Caesar 10A - Summarization of Reports Peceding Beria Purge

8/4/2019 Caesar 10A - Summarization of Reports Peceding Beria Purge

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CAESAR 10 -A 17 August 1954

-??VA ,PAPPROVED F O R RELEASEDATE: J U N 2 0 0 7

SUMMARIZATION O F REPORTSPRECEDING BEFUA PURGE

IlOffice of Current Intelligence

CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

This documentcontains nformation within theI

LAW 513-81st Congress.\

TOP-


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CAESAR 10-A CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCYSummary OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCEt I. '!

". With t h e ' p u b l i c a t i o n of Caesar 10, t h e Beria purge, i twas thought desi rable to summarize b r i e f l y t h e precedingr e p o r t s i n th e series .concerned w i t h developments in t h e l e a d e r s h i p s i t u a t i o n follow-5ng Ber ia ' s purge. A f t e r its p u b l i c a t i o n , a c r i t i c a l reviewof t h e whole series w i l l be under taken, which w i l l also in-c o r p o r a t e additional i n f o r m a t i o n r e c e i v e d s ince p u b l i c a t i o nof t h e v a r i o u s r e p o r t s .

Caesar 11, which is i n process, is

I t m u s t be re i te ra ted t h a t these r e p o r t s are concernedThey make no a t t e m p tr i m a r i l y w i t h t h e Soviet l eadersh ip .to g iv e p roper h i s t o r i c a l weigh t or p e r s p e c t i v e to even t st a k i n g place i n t h e USSR d u r i n g th e per iod covered .


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e TABLE OF CONTENTS* .

CAESAR 6 . HE ZHDANOV-MALENKOV RELATIONSHIP. . . . . .CAESAR 7 - THE BALANCE OF POWER . . . . . . . . . . . .CAESAR 8 - INDECISION AND STRESS, 1950-1952 . . . . . .Foreign Pol icy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Indusiry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Securi ty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .The Georgian Purges . . . . . . . . . . . .

Stalin's Economic Problems of Socia l i sm .The 19th Party Congress . . . . . . . . .Post Congress Developments. . . . . . . .CAESAR 1 - THE DOCTORS' PLOT,.. . . . . . . . . . . . .CAESAR 2 - DEATII OF STALIM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CAESAR 3 - TEE RGVb'lRSU OF THE DOCTORS' PLOT. .C A E S A R 4 - G E R U M Y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CAESAR 5 - MXLHIKOV'S REMOVAL IN THE UKRAINE.CAESAR 9 - POLITICS AND TEE SOVIET ARMY . . . . . . . .

iiiVVv i

. v i v i i v i i v i i v i i v i i iv i i i

ixxiix i v

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Caesar 6 - The Zhdanov-Malenkov RelationshipT h i s paper examined t h e v a l i d i t y of t h e h y p o th e s i s ,c u r r e n t particularly among.ex-Communists, t h a t Zhdanov andMa1enko.v: had b a t t l e d f o r S t a l i n ' s f av or an d f o r c o n t r o l oft h e C o m m u n i s t P a r ty . I t was p o in t e d o u t t h a t Malenkov d i ds u f f e r a d e f i n i t e p o l i t i c a l e c l i ps e i n 1946 and t h a t t h i sl a s t e d u n t i l 1948, Zhdanov emerged as t h e l e a d i n g p a r t ysecre tary i n 1947 a nd 1948, w h i l e Malenkov spen t t h i s p e r io di n r e l a t i v e o b li v io n i n t h e s e r v i c e of S o v i e t a g r i c u l t u r e . A ta t i m e when a g r i c u l t u r e was a t l eas t as d i f f i c u l t a problem asi t i s today, th e chief spokesman w a s A.A. Andreev who headedt h e Council for Col lec t ive Farm A f f a i r s , Conceivably Malenkovmay have gone i n t o t h i s f i e l d as a t r o u b l e shooter and a c t e dbehind t h e scenes, perhaps as a balance t o Andreev's C o u n c i l .A t any r a t e in terms of t h e Malenkov-Zhdanov s t r u g g l e , itis clear t h a t , whatever Malenkov's role i n a g r i c u l t u r e , i td i d n o t compensate for t h e se tback h e r e c e iv e d in t h e p a r t ysecre tar ia t .

member whose s t a t u s d r o p p e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y in the per iod from1946-1948 a n d whose p o s i t i o n ro se measurab ly a f t e r Zhdanov'sdea t h o 'Caesar 6 a l s o noted t h a t "Malenkov w a s t h e o n l y p o l i t b u r o

In a n e f f o r t t o determine.hOvZhdanov w a s a b l e t o persuadeS t a l i n t o demote Malenkov, t h e l a t t e r ' s a ss o ci at io n w i t hS o v i e t b t e l l i g e n c e a c t i v i t i e s , w i t h S o v i e t p o l i c y towardGermany, a n d w i t h t h e economist Varga, were exp lored , I tw a s s p e c u l a t e d t h a t r e v e r s e s i n t h e f o r e ig n i n t e l l i g e n c ef i e l d a n d p a r t i c u l a r l y a f e w k e y ' d e f e c t i o n s , such as t h a t ofGouzenko, may have c o n t r i b u t e d t o M a le n k o v ' s d i f f i c u l t i e s ,With r e s p e c t to h i s involvement i n S o v i e t p o l i c y on Germany,s e v e r a l l i n k s w e r e t raced o u t which a pp ea re d p a r t i c u l a r l yi n t e r e s t i n g ,

Malenkov f i r s t became involved i n f o r e i g n p o l i c y i nconnect ion w i t h h i s c h ai r ma n sh ip of t h e Sta te Committee forR e h a b i l i t a t i o n of Devastated Areas t o which he w a s appoin tedi n 1943. T h i s body, ca l led t h e "Spec ia l Committee," in-cluded B e r i a , Yikoyan, Vozresensky, and Andreev in i t smembership and l a t e r became t h e a u t h o r i t y r e sp o n s ib l e f o ri n d u s t r i a l d i s m a n t l i n g i n S o v i e t occupied areas i n Eas te rnEurope, I t was r e p r e s e n t e d in t h e S o v ie t M i l i t a r y Admin-i s t r a t i o n i n Germ any by M.Z. Saburov, who a t t h a t t i m e wasr e p o r t e d l y v e ry c l o s e t o bblenkov. Sev era l messages d i r e c t lyas so ci a t ed Malenkov wi th di sma nt l i ng i n Germany. T h i s program

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was badly handled; va l uab l e p rope r t y was des t royed or l o s tand h o s t i l i t y toward t h e USSR w a s f a n n e d i n t h e a r e a s d i s -m a n t l e d . In J u l y 1946, Molotov announced'that t h e d i s m a n t -l i n g would be d i scon t i nued ,D i r e c t o r a t e of Soviet Property Abroad headed by ex-MGB ch iefMerkulov. This i nvolved Sovie t ownership of c o n t r o l l i n g' s ha res of i n d u s t r i a l f ir ms i n t h e S a t e l l i t e s .was r e s p o n s i b l e t o t h e Council of M i n i s t e r s and n o t t oYikoyan's M i n i s t r y of Foreign Trade as prev ious ly sugges ted ,Merkulov's d e p u t i e s w e r e Kobulov and Dekanosov. Further re-search is i n d i c a t e d t o determine t o what e x t e n t B e r i a becameresponsible for S a t e l l i t e a f f a i r s .

