Caesar 29 - Khruschev and the Anti-Party Group

8/4/2019 Caesar 29 - Khruschev and the Anti-Party Group

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J -- OC I No. 1608462COPY NO. 160

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and the anti-party groupCAESAR XV

OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE

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Central Inte l igence Agency


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KHRUSHCHEV AND THE "ANTI-PARTY GROUP" (1953-1957)

T h i s i s a working paper , a r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f t h ec h a l l e n g e t o Khrushchev by t h e " an t i - pa r ty g roup" l e dby Malenkov, Molotov and Kaganovich.T h i s p ap e r r e p r e s e n t s o ne o f t h e tw o p r i n c i p a l t y p e sof pape rs which appear i n t h e CAESAR, POLO and ESAU se r ie s .One type , which now compr i se s t h e bu lk o f ou r pape rs , d ea l s

w i t h i m p o r t an t c u r r e n t i n t e l l i g e n c e p ro bl em s s u c h a s t h ep r e s e n t s t a t e o f t h e S i n o- S o v ie t d i s p u t e , or o f t h e C h i n e seCommunis t l eadership , or o f S o v i e t m i l i t a r y t h i n k in g - - th es u b j e c t s o f t h r e e o f o u r f i v e p ap e rs t h u s f a r in 1962, Theo t h e r t y p e , r e p r e s e n t e d by t h i s p a pe r , o f f e r s a r e c o n s t r u c -t i o n of an impo rtant pe r i od i n Communist h i s t o r y when enoughi n f o r m a t i o n h a s come t o hand t o p r o v i d e a good account . W eb e l ie v e ' th a t t h i s e f f o r t t o g e t h i s t o r y i n t o p la c e i s a l s oof v a l u e t o t h e a n a l y s i s of c u r r e n t p r o b l e m s .

T h i s p a p e r w a s w r i t t e n by Av is Bo h le n o f t h e S o v i e tI n t e r n a l A f f a i r s B ra nc h o f G e n er a l D i v i s i o n of t h e S in o-S o v i e t B l o c Area of OC I . W would welcome comment on t h ep a p e r , a d d r e s s e d t o M i s s Bohlen a t Ext . 7415 o r t o th e co-o r d i n a t o r of t h e S i n o -S o v ie t S t u d i e s Gr ou p

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INTRODUCTORY NOTE

Very s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e d e f e a t o f t h e a n t i - p ar t yg ro u p i n J u n e 1957, enough became known abo ut t h e i ra t t e m p t t o o u s t K hr us hc he v t o p u t t o g e t h e r a f a i r l yc o h e re n t p i c t u r e of e v e n t s . W i t h i n a matter of weeks,i t w a s f a i r l y c l ea r t h a t Malenkov, Molotov, and Kagano-v i c h ha d f o r c e d a showdown in t h e pr e si d iu m , a n d t h a tKhrushchev a t o n e p o i n t h ad f o u n d h i m s e l f in a minor-i t y b u t h ad n o n e t h e l e s s managed t o d e f e a t h i s opponent sby summoning t h e c e n t r a l committee f o r a plenum. Muchnew in fo rm a t io n has come t o h an d s i n c e t he n- -m o st o f itc o n s i s t i n g of d e t a i l s w hic h c l a r i f y t h e i nc om p le te v e r-s i o n a v a i l a b l e i n 1957.

The r e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f e v e n t s o f f e r e d in t h i s p ap erd i f f e r s from p r ev i ou s v e r s i o n s i n t h a t t h e a d d i t i o n oft h i s new mater ia l h a s f i l l e d i n many i m p o r ta n t g a p s ; . b u tt h e b a s i c o u t l i n e r e ma in s t h e same. A summary, whichby d e f i n i t i o n omi ts d e t a i l s , would r e f l e c t t h e s i m i l a r -i t i e s r a t h e r t h a n t h e d i f f e r en c e s . F or t h i s r e as o n,we make no f u r th e r summary of t h e June 1957 e v e n t s .W e o f f e r t h e p a pe r t o those who a re i n t e r e s t e d i n asn e a r l y c o m p l et e a n a c c o u nt o f t h e J un e 1957 e v e n t s a sw e a re now a b l e t o c o n s t r u c t .

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KHRUSBCHEV AND TUE "ANTI -PARTY GROUP" (1953-1957)

The a t t em p te d coup Aga ins t Khrushchev i n June 1957 hadi t s a n t e c e d e n t s , i n t h e s t r u g g l e f o r p ower wh ic h had b ee nt a k i n g p la c e i n t h e p re si di um s i n c e P t a l i n ' s d e a th i n 1 95 3.A l l t h e f o u r p r i n c i p a l s i n t h e Ju ne events--Molotov, Malen-kov , Kaganovich and Khrushchev--were de ep ly invo lve d i n t h i ss t r u g g l e a n d, a t f i r s t , i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f o ne a n o t h e r ; b u t a st h r e e , t h e l i n e s o f t h e c o n f l i c t came t o be drawn betweent h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r y , ' o n t h e one hand, and Malenkov, Molotov,and Kaganovich on th e o t he r .

Over the past fo u r y ea r s , much new da ta on th e June1957 at te mp t of Malenkov, Molo tov , and Kaganovich t o o u s tKhrushchev has come t o l i g h t , And i t i s now poss ib le t oo f f e r a d e t a i l e d a c c o u n t o f w ha t h ap pe n ed . I t s h o u l d b erecognized , however# , t h a t e ve n t h i s v e r s i o n c a n no t be con-s i d e r e d d e f i n i t i v s . Tha i n f o r m a ti o n p r ov i de d by o f f i c i a lF o v i e t s o u r c e s i s f i l l e d w i t h d i s t o r t i o n s and o m i ss i on s ,and g i v e s o n l y o ne p o i n t c f v iew : t h a t o f t h e v i c t o r , w h oi s a l w a y s r i g h t and becomes more s o a s t i m e goes on. A l -thou gh Malenkov, Molotov, and Kaganovich a r e u s u a l l y p o r -t r a y e d a s g r e a t e r v i l l a i n s t h an t h e i r f i v e a l l i e s , t h ed i f f e r e n c e i n t r e a tm e n t i s q u a n t i t a t i v e r a t h e r t h a nq u a l i t a t i v e . T h i s h a s t en de d t o ob sc ur e t h e d i v e r ge n c i s s 'between the e i g h t members of t h e group w h i c h u n q u e s t i o n -a b l y e x i s t e d , a nd t o o v e r s i m p l i f y t h e s u b s t a n t i v e p ro bl em si n d i s p u t e i n 1957 and b e f o r e . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e i s s u e o ft h e a n t i -p a r t y g ro up , a r t i f i c a l l y k ep t a l i v e s i n c e 1957,h a s o f t e n b e e n u se d f o r p u r p o s e s wh ic h ha ve no r e l e v a n c et o t h e J u n e 1 9 57 e v e n t s per se . A t t h e 22 nd F a r t y Con-g r e s s , K hrus hc he v u se d t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r o up t o a t t a c k -F t a l i n on t h e o n e ha nd a n d t h e A l b a n i a n s a n d C h i n e s e ont h e o t h e r ,

I Xhrushchev cont inued t o r i s e a t t h e e x p e n s e of t h e o t h e r

O f f i c i a l s o u r c e s h a v e b ee n s u pp le m en te d b y t h e manyr um or s t o w hic h an y p o l i t i c a l e v e n t i n t h e S o v i e t Uniong i v e s r i s e . The o n ly c r i t e r i o n f o r j ud g i ng t h e r e l i a ' b i l -i t y of t h e se r e p o r t s , w h i c h a r e o f t e n v a gu e a nd c o n t r a -d i c t o r y , i s t h e e x t e n t t o w h ich t hey con fo rm t o v e r i f i -a b l e f a c t s . Puch cor roborLLt ion i s a v a i l a b l e f o r m o s t oft h e r e p o r t s use d h e r e . F:owcvei-, t h e d c c o u n t r o f t h e Junep rc si cl iu nl w e t i n y i s p r i rc a r il y 3 ,b a s e d on u n o I f i c i a 1 s o u r c e s ,.mu herice i s I E O ~ C pen t o q u o s t i o n th,,n t h e res t of t h e .paGer.


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hklenkov and t he N e w CourseT h e r e w8i - e i n d i c a t i o n s of a r i v a l r y b e t w e e n M a l e n k o vand Khrushchev a t l e a s t a s f d r back as 1949 when S t a l i nbrou ght Khrushchev from t h e Ukra ine t o r e o r g a n i z e t h ehioscow p a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n a nd t o j o i n t h e c e n t r a l c o m m i t -t e e s e c r e t a r i a t . T h e r i v a l r y was i n t e n s i f i e d a f t e r S t a l i n ' sd e a t h i n M arch 1953 when p o l i t i c a l m an eu ve ri ng w i t h i n t h epre s id ium began i n earnes t and hlalenkov w a s f o r c e d by h i sc o l l e a g u e s t o sh a r e t he powers bequea thed him by S t a l i n .Malenkov took o v e r t h e p r e m i e r s h f p , l e a v i n g K hr us hch ev t h e 'most powerful m e m b e r of t h e s e c r e t a r i a t . During t h e n e x ttwo y e a r s , t h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r y moved c o n s t a n t l y t o t h ef r o n t a t t h e expense o f Malenkov. H e b u i l t u p his s t r e n g t hi n t h e p a r t y a p p a r a t u s, g a r ne r ed more an d more p u b l i c a t t e n -t i o n f o r h im s el f , became t h e major s p o k e s m a n o n a g r i c u l t u r e

and s e t u p t h e v i r g i n l a n d s p r og ram , t h e i n i t i a l s uc ce ss o fw hi ch s t r e n g t h e n e d h i s hand p o l i t i c a l l y . A s Khrushchev ' sp r e s t i g e m o u nt ed , M a le nk o v' s c o r r e s p o n d i n g l y se em ed t o d e-c l i n e . U n d o u b t e d l y , a s S t a l i n ' s h e i r , Malenkov w a s r e g a r d e dby many of h i s c o l l e ag u e s as t h e m ain p o l i t i c a l t h r e a t , andt h e i r f e a r o f h i s a m b i t i o n s may h a ve i n d i r e c t l y h e l p e d K hru-shchev, who was i n any case t h e more s k i l l f u l p o l i t i c i a n .Aimed pr imar i l y a t p r o d u c i n g more consumer goods, Malen-kov's New Course became one of t h e f o c a l p o i n t s in t h eg e n e r a l d e b a t e o n t h e a l l o c a t i o n o f e co no mi c r e s o u r c e s .I n a d d i t i o n , it e n co u nt er ed s e r i o u s econ om ic d i f f i c u l t i e sand w a s h e l d r e s p o n s i b l e b y many f o r t h e d i s a r r a y i n t h ei n d u s t r i a l s p h e r e . M a le n ko v 's co ns um er g o o ds p ro gr am r a ni n t o c o n f l i c t w i t h K h r u s h c h e v ' s v i r g i n l a n d d e v e l o p m e n to v er i n ve st me nt p r i o r i t i e s a n d s e t up a c o m p e t i t i o n f o rr e s o u r c e s w h i c h d i d l i t t l e t o d i m i n i s h t h e r i v a l r y b e t w e e nt h e t w o men. Another area o f d i s a g r e e m e n t a p p e a r s t o haveb ee n t h e i s s u e of g o v e r n m e n t - v e r s u s - p a r t y c o n t r o l .

