Marshal of the Soviet Union Sergei Fyodorovich Akhromeyev was my friend. His death last week by his own hand was a tragedy that mirrors the convulsions racking the Soviet Union. He was a communist, a patriot and a soldier, and my guess is that he would have listed his affiliations in that order. His entire life was spent in the service of the motherland and the party, beginning in 1940 when he enlisted in the army. World War II left an indelible stamp on him. Close to 80% of Soviet men born in 1923, the year of his birth, did not survive the war.
For all his fierce patriotism and devotion to the party, Akhromeyev was a modern man who understood that many things were wrong with his country and much had to change if the Soviet Union was to remain a great power. He detested nuclear weapons and genuinely wanted to reach an agreement reducing long-range nuclear arsenals. He did much to bring a recalcitrant Soviet military to the bargaining table and decrease tensions between our forces.
In December 1987 the marshal visited Washington for the first time. He was accompanying President Gorbachev for the signing of the treaty that eliminated intermediate-range nuclear missiles. I invited him to call on me at the Pentagon. When he arrived two mornings later for breakfast, he was alone. Here was the leader of the Soviet military marching into the enemy's camp, without security people or a gaggle of aides. It was an impressive display of self- confidence. At that meeting he told me the two things in his life that he was most proud of were his participation in the "Great Patriotic War" and being present at the signing of this treaty. |
Despite his willingness to innovate, he had not foreseen where reforms would eventually lead. He told me in 1989 that he had not appreciated how deep the dissatisfaction was in his own country. He wanted improvements but could not accommodate a complete rejection of the past: the unification of Germany, the ignominious end of the Warsaw Pact, the pressure to reduce expenditures and troops.
We met in Moscow last year, both of us retired from our military posts. He said, "You didn't destroy the Communist Party. We did. And while it was happening, my heart broke a thousand times every day." He went on: "It's very depressing to be told that everything you have worked and fought for for over 50 years is wrong."
When the burden of these disappointments became too great for him, he decided he could no longer live with them. He was a man of honor, integrity and intelligence. He was devoted to Marxist-Leninist ideals, taking great pride that he owned little more than the clothes on his back. His narrow view of capitalism sparked our most vigorous argument.
Some have insinuated that Marshal Akhromeyev was involved in the coup attempt. I have no way of knowing, but my instincts tell me he wasn't. He often spoke to me of his amazement that Americans believed that Soviet generals decided the course of his country's history, which he vigorously denied. At the same time he believed deeply in the need for a strong Soviet military.
In the end, he could not reconcile his contradictory beliefs with the counter-currents that were sweeping over him. That cannot take away from his contribution to arms control, to fashioning a more cooperative U.S.-Soviet relationship and to reducing the tensions that plagued both our houses for 45 years.