, ,1q"mid-1947 a new program was i d e n t i f i e d u n d e r t h e ChiefThe D i r e c t o r a t e

The s ix th chapter mentioned t h a t va r i o us de fec toE sourceshad reported P o l i t b u r o c o n f l i c t ove r U l e nk ov qs d i sm an t l ingpol ic y. For example, one sou rc e s t a t e d Mikoyan w a s opposedt o t h e p o l i c y a nd Zhdanov a n d Voznesensky s i d e d w i t h h i m ;t h e S o v i e t M i l i t a r y A d m in i s t r a t i o n was a l so s a i d t o beopposed t o it. While t h i s source is somewhat suspect, theredoes appea r t o be good reason t o b e l i e v e t h a t Malenkov's p o l i -c y w a s r e p u d i a t e d .it w o u l d appear t h a t o p p o s i t i o n t o Malenkov's po li cy developedw i t h i n t h e Sp ec ia l Committee i t s e l f . In t h i s connect ion i t isi n t e r e s t i n g t o note that Mikoyan is t he on l y one of i t s membersi n good s t a n d i n g today.

I f the sou rce ' s i n fo rm a t i on is correct ,

Voznesensky and B e r i a have beenpurged and Andreev demoted.VI m e n t i o n e d t h a t Varga had espoused t h e d i s m a n t l i n g programunder a t tack u n t i l MalenkovPs de c l i ne , sug ges t ing an a s s o c i a -

With respect t o Malenkovss conn ect ion w i t h Varga, Caesarin a se r ies of a r t i c l e s b e g i n n i n g i n 1943 and had n o t comet i o n between them. Var ious sources h ave a l s o r e p o r t e d ont h i s purpo r t ed a s soc i a t i on .

Varga*s book a n a l y z i n g t h e impact of World War I1 ont h e W e s t e r n c a p i t a l i s t economy, which had been completed inDecember 1945 a n d s tood as t h e pr imary S o v i e t t heore t i ca lwork in t h e f i e l d , w a s s u b j e c t e d t o a h i g h l y c r i t i c a l re-view by a s p e c i a l conference of l ead ing Sovie t economis t si n May 1947. S e v e r a l of t h e theses p u t f o r t h by Varga andt h e I n s t i t u t e of World Economy and World P o l i t i c s of whichhe was d i r e c t o r had i m p l i e d t h e a b L l i t y of t he c a p i t a l i s tsystem t o under take planning i n t h e face of a great cr i s i sand t h u s s t a v e off i t s u l t i m a t e c o l l a p s e . T h i s r a n coun t e rto t h e n a r r o w dogm at i c i n t e rp re t a t i on o f Marxian t heo ry t h e nh e l d by doctr inai re p a r t y l e a d e r s and was p a r t i c u l a r l y con-demned a t t h e conference.

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, " ,

Following t h e May 1 94 7 d i s c u s s i o n s , which h a d i n d i c a t e dt h e e x i s t e n c e of c o n s i d e r a b l e u n c e r t a i n t y e v e n am ong Soviete c o n o m i s t s on t h e c o u r s e of d e v e l o p m e n t s i n t h e c a p i t a l i s te c o n o m i e s , Varga a n d h i s I n s t i t u t e c o n t i n u e d t o p u b l i s h c on -t rovers ia l themes. In la te '1947, Varga's I n s t i t u t e of WorldEconomy, ' aad World P o l i t i c s w a s merged w i t h t h e E c o n o m i c sI n s t i t u t e ( s p e c i a l i z i n g in domes t i c e c o n o m i c problems) t o formt h e EC ODOm iC S I n s t i t u t e of t h e USSR Academy of S c i e n c e s . Thisn e w , i n s t i t u t e , of which Varga c o n t i n u e d as a m e m b e r , w a splaced u n d e r chk **scientific-organizational u i d a n c e " of t h eUSSR S t a t e P l a n n i n g C o m m i s s i o n , t h e n headed by V o z n e s e n s k i .In his work The Soviet E c o n o m y D u r i n g t h e S e c o n d World Warpublished in 1947c e r t a i n of t h e p r i n c i p l e s p r o p o s e d b y Varga. I t i s n o t e -w o r t h y t h a t d e s p i t e these a t t acks , a p p a r e n t l y b y t h e Zhdaaovf a c t i o n , Varga, an a s s u m e d associate of blalenkov, d i d n o tcease t o be a n i m p o r t a n t e c o n o m i s t i n t h e USSR a n d was n e v e rc o m p l e t e l y disgraced.

Voxnesenski tad s p e c i f i c a l l y attacked

Z h d a n o v ' s r o l e in f o r m u l a t i n g Soviet p o l i c y , p a r t i c u l a r l ywith regard t o f o r e i g n c om m un is m,,w as e x a m i n e d a n d f o u n d t obe i m p o r t a n t , p r i m a r i l y on t h e b a s i s of repor t s of defectorswhose i n f o r m a t i o n was c o n s i d e r e d re l i ab le . S p e c i f i c a l l y ,Z h d a n o v w a s j u d g e d r e s p o n s i b l e for t h e m i l i t a n t C om munistp o l i c y of 1941, t h e h i l u r e of which p r o b a b l y compromised h i sp o l i t i c a l career.Caesar 7 - T h e B a l a n c e of Power

Caesar 7 b e g a n by t r a c i n g t h e a s c e n t of M a l e n k o v a f t e rI t was best s y m b o l i z e d by o f f i c i a l p o l i t -h d a n o v ' s d e a t h .b u r o l i s t i n g s which saw U l e n k o v r i se t o t h e n u m b e r - f o u rp o s i t i o n , and, af t e r some i n i t i a l j o c k e y i n g w i t h B e r i a , t ot h e n u m b e r - t h re e ra nk ix ng ( b e h i n d S t a l i n a n d Molotov). M a l e n k o vreappeared as a p a r t y s e c r e t a r y i n J u l y 1948. His name t h e ncropped u p a g a i n on a widev a r i e t y of probdms. P e ~ s o n n e l r o b l e m s a g a a n iame u n d e rhis j u r i s d i c t i o n a n d K uz ne ts o v who perhaps had a s s u m e d themin t h e i n t e r v e n i n g per iod was p u r g e d . In a d d i t i o n , M a l e n k o vc o n t i n u e d h i s i n t e r e s t i n a g r i c u l t u r e , t h e problem h e hadbeen a s s i g n e d d u r i n g h i s l e a n y e a r s .were removed from office.Along w i t h K u z n e t s o v , several o t h e r Z hd an ov s u p p o r t e r sSome i n t e r e g t i n g examples were:

L

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C o l o n 8 1 maera1 S h i k i n , , . : c h i e f o f , t h e Arqny P o l i t i c a lDirectorate , replaced b y F.F. K u z n e t s o v ; N;A. V o x n e s e n s k y ,p o l i t b u r o member a n d G o s p l a n c h i e f , replaced in th e l a t t e r. p o s i t i o n by M.Z. S a b u r o v ; P.S. P op ko v , p a r t y s e c r e t a r y inL e n i a g r a q , replaced by V.N,, A n d r i a n o v ; and G.M. Popov, p a r t ysecretary in Moscow, replaced b y N.S. g h r u s h c h e v . Withr e g a rd ' t o t h e s e r e p l a c e m e n t s a n o t e of c a u t i o n is i n order.I t w o u l d be f l a u n t i n g s t a n d a r d b u r e a u c r a t i c p r o c e d u r e as w e l las S t a l i n ' s o p e r a t i n g methods to i n s i s t t h a t t h e y were a l lMalbkov men.