I n any eve n t , Malenkov w a s n o match f o r t h e f i r s ts e c r e t a r y , a n d i n F e b ru a r y 1 9 5 5 K hr us hc he v f o r c e d him o u tof t h e p r e m i e r h s i p f o r t h e o s t e n s i b l e r e a s o n t h a t Malen-ko v ' s consumer goods program had t h re a t e ne d t h e p r imacyof h e av y i n d u s t r y . On t h i s i s s u e , K hr us hc he v p r o b a b l y h adt h e su pp or t o f Molo tov and Kaganovich, as w e l l a s o t h e rm embers o f t h e p a r t y p r e s i d i u m . A t t h e same t i m e , t h ep o l i c y d e b a t e p r o v i d e d K h r u s h c h e v w i t h a use fu l weaponf o r r emoving h i s c h ie f p o l i t i c a l r i v a l , of which he t o o kf u l l a d va n ta g e. A lth ou gh t h e p o l i c y s h i f t may i n i t s e l fhave c a l l e d f o r a h i g h - l e v e l s c a p e g o a t , t h e f a c t r e m a i n s

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t h a t Malenkov, Khrushchev ' s ch i e f opponen t, w a s demoted,whi le Mikoyan, a l s o a n a d v o c a t e o f i n c r e a s e d c o ns um ergoods , w a s not . And a f t e r 1955, Malenkov, who held theless i n f l u e n t i a l p o s i t i o n o f d ep u ty c ha ir ma n of t h e Coun-c i l o f M i n i s te r s , c l e a r l y had l o s t m o s t of t h e power heonce had.Molo tov Versus Peace fu l Coex i s t ence

S i n c e S t a l i n ' s d e a t h , M olo to v h ad u n d o u b te d l y b e e nuncomfor t ab l e wi th t h e forms a n d i n t e n t of t h e " p e a c e f u lc o e x i s t e n c e " l i n e wh ic h had d om in at ed S o v i e t f o r e i g n p o l i c y .He w a s u ne as y e v en o v e r t h e r e l a t i v e l y c a u t i o u s d em ar ch esi n i t i a t e d by M alenkov, a n d , a f t e r t h e l a t t e r r e s i g n e d in1955, Molotov made a " to ug h" s p e e c h . t o t h e S up rem e S o v i e twhich seemed t o p r e s a g e a r e t u r n t o a h a r d er l i n e . How-ev e r , when Khrushchev no t on l y re tu rn ed t o but expandedt h e p o l i c y of p e a c e f u l c o e x i s t e n c e , M o l o t o v' s r e l u c t a n c et o g o a l o n g t u r n e d i n t o s t u b b o r n o p p o s i t i o n .c o n f l i c t w i t h K h r u s h c h e v w a s t h e p ro po se d r e c o n c i l i a t i o nw i t h T i t o . T hr ou gh ou t t h e s p r i n g o f 1 9 55 , h e a p p a r e n t l ykep t up a s t ub b o rn r e s i s t a n c e t o t h i s p o l i c y a n d e v e na f t e r t h e K h ru sh ch ev -B u lg an in t r i p t o B e l g r a d e i n May a n dJune 1955 , he con t inued t o r e g a rd T i t o a s a h e r e t i c a ndt h e con cess ion s made t o him a m i s t a k e . F or h i s p o s it ! io n ,Molotov w a s c e n s u r e d b y a plenum of t h e c e n t r a l committeein J u l y 1955. W ith t h e p o s s i b l e e x c e p t i o n o f V o r o s h i l o v ,he seems t o h av e b ee n a l o n e i n h i s d e f i a n c e , f o r o f f i c i a la c c o u nt s i n d i c a t e t h a t h e g o t no s u p p o r t f rom e i t h e rKaganovich o r Malenkov.

The p a r t i c u l a r i s s u e wh ich br o ug h t him i n t o d i r e c t

T h e r e a f t e r , a s Khrushchev assumed a f i r m er d i r e c t i o no f f o r e i g n a f f a i r s , an d a s t h e p o l i c y o f p e a c e fu l c o e x i s t -ence began t o b e a p p l i e d more and more b o l d l y , t h e d i s -approving Molotov w a s c o n s i s t e n t l y p ush ed i n t o t h e ba ck -ground. One re as on f o r t h i s w a s Molotov ' s obv iousi n c o m p a t i b i l i t y - - b o t h by p e r s o n a l i n c l i n a t i o n a n d b e ca u s eof h i s c l o s e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i th S t a l i n ' s f o r e i g n p ol ic y- -w i t h t h e new S o v i e t im ag e i n f o r e i g n a f f a i r s . M or eo ve r,t h e f r e q u e n t c l a s h e s b e tw ee n Kh ru sh ch ev an d h i s f o r e i g nm i n i s t e r a p p e a r t o have provoked 3 p e r s o n a l a n i m o s i t ybe tween the two men which may a l s o have been a f a c t o r i nM o l o t o v ' s ' l o s s o f i n f l u e n c e . K hr us hch ev a t any r a t e

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seemed t o t a k e g r e a t & p a s u r e i n re m in d in g M olotov t h a th i s v o i ce w a s n o l o n g e r as p o w e r f u l a s i t had once been,a n a f r e q u e n t l y made f u n of him i n p u b l i c .I n a d d i t i o n , K h ru s hc he v 's d o m e s t i c p o l i c i e s u nd ou bt -e d l y c a u s e d K o l o to v much u n e a s i n e s s , a n d h e w a s no morer e c e p t i v e t o t h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r y ' s v i r g i n l a n d s programt h a n h e had been t o M al en ko v' s p o l i c y o f i n c r e a s e d i n v e s t -ment s f o r consumer goods. I n g e n e r a l , h e m ai n t ai n e d as t u bb o r n r e s i s t a n c e t o a n y major change s a imed a t p a r t i a l l yl i b e r a l i z i n g t h e regime, and he dragged h i s f e e t wh eneverp o s s i b l e . H i s o p p o s i t i o n t o l i b e r a l i z a t i o n a t home andp e a c e f u l c o e x i s t e n c e a br o a d p r o ba b ly r e s u l t e d n o t o n l yfrom a c o n s e r v a t iv e ' ' S t a l i n i s t " m e n t a l i t y wh ich saw i na l l change a form of r e v i s i o n i s m , b u t a l s o f rom apprehen-

s i o n t h a t s u c h me as ur es as Khrushchev was implement ingm i g h t l e a d t o i n s t a b i l i t y a t home and t o a s e r i o u s w e a k e n -i n g o f t h e p a r t y ' s hegemony.h !o lo to v' s c o n t i n u e d i n t r a n s i g e a n c e a p p a r e n t l y c on -v i n c e d K h r u s h c h e v t h a t h i s wings would have t o be c l i p p e df u r t h e r . I n t h e summer o f 1955, Kommunist c a r r i e d a l e t t e rfrom h!olotov "r ec an t i ng " h i s s t a t e m e n t t h t t h e USSR hadn o t y e t b u i l t socialism--a s t a t e m e n t w h ic h o t h e r e v i d e n c eS u g g e s t s w a s n o t M o l o t o v ' s b e l i e f , b u t a s l i p of t h et o n g u e . T h i s a r t i f i c i a l l y i n f l a t e d i s s u e w a s a n o b v i o u se f f o r t t o add i d e o l o g i c a l d e v i a t i o n t o t h e l i s t o f hlolo-t o v ' s s i n s and was a f u r t h e r s t e p i n t h e d ow ng radin g oft h e O l d B o l s h e v i k . A t t h e 2 0 t h P a r t y C o n gr es s i n F e b r u ar y1956, both he and Malenkov were o b l i g e d t o r e p u d i a t e t h ep o l i c i e s t h e y had e a r l i e r advoca t ed , and Molo tov hea rdh i s c o n du c t o f S o v i e t f o r e i g n p o l i c y d e s c r i b e d a s ' ' o s s i - ef i e d . " In J u n e 1956, on t h e e v e o f T i t o ' s r e t u r n v i s i tt o Moscow, Molotov was r e p l a c e d by S h e p i l o v a s f o r e i g nm i n i s t e r .. . . ...... .

/'D e c l i n e of KananovichThe o u s t e r a nd v i l i f i c a t i o n o f K a gan ov ich is e s p e c -i a l l y i r o n i c . T he r e i s much evidence t h a t h e w a s a ne a r l y p a t r o n o f K hr us hc he v a n d h e l p e d him o n h i s way t ot h e t o p . A f t e r S t a l i n ' s d e a t h K ag an ov ich became a f i r s tdep u ty cha irman of t h e C o u nc i l o f M i n i s t e r s ; h i s i n f l u e n c ei n c r e a se d an d , u n t i l t h e end of 1955, h e a p p a r e n t l y r e -mained t h e r e gi n? e ' s t o p i n d u s t r i a l s p e c i a l i s t . He

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' ui ideubtddly. s idsd w i t h ::hrushchev 011 t h e i s s u e of haavyv w s u s l i g v t i n d u s t r y ' i n D acembei-' 1951, s i n c e , as a l ong-t i i x i id v oc ii ts o f r a p i d i n c i u s t r i a l g r o w t h , h e . must haveregiri*tIocl ?;?


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D e E t a l i n i z a t l o nKhrushchev 's secre t speech a t t h e 2 0 t h P a r t y C o n g r e s si n F eb ru ar y 1956 a p p e a r s t o have been t h e f i r s t major i s s u et h a t found Malenkov, Molotov, and Kaganovlch i n any wayu n i t e d a g a i n s t t h e f i r s t se c r e ta r y . S h o r t l y b e f or e t h e co n-g r e s s , K hr us hc he v r e p o r t e d l y t o l d t h e p r es id iu m t h a t h ei n t e n d e d t o make a s p e e c h i n closed s e s s i o n d e n o u n c i n gS t a l i n . T h i s b o mb sh el l p ro d uc ed a v i o l e n t r e a c t i o n from ,Maleqkov, Molotov, Kaganovich and Vo ro shl lov , wh o,ac cor dingt o Khrushchev l a t e r , came o u t s t r o n g l y a g a i n s t t h e e xp os uof t h e ' ' c u l t o f p e r s o n a l i t y " an d of t h e " v i o l a t i o n s of soc i a l i s t l e g a l i t y . " K hru shch ev a t t r i b u t e s t h e i r o p p o si t io n , .t o fea r t h a t t h e i r r o l e i n t h e p u r g e s wo ul d a l s o be r e v e a l e d ;t h i s w a s pe rhaps one f a c t o r , b u t i t a l s o a p p l i e d t o X hru-s h c h ev , a nd i n an y case t h e problem w a s undoubted ly more

