gromyko believed that perestroika was about working for the construction of a socialist society[65] and sawglasnost and perestroika as an attempt at making the USSR more democratic.[66]
During a party conference in July 1988, Vladimir Melnikov called for Gromyko's resignation. Melnikov blamed Brezhnev for theeconomic and political stagnation that had hit the Soviet Union, seeing that Gromyko, as a prominent member of the Brezhnev leadership, was one of the men who had led the USSR into the crisis.[67] Gromyko was promptly defended as "a man respected by the people" in a note by an anonymous delegate.[68] After discussing it with his wife Gromyko decided to leaveSoviet politics for good. Gromyko recounts in hisMemoirs that before he made it official he told Gorbachev that he wished to resign. The following day, 1 October 1988, Gromyko sat beside Gorbachev,Yegor Ligachev andNikolai Ryzhkov in theSupreme Soviet to make his resignation official:[69]
Such moments in life are just as memorable as when one is appointed to prominent positions. When mycomrades took farewell to me, I was equally moved as I had ever been when I was given an important office. What I thought most about was that I had finished my duties towards the people, the Party and the state. This memory is very precious to me.
Gorbachev succeeded Gromyko in office as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet.[70] After his resignation Gorbachev praised Gromyko for his half-century of service to USSR. Critics, such asAlexander Belonogov, thePermanent Representative of the Soviet Union to the United Nations, claimed Gromyko's foreign policy was permeated with "a spirit of intolerance and confrontation".[71]
After retiring from active politics in 1989, Gromyko started working on his memoirs.[72] Gromyko died on 2 July 1989,[2] just 16 days before what would have been his 80th birthday, after beinghospitalized for avascular problem that was not further identified.[73] His death was followed by a minute of silence at theCongress of People's Deputies to commemorate him. The Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS), the central news organ in the USSR, called him one of the country's most "prominent leaders". And thePresident of the United States,George H. W. Bush, sent his condolences to Gromyko's son, Anatoly.[74] Gromyko was offered a grave in theKremlin Wall Necropolis, but at the request of his family he was not buried near theMoscow Kremlin Wall but instead at theNovodevichy Cemetery.[72][75][73]
Gromyko met his wife,Lydia, (1911–2004) inMinsk where they were both studying agriculture at the Minsk Institute of Agricultural Science.[1][76][77] They married in 1931.[78] They had two children: a son,Anatoly, and a daughter, Emilia.[79][76] Anatoly (1932–2017) served as a diplomat and was an academic.[80]
Having been a person of considerable stature during his life, Gromyko held an unusual combination of personal characteristics. Some were impressed by his diplomatic skills, while others called Gromyko mundane and boring.[81] An article written in 1981 inThe Times said, "He is one of the most active and efficient members of the Soviet leadership. A man with an excellent memory, a keen intellect and extraordinary endurance [...] Maybe Andrey is the most informed Minister for Foreign affairs in the world".[72] Gromyko's dour demeanor was shown clearly during his first term in Washington and echoed throughout his tenure as Soviet foreign minister. AmbassadorCharles W. Yost, who worked with Gromyko at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, the UN founding conference, and at the United Nations, recalled that the "humorless" Soviet ambassador "looked as though he was sucking a lemon."[82]There is a story that Gromyko was leaving a Washington hotel one morning and was asked by a reporter; "Minister Gromyko, did you enjoy your breakfast today?" His response was "Perhaps."[83]
During his twenty-eight years as minister of foreign affairs Gromyko became renowned by his peers for being consumed by his work. Henry Kissinger once said "If you can face Gromyko for one hour and survive, then you can begin to call yourself a diplomat". Gromyko's work influenced Soviet and Russian ambassadors such asAnatoly Dobrynin. Historians Gregory Elliot and Moshe Lewin described Gromyko's main characteristic as his "complete identification with the interest of the state and his faithful service to it", helping to explain his so-called "boring" personality and the mastery of his own ego.[84]West German politicianEgon Bahr, when commenting on Gromyko'smemoirs, said;[84]
He has concealed a veritable treasure-trove from future generations and taken to the grave with him an inestimable knowledge of international connection between the historical events and major figures of his time, which only he could offer. What a pity that this very man proved incapable to the very end of evoking his experience. As a faithful servant of the state, he believed that he should restrict himself to a sober, concise presentation of the bare essentials.[85]
On 18 July 2009, the RepublicBelarus ruled byAlexander Lukashenko marked the 100th anniversary of Gromyko's birth with nationwide celebrations. In the city of his birth many people laid flowers in front of his bust. A ceremony was held and attended by his son and daughter, Anatoly and Emiliya. Several exhibitions were opened and dedicated to his honour and a school and a street in Gomel were renamed in honour of him.[86][87]
^abFrankel, Benjamin (1992)."Andrei Gromyko".The Cold War, 1945-1991: Leaders and other important figures in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, and the Third World. Gale Research.ISBN9780810389267.
^Figes, Orlando (2014).Revolutionary Russia 1891-1991: A History. Henry Holt & Company. p. 266.ISBN978-0-8050-9131-1.As Brezhnev's health deteriorated following a major stroke in 1975, real power passed into the hands of Yuri Andropov, Gromyko and Dmitry Ustinov, the new hawkish Defence Minister, who pushed for an even bolder policy abroad.
^Haslam, Jonathan (2011).Russia's Cold War: From the October Revolution to the Fall of the Wall. Yale University Press. pp. 299–300.ISBN978-0-300-15997-4."Brezhnev's sickness created a further problem….He collapsed in mid-August 1968, the eve of the invasion of Czechoslovakia. A further seizure occurred—which proved a turning point—immediately after the negotiations at Okeanskaya, Vladivostok, 23–24 November 1974. Brezhnev was then said to be working only a three-day week….Thereafter Brezhnev's capacity to concentrate diminished with progressive arteriosclerosis leading to onset of senile dementia, doubtless hastened by beta-blockers taken to lower blood pressure for relief of the heart. Growing dependence on sleeping pills made matters worse…Although decisions still required Brezhnev's assent, the substance of power tacitly passed to a troika: Andropov, Gromyko, and Ustinov, who met in the orekhovaya room (paneled in walnut) where the entire Politburo foregathered on Thursdays."
^McCauley, Martin.The Cold War 1949-2016. Routledge. p. 189.ISBN9781138999015.Brezhnev's health was a cause of concern, and there were many cruel Soviet jokes about his incompetence. By the mid-1970s, he was only able to work for short periods, and a troika took over: Yuri Andropov, head of the KGB; Andrei Gromyko, foreign minister; and Marshal Dmitry Ustinov, the minister of defence.
^Figes, Orlando (2014).Revolutionary Russia 1891-1991: A History. Henry Holt & Company. p. 266.ISBN978-0-8050-9131-1.As Brezhnev's health deteriorated following a major stroke in 1975, real power passed into the hands of Yuri Andropov, Gromyko and Dmitry Ustinov, the new hawkish Defence Minister, who pushed for an even bolder policy abroad.
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MacKenzie, David.From Messianism to Collapse: Soviet Foreign Policy 1917–1991 (1994)
Piadyshev, B. “Gromyko: A Solid Place in the Diplomacy of the 20th Century.”International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy & International Relations 2009 55 (4): 149–59.
Shustov, V. “The Gromyko Era in 20th-Century Foreign Policy.”International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy & International Relations 2009. 55 (4): 174–87.
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