The g o v e r n m e n t c h a n g e s of 1949 which saw Molotov, Mik o y a na n d B u l g a n i n r e l i n q u i s h t h e i r d i r e s t m i n i s t e r i a l c o n t r o l w e r ea l s o e x a m i n e d w i t h so m ew ha t i n c o n c l u s i v e r e s u l t s . C o n c e r n in gM o l o t o v i t was n o t e d i n p a s s i n g t h a t he r e p o r t e d l y w a s r e s p o n -s i b l e for Soviet r e j e c t i o n of t h e Marshal l p l a n a n d t h a tY i k o y a n a n d K a g a n o v i c h had he l d a d i f f e r e n t view.a p p a r e n t l y r e t a i n e d p o l i t b u r o - l e v e l s u p e r v i s i o n over f o r e i g na f f a i r s a n d i t w a s s u g g e s t e d t h a t he was c o n c e n t r a t i n g onFar E a s t e r n problems.Molotov

The V o z n e s e n s k y case w a s e x a m i n e d in some d e t a i l a n d t h eh y p o t h e s i s that h e had b e e n i n v o l v e d in a t h e o re t i c a l orp ra c t i c a l p o l i c y c o n t r o v e r s y w a s l a r g e l y d i s c o u n t e d .a t t a c k on V o x n e s e n s k y ' s l lu n -M a r x is t* ' v i e w s i n December 1952w a s s e e n as a n ex p o s t f a c t o o n e . I t was c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h eprobable r e a s o n s f o r V o z n e s e n sk y s s d i s a p p e a r a n c e were h i sclose t i e s w i t h Z h d a n o v as w e l l as a possfble f a i l u r e in t h ep l a n n i n g a n d d i r e c t i o n of t h e S o v i e t economy.

S u s l o v ' s

A n o t h e r t o p i c m e n t i o n e d in this s e v e n t h chap te r w a sr e a r m a m e n t . Some sor t of r e a r m a m e n t or r e - e q u i p m e n t p r o g r a mw a s t h o u g h t t o h a v e b e gu n i n t h e l a t t e r h a l f of 1948, t h ee x t e n t of which was unknown.

Pravda's a t t a c k on A n d r e e v ' s " l i n k 1? s y s t e m of c o l l e c t i v ef a r m i n g i n F e b r u a r y 1950 was b r i e f l y e xa m i ne d, as wasK h r u s h c h e v ' s m o v e m e n t to e n l a r g e t h e c o l l e c t i v e f a rm s i nt h e Moscow O b l a s t b y m e r g i n g t h e s m a l l farms.w a s f i r s t o u t l i n e d by K h r us hc he v i n A p r i l 1950. He l a t e ri n t i m a t e d i n December of t h a t y e a r t h a t h i s p o l i c y w a s b e i n gi m p l e m e n t e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e USSR. The c o n t r o v e r s y was re-garded as s i g n a l i n g t h e t e m p o r a r y t r i u m p h of o n e p o l i t i c a lf a c t i o n o v e r a n o t h e r .

This p r o g r a m

In foreign p o l i c y t h e USSR was s e e n to have backed o u tof E u r o p e a n problems and to h a v e . c o n c e n t r a t e d on t h e Far East.The s h i f t seemed t o be d u e more t o c i r c u m s t a n c e s than t o ai v


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c o n t r o v e r s y o v e r f o r e i g n p o l i c y and w a s not h e l d t o beassociated w i t h Malenkov's r ise .T h e r e was a l s o l i t t l e reason for b e l i e v i n g t h a t t h e p l a nfor t h e North K o r e a n i n v a s i o n provoked a n y c o n t r o v e r s y .A l t h o u g h , . t h e r e is good r e a s o n t o bel ieve t h a t Molotov wasi n t h e Far m s t . i n A ug us t a n d l a t e r i n October 1950, pro-b a b l y i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h C h i n e s e C om munis t e n t r y i n t o t h ewar, t h e r e were no g r o u n d s f o r c o n c l u d i n g t h a t he or a n yothe r ' p e r s o n was t h e p r i m a r y s p o n s o r of t h e North Koreana t t a c k . The s tk t ic s i t u a t i o n i n t h e S o v i e t h i e r a r c h y fo l low?;i n g t h e K o r e a n w a r s u g g e s t s t h a t S t a l i n s e r v e d u p no s c a p e -goats f o r t h e r e v e r s e s s u f f e r e d a n d t h u s was e i t h e r p e r s o n a l l yr e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e war or d i d ilot regard i t as a debacle.

Caesar 8 - I n d e c i s i o n ' a n d S t r e s s , 1950 - 1952I T h i s r e p o r t e x am i n ed t h e e v i d e n c e ava i l ab le i n severa lc r i t i c a l f i e l d s d u r i n g t h e per iod .p o i n t t o " i n d e c i s i o n a n d stress."appeared i n c r e a s i n g l y c o n c e r n e d o v e r US r e a r m a m e n t , i n t e g r a -t i o n of W e s t e r n d e f e n s e a n d t h e spread of t h e K o r e an war,b u t t h e i r f o r e ig n p o l i c y r e m a i n e d t h e same--rigid and pro-vocat ive.S t a l i n ' s i n f l e x i b l e l i n e i n f o r e i g n a f f a i r s . Here is as y n o p s i s of t h e t o p i c s e x a m i n e d :

A l l o f i t seemed 'toThe Sov i e t leaders

I t was s u g g e s t e d t h a t c o n t r o v e r s y d e v e l o p e d over

F o r e i g n Pol icy:a f t e r b i t t r l y a n t i - W e s te r n p r o p a g a n d i s t i c s t a t e m e n t s , byP o s p e l o v in J a n u a r y 1951, a n d b y S t a l i n i n F e b r u a r y . Malikf i n a l l y made h i s proposal i n J u n e a n d t h e t a l k s b e g a n . T h ed i s c u s s i o n s soon bogged down, however, a n d e v i d e n c e ac cu mu -l a t ed t h a t t h e C o m m u n i s t s were p r e p a r i n g a f a l l o f f e n s i v e .T h i s was a p p a r e n t l y cal led off a t t h e l a s t m i n u t e and prob-a b l y i n v o l v e d 8 major p o l i c y d e c i s i o n .t hen r e su m e d a n d c o n t i n u e d u n t i l l a t e 1952 w h e n a n o t h e r s ta le -mate d e v e l o p e d which c o n t i n u e d u n t i l a f t e r S t a l i n ' s dea th .I n E u r o p e t h e d e p u t y f o r e i g n m i n i s t e r s m e t i n P a r i s f r o mA p r i l t o J u n e 1951 b u t g o t n o w he re a n d i n September of t h a tgear t h e USSR s e n t out a r a s h of notes in pro tes t a g a i n s tNATO. A l t h o u g h S t a l i n ' s l e t t e r of F e b r u a r y 1952, which l a t e rformed a l a r g e p a r t of h i s E c o n o m i c Problems of Socialism,w a s much calmer t h a n his remarks of a y e a r e a r l i e r , he cameu p w i t h e s s e n t i a l l y no new f o r e i g n p o l i c y f o r m u l a . S t a l i n - d e -n o u n c e d a s h e r e s y t h e view t h a t wars b e t w e e n c a p i t a l i s tstates were n o l o n g e r i n e v i t a b l e a n d t h a t i m p e r i a l i s m m u s tattack t h e USSR.

K o r e a n cease-fire f ee l e r s w e r e m a d e i n A p r i l

'She t r u c e t a l k s were

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S o m e v a c i l l a t i o n on t h e G e r m a n q u e s t i o n w a s n o t i c e a b l e .In March 1 9 5 2 , t h e USSR p r o p o s e d a d r a f t t r e a t y f o r Germanye m b o d y i n g a s h i f t from i t s p r e v i o u s p o s i t i o n b u t f u r t h e re x c h a n g e s p r o v e d u n f r u i t f u l .Ambassadors t o t h e GDR a n d h July a harsh c o l l e c t i v i z a t i o nprogram :was i n a u g u r a t e d s u g g e s t i n g t h a t p o l i c y had c r y s t a l -l i z e d on a d i v i d e d Germany.

In J u n e t h e USSR s h i f t e d

T W

I n d u s t r y : T he i n t e r n a t i o n a l s i t u a t i o n appeared t o have c om-pli 'cated - t h e a n t e r n a l p l a n n i n g s y s t e m .F i v e Year P l a n and s u b s e q u e n t e f f o r t s t o r e d r a f t t h e p l a n i n1950 and 1951 probably r e f l ec t ed i n d e c i s i o n r e g a r d i n g policy.l a his F e b r u a r y 1952 l e t t e r p u b l i s h e d i n E conom ic Problems ofSocialism S t a l i n s t u c k w i t h t h e s t a t u s q uo s o l u t i o n a n d re-j ec t ed c h a n g es i n f a v o r of e i t h e r h e a v y i n v e s t m e n t i n a rm a me ntor i n c on su me r goods.