c o m p l i c a t e d t h a n t h a t . S t a l i n h ad u n de rg o ne a g r a d u a ldowngrad ing s i nce h i s de a t h , ap pa re nt ly by common con sen t ;b u t a dramat ic expose such a s t h a t proposed by Khrushchevw a s a d i f f e r e n t matter and probab ly seemed, t o t h o s e whoopposed i t , bo th unn ecess ary and unwise , They may havea n t i d i p a t e d - - u n l i k e K h ru s hc he v- -t ha t s u c h a n a b r u p t d es t a l -i n i z a t i o n m i g h t crea t e more problems than it would so lve .However, Khrushchev a s u s u a l s teamrol lered h i s o p p o s it i ona n d t h r e a t e n e d t o make t h e speech t o t h e e n t i r e c on gr es s.So Malenkov, Molotov, Kaganovich and Vor oshi lov f i n a l l yg av e i n a n d a g r e e d t o l e t Khrushchev take u p " t h e q u e s t i o no f t h e c u l t of t h e i n d i v i d u a l " i n a closed s e s s i o n .Closed s e s s i o n or n o , t h e o p p o n en t s of d e S t a l i n i z a -

t i o n , . w e r e c l e a r l y unhappy ab out t h e whole matter . A t t h e20 th Pa r t y Congress , Malenkov,Molotov, Kaganovich andV o r o s h i l o v we l ' e v e r y r e t i c e n t i n co mm en tin g on t h e c u l t 1of pe r s on a l i t y , which Kaganovich desc r i bed a s "no easyq u e s t i o n . " As t h e p o l i c y of d e S t a l l n l z a t i o n b e g a n to beimplemented , t h e i r un eas ine ss mus t have i nc rea sed . Khru-shchev has accused t hem of o b s t r u c t i n g i n v e s t i g a t i o n sInto t h e purges and of o pp os in g r e h a b i l i t a t i o n of purgevic t ims . Ponomarev r e l a t e s t h a t Kaganovich and Molotovs t r o n g l y r e s i s t e d t h e i d e a of a new d e s t a l i n i z e d p a r t yh i s t o r y , a nd Mo lo to v c o n t i n u e d t o p r a i s e t h e o l d * * s ho r tc o u r se " i n t h e p r e s s .Thus by th e summer of 1956 , Malenkov, Molot ov, a nd

Kaganovich a l l had good reason t o be d i s s a t i s f i e d w i t hK h r u s h c h e v ' s l e a d e r s h i p . A l l t h r e e h ad s u f f e r e d s ub -s t a n t i a l l o ss o f power an d i n f l u e n c e s i n c e S t a l i n ' s

- 6 -


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death--a f a c t whic.. Khrushchev d i d n o t l e t t h e m f o r g - t .Pe rhaps even more i m po r ta n t t h a n t h e i r f r u s t r a t e d ambi-t i o n , t hey had become in c r ea s i ng ly conce rned ove r Khru-s h c he v ' s p o l i c i e s an d s t y l e o f l e a d e r s h i p . A t t h e samet ime, t h e r e w a s l i t t l e u n i t y among t h e t h r e e men, ando v e r t h e p a s t f o u r y e a r s t h e y had more o f t e n t h a n n o tfound t hemse lves on o p p o s i te s i d e s of t h e fence. Asi n d i v i d u a l s w i t h l i t t l e i n common, Khrushchev had re du ced .them a t l e i s u r e . A lt ho ug h t h e y d i d n o t a c h i e v e r e a l u n i t yu n t i l e a r l y 1957, t h e i s s u e o f d e s t a l i n i z a t i o n d i d b r in gu n i t y of a c t i o n .i " them somewhat closer t o g e t h e r a n d made p o s s i b l e a c e r t a i n

Khrushchev Euffers A Temporary SetbackD urin g t h e f a l l of 1956, Khrushchev seemed t o be some-

p o s i t i o n s somewhat, p a r t i c u l a r l y i n r e g a r d t o S t a l i n , a ndh i s major preoccupa t i on seemed t o b e m a i n t a i n i n g t h e s t a t u sq uo r a t h e r t h a n t r y i n g new o r u no rt ho d ox s o l u t i o n s t o c u r -r e n t p r o b l e m s .Whi le Khrushchev h imse l f p robab ly recog nized t h e needf o r ad j us tm e nt t o t h e p r ob le ms a r i s i n g f r o m t h e d e s t a l i n i z a -t i o n c am pa ig n an d t h e c r i s e s i n Po land and Hungary, h i sunwonted mode ra t ion may a l s o have been t h e r e s u l t of s t r o n gp r e s s u r e from h i s o p p on e nt s i n t h e p r e s id i u m . I t seemsl i k e l y t h a t t h e y t oo k ad va nt ag e of t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s ca us edb y K h r us h ch e v' s d e S t a l i n i z a t i o n c am pa ig n t o reassef-t t h e i r

i n f l u e n c e a n d t o p u t t h e "c o l d e c t i v i t y " back i n t h e " l e ad e r-s h i p . *'In Oc tober 1956, Molotov and Kaganovich accompaniedMikoyan and Khrushchev t o Warsaw f o r t h e t a l k s w i t hGomulka; t h e fo ll ow in g month, b:olotov w a s a p p o i n t e d Win-ISter of S t a t e C o n t r o l . A l th o u gh t h e H u n ga r ia n r e v o l u -t i o n was ap pa re n t l y hand l ed p r im ar i l y by Mikoyan , Sus lovand Khrushchev, Malenkov accompanied t h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r yt o a h i g h - l e v e l m e e t i n g of s a t e l l i t e l e a d e r s in Budapestfrom 1 t o 4 Janua ry . Dur ing t h i s same per iod Khrushchev 'sp o s i t i o n was r e p o r t e d t o be sha ky: i n mid-November andag a in i n December the re were rumors t ha t he would bere pl ac ed . These rumors subs i ded when t h e December plenum

t oo k pl a ce a f t e r a t h ree -day pos tponement and no pe r so nne lchanges w e r e made. I n e a r l y J a n u ar y t h e r e w a s a rumora i r c u l a t i n g in Warsaw t h a t he had r e t a i n e d h i s l e a d e r s h i pby on ly a " s l i m m a j o r i t y " a t t he p l enum.

. w ha t o n t h e d e f e n s i v e . H e appea red t o b e m o d i f y i n g h i s

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S h o r t l y t h e r e a f t e r , h ow ev er , K hr us hc he v a g a i n em er ge d '\a s t h e d om in an t f i g u r e o n t h e S o v i e t s c e n e , a n d M alen ko vd i d no t p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e 10 J a n u a r y t a l k s w i t h K a da r i nMoscow. Khrushchev 's p ub l i c app eara nces and t h e programsw i t h w h ic h h i s name w a s a s s o c i a t e d b e g a n t o m u l t i p l y . ByF eb ru ar y t h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r y a pp ea re d t o h a v e f u l l y re-g a i ne d h i s p re e mi n en t p o s i t i o n , a nd h e h ad no t r o u b l ep u s h in g h i s ec on om ic r e o r g a n i z a t i o n p l a n t h r o u g h t h cc e n t r a l committee.

The December 195 6 PlenumT h e e c o n o m i c r e o r g a n i z a t i o n p l a n w a s one of t h e endr e s u l t s of a p r o c e s s s e t in mot ion by t h e December 1956plenum, which m e t t o d i s c u s s e co no mi c p r o bl e ms , T h e r eseems t o have been gene ra l agreement a t t h e plenum t h a tt h e r eg im e f a c e d s e r i o u s econ om ic d i f f i c u l t i e s , b u t t h e r ea p p a r e n t l y w a s d i s a g r e e m e n t a s t o w h et he r t h e f a u l t w a s i nt h e g o a l s of t h e d r a f t S i x t h F iv e- Ye ar P l a n , a p pr o v ed b yt h e 2 0 t h P a r t y C o n gr es s i n F e b r u ar y , or i n t h e a d m in i s tr a -t i o n of t h e economy. The t w o w e r e n o t m u t u a l l y e x c l u s i v e ,b u t i n t h e min ds of t h e p r o t a g o n i s t s p r o b a bl y became n e a r l y

so .

, .

The i n d u s t r i a l a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , c r i t i c a l o f t h e v e r yh i g h g o a l s an d t h e p a t t e r n o f i n ve s tm e nt a l l o c a t i o n s c on -t a i n e d i n t h e S i x t h Fi ve -Y ea r F l a n , w an te d a more economi-c a l l y r e a l i s t i c p l a n a n d some r e l i e f from t h e t e n s i o n sproduced by high growth tempos .T ho se o p p o s in g t h i s v ie w- -m ai nly p a r t y f u n c t i o n a r i e sa n d m i l i t a r y men--were conce rned l e s t t h e g o a l o f " c a t ch -i n g u p w i t h t h e West" i n p e r c a p i t a o u t pu t b e r e l e g a t e d t ot h e museum o f Communist a n t i q u i t i e s . I n t h e i r vi ew s u f -f i c i e n t r e s e r v e s e x i s t e d i n t h e S o v i e t economy t o e n a b l et h e p l a n t o be m e t , a n d t h e r e a l c u l p r i t s were t h e i n d u s -t r i a l a d m i n i s t r a t o r s whose d e p a r t m e n t a l e m p ir e - b u i l d i n g ,f e a th e r b ed d i ng a nd r e d t a p e p r e ve nt ed f u l l r e a l i z a t i o nof t h e USSR's e c o n o m i c c a p a b i l i t i e s .

e n t l y d e c id e d t h a t b o th c r i t i c i s ms had meri t . I t d e c i d e d ,on t h e on e h a n d, t h a t t h e Fi ve -Y ea r P l a n s h o u l d b e r e v i s e da s p r op o se d by t h e a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , b u t r e p o r t e d l y i to r d e r e d a l s o , i n a n u n p u b li s h ed d e c i s i o n , a n i m me di at ee x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e p r o bl e ms of i n t e r d ep a r t m e n ta l b a r r i e r s .

The c o n f l i c t en de d i n a s t a n d o f f , a n d t he p l enum appa r -

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12/28

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The par ty pres idium members were p r o b a b l y a s d i v i d e do n t h e s e i s s u e s a s was t h e plenum. One So vi e t source h a sr e p o r t e d t h a t M ol ot ov d e f e n de d t h e F iv e- Ye ar P l a n a n d t h a tK hru sh ch ev a t t a c k e d i n d u s t r i a l a d m i n i s t r a t o r s f o r m a in t a in -i n g i n t e r d e p a r t k e n t a l b a r r i e r s . Malenkov probab ly s i dedw i t h t h e i n d u s t r i a l adm in i s t r a to r s , s i n c e h e h ad l o n g co n -s i d e r e d re tr e nc h me n t a n d c o r r e c t i o n of d i s p r o p o r t i o n s i nthe economy a v i t a l n e c e s s i t y . S ab ur ov , more t h a n l i k e l y ,was unsympa the t i c t o a t t a c k s on t h e p l a n , s i n c e he hadh e l p e d d e v e l o p i t a n d h a d b e en r e s p o n s i b l e for p r e s e n t i n gi t t o t h e 2 0 t h P a r t y C o n g re s s. The p le nu m, r e f l e c t i n g onh i s performance a s p l a nn i n g c h i e f , r e p l a ce d h i m w i t hP e r v u k h i n a s cha i rman of t h e S t a t e Economic Commissionf o r Shor t Te rm P lann ing of the Nat iona l Economy.K h r u s h c h e v a r g u e d a g a i n s t a n y s u b s t a n t i a l d o w n w a r d r e v i s i o no f t h e p la n , t h a t Sa bu ro v c r i t i c i z e d " a d m i n i s t r a t i v ede f i c i en c i e s , " and t h a t Molo tov and Kaganovich may haves ee n i n t h e a t t a c k o n i n t e r d e p a r t m e n t a l b a r r i e r s a d a n g e r -ous move t o wa r d f u r t h e r d e c e n t r a l i z a t i o n . M ale nk ov , B e r -vukh in, and Shep i lo v may a l s o h av e r e s i s t e d a n y r e o r g a n i za -t i o n , a l t h o ug h i t is p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e y o n l y o p p os ed t h ep l a n i n i t s f i n a l r a d i c a l f orm.