R e v i s i o n s i n t h e d r a f t

A g r i c u l t u r e :c u l t u r e p o l i c y a l i t t l e f u r t h e r i n a s p e e c h a d v o c a t i n g n o to n l y t h e m e r g e r of kolkhoees b u t th e a c t u a l r e s e t t l e m e n tof p e a s a n t s b e l o n g i n g t o t h e merged kolkhozes i n s i n g l e u rb a nc e n t e r s known as * ' a g r o - c i t i e s " ; t h e p e r s o n a l p l o t s of t h ep e a s a n t s were t o be on t h e o u t s k i r t s of t h e n e w s e t t l e m e n t s .Pravaa's t r e a t m e n t of t h i s p o l i c y i n d i c a t e d t h a t it w a s toohot t o handle: the s p e e c h w a s n o t p u b l i s h e d u n t i l 4 March a n dt h e f o l l o w i n g d a y P r a v d a r a n a caveat s a y i n g t h a t i t had beenp r i n t e d "as mater ia l f o r d i s c u s s i o n . "l eaders r i p p e d i n t o i t s h o r t l y thereaf ter :A r e m l n i a s a i d t he proposals were a l l f a n t a s y ' t ; Bagirov ofA z e r b a i j a n s a i d t h e y were " h a rm f u l a n d i n t o l e r a b l e . * 't h i s c r i t i c i s m t h e agro-c i ty c o n c e p t w a s d i s c o n t i n u e d b u tkolkhoz a m a l g a m a t i o n c o n t i n u e d . '

In J a n u a r y 1951, K h r u s h c h e v car r i ed h i s a g r i -

Two r eg i ona l p a r t yA r u t i n o v ofA f t e r

Caesar 8 i n a t t e m p t i n g t o a n a l y z e t h i s c u r i o u s ' d i s -a g r e e m e n t reached t h e t e n t a t i v e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t K h r u s h c h e vw a s e x p r e s s i n g h i s owns views i n t h i s matter a n d t h a t A r u t i n o va n d B a g i r o v were enbolderm ed i n t h e i r o p p o s i t i o n by t h e s u p p o r tof B e r i a .M a le nk ov 's p o s i t i o n i n t h e d i s p u t e i s n o t c lear . H ewas s t i l l a c t i v e i n t h e f i e l d b e c a u s e , \

I C Andreev a l s o c o n t i n u e d a c t i v e as C h a i r m a n of theouncil Col lec t ive Farms A f f a i r s . A t t h e October C o n g r e s sM a l e n k o v had m e n t i o n e d t h a t c e r t a i n l e a d i n g o f f i c i a l s hadi n d u l g e d i n a w r on g a p p r o a c h a n d h a d overlooked a g r i c u l t u r a lp r o d u c t i o n , t h e m a i n t a sk . . This has b e e n t a k e n a s a s l a pS t a l i n i n h i s Econom ic Problems of Socialismfrom t h e p r o b l e m ,a t K h r u s h c h e v .r e m a i n e d aloof

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I

Bagirov and A r u t i n o v were p u r g e d in t h e period fo l lowingOne of t h e a c c u s a t i o n s a g a i n s t B e r i a w a s t h a t he h a dBer ia ' s a r r e s t , r e i n f o r c i n g t h e idea t h a t he had b e e n t h e i rp a t r o n .h i n d e r e d t h e s o l u t i o n of u r g e n t a g r i c u l t u r a l problems,l a t t e r d a y ' a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h B e r i a h o w e v e r is s t i l l i n d i s p u t e .

S e c u r i t y : In A u g u s t 1951 MGB c h i e f ' A b a k u m o v w a s replaced b yS-atiev, a p a r t y f u n c t i o n a r y . . F o l l o w i n g t h i s , n i n e newfaces were numbered among t h e r e p u b l i c MGB c h i e f s a n d f o u ramong t h e d e p u t g , m i n i s t e r s i n Moscow.E p i s h e v , may a c t u a l l y have e n t e r e d t h e m i n i s t r y a s a d e p u t y m i n i -s t e r for p e r s o n n e l as e a r l y as F e b r u a r y 1951, H e , l i k e I g n a t i e v ,w a s a p a r t y f u n c t i o n a r y of some s t a t u r e a n d may have had l i n k s t oK h r u s h c h e v by v i r t u e of h i s se rv ice i n t h e U k r a i n e ,u p w a s i n t e r p r e t e d as 8 move b y t h e p a r t y t o s t r e n g t h e n i t sc o n t r o l o v e r t h e MGB, t p a r t i c u l a r l y i n view of a speech b y t h enew Georgian MGB m i n i s t e r i n September 1952.The G e o r g i a n P u r g e s : T h e s e purges which l a s t ed f r o m t h e l a t t e rp a r t of 1951 t h r o u g h A u g u st 1952 were i n t e r p r e t e d as c o n s i d e r a b l yw ea ke ni n B e r i a P s p o s i t i o n . T h i s was based p r i m a r i l y OD r e p o r t sfrom -\sources who were regarded as r e l i a b l e . T h es o u r c e s a so asserted t h a t S t a l i n p e r s o n a l l y ordered t h e shake-u p a n d o n e of them m e n t i o n e d r u m o r s t h a t M a l e n k o v had acted asS t a l i n ' s e m i s s a r y i n t h i s matter.S t a l i n ' s E co no mic P r o bl em s of Socialism: b!r0 K e n n a n ' s views wereq u o t e d t o t h e e f f e c t t h a t S t a l i n , i n h i s d i s c u s s i o n of t h e cap-i t a l i s t world, had p u t forward a t h e o r y which had b e e n c h a l l e n g e db y a g r o u p which q u e s t i o n e d i t s s o u n d n e s s . T h i s g r o u p had pre-s u m a b l y w a n t e d t o face u p t o t h e r e a l i t y .of t h e W e s t er n c o a l i t i o na n d t o n e g o t i a t e before d e c i d i n g o n a d e f i n i t e s o l u t i o n ,view w a s o v e r r u l e d b y S t a l i n , who a r g u e d t h a t it w a s u n n e c e s s a r yt o nego t i a t e s i n c e the W e s t e r n world w o u l d go to pieces anyway .T h i s seemed to be t h e c e n t e r of ideological d i s a g r e e m e n t i n th eK r e m l i n .

B a g i r o v ' s

One of t h e l a t t e r , A.A.

The shake-

T h i s

T h e 1 9 t h P a r t y C o n g r e ss : C h an g es i n t h e s t a t u t e s were viewedp r i m a r i l y a s r e g u l a r i z i n g a l r e a d y e x i s t i n g practices.p r e s i d i u m , which r e p l a c e d t h e o l d p o l i t b u r o , was regarded asl a r g e l y a n h o n o r a ry b od y w i t h r e a l power s t i l l i n t h e h a n d s ofa ' *buro**w i t h i n it, composed of t h e o ld p o l i t b u r o m e m b e r s . Thec e n t r a l committee e x p a n s i o n re f lec ted th e e l e v a t i o n of p a r t ycaree r i s t s over s p e c i a l i s t s a n d t e c h n i c i a n s from other s e c t i o n sof s o c i e t y and i n d i c a t e d the comparative i m p o r t a n c e of t h ep a r t y worker. T h i s d e v e l o p m e n t was i n t e r p r e t e d as i n c r e a s i n gl a l e n k o v ' s i n f l u e n c e in t h e c e n t r a l committee s i n c e he had b e e nt h e p a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n s p e c i a l i s t .