T he p le nu m , t h e r e f o r e , s e t i n m o ti on t w o a p p a r e n t l ys e p a r a t e s e t s o f a c t i v i t i e s . P er vu k hi n, a i d e d by a teamof t o p - l e v e l a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , p r oc ee de d t o create t h ea n n u al p l a n f o r 1957, o s t e n s i b l y i n a cc o rd a nc e w i t h t h ep l e n u m 's d i r e c t i v e s . A n o th e r g r o u p , c om po se d of a l l t h emembers of t h e p r e s i d iu m , b o th f u l l a nd c an d i d a t e , t a c k l e dt h e pr ob le m o f i n t e r d e p a r t m e n t a l b a r r i e r s .

J u d g i n g f r o m s u b s e q u e n t e v e n t s , i t seems l i k e l y t h a t

F e b r u a r y 1957 E v e n t sOn 5 F e b r u a r y 1957, P e r v u k h i n p r e s e n t e d h i s 1957a n n u al p l a n t o t h e S upreme S o v i e t , w hic h d u t i f u l l ya d o p t e d i t a f t e r t h r e e d a y s of 71debate . '1 Planned growthof i n d u s t r i a l p r od u ct io n w a s c u t f ro m t h e 10.8 p e r c e n ta c h ie v e d i n 1 95 6 to 7 .1 p e r c e n t , t h e lowest i n a n y p e ac e-t i m e y e a r s i n c e 1 92 8. I f t h e a n n u al p l a n w a s a n y f o r e c a s to f t h e c h a n g es t o be made i n t h e S i x t h F iv e- Y ea r P l a n ,s c h ed u l e d f o r r e v i s i o n by mi dy ea r, t h e n t h e v i c t o r y o ft h e m a n a g e r i a l e l i t e w a s c o m p l et e . P e r v u k h i n ' s g r o u pa p p a r e n t l y we nt e v en f u r t h e r w i t h economic re t renchmentt h a n t h e December p a r t y p le nu m h ad i n t e n d e d .

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.>. ..: :.:

. .

Meanwhi le t h e group working on t h e problem ofa d m i n i s t r a t i v e d e f i c i e n c i e s had p a r t i a l l y discarded t h et r a d i t i o n a l S o v i e t method o f m e rg in g m i n i s t r i e s a n d h adworked out a r a d i c a l s o l u t i o n i n v o l v in g a s h a r p r e du c -t i o n i n t h e c e n t r a l m i n i s t e r i a l a p p a ra t us i n Moscow andan expanded co-ord ina t i on of a c t i v i t i e s w it h in r eg io n s.The new plan w a s d es ig ne d i n p a r t t o break up t h e min-i s t e r i a l e m p ir e s , b l a s t en t r e n c h e d b u r e a u c r a t s from t h e i rc h a i r s , and d i s t r i b u t e b o t h men a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a u t h o r -i t y w i d e l y o v e r t h e geograph ic face of t h e Sovie t Union .I t w a s a l s o des igned t o "release" t h e e c o n o m i c r e s e r v e st i e d up by i n t e r d e p a r t m e n t a l b a r r i e r s , b u r e a u c r a t i c redt ape , a nd o t h e r a d m i n i s t r a t i v e d e f i c i e n c d e s .

t o r s c a n ha ve bee n v e r y e n t h u s i a s t i c ab o ut t h i s scheme,a p p a r e nt l y n e i t h e r he nor any of t h e ot h e r s who subse -q u e n t l y o pp os ed t h e p l a n e x p r e s s e d t h e i r d i s ag r e em e n tw h i l e i t w a s b e i n g d r a f t e d . The i s s u e w a s brought up f o rf i n a l c o n s id e r a t io n a t a pre s id ium mee t ing which tookp l a c e s h o r t l y b e f o re t h e c e n t r a l committee plenum on 13and 14 February . The oppon ents of t h e r e f or m a g a i n re -m a i n e d s i l e n t ; h o w e v e r , a t 3 a . m . on t h e e v e of t h e plenum,as F u r t s e v a l a t e r r e v e a l e d , M o l o t o v d e l i v e r e d a s h o r t n o tet o h i s c o l l ea g u e s r e g i s t e r i n g h i s o p p o s i t i o n t o t h e reor-g a n i z a t i o n , o n t h e g ro un ds t h a t t h e c o u n t r y w a s n o t y e tr e a d y f o r s u c h a reform.

Al though ne i t he r Molotov nor t h e economic adm in i s t ra -

Khrushchev Regains t h e I n i t i a t i v et h e c e n t r a l c o m m i t te e ' s two-day s e s s i o n b eg an t h e n e x tday. Althoug h Khrushchev had remained v er y much i n t h ebackground a t t h e Supreme Sov ie t , t h e plenum which fol-lowed a p p e a r s t o have been comple t e ly domina t ed by h i m .Tbe a d o p t i o n o f t h e r e o r g a n i z a t i o n scheme w a s a p e r s o n a lt r i u m p h f o r him. A t t h e same t i m e i t marked a defeat forh i s p o l i t i c a l e n e m i e s a n d t h e d e s t r u c t i o n of t h e m i n i s t e r -i a l e m p i r e l a s a p o l i t i c a l b a s e . I n a d d i t i o n , K h r u s h c h e vw a s a b l e t o b r i n g a b o u t t h e appointm ent of one of h i sS u p p o r t e r s , F r o 1 K oz lo v, t o t h e p a r t y p r es id i um .of s e n d i n g p e r s o n a l l y s i g n e d c o n g r a t u l a t o r y t e l e g r a m s t oa g r i c u l t u r a l workers an d o f f i c i a l s a nd in M a r c h p a r t i c i -p a t e d i n t h e f i r s t o f , a s e r i e s of much propagandized

The Supreme Soviet ended its work on 12 Feb ruar y and

D u r i n g t h e s p r i n g , K hr us hc he v i n i t i a t e d t h e p r a c t i c e

- 10 -


14/28

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. . . .

r e g i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l c o n f er e n ce s . A t t h e e nd o f t h emonth, h i s t h e s e s o n t h e e co no mic r e o r g a n i z a t i o n werep u b li s he d f o r d i s c u s s i o n .

Dur ing t he month of May, Khrushchev 's publ ic izeda c t i v i t i e s r ea ch ed a n a l l - t i m e h i g h . I n t h e v olu me o fp e r s o n al p u b l i c i t y a nd i n t h e number a nd d i v e r s i t y o fp o l i c i e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h h i s p e r s o n a l s p o ns o r sh i p , h es u r p a s s e d a l l t he o the r members of t h e c o l l e c t i v e l e ad e r-s h i p p u t t o g e t h e r . E a r l y in t h e month h e p r e s e n t e d h i st h e s e s t o t h e Supreme S o v i e t , was named chairman of t h ecommiss ion e l ec t ed t o d r a f t t h e l a w a nd a g a i n a d d r e s s e dt h e s e s s io n a f t e r t h e l a w was p a s s e d .- A t a n a g r i c u l t u r a l c o nf e re n ce s i n L en in gr ad on 22May, i n a manner c l e a r l y r e v e a l i n g h i s cont inued dominanceo v e r a g r i c u l t u r e , K hr ush ch ev b o a s t e d t h a t t h e USSR c o u l do v e r t ak e t h e U n it ed S t a t e s i n p e r c a p i t a o u t p u t of meatan d d a i r y p r o d u c t s i n t h e n e x t few y e a r s . I t w a s a l s oa t t h i s c o nf er en c e t h a t he d i sc u ss e d t h e p o s s i b i l i t y ofd i s c o n t i n u i n g t h e c-om pu lso ry d e l i v e r i e s fr om p r i v a t ep l o t s , a s u b j e c t wh ic h had n o t y e t b ee n f u l l y d e c i d ed i nt h e p r e s i d i u m . I n b et we en these a c t i v i t i e s , he w a s i n t e r -viewed by CBS on t e l e v i s i o n an d r e c e i v e d a plaque f rom ag r o u p of Leningrad worke rs w i t h a h i g h l y l a u d a t o r yi n s c r i p t i o n . No S o v i a t l e a d e r had r e c e i v e d s i m i l a r ap-p ro b at io n s i n c e S t a l i n ' s d e at h .

Format ion of t h e A n t i - P a r t y G ro upP r e c i s e l y a t what moment Malenkov, Mol oto v, an dKaganovich dec ided t o j o i n forces f o r a n a t t a c k o nKhrushchev can on ly be co n j ec tu r ed . However, t h e i m m i - .n e n t e co no mi c r e o r g a n i z a t i o n , w hi ch w ou ld s e r i o u s l y w eakent h e p o l i t f c a l power of t h e m a n a g e r i a l e l i t e , t h e i r s t r on g -e s t e l ement of suppor t , must have made i t c l e a r t h a t t h e ywould have t o a c t s o o n or n o t a t a l l , I n a d d i t i o n t o t h et h r e a t t o t h e i r p o s i t i o n i n h e re n t i n t h e r e o r g a n iz a t io ni t s e l f , t h e ad op t i on of t h e r e fo rm c l e a r l y r e f l e c t e dKhrushchev's renewed preeminence and h i s c o nt in u ed a b i l i t yt o impose h i s p o l i c i e s a r b i t r a r i l y a g a in s t t h e w i sh es ofh i s c o l l e a g u e s , T he c o m b i n a t io n of p a s t g r i e v a n c e s an dt h i s l a t e s t t h r e a t - - t h e most s e r i o u s t o d a t e - - e f f e c t i v e l yo ve rs ha do we d t h e d i f f e r e n c e s b e t we en t h e t h r e e men a ndmade u n i t e d a c t i o n a t once p o s s i b l e and nec ess a ry . Hencei t w a s p ro ba bl y i n t h e s p r i n g of 1957 t h a t Molotov,

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Malenkov and Kaganovich f i r s t made t e n t a t i v e p l a n s t oous t Khrushchev. Of t h e t h r e e , M alen ko v was a l l e g e d l yt h e p r a c t i c a l o r g an i ze r -- w h ic h p r o b a b l y m ean t t h a t h er e c r u i t e d s u p p o r t e r s - w h i l e M olo to v w a s t h e i d e o l o g i s t .A f e w o min ou s i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t K hr us hc he v was p l a n -n i n g t o imp l i c a t e t h e Molo tov g roup in S t a l i n ' s excessesmay w e l l have given i t s members a f e e l i n g o f d e s p e r a t i o n .Malenkov had r e p o r t e d l y r e c e i v e d wa r ni n gs t h a t Khrushchevi n t e n d e d t o a c c u s e him o f c o m p l i c i t y i n t h e L e n in g r a da f f a i r . A t a p r e s i d i u m m e et i n g w h ic h t o o k p l a c e n o t l o n gbe fo re t h e June p lenum, t h e r e h a b i l i t a t i o n of Tukhachevskyaed o t h e r m i l i t a r y f i g u r e s w a s di scussed and unan imous lyapproved. Khrushchev, a s he t o l d t h e 2 2n d P a r t y C o n g r e ss ,t h e n a s k e d Malenkov, Molotov, and Kaganovich whether th eywere s i n c e r e n o w , i n v o t in g f o r t h e r e h a b i l i t a t i o n , o rthen, when t h e y had concur red i n t h e e x e c u t i o n order .C l e a r l y t h i s boded ill.

The A n ti - P a r t y G ro up R e c r u i t s S u p p o r t e r sA t t h e p r e s i d i u m m e e t i n g on 18 J u n e , t h e o r i g i n a lgro up of Molotov, Malenkov, a nd Kaganovich w a s s u p p o r t e db y f i v e o t h er members of t h e p r e s i d i u m ; a t what p o i n tt h e i r s up po r t w a s o b t a i n e d is un c l ea r . Undoubted ly t h ei n d u s t r i a l r e o r g a n i z a t io n p l an h ad a l s o created g r e a td i s s a t i s f a c t i o n among many i m p o rt a n t p o l i t i c a l f i g u r e si n Moscow, i n c l u d i n g members of t h e c e n t r a l committeea nd p r es i di u m. T h e i r b u r e a u c r a t i c e m p ir e s were b e i n gdi ss ol ve d and many of them were p e r s o n a l l y t h r e a t e n e dw i t h t r a n s f e r t o t h e h i n t e r l a n d s f a r f rom the compara t i ve- l u x u r y of Moscow. To many, t h e r a d i c a l d e g r e e of decen-t r a l i z a t i o n e n v i s a g e d i n K hr u sh c he v 's sch em e m ust h a veseemed a d a ng e ro u s move, p o s s i b l y p u t t i n g i n j e o p a r d y

MOSCOW'S c o n t r o l of i n du s t ry and hence weaken ing t h epa r ty . Khrushchev ' s claim t h a t t h e USSR c o u l d o v e r t a k et h e U . S . i n p e r c a p i t a p r od u ct io n of meat a nd d a i r y p r o-d u c t s by 1960 s a d d l e d t h e Soviet economy w i t h a s t r e n u o u sa g r i c u l t u r a l p r o g r a m on t o p o f t h e e co no mi c r e o r g a n i z a -t i o n a nd t h r e a t e n e d t o f u r t h e r i n t e n s i f y d i s r u p t io n oft h e economy r e s u l t g n g fr om u n r e a l i s t i c a l l y h i g h g o a l s .U nd ou bt ed ly d e s t a l i n i z a t i o n a n 6 t h e a utumn e v e n t s inPoland and Hungary had a l ready created some g e n e r a la p p r e h e n s i o n .

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Accord ing t o t h e o f f i c i a l l i n e , w hic h m ust h ow everbe r e g a r d e d w i t h some c a u t i o n , t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r ou pr e c r u i t e d s u p p o r t e r s " wi th J e s u i t i c a l f i n es s e' ' a ndl aunched i t s a t t a c k " t r u s t in g i n c o n t a c t s p r e vi o us lym ad e." T he g r o u p h a s f r e q u e n t l y b e en a c c u s e d o f l a c k -i n g a program; however , i t would ha ve b ee n d i f f i c u l t ,i f n o t i m p os s ib l e , t o f i n d a program or p l a t f o r m t owhich a l l e ig h t men would ag ree . From th e po in t o fv i ew of t h e t h re e l ea de rs , Malenkov , Molotov , and Kagano-v i c h , a t a c t i c a l a l l i a n c e w a s p ro b ab ly s u f f i c i e n t f o rt h e i r purpo ses and moreove r much e a s i e r t o a c h i e v e . I ta p p e ar s l i k e l y t h a t b y a d o p t in g a so mew hat d i f f e r e n t a p -proach t o e a c h member o f t h e p r es id iu m , t h e a n t i - p a r t yg ro up s u c c e s s f u l l y t r a n s l a t e d a g e n e r a l u n e a s i n e s s o v e rK hr us hch ev 's p o l i c i e s i n t o p o l i t i c a l s u p po r t f o r i t smove t o o u s t t h e f i r s t s e cr e ta r y .

Many o f t h e r e p o r t s d e s c r i b i n g t h e J u ne m e e t in gi n d i c a t e t h a t t h e a t t a c k on Khrushchev a t t h a t momentt o o k by s u r p r i s e many o f t h e p r e s i d iu m members who sub-s e q u e n t l y s u p po r te d t h e o p p o s i t i o n. T h i s s u g g e s t s t h a tsome, a l th o u g h g e n e r a l l y aware t h a t an a t te m p t t o removeKhrushchev w a s i n t h e o f f i n g , may n o t h a v e known t h a t i twould t ak e p l ac e when it d i d . O t h e rs , w h i l e a g r e e i n g i np r i n c i p l e t o su pp o rt t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s i n opposing someof Khrushchev ' s p o l i c i e s , may have known no t h in g a t a l la b o u t t h e more a m b i t i o u s p l a n t o remove him from t h el e a d e r s h i p .p a r t y g ro u p w e l l i n ad v an ce o f t h e J u n e p r e s i d i u m m e et i ngan d c l e a r l y p a r t i c ip a t e d i n t h e p l o t to ous t Khrushchev .

B u l ga n in , by h i s own co n f e s s i o n , j o i n e d t h e a n t i -. . .

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H i s o f f i c e became a-m ee ti ng p l a c e f o r t h e c o n s p i r a t o r s .By v i r t u e o f h i s p o s i t i o n a s p r e m i e r , h e w a s made t h en o m l n a l l e a d e r of t h e o p p o s i t i o n. . I f h i s i nv o lv em e nt isc l e a r , h i s m o ti ve s a re l e s s so. B u l g a n i n h a d b e e n t h ec h i e f b e n e f i c i a r y of Khrushchev ' s r i s e t o power. Thef i r s t s e c r e t a r y ' s p o l i c i e s h ad a p p a re n t ly r ec e i ve d h i sc o n s i s t e n t s u p p o r t , a l t h o u g h h e may h av e come t o s h a r esome o f t h e g e n e r a l a n x i e t y a b o u t K h ru s hc h ev 's c o u r s e ,He d i d n o t s p e a k up i n f a v o r o f t h e ec on om ic r e o r g a n i z a -t i o n a t t h e F e b r u a r y pl en um , a l t h o u g h h e l a t e r contendedt h a t t h i s m easure a l s o had h i s s u pp o r t, I n a d d i t i o n ,I g n a t i e v c h ar g ed l a t e r t h a t B u l g a n i n was d i s s a t i s f i e dw i t h h i s s t a t u s i n t h e p a r t y a nd had j o i n e d t h e f a c t i o n -a l i s t s o u t of a m b i t i o n ; i t i s j u s t p o s s ib l e t h a t h e w a st i r e d of p l a y i n g s e co n d f i d d l e t o K hr us hc he v.

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s h i l o v , p u b l i c ly i d e n t i f i e d a t t h e 2 2nd P a r t yf o r t h e f i r s t t i m e a s a member of t h e a n t i -p a r t y g r o u p , was a t t h a t t i m e l i n k e d w i t h M o l o t o v ,Malenkov, and Kaganovich i n suc h a way a s t o i m p l y t h a the had been one of t h e o r i g i n a l c o n s pi r a t o r s . T h i s isd i f f i c u l t t o b e l i e v e , if o n l y b e c a u s e h e was in t h e F a rE a s t f ro m t h e m id d l e o f A p r i l t o t h e e n d of May-probya b l y t h e v e ry t i m e when t h e t h r e e l e a d e r s b eg an t o l a yt h e i r p la ns . Moreover, by Khrushchev ' s a ccount ,V o ro s hi lo v 's r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e o t h e r t h r e e w a sf a r from c o r d i a l . V o r o s h il o v h a s h i m s el f a d m i t t e d ,ho wev er, t h a t h e s u p p o r te d t h e p o l i c i e s o f t h e a n t i -p a r t y g r o u p . A s an Old Bolsh evik who had s erv ed f o ry e a r s u n d e r S t a l i n , h e may w e l l h a v e s h a r e d some of t h edou bt s o f t h e "dogma t i s t s " abou t t h e wisdom of Khrush-

c h e v ' s c o u r s e ; h e had o p e nl y op po se d t h e d e S t a l i n i z a t i o n .His f e a r o f b e i n g i m p li c at e d i n t h e p u r ge s , a s Khru-shchev su gg es t s , may a l s o have been a fac to r . Malenkov,M ol ot ov , a n d K ag an ov ic h, b y s k i l l f u l l y p l a y i n g on h i sdou bt s and fe a r s , may have found Vorosh i l ov- -a l readyso mewh at s e n i l e - - r e a d i l y s u s c e p t i b l e t o t h e i r f o rc e -f u l l y p r e s e n te d a r g u me n ts . A t t h e 2 2nd P a r t y C o n g r e s s ,V o r os h il o v d e n i e d t h e c h a r g e s t h a t h e h ad b ee n a con-s p i r a t o r or t h a t h e knew o f t h e i r f a c t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s .While Voroshi lov 's memory may n o t be a l t o g e t h e r r e l i -a b l e , i t I s e n t i r e l y p o s s ib l e t h a t he d i d no t know oft h e p l a n t o o u s t K hr us hc he v u n t i l t h e p r e s i d i u m m ee ti ng --a t which po in t he w av ered b u t f i n a l l y ga ve h i s s u p p o r t ,o r t h a t h e w a s pe rsuaded t h a t p o l i c i e s c o u l d b e c h a n g e do n l y w i t h t h e r e m ov al of Khrushchev. I n any case, mostr e p o r t s i n d i c a t e t h a t h e v a c i l l a t e d t hr ou g ho u t. A l -t hough t he y undoubted ly knew th a t Vo rosh i l ov would bei n c l i n e d t o w av er , t h e t h r e e r i n g l e a d e r s a p p ea r t o havec o n s id e r e d h i s s up p o r t i m p o r t an t ; t h e p r e s t i g e h e en jo y edl

.. . in t h e p a r t y w o uld b e a u s e f u l t oo l .S h e p i l o v ' s immediate e x p u l s i o n f r o m t h e p r e s i d i u ma n d c e n t r a l c o m m i t t e e i n 1957 sug ges t ed t h a t he had beend e e p l y i m p l i c a t e d i n t h e a n t i - p a r t y c o n s p i r a c y . However,l a t e r a c c o u n t s , c o u pl e d w it h t h e a c c u s a t i o n s of career-i s m and doubledea l i ng t h rown a t h i m , i n d i c a t e t h a t he

i n g r a t i t u d e came a s a n u n p l ea s a n t s u r p r i s e t o Khrushchev.Long cons idered a p r o t e g e of t h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r y ' s ,S h e p i l o v had a p p a r e n t l y g i v e n h i s f i r m s u p p o r t t o Khru-s h c h e v ' s p o l i c i e s , b o t h f o r e i g n a nd do m e st ic . I t i s, t r u e t h a t he w a s o p e n l y u n e n t h u s i a s t i c a b o u t t h e e co no mi c