The

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Ln t e r e s t i t was p o in t e d out t h a t every r e p u b l i c Co ng re ss , p r i o rt o t h e all-Union one had s t ressed the need fo r v ig i lance- -p r i -m a r i l y a g a i n s t b o u r g eo i s n a t i o n a l is m .

Post Congress Developments: The most s i g ni f ic a nt post-Congressdevelopment was the announc,ement of th e d o c t or s ' p l o t on 13January.:1953, foll owi ng an - in te n s e propaganda campaign di re ct eda g a i n s t ) l a x n es s , g u l l i b i l i t y , and b ou rg eo is d e v i a t i o n s a ndemphasizing the need f o r " revo lu t ionary v ig i lance .". S e v e r a l o th e r i n t e r e s t i n g de ve lo pm en ts w e r e b r i e f l y n ot ed :The announcement 15 d ay s a f t e r t h e c o n c lu s ion of t h e C o ng re ss t h a tMarshal S. I . Govorovvs name had been " in adve r ten t ly" l e f t offt h e l i s t of ca nd ia te members of th e c e n t r a l committee; t h ei d e n t i f i c a t i o n of D.T. S h ip i l o v , o u s t e d in 1949 from Agitprop_ _ 2 - 3f o r numerous "shortcomings". i n c l u d i n g co m p li c it y i n t h e._ _ - 3 2 . L- . .vozuesenslry a r r ax r , a s m e new e a i L o r OX r r avaa ; ana m e perioaof high p o l i t i c a l tef is ion and behind-the-scenes maneuvering

i n t h e p er io d from t h e Oc to be r P a r ty Co ng re ss u n t i l S t a l i n ' sdea th .Most of the p ropos i t ions advanced i n t h i s c ha pt er a re ofa hy po th et ic al na tu re , and numerous problems remained unsolved.C h i e f among these i s the problem of dbakumov's replacement asMGB m i n i s t e r by S.D. I g n a t i e v , t h e r e a s o n s for t h i s s h i f t andt h e p o l i t i c a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s i nv ol ve d i n it. C l a r i f i c a t i o n oft h i s po in t may serve t o unravel many of theprob lems of t h etw o y e a r s p r e c e d in g S t a l i n ' s d e a th .

Caesar 1 - The Doctors' P l o tThis chap te r a t t empted t o o u t l i n e . a l 1 t h e known r e l e v a n ti n f o r m a t io n p e r t a in in g to t h e d o c t o r s ' p l o t and t o s u g g e s t at e n t a t i v e h y po t he s is r e g a rd i n g i t s meaning. The p l o t d e f in -i t e l y had an t i -Semi t ic and an ti -Amer ican over tones .i n g of the announcement h i n ted th a t o th er Sov ie t leaders hadei ther been murdered or had had t h e i r l i f e span reduced ; oneof th e doct ors had been chief of the Kremlin medica l directo-

Only two low-level in te rm ed ia ri es w e r e s in g le d o u t i n t h e p l o t ,s u g g e s t i n g t h a t t h e r e were more impor tan t pa r t i c ip an ts whosenames had no t been di sc lo se d. Because Shcherbakov's al le ge dmurder oc cu re d i n 1 945 when Merkulov w a s MGB m in i s t e r a n dZhdanov's al le g ed murder occ ure d i n 1948 when Abakumov w a s t h er e s p on s i b le s e c u r i t y c h i e f , it w a s s ug ge st ed t h a t t h e p l o t ,p r imar i ly because of its c r i t ic i sm o f t h e s e c u r i t y elements,

The word-

r a t e and had preumsably t r ea ted S t a l i n and o t h e r S o v i e t l eader s .

No good reason could be adduced for t h e i n c l u s i o n of t h es p e c i f i c f i v e m i l i t a r y men mentioned.that the announcement was a warn ing aga ins t a group ofI t d i d seem p o s s i b l ev i i i


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i n d i v i d u a l s c o n t e s t i n g for more political power. T h e bela teda p p o i n t m e n t of G o v o r o v t o t h e c e n t r a l committee s u g g e s t e d t h a tt here w a s s u c h a c o n t e s t g o i n g on, b u t i t w a s impossible t oplace t h e p a r i c i p a n ts ,T h e plo t s e t o f f an i n t e n s e v i g i l a n c e c a m p a ig n in S o v i e tpropaganda a n d both S t a l i n a n d M ale n k o v were e m p l o y e d as i t soracles'.' This c a u s e d s p e c u l a t i o n t h a t both were mixed u p i nthe o r i g i n of t h e ' p l o t . H o w e v er , i n t h e v i g i l a n c e c a m pa ig n ,S t a l i n l s l i n e ( i n h i s Econom ic Problems) t h a t t h e c a p i t a l i s tc o u n t r i e s were. going t e n1 8s r a t h e r than g e tt oge the r a g a i n s t t h e S o v i e t U n i o n , was a b a n d o n e d f o r h i s e a r l i e rand s t r o n g e r ca i t a l i s t e n c i r c l e m e n t t h e o r y .for example, s aPd t h a t c e r t a i n " r o t t e n theor ies" strcn as t h ev i e w t h a t c a p i t a l i s t e n c i r c l e m e n t no l o n g e r e x i s t e d , w e r e s t i l lp r e v a l e n t i n t h e USSR and m u s t be rooted o u t ,

Stalin's dea t h were also b r i e f l y n o t e d . The l i s t of c a n d i d a t e sf o r t h e l o c a l Moscow S o v i e t s p u b l i s h e d on 27 J a n u a r y d i d n o tc o n t a i n t h e n a m e s of s e v e r a l m i n i s t e r s , t h u s f o r e s h a d o w i n g someof t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c h a n g e s t o be made a f t e r S t a l i n ' s dea t h ;P,N. P o s p e l o v appeared as d e p u t y e d i t o r of Pravda ( P o s p e l o v hade a r l i e r b e e n replaced a s head of t h e M a r x - L e n l n - S t a l i n I n s t i t u t ea n d had b e e n passed o v e r w h e n t h e p a r t y p r e s i d i u m had b e e ne lec t ed i n October. T h e a u t o p s y r e p o r t on L.Z. Mekhlis , a p a r t yo f f i c i a l who d i e d on 14 F e b r u a r y , l i s t e d 1.1. K u p e r i n of t h eMGB a s new chief of th e K r e m l i n medica l d i r e c t o r a t e ; o n 17February I z v e s t i a car r i ed a c u r i o u s a n n o u n c e m e n t of the ' ' sudden f 'as s t r u c k by t h e grim atmospherea y t h e

S i n o - S o v i e t pac t a t t e n d e d o n l y b y B u l g a n i n ; Red Army dayceremonies on 23 F e b r u a r y s t ressed t h e " l i b e r a t i o n f f role oft h e Soviet army, a d e p a r t u r e from p r e v i b u s prac t i c e ,

One Pravda a r t i c l e ,

Other i n d i c a t i o n @ of t e n s i o n in t h e per iod l e a d i n g u p to

of t h e K r e m l i n g u a r d ; on t h e sameo n t h e a n n i v e r s a r y of t h e

The m a i n v i e w t h a t emerged from t h e chapter w a s o n e of a natmopshere of t e n s i o n , c o n f u s i o n a n d f e a r f u l e x p e c t a n c y i nt h e p e r i o d j u s t p r i o r to S t a l i n ' s d e a t h .Caesar 2 - Death of S t a l i n

T h i s c h a p t e r b eg a n b y p o i n t i n g o u t t h a t u n t i l 4 M a r c hn e i t h e r t h e S o v i e t people nor the r e s t of t h e w o r l d had b e e ng i v e n a n y i n k l i n g in Sovie t p r o p a g a n d a t ha t S t a l i n was c r i t -i c a l l y ill. mile t h i s tended t o s u g g e s t t h a t his death hadc a u g h t e v e n th e Sovie t l eaders off g u a r d , i t was n o t e d t h a tt h e West was c o m p l e t e l y d e p e n d e n t o n t h e S o v i e t p r e s s for a l lt h e news on t h i s development and it was t h e r e f o r e impossiblet o say when or how S t a l i n d i ed . T h e s u d d e n a n n ou n c em e n t of