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r e o r g a n i z a t i o n a n d i s known t o have jo in ed Molo tov and /"\P e r v u kh i n i n f o r m in g a t r i u m v i r a t e of o p p o s i t i o n . How- )e v e r , i t w a s a p p a r e n t l y o pp or tu n is m r a t h e r t h a n i d e o l o g y It h a t d e te r m in e d h i s p o s i t i o n : a c c o r d i n g t o t h e o f f i c i a l iv e r s i o n , S h e p il o v s w i t c he d l o y a l t i e s when he decidedt h a t v i c t o r y l a y w i t h t h e i n s u r g e n t s , who, a s h e t h o u g h t , ,wou ld be ab le t o o b t a i n a m a j o r i t y . On t h e b a s i s oft h i s c a l c u l a t i o n he gave t h e a n t i- p a rt y g ro up h i s f u l l Ia n d u n e q u i v o c a l s u p p o r t a n d s t a y e d w i t h them u n t i l t h eend . Because of h i s w e l l known s y m p a t h i e s , t h e o t h e r shad probably not a t t em p t e d t o r e c r u i t S h e p il o v , whomoreover was o n l y a ca nd id at e member of t h e pn?sid iumw i t h o u t a vo te , bu t the y undoub tedly wou ld have w e l -comed h i s s u p p o r t . S h ep i lo v w a s t h e o n l y member of t h ep a r t y s e c r e t a r i a t t o j o i n them, and ha d , moreover , ex-t e n s i v e t i e s w i t h t h e c u l t u r a l i n t e l l i g e n t s i a .

ii

T h e i n c l u s i o n of S he pi lo v c l e a r l y i l l u s t r a t e s t h eh e te r og e ne o us c h a r a c t e r o f t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r ou p , s i n c ehe had l i t t l e i n common w i t h i t s o the r members. Shepi-l o v was c l o s e l y i d e n t i f i e d w i t h K h r u s h c h e v ' s f o r e i g npo l i cy , wh ich canno t have endea red him t o Molotov. H i sl i b e r a l t e n d e n c i e s , w hic h e a r n ed him t h e name of " D m i t r ip ro gr es si vn iy ," a nd i n p a r t i c u l a r h i s l e n i e n c y t o w a r d sw r i t e r s , were c l e a r l y a t odds w i t h t h e more h a r d - l i n ea t t i t u d e of h i s f e l l o w c o n s pi r a t o r s .J u d g i n g from what appears t o have b e e n t h e l i n e -up a t t h e June p res id ium mee t ing , i t seems a f a i r g ue sst h a t t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s c o n si d e re d P er vu kh in an d S a-burov t o be p o t e n t i a l s u p po r te r s , somewhat i n t h e samec a t e g o r y a s Vorosh i lov . Pe rvukh in had vehemently op-posed t h e e c o n o m i c r e o r g a n i z a t i o n , which, among othert h i n g s , e l i m in a t ed h i s j o b. T h i s , he l a t e r c o n f e s s e d ,e nc ou ra ge d t h e o p p o s i t i o n t o c o un t on h i s s u p p o r t . I na d d i t i o n , P e r v u k h i n had c l a s h e d w i t h Khrushchev on t h ei s s u e of hydro- v e r s u s t h e r m o - e l e c t r i c power s t a t i o n s .Saburov w a s probab ly coun ted a s l e s s c e r t a i n t h anPervukh in . Al though form er ly a Malenkov pro tdg d , heh ad s u p p o r t e d K h r us h ch e v 's p o l i c i e s o v e r t h e p a s t f e wy e a r s ; on t h e o th e r hand, he had r ec en t l y been removedfrom h i s p o s i t i o n a s head of Gosp lan. On t h e b a s i s ofl a t e r e v i d e n c e , i t seems l i k e l y t h a t t h e a n t i - pa r t yg r o u p d i d n o t e x p e c t s u p p o r t f ro m e i t h e r Mikoyan o rS u s l o v a n d a l m o s t c e r t a i n l y n o t f ro m K i r i c he n k o . Mostof t h e c a n d i d a t e members of t h e p r e s i d i u m w e r e Khru-s h ch e v a p p o i n t e e s , b u t t h e y had n o v o t e . A c c o r di n g

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t o o n e r e p o r t , M alenkov ha d ho pe d t o o b t a i n t h e s u p p o r to f Zhukov--a va l uab l e a l l y , even t hough on ly a c a n d i d a t emember--but was u n s u c c e s s f u l .

The Ant i -Pa r ty Group Fl an s I t s S t r a t e g yThe a n t i - p a r t y g r ou p e v i d e n t l y i n t e n d e d t o k e e p t h ea t t a c k a g a i n s t K h ru sh ch ev w h ol ly w i t h i n t h e c o n f i n e s o f t h ep r e s i d i u m ; t o d o t h i s , it n ee de d t h e s u p p o r t o f a major1t .yw i t h i n t h a t body. As i t tu rn ed ou t , Malenkov, Molotov, andKaganovich d i d have


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p r e s e n t i n g K h r u sh c he v 's a d h e r e n t s b o t h in t h e p r e s i d i u mand in t h e c e n t r a l commi t t ee wi th a f a i t a c co mp li a ndr e n d e r i n g them v i r t u a l l y h e l p l e s s . XTh is is, i n an ycase , t h e s t r a t e g y o f f i c i a l l y a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e a n t i -p a r t y g r o u p . )v i s i t f ro m 6-14 J u n e, d u r i n g w h ic h t i m e t h e a n t i - p a r tyg r o u p , m in us B u l g a n i n , p r o b a b l y l a i d i t s f i n a l p l a n s .When Bulg anin and Khrushchev re t ur n ed , th ey were m e t a tt h e a i r p o r t by Malenkov, Kaganovich , Molotov, Mikoyan,Pe rvukhin and Saburov . A t some p o i n t a f t e r K h ru sh ch ev 'sr e t u r n (some r e p o r t s s a y on t h e same day), Malenkov re -q u e s t e d a p r e s i d i u m m e e t i n g t o dec ide which members oft h e p r es i di u m would a t t e n d t h e c e l e b r a t i o n s in Leningradon 22 J u n e . K hr us hc he v r e p o r t e d l y q u e s t i o n e d t h e n e edf o r s u ch a m e e ti n g , s i n c e t h e a r r a n ge m e nt s h ad a l r e a d yb ee n made, b u t f i n a l l y ag r e e d ; a n d t h e p r e si d i u m m e t on18 J u n e . The m e e ti n g p r o b a b l y d i d n o t b e g i n u n t i l l a t e ,because d ur ing t h e day Khrushchev w a s i n t e r v i e w e d b y aJapane se e d i t o r ; t h e p re s id ium members known t o be inMoscow ( i nc lu di ng Zhukov, by t h i s t i m e ) r e c e i v e d ad e l e g a t i o n of H un ga ri an j o u r n a l i s t s ; a nd S ab ur ov l e f tf o r Warsaw. Probab ly noae o f t h e s e deve lopments wouldh a v e t a k e n p l a c e h ad t h e b a t t l e a l r e a d y b e g u n .

Bulganin and Khrushchev were i n F i n l an d o n a s t a t e

Showdown in t h e P r e s i d i u m

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The f i g h t a p p a r e n t l y b e g an a t once , wi th Malenkovq u e s t i o n i n g K hr us hc he v' s r i g h t t o p r e s i d e o v e r t h e meet-i n g , a s Khrushchev had appa ren t l y been in t h e h a b i t ofd o in g by v i r t u e o f h i s p o s i t i o n a s f i r s t s e c r e t a r y . Ana c r i m o n i o u s d e b a t e e n s u e d . In t h e e n d a v o t e w a srepor t ed ly t aken which removed Khrushchev and p l acedBulgan in , who h ad a b s t a i n e d d u r i n g t h e v o t e , in t h ec h a i r . C o n t i n u i n g in t h e same vein, Malenkov, a sp r i n c i p a l spo kesman f o r t h e i n s u r g e n t s , r e p o r t e d l ys t a t e d t h a t K hrushchev had c o n s i s t e n t l y v i o l a t e d t h ep r i n c i p l e s of c o l l e c t i v e l e a d e r s h i p , a nd h e demanded -t h a t t h e f i r s t se c r e t a r y re s i gn . Ma'lenkov accused Khru-shchev of h a v i n g c a r r i e d o u t many m ea s u re s w i t h o u t t h ec o n c u r re n c e o f t h e o t h e r , l e ad e r s , p a r t i c u l a r l y in a g r i -c u l t u r e - - t h e m o s t recent i n s t a n c e b e i ng h i s s p e ec h inMay a n n o u n ci n g t h e a b o l i t i o n of c o m p u l s o r y d e l i v e r i e sfrom p r i v a t e p l o t s an d t h e g o a l of o v e r t a k i n g t h e USA ,Ii n p e r c a p i t a p ro d uc ti on of meat, . m il k , a n d b u t t e r by '1960.

'\-_- 17 -


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T h i s d e b at e s oo n tu r n e d i n t o a m a j o r p o l i c y b a t t l e ,i n t h e c ou r s e of which most o f K h r u s h c h e v ' s i n n o v a t i o n st o h a v e c o n c e n t r a t e d i t s f i r e on t h e r e o r g a n i z at i o n a ndKhrushchev ' s mi l k and meat goa l s , b u t t h e d i s c u s s i o nseems t o h av e e v e n t u a l l y e xt e nd e d t o t h e l a rg e r q u e s t i o n sof r e s o u r c e a l l o c a t i o n a n d i n ve s tm e n t p r i o r i t i e s . Khru-s h c h e v ' s meat a n d m i l k g o a l s were a s s a i l e d a s u n r e a l i s t i ca ,nd unt imely; he was a c c u s e d o f t a k i n g ''a p u r e l y p r a c t i c a la p p r o a c h , " o f " t r y i n g t o pu t economics above po l i cy , " andMolotov is s a i d to h a ve c a l l e d h im a "demagogue withouta n y . i d e o l o g i c a l b a s i s . " H i s a g r i c u l t u r a l p o l i c i e s i n gen-e r a l were denounced a s a " r i g h t i s t d e v i a t io n " wh icht hr ea t, en ed t h e ' 'L e ni n is t g e n e r a l l i n e on t h e p r e f e r e n t i a ldeve lopment of h e a v y i n d u s t r y . I t EIis,fo.r.eign--ald_programis a l s o s a i d t o have.- been a t ta ck ed - as_de~ .r_ ime.nta~_~o- - t l i eSovie t economy. T& e c o n o m i c r e o r g a n i z a t i o n , i t w a s. c h a r g e d , w ou ld l e a d t o a s e r i o us d i l u t i o n of p o l i t i c a lpower and con t rol - -a pr oc es s which Khrushchev 's oppon-e n t s u n d ou b te d ly t h o u g h t h ad a l r e a d y g on e t o o f a r . W hil ei t seems a n o v e r - s i m p l i f i c a t i o n t o s t a t e , a s d o e s t h e o f -f i c i a l p a r t y l i n e , t h a t t h e a n t i - p a r t y g ro u p wanted ac om ple te r e t u r n t o ha r d- l i n e S t a l i n i s t p o l i c i e s , i t i sn ot u n l i ke l y t h a t t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s , a s t h e y were r e p o r t e dt o h a ve d o n e, a d v o c at e d t i g h t e n i n g u p c o n t r o l s . J u d g i ngfrom t h e i r p a s t r e c or d of o p p o s i t i o n t o d e S t a l i n i z a t i o n ,t h e y p r o b a b l y a t t a c k e d K h ru sh ch ev on t h i s i s s u e ; there i sa l s o some e vi d en c e t h a t t h e q u e s t i o n of gove rnment ve r susp a r t y c o n t r o l may h a ve a r i s e n .