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S t a l i n ' s i l l n e s s focused a t t e n t i o n on his s u c c e s s o r ; t h est ro ng es t contender appeared t o be Malenkov, due t o h i s holdon t he par ty appara tus and because of t h e s t r on g p o s s i b i l i t yt h a t h e a l s o c o n t r o l le d t h e MGB t h rough Ig na t i ev . There wasno s pe ci f i c , ment ion of a succes s o r , how ever , and r e sp on s i b i l i t ywas placed i n th e hands of th e ce n t r a l commit tee and the Counci lof Mi n i s t e r s .a g a i n no s p e c i f i c S o v ie t leaders were mentioned.w a s named chai rman of Stal in ' s funeral commit tee and burial w a ss e t f o r 9 March. On t h e 7th the big party and government re -organ i za t i on was announced t o prevent "panic and d i sar ray . ' 'The whole s y s t e m was streamlined. Malenkov w a s named premierand ra nk ed f i r s t i n t h e par ty pres id ium fo l lowed by Beria.Four of t he o ld po l l l t byro members became f i r s t d ep uty p re mi er sand , of t h e s e , th ree took o v e r c o n t r o l of a ministry: Molotov--Fo re i gn A f fa i r s ; B e r i a - - M V D ; an d Bulganin--War. Voroshilovrep laced Shvernilr as " Q r e s i d e n t c V f A s t r o n g i n d i c a t i o n t h a tj ockeying f o r p o s i t i o n w a s going on undernea th the sur facewas s e en i n t h e r e o r g a n i z a t i o n of t h e p a r t y secre tar ia t - - thegroup handl ing par ty personnel matters. The announcement in-d i c a t e d t h a t of the nine incumbent sec r e t a r i e s t h e s t a t u s ofthree--Malenkov, Sus lov and Aristov --cou ld n o t immediate19 bede ter min ed ; four--Pegov, Ponomarenko, I gna tov and Brezhnev--w e r e t r an sf er re d t o ot he r d u t ie s ; two--Khrushchev and Mikhailov--remained. In addi t ion three newcomers were added--Ignatiev,Pospelov and Sh ate al i n. The sec r e t a r i a t w a s t o be r e s h u f f l e daga i n a week l a t e r .

The announcement of S ta l in ' s d eath came on 5 March andKhrushchev

Reac t ions t o S t a l i n ' s d e a t h w e r e then explored, somewhati nconc l us i ve ly . In t he s a t e l l i t e s un usual s e c u r i t y r e s t r i c t i o n swere enforced . In the Sovie t Union th e Moscow ci t i z e n s appearedr e l a t iv e ly unmoved but i n th e provinces , a s t udy based on

I bo i n t ed ou t t h a t there had beenL widespread g r i e f and S h O C K . ' A gr ad ua l de-emphasis of S t a l i nw a s begun, though nothing sug ge st i ve of c r i t i c i s m appeared.A t t h e f u n e r a l only Molotov displayed any grief. Malenkovand Beria d evo ted t h e i r a t t e n t i o n t o t h e f u t u r e . B e r i a d idn o t once r e f e r t o S t a l i n . H e i n d ic a t ed t h a t t h e P a r t y ' s p o li c ywould brook no in te rf er en ce and s a i d t h a t o ne of t h e d e c i s i o n st ak en i n t h i s c o n ne ct io n was the appointment of Malenkov asPremier. (Beria l a t e r made t h e nomina ting sp eec h f o r Malenkova t the Supreme Soviet meeting c a l l e d t o r a t i f y t h e s e c han gesi n t h e l e a de r s h ip ) . B e r i a i nc luded one cu r i ous pas sage i n h i sspeech a l l ud i ng t o th e government 's regard for t h e r i g h t s ofi t s c i t i z e n s .

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The fu ne ra l ceremony prese nted t he Soviet leadershipas a t riumverate with Malenkov primus i n t e r p a r e s c l o s e l y -t r a i l e d by Beria and with Molotov a r e l a t i v e l y poor t h i r d .i n t he Sovie t p ress which l a s t e d only u n t i l 11March, Theu n c e r t a i n t y i n Soviet propaganda as t o S t a l i n ' s s u c ce s so rcaused confusion i n the Communist world outside the USSR.a d d i t i o n several c o v e r t r e p o r t s c l a i m e d t h a t Communists i nWestern Europe thought Molotov would succeed S t a l i n .

. I t was fol lowed by a n ab or t iv e S ta l in - l ik e bu ild -up of MalenkovI n

J The h a l t i n Malenkov's build-up rough ly coin cide d wi th t h eC e n t r a l Committee me etin g of 14 March whe re, a t h i s ow n "re-questvvMalenkov w a s removed from th e S ec re ta r i a t . Khrushchev,Suslov, Pospelov, S ha tal in and I g n a t i e v were l i s t e d as m e m b e r sof t h e S e c r e t a r i a t a n d S h a t a l i n w a s r a i s e d from a l t e r n a t e t of u l l membership o n t h e C e n t r a l Committee. Th is developmen tst ro ng ly sug gested t h a t Malenkov had succumbed t o p r e s s ur ee i t h e r d i r e c t o r i n d i r e c t , f rom t he o t he r Sov i e t leaders,a n d had given up his d i r e c t con t ro l ove r Pa r t y pe r sonne lmatters , Thus h i s power was b e i n g l i m i t e d a t t h e o u t s e t .The r e l a t i o n s h i p be tween Khrushchev and Malenkov w a s exploredi n t h e chap t e r w i t h i nconc l us i ve r e s u l t s ,formal i zed t h e c o l l e c t i v e l e a a e r s n i p p r i n c i p l e a l th o ug hreal ignment probably began on 6 March w i t h t h e p e c u l i a r re -s h u f f l i n g of t h e s e c r e t a r i a t a n d t h e s t a t e m e n t t h a t Khrushchevw a s t o be assigned " leading work i n t h e cen t r a l committee."This meeting w a s not p u b li c iz e d u n t i l 20 March but itobviously prepared the way fo r t h e 15 March Supreme Sovietm e e t i n g which had apparently been post poned t o a l l ow t h ec e n t r a l committee t o meet, A t t h i s session Malenkov came o u tp u b l i c l y f o r t h e p r i n c i p l e of c o l l e c t i v e l e a d e r s h i p . TheSupreme Soviet a t t h i s 15 March meet ing ra t i f i ed a l l t he p re -ced ing government chan ges a n d made s e v e r a l more which wereequa l l y as sweeping. As ment ioned rev ious ly , B e r i a made t h enominating s peech f o r Malenkov, andobse rved t ha t Rer ia c l ea r ly gave t h impression of b e in g th e"r ingleader . I q Molotov, however, of a l l t h e l eade rs , r ece i vedt h e most applause.A.I. Kozlov, a p a r t y o f f i c i a l , r e c e iv e d c om ple te c o n t r o l ofa g r i c u l t u r e b y i n h e r i t i n g s e v e r a l merged m i n i s t r i e s d e a l i n gw i t h t hexsub j ec t ( t h e S t a t e C ounc il o f C o l l ec t i ve Farm A f fa i r su n d e r Andreev w a s f i n a l l y abo li sh ed ); P.K..Ponomarenko, whosome Western observers thought would become e i t h e r a deputypremier or m i n i s t e r of agr i cu l tu re ,mov ed comple te ly ou t ofthe l a t t e r field and became m i n i s t e r of culture; Gossnab andGosprodsnab were merged wi th Gosplan gi vi ng i t s u p e r v i s i o n

The c e n t r a l committee meeting on 14 March seems t o have

A t t h i s meet ing: t h e War a n d Navy M i n i s t r i e s were merged;

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o v e r a l l o c a t i o n s of mat e r i a l s , food and i n d u s t r i a l p r od u c t s,the reby g r e a t l y i n c r e a s i n g i t s importance (Kosyachenko, i t snew chief, w a s not even a iuember of t h e c e n t r a l conmiittee);Yikoyan, who e a r l i e r had been named m in is te r of e x te r na l andf o r e i g n t r a d e , w a s made t he o nly deputy chairman of t h eCoun cil @f M ini ste rs and thus gi ven a p e c u l i a r n i ch e a lz byh im s e l f ; N.G. Ign atov , who had a l s o been marked on 6 Marchfor an important government posi t ion, was not even mentionedthough 'he l a t e r turned up as a p a r t y s e c r e t a r y i n L e ni ng ra d;V.V. Kuznetsov; who had been ap po in te d ambassador t o China on10 March, w a s made a d ep u ty m in i s t e r of f o r e i g n a f f a i r s ;A.A. Andreev w a s e l e c t e d a m e m b e r of t he pres idium of th eSupreme Soviet.1 lanother major re -The Chief Directorater g a n i z a t i o n which w a s n o t p u b l i c i z e d .

of Camps of t h e MVD ( s l a v e l a b o r ) w a s t r a n s f e r re d t o t h eM in i s t r y of J u s t i c e , and s e v e r a l o t h e r d i r e c t o r a t e s of t h eM V D d e a l i n g w i th s u c h matters as +mining and met allu rgy weret r a ns f e re d t o t h e i r m i n i s t e r i a l c o u n t e r p a r t s . In a t l e a s tsome cases t h e chiefs of t h e se d i r e c t o r a t e s a s w e l l a s t h epersonnel moved w i t h them. Thus t h e M V D ( M in i s tr y of I n t e r n a lA f f a i r s ) which b e f o r e t h e 6 March merger had been se p a r a t efrom the MGB (Minis t ry of Sta te Security) and which had handledpr imar i ly economic func t ions , w a s g r a d u a l l y l o s i n g i t s economicr o l e .

This development was of g r e a t i n t e r e s t , p a r t i c u l a r l y

MVD f u n c t i o n s i n c lu d e d a good d e a l o f c o n s t r u c t i o n for t h eatomic energy program which Beria w a s r e l i a b l y r e p o rt ed tohead. Therefore i t w a s b e l i e v e d t h a t Ber ia may have succumbedt o p r e s s u r e t o g i v e up t h i s e mp ir e w i t h in a n e mp ir e in t h egive-and-take atmosphere of 6-15 March.Caesar 3 - t h e R e v e r sa l of t h e D oc to rs ' P l o t

On 4 Apr i l 1953 , close on t h e h e e l s of t h e 27 Marchamnesty, P ravda repo r ted than an inv es t i ga t i on committeeof the new MVD had d i s c ov e r e d t h a t " e x - o f f i c i a l s " o f t h eYGB had used " i l legal methods '? t o g e t t h e d o c t or s t o c on fe ss .The g u i l t y o f f i c i a l s were s a i d t o h ave been a r r e s t e d . The

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. .- _announcement obviously caught some Sovie t papers , n o ta b lyYoung Communist, c om pl et el y by s u r p r i s e s i n c e on t h e same dayt h a t j o u r n a l r a n a n a r t i c l e p r a i s i n g t h e o r ig in a l i n f o r m e r ont h e p l o t .t h o s e f a l s e l y ac cu se d w h i l e t h e names of t w o of t h e o r i g i n a ln i n e were missing.

Si x non-Jewish do ct or s w e r e added t o t h e l i s t of

The language of t h e Pr av da e d i t o r i a l on th e re lease oft h e d o c t o r s as w e l l as th e WtuaP circumstances appeared toi n d f c a t e t h a t B e r i a w a s a prime mover i n th e ac t ion . On 7A p r i l t h e central committee removed S . D . I g n a t i e v , t h e MGBm i n i s t e r a t t h e t i m e of t h e d o c to r s ' a r r e s t , f rom the par tys e c r e t a r i a t , l e s s than t h r e e w e e k s a f t e r he had been confirmedi n t h e p o s t . On 10 A p r i l Iz ve s t ia p romised t h a t the pe rsonsfound gu i l ty of f a l s e l y a c c u s i n g t h e f i f t e e n S o v ie t d o ct o rsand a t te mptin g t o foment r a c i a l prejudice would be punished.A c u ri o u s p o s t s c r i p t w a s seen on 22 A p r i l when Egorov, one oft h e accused doctors/

'

I

On 22 May, N.N. V a s i l e v , m in i s t e r of s t a t e c o n t r o l oft h e RSFSR, c l a i m e d t h a t t h e g u i l t y p a r t i e s , i n c lu d in g Depu$yMGB Minister Ryumin, had been punished.a u th o r i t y V a s i l e v made t h e announcement w a s never determined.On 8 May, t h e leading newspaper i n Georgia linked Ryuminw i t h Rukhadze, a former Georgian MGB minis ter , who had handledthe 1951-52 purges t h e r e ; Rukhadze w a s accused of f ab r ic a t i ngevidence and a t tempting t o s t i r up r ac i a l h a t r e d . I t seemed,t h e r e f o r e , t h a t Beria w a s g e t t i n g re a dy t o clear out un-d e s i r a b l e elements in t h e MGB. The d o c to r s ' p l o t r e v e r s a l w a sfollowed in Georgia by a re ve rs al of th e 1951-52 purges t h e r eand V.G. Dekanozov, a Beria su pp or te r moved i n as m i n i s t e r oft h e reorganized M M .

Why o r by what

The v a r io u s e f f o r t s made by th e new regime t o reducei n t e r n a l and e x t e r n a l t e n s i o n w e r e b r i e f l y r ev ie we d i n t h echapter and i t w a s concluded t h a t on t h e e x t e r n a l s i d e t h ee f f o r t s were designed t o promote a per iod of i n t e r n a t i o n a lr e l a x a t i o n w h i l e t h e c o l l e c t i v e l e a d e r s h i p th rashed o u t i t sproblems. Wedded t o t h i s , however, was t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t h a tt h e new leaders , aware of t h e f a i l u r e as w e l l a s t h e dangerof S t a l i n ' s r i g i d f o r e i gn p o li c y, were anxious to t r y some-t h i n g a l i t t l e more safe, sane and product ive .x i i i


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Caesar 4 - GermanyP.F. Yudin's appointment as p o l i t i c a l ad v is e r t o theSoviet Con'trol Commission on 15 A p r i l 1953, vice Semenov,d i d not r e s u l t in any po l icy change. Walter U l b r i c h t main-t a i n e d d i s dominant posi t ion and h i s ''hard l i n e " p o l i c y .On 28 May, Moscow c o m p l e t e l y revamped i t s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i nGermany, dissolved t h e So vi et Co ntr ol Commission under Gen eralChuikov, and named Semenov t o t h e new p o s t of hig h commissioner.Semenov's return 37 days a f t e r he had been r ep laced i m p l i e dKremlin indecis ion on i t s German policy and on the pe rsonne land o rga n iza t iona l se t -up necessa ry t o implement t h a t po l i cy .Chuikov, whose function w a s now l i m i t e d t o conuand ofS o v ie t t r o o p s in Germany, swi tched places w i t h t h e commanderof t h e Kiev M i l i t a r y D i s t r i c t in e a r l y June. Yudin remainedas deputy t o Semenov u n t i l 2 December when he w a s namedambassador t o China. A s i m i l a r development occurred a t t h esame t i m e i n A u s t r ia where I l y i c h e v , a p r o f e s s io n a l d ip lo m a t ,became So vi et high commis sioner.(