Molotov l e d t h e a t t a c k on K h r u s h c h e v ' s f o r e i g np o l i c y , w hic h h e r e p o r t e d l y a s s a i l e d a s " T r o t s k y i s t a n do p p o r t u n i s t . " S h e p i l o v a l s o j o in e d i n t h e f r a y , a t t a ck -i n g K h r us h ch e v 's h a r d - l i n e s p e e c h t o a g r o u p o f w r i t e r son 19 May. L a t e r i t was r e v e a l e d t h a t S h e p i lo v ha d ab o o k l e t , ''a u niq ue f i l e of h i s p e r f o i d y , " i n which h e hade n t e r e d b i t s of s c a n d a l ab o u t h i s c o l l e a g u e s . H e presum-a b l y p u t t h i s t o good use a t t h e p r e s i d i u m m e e ti n g.

' s i n c e 1955 came u n de r a t t a c k . The o p p o s i t i o n a p p e a r s

'

B u l g a ni n , V o r o s h i l o v , a n d e v e n t u a l l y P e rv u k h i n a l s op a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e a t t a c k , al though somewhat more moder-a t e l y a n d n o t , a c c o r d i n g t o most r e p o r t s , u n t i l t h e d i s -c u s s i o n h ad b ee n r a g i n g for some t i m e . P e r v u k h i n j o i n e di n d e n o u nc in g t h e e co no mi c r e o r g a n i z a t i o n , a c c u s i n g Khru-s h ch e v o f h a v in g a n " o r g a n i z a t i o n a l i t c h " a n d h i n t i n g a ta " b i as " ( pr es um ab ly i n f a v o r of t h e p a r t y ) i n t h e i d e aof r e o r g a n i z a t i o n .- 18 -


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The r e a l b a t t l e , h ow ev er, f o c u s s e d on t h e a t te m p tt o remove Khrushchev f rom h i s po s i t io n a s f i r s t s e c r e t a r y .Molotov, Malenkov, and Kaganovich had re p or te d ly pr epa reda new l i s t o f c a n d i d a t es f o r t h e s e c r e t a r i a t a nd t h e p r e -s i d i u m , i n which one of them was t o become f i r s t sec re ta ryand Khrushchev was t o b e o f f e re d t h e m i n i s t r y of a g r i -c u l t u r e . A l t h o u g h some of t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r o u p may ha veb e en un aw ar e p r e v i o u s l y o f t h e p l o t t o oust Khrushchev,t h e y n o n e t h e l e s s a p p e a r t o h av e u l t i m a t e l y c o n c u r r e d i nde mand in g t h a t h e r e s i g n . K h ru sh ch ev 's e n e r g e t i c s e l f -defense must have made it c l ea r t o t hem tha t he would no ty i e l d t o p r e s s u r e f r o m h i s c o l l e a g u e s on p o l i c y mattersa n d t h a t a change in p o li c y- p re sum a b ly t h e i r m o ti v e f o rs u p p o r t in g t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s - - c o u l d be e f f e c t e d o n l y w i thhis rem ova l. They may a l s o have f e l t t h a t in s u p p o r t i n gt h e a n t i - p a r t y g r ou p t h u s f a r , t h e y h ad co m mi tt ed them-s e l v e s i r r e v o c a b l y.

Khrushchev, however, a id e d by Mikoyan, de fen ded him-s e l f v i go r o us l y and c a t e g o r i c a l l y r e f u s e d t o r e s i g n . Hea p p a r e n t l y a r g u ed t h a t t h e p r e s i d i u m ' s demand w a s i l l e g a l ,s i nc e on ly t h e c e n t r a l commit t ee cou ld r emove him. Khru-s u r p r i s e t o h i s op p on e nt s ; t h e y h ad p r o b a b ly a ss um ed h ewould bow t o the demands of t h e m a j o r i t y , as Malenkovove r h i s consumer goods program and Molotov ove r Yugo-s l a v i a had done i n 195 5. S in ce t h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r y ' ss u b s t a n t i a l p o l i t i c a l s t r e n g t h i n t h e c e n t r a l committeew ould c l e a r l y g u a r a n t e e him a n e a s y v i c t o ry , t h e a n t i -pa r t y group vehemently opposed Khrushchev 'z demand t h a tt h e matter b e su b m i t t e d t o t h a t body; k e e p i n g t h e b a t t l ew i t h i n t h e p r e si d i um w a s o b v i o u s l y t h e i r o n l y c h a n c e ofs u c c e s s .

sh c h e v ' s i n t r a n s i g e a n c e mus t h av e come a s someth ing o f a

I n S t a l i n ' s d a y , t h e u s e o f f o r c e would h av e b ee nt h e n e x t s t e p . B u l g a n i n had i n f a c t p l a c e d g u a r d s a r o un dt h e K remlin', a nd i n p a r t i c u l a r a r ou n d t h e b u i l d i n g w he ret h e p r e s i d i u m w a s meet ing ,, w i th o r de r s t o l e t no onet h r ou g h w i t h o u t s p e c i f i c i n s t r u c t i o n s fr om him. S i n c et h e i r whole s t r a t e g y s u g ge s t s t h a t t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t se x p e c t e d a n e a s y v i c t o r y , t h e g u ar d s seem t o have beeni n t e n d e d more a s a p o t e n t i a l t h a n a n a c t u a l t h r e a t .B u t when Khrushchev d i d not gi ve i n , t h e i r u s e w o u l dhave seemed lo g i c a l and indeed impe ra t iv e . However, t h emore v a c i l l a t i n g s u p p o r t e rs of t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r o up , ha v-i n g p e rh a p s a l r e a d y b ee n pu sh ed f a r t h e r t h a n t h e y o r i g i -n a l l y i n t en d e d t o go, may have got co ld f ee t and opposedt h e u s e of S t a l i n i s t m et ho ds t o b r i n g a b o u t K hr us h ch ev 'sremoval . - 19 -


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Khrushchev R a l l i e s His C o h o r t sA t t h i s p o i n t , a new development occurred whichs t r en g th ene d Khrushchev ' s hand. The c e n t r a l commit teemembers r e s i d i n g in Moscow were i nf or me d of t h e b a t t l ew i t h i n t h e p r es i di u m -- p r ob a b ly b y F U r t s ev a , a l t h o u g hpo ss ib ly by ano the r p re s id iu m member. Khrushchev' s" h e a l t h y core1' i n t h e p r e si d iu m w a s u n d o u b t e d l y i n s t r u -m en ta l i n r a l l y i n g t h e c e n t r a l committee t o t h e s u p p o r tof t h e f i r s t s e cq e t a r y , b u t i t is n o t c l e a r which of h i ss u p p o r t e r s w a s t h e m ost a c t i v e . F u r t se v a is g e n e r a l l yc r e d i t e d w g th h a v i n g pl a y e d a major role; a p p a r e n t l y s h en o t o n l y g o t i n t o u c h w i t h t h e c e n t r a l c o mm it te e membersr e s i d i n g in Moscow, b u t a l s o a l e r t e d t h e p r o v in c ia l p a r t ybosses and summoned them t o Moscow immedia te ly . Anotherv e r si o n c i r c u l a t i n g i n Warsaw a f t e r t h e. 2 2 nd P a r t y C o n g re ssa s s i g n s t h i s ro l e t o Mikoyan and-anskg,_/-- h i l e F u r t s e v ar e n d e r e d a n e q u a l l y i m p o r t a n t s e r v i c e by c o n d u c ti n g a f i l i -b u s t e r in t h e p r es i di u m. I n a ny case, t h e p r o v i n c i a l c e n -t r a l committee members were urgent ly summoned t o t h ec a p i t a l- - t r a n s p o r t ed , a c c or d i n g t o o ne r um or , i n s p e c i a lp l a n e s s u p p l i e d b y Zh ukov . C e n t r a l committee membersa b r o a d were a l s o i nf or me d of t h e s i t u a t i o n a nd s e v e r a lambassadors--M alik, Vino grad ov, Ponomarenko, Pegov, andY ud in -- l ef t t h e i r p a s t s h a s t i l y t o r e t u r n t o Moscow. A st h e c e n t r a l committee members a r r ived i n Moscow, th e y w e r ev e ry l i k e l y b r i e f e d on t h e s i t u a t i o n by e i t h e r F u r t s e v a o rMikoyan and g iv en i n s t r uc t i o ns on how t o a c t , b o t h t h e na n d s u b s e q u e n t l y a t the plenum.Members of t h e pres id ium who had been ab se nt werea l s o re turning--many of them Khrushchev su pp or te rs .S h v e r n i k ha d r e t u r n e d on t h e 1 9 t h ; S u s l o v , M u kh it di no v ,a n d K ir i c h en k o a r r i v e d b a ck in t i m e f o r t h e p le nu m ont h e 22nd; Kozlov, who had been in Leningrad when thepre s id ium mee t ing began , w a s t h e r e a g a i n on 22-23 J u n e ,b u t may h av e r e t u r n e d i n t h e i n t e r i m . S ab ur ov , t h e o n l yr e t u r n e e t o s u p p o r t t h e o p p o s i t i o n , was p u b l i c l y i d e n t i -f i e d in Warsaw o n t h e 1 9 t h an d so c o u l d n o t h av e r e t u r n e db e f o r e t h e 2 0 t h or even l a t e r . However, from h i s owna d m i s s i o n , w e know t h a t he took p a r t in t h e l a t e r p r e s i d -ium meet ings , where he seems t o have t aken a. somewhata mb ig uo us p o s i t i o n . I n g e n e r a l he defended Khrushchev 'sp o l i c i e s a n d r e s i s t e d I t t he a t t e m p t s o f Kaganovicla a n d t h e

o t h e r s t o b e s m i rc h t h e name o f K h ru sh ch ev ," b u t a p p a r e n t l yh e d i d n o t come o u t f i r m l y on K h ru s hc h ev ' s s i d e . H e ad -m i t te d g i v in g t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s some s u p p o r t , b u t o n l y"on t h e b a s i s of e a s i l y e l i m i n a t e d s h o rt co m i ng s , w hi chwere not of a fundamenta l na tu re . "


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. . ..' .' .. .