Four days a f t e r Semenov 's re turn , t h e SED s p e c t a c u l a r l yr e v e r s e d its program. A week f o l l o w in g t h i s r e v e r s a l , o n17 June, the E a s t German government encountered the g r ea t e s tshow of r e s i s t a n c e e v e r e x pe r ie n ce d i n a ny S a t e l l i t e . S o v ie ta u t h o r i t i e s reacted s w i f t l y and e f f i c i e n t y to q u e l l t h e d i s -tu rbances and employed Soviet troops. The r e v o l t , h o w e v e r ,d i d n o t e f f e c t t h e ' h e w economic ,course!' in t h e S a t e l l i t e s .Ambassador Bohlen suggested on 19 June t h a t t h e r e fo r msembodied i n t h e "new course" stemmed from a r e a l i z a t i o n o nt h e p a r t of the S o v ie t l eader s t h a t a c o n t i n u a t i o n of i n t e r -s ive soc ia l i sm would lead t o economic o r p o l i t i c a l catas-t rophe which could be coped w i t h on ly thro ugh measures oft e r r o r t h e y w e r e u n w i l l i n g t o employ.In Poland , the USSR a l s o s h i f t e d a m b a s s a d o r s . G.M. PopovPopov had been removed frome p la c e d career diplomat Sobolev.t h e al l -Union par ty secre ta r ia t i n 1949 and a lso from hisp o s i t i o n as f i r s t deputy of the Moscow Ci ty and O b l a s t p a r t ycommittee. This was of i n t e r e s t , b e c au se Popov had been

s t r o n g l y c r i t i c i z e d for h i s handling of a g r i c u l t u r a l problemsi n t h o b l as t . H i s s u c c e s s o r was N.S. Ehrushchev, who w a ss h o r t l y t o i n tr o du c e his " r a d i c a l " scheme fo r c o l l e c t i v i z i n ga g r i c u l t u r e .


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ICaesar 5 - Melnikov's Removal i n t h e Ukraine

p a r t y , w a s removed from office.member of t h e all-Union p a r t y presidium and as such w a s theh i g h e s t o f f i c i a l pu rg ed s i n c e S t a l i n ' s d e a th . M elnkiovH e w a s a l s o an a l te rna te

Melnikov's removal seemed t o r e f l e c t on presidium m e m b e r sKhrushchev and Malenkov.under Khrushchev from 1947-1949 when the l a t t e r w a s f i r s ts e c r e t a r y of the Ukra in ian par ty . Melnikov had f a i th f u l lyr e f l e c t e d Yalenkov's views on p a r t y d i s c i p l i n e , p o l i c y andprocedure and had a l s o taken a r a th e r p r om in en t p a r t in t h eSoviet vigilance campaign which derived much of i t s i d e o l o g i c a li n s p i r a t i o n from Malenkov's speech a t t h e p a r t y c o n g r e s s .

Melnikov had been second s e c re t a r y

I t w a s s p e c u l a t e d t h a t M e ln ik ov 's o u s t e r w a s i n s t i g a t e dby B e r i a , s i n c e it w a s t h e t h i r d i n s t a n ce of a p a r ty p ur geon charges of promoting Ru ss i f ic a t io n which seemed t o comedoctors' p l o t r e v e r s a l and t h e r em ov al of I g n a t i e v , a nd t h esecond was th e mid-April purge i n Georgia fol lo win g theappointment of Dekanosov.appointment as MYD Minis te r in t h e Ukraine.

in t h e wake of MVD personnel changes . The f i r s t w a s t h e

Melnikov's purge fol lowed Meshik'sxv

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Caesar 9 - P o l i t i c s a n d t h e Sov i e t ArmyCaesar #9 included extensive background research t odetermine how important a p o l i t i c a l f a c to r i s t h e Sov i e tm i l i t a r y , and what t y p e s of p o l i t i c a l a c t i o n o r i n f lu e n cemight be expected of t h e armed f o r c e s a n d t h e i r l eaders i ntimes of c r i s i s . This research r e v e a l e d t h a t t he Sov i e tarm?d forces do no t have a h i s t o r y of s u c c e s s f u l i n t e r f e re n c ei n i n t e r n a l p o l i t i c a l c r i s e s as a s i ng l e , o rgan i zed e l em en t ofpowerand i n a c t i o n d u r i n g i n t e r n a l cr is is .a c t i o n is r e s t r i c t ed by t h e i n t e r l ock i ng ne t w orks of p o l i t i c a lo f f i c e r s and s e c u r i t y p o l i c e o p e r a t i n g w i t hi n t h e ranks , by atendency t o ward confo rmity among o f f i c e r s and men a l i k e , by agrowing o f f i c e r c a s t e s y s te m , m d by t h e presence i n t h e r a n k sof a high percen tage of Communists sub j ec t t o p a r t y d i s c i p l i n e .Unless t h e ex i s t i ng c on t r o l s b reak down under d r as t i c c i r -cumstances, the armed f o r c e s as a whole must be looked uponas a re l a t i v e ly pas s ive and non-monoli th ic body w i t h r eg radt o a Sov i e t succes s i on c r i s i s ,

Their h e r i t a g e i n c l u d e s a tendency toward fragmentat ionM i l i t a r y freedom of

Caesar #9 cont inued wi th a c u r r e n t r ev ie w of developmentsbeginning w i t h t h e 1 9 t h Pa r ty Congress i n October 1952 , t odetermine what changes occurred i n t h e p o l i t i c a l p o s i t i on oft h e Sovie t armed forces and t he i r leaders dur ing thesper iod ofextreme t ens ion ensu ing f rom S ta l i n ' s dea th . From t h e 1 9 t hP a r t y Con gr ess u n t i l S t a l i n ' s d e a t h , there were some indi-c a t i o n s of t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n of m i l i t a r y leaders i n p o l i t i c a lmaneuvering, as evidenced by Covorov's bela ted d e s i g n a t i o nas a candida te m e m b e r of t h e c e n t r a l copmittee and by t h enaming of mi l i tary o f f i c e r s i n t he doc t o r s ' p l o t announce-ment. The per iod of the po st - Sta l in s t ru gg le between Malenkovand Beria, from March u n t i l J une , was a t i m e of outwardp a s s i v i t y on t h e p a r t of t h e m i l i t a r y leaders , w i t h an i n c r e a s ei n p o l i t i c a l c o n t r o l ov er them, i n d i c a t e d p r i m a r i l y by t h ereorganiza t ion of th e m i n i s t ry o f armed f o r c e s and th e r e t u r nof Bulganin as m i n i s t e r .cons idered by t h e p a r t y l e a d e r s h i p as a sa fe t y m easu re a ta c r i t i c a l moment, gave inc rea se d inf lue nc e t o an outspokenp r o f e s s i o n a l o f f i ce r .m i l i t a r y i n p o l i t i c s p r ob a bl y o c cu r re d b eg in n in g with t h eBeria purge,in t h e removal and sentencing of B e r i a , and t h e new partyleadership probably rewarded military suppor t by g i v i n g t h e

The re-emergence of Zhukov, probably

S s h i f t f r o m a passive toward a more act ive ro le of theR epresen t a t i ve s of t h e armed fo r ce s pa r t i c i p a t e d

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p r o f e s s i o n a l m i l i t a r y men greater freedom w i t h i n t h e i r ownes tabl i shment . , ,Af ter June, some h ig h o f f i c e r s of t h e armedf o r c e s were promoted, g r ea t e r con s ide ra t io n was given t o am i l i t a r y p o in t of view reg a rd ing ques t io ns of morale ands e c u r i t y in t h e armed forces.S o v ie t m i l i t a r y leaders appeared be t t e r than it had fors e v e r a l ' y e a r s p r e v i ou s l y , a nd an uneasy a l l i ance w a s probablym ain tained between top p ro fes s ion a l o f f i c e r s and pa r ty l eade r s .

The p o l i t i c a l p o s i t i o n of t h e

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Documents

Caesar 10A - Summarization of Reports Peceding Beria Purge