T h e C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e E n t e r s o n t h e S c en eM ea nw hi le , b e f o r e t h e a r r i v a l of t h e i r co l le a g ue s , t h ec e n t r a l committee i n Moscow s e n t a d e l e g a t io n o f 18 o r 20t o t h e p re s id iu m. The envoy s , a rmed wi t h a p e t i t i o n fromt h e c e n t r a l committee as a w ho le , made t h e i r way " l i t e r a l l yi l l e g a l l y " p a s t t h e g u a r d s p o s t e d b y B u lg a ni n a n d p r e -s e n t e d t h e m s e l v e s a t t h e d o or o f t h e b u i l d i n g wh er e t h ep r e s i d i u m was m e e t i n g , demanding t o be r e c e i v e d b y t h a tbody . Al though t h ey were u n a b l e t o see t h e l e a d e r s , t h e ymanaged t o d e l i v e r t h e c e n t r a l committee p e * i t i o n r e q u e s t -i n g t h a t t h e i s s u e of l e a d e r s h i p c u r r e n t l y u n de r d i s c u s s i o ni n t h e p r es id iu m be s u b m i t t e d t o a c e n t r a l committee plenum,w hic h a l o n e h ad t h e r i g h t t o d e c i d e s u c h a q u e s t i o n ,

. . .. . . .. .... ,...,. . ,.,.. . . .

T h e i n t r u s i o n of t h e c e n t r a l committee i n t o t h ea f f a i r s o f t h e p r e s i d i u m c a u s e d a n u p r o a r . K h r u sh c h ev ' so p p on e n ts h e ap ed a b u s e on t h e c e n t r a l committee f o r d a r i n gt o i n t e r f e r e : K a g a n o v i c h , who w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y i n s u l t i n g ,s po k e o f p r e s s u r e b e i n g p u t on t h e p re s id i um ; o t h e r s r ag e dt h a t t h e c e n t r a l committee d i d n o t t r u s t i t s r u l i n g b o d y .Al though Khrushchev demanded t h a t t h e de l e ga t i on ber e c e i v ed , t h e t h r e e l e a d e r s of t h e a n t i - p a r t y g ro u p f o ra t i m e f l a t l y r e fu se d.However, th e t i d e was r a p id l y t u r n i n g i n t h e f i r s ts e c r e t a r y ' s f a v o r . By t h i s t i m e , K h r u s h c h e v ' s s t r e n g t hi n t h e p re si di um h ad g r e a t l y i n c re a s ed w i t h t h e r e t u r nof h i s s u p p o r t e r s , a n d t h e a n t i - p a r t y g ro u p w a s p r o b a b l yu n d e r p r e s s u r e f r o m some of i t s own e r s t w h i l e a d h e r e n t st o a g r e e t o a plenum.* More and more c e n t r a l committeemembers were a r r i v i n g i n Moscow; a s t h e y j o i n e d t h ed e l e g a t i o n i n t h e K re ml in , b r i n g i n g i t s s t r e n g t h up t o70 or more, i t became c l e a r t h a t t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s wouldhave t o r e c e i v e t h e e n v oy s a n d p r o b a b ly a g r e e t o a plenuma s w e l l . Meanwhi le , however , th e ha rd core o f t h e i n s u r -g e n t s h ad be en f i g h t i n g a d e s p e r a t e r e ar g u a r d a c t i o n .W h i l e a g r e e i n g i n p r i n c i p l e t o a p len um , t h e a n t i - p a r t yg r o u p a p p a r e n t l y c o n t i n u e d t o demand t h a t Khrushchevr e s i g n f i r s t , j u dg i ng , p ro b ab ly c o r r e c t l y , t h a t t h e

* Most r e p o r t s s u g g e s t t h a t P e rv u k hi n , S a b ur o v , V o r o s h il o v ,and Bulgan in had b y t h i s t i m e become somewhat lukewarm 'i n t h e i r s up po r t of t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s . .-..- 2 1 -


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. .. . .

L

c e n t r a l committee would not oppose a f a i t a c co m p li . Thean no un cem en t o f h i s r e s i g n a t i o n , t o g e t h e r w i t h a p o l i c ys t a t e m e n t t o b e d r a f t e d b y S h e p i lo v , was t o be p u b l i s h e di n t h e p r e s s . Khrushchev , howeve r, undece ived by t h i sr a t h e r o b v io us s t r a t ea g e m , r e j e c t e d t h i s p r op o sa l .According t o Khrushchev's own account of t h i s e pi so d e,h i s o p p on e nt s t h e n s u g g e s t e d t h a t V o so s hi l ov b e s e n t t omeet t h e c e n t r a l c o m m it te e members a l o n e , a p p a r e n t l y c a l -c u l a t i n g t h a t h i s s t a t u r e w i th i n t h e p a r t y would i n f l u -enc e them, Th is Khrushchev a l s o r e f u s e d t o a c c e p t . Hei n s i s t e d on g oi ng w i t h V o ro sh il ov , s t a t i n g t h a t n o o nec ou ld d ep r iv e t h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r y of t h e r i g h t t o m e e tmembers o f t h e c e n t r a l committee which had e l e c t ed h im.I n t h e e n d, i t w a s a g r e e d t h a t fo ur members o f t h e p re s i d -ium would go, t w o f rom eac h s i d e : Khrushchev, Mikoyan,Voros h i l ov , and Bulgan in . The convo ca t i on of a plenum--a l r e a d y v i r t u a l l y c e rt a in - -m u s t h av e b ee n fo r m a l l y a g r e e don a t t h i s m ee ti ng ; t h i s marked t h e d e f a c t o en d of t h ea n t i - p a r t y g r ou p 's r e v o l t . --

C e n t r a l C omm i t t e e PlenumThe plenum of t h e c e n t r a l c o mm it te e o pe ne d on 22 June .P r e s e n t w e r e m e m b e r s of t h e c e n t r a l c o m m i t t e e , b o t h f u l land ca nd id a t e , and members o f t h e au d i t i ng commiss ion- -at o t a l o f 309. Roughly a t h i r d o f t h e s e men c l e a r l y owedt h e i r careers t o Khrushchev; many o t h e r s were p r o b a b l yi n d i r e c t l y i nd eb te d t o h i m . A lt ho ug h t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r o up

may have counted on d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h t h e eco no micr e o r g a n i z a t i o n t o u n d e r c u t some o f K h r us h ch e v 's s t r e n g t hi n t h e c e n t r a l committee, t h e y p r ob a bl y d i d n o t e x p e c t t h eb a t t l e t o g o b ey on d t h e p r e s i d iu m , a n d t h e r e i s n o e v i d e n c et o s u g g e s t t h a t t h e y had a t t e m p t ed t o b u i l d u p a c t i v e s up -p o r t i n t h e l a rge r body. Khrushchev, i n a d d i t i o n , h ad t h ea d va n ta g e o f s u p e r i o r o r g a n i z a t io n : t h e c e n t r a l committeehad p robab ly been w e l l b r i e f e d . b y h i s s u p p o r t e r s an d i t sl o y a l t y a s s u re d . T h i s , ad de d t o h i s e x i s t i n g s t r e ng t h- -which w a s p r o b a b l y g re a t e s t among t h e v er y members sum-moned t o Moscow--effec t ive ly guaranteed his v i c t o r y . T h el e n g t h o f t h e s e s si o n - -e i g ht d a y s -- i n d ic a te s t h a t i tt u r ne d i n t o a f u l l - s c a l e r a l l y o f s u p p o rt f o r Kh ru sh ch eva n d a forum f o r d e t a i l i n g t h e " p er f id y " of h i s o p po n en ts .s i d e r a t i o n o f t h e i s s u e s r a i s e d by t h e a n t i - p a r t y g ro up .S u s l o v , who a p p a r e n t l y p r e s i d e d o v e r t h e m e e t i n g ,

The only i t e m on th e agenda o f t h e p lenum w a s con-

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p r e s e n t e d a repor t on t h e p r e s i d i u m m e e t in g w h ic h h adj u s t t ak e n p l a c e an d w a s p r o b a b l y a b l e t o m a n i p u l a t e t h es p e a k e r s in favor of Khrushchev . The fo ur i n su rg en t swere e a c h a l l o w e d t o s p e a k twice du r i ng t h e plenum. Onea f t e r t h e o t h e r , M alen ko v, M o lo to v, K a ga no v ic h , a n dS h ep i lo v . de f en d e d t h e i r p o s i t i o n s a t l e n g t h a n d r e i t e r -a ted t h e i r c h a r g e s a g a i n s t K hru sh ch ev . W it h t h e p o s s i b l ee x c e p t i o n of Bulganin, who w a s l a t e r a c c u s e d o f h a v i n gt r i e d t o s h i e l d M alenkov d u r i n g t h e d i s c u s s i o n , t h e f o r m ers u p p o r t e r s of t h e g r o up a p p a r e n t l y d i d n o t s p ea k u p in .t h e i r d e f e ns e an d in f a c t began t o g r a v i t a t e t o w ar ds t h eo t h e r s i d e . S a b ur o v , un d e r t h e i n f l u e n c e o f Mikoyan a ndK i r i c h e n k o , d e s e r t e d e v e n b e f o r e t h e p len um b e ga n. I f.- t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r o up h ad a ny a d h e r e n t s in t h e c e n t r a l com-mittee , t h e y were e i t h e r n o t a ll ow e d t o s p e a k o r p r e f e r r e dt o r e m a i n s i l e n t .The s p e e c he s o f t h e f o u r i n s u r g e n t s were f o l l o w e d b yt h o s e of K h ru s hc he v 's w e l l - b r i e f e d s u p p o r t e r s . Of t h e215 members who req ue st ed p erm iss ion t o s p e a k , 60 werea l l owed t o d o so, a n d t h e rest s u b m i t t e d w r i t t e n s t a t e -ments. A l l a l l e g e d l y s u p p o r t e d K hru sh ch ev a n d f i e r c e l yd en ou nc ed t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r o up . F o l l o w in g w ha t was prob-a b l y a c a r e f u l l y p l an n ed l i n e of a t t a c k , o n e s p e a k e r a f t e ra n o t h e r rose t o - d e f e n d t h e l i n e l a i d down a t t h e 2 0 thPa r t y Congre ss . The members of t h e a n t i - p a r t y g ro u p w e r ea t t a c k e d n o t o n l y f o r t h e i r c o n t i nu o u s a nd s t u b b or n re-s i s t a n c e t o I m p le m en t at i on o f p a r t y p o l i c y , b u t a l s o f o rt h e i r n e f ar i o us r o l e in t h e p u r g e s . Malenkov w a s r e p o r t -e d l y s i n g l e d o u t f o r h i s r o l e in t h e L e n i n g r a d a f f a i r andin t h e l i q u i d a t i o n of Voznesensky, w hi le Molotov andKaganovich were accused of h a v i n g p a r t i c i p a t e d in t h emass r e p r e s s i o n s in i n n o c e n t c a d r e s . T h i s c a u s edV o r o s h i l o v t o jump up f rom h i s s e a t ; w av in g h i s arms int h e a i r , h e s h o u t e d t o t h e c e n t r a l committee: "You a r eyoung! W w i l l correc t your b ra i ns : " She p i lo v , dubbeda " p o l i t i c a l p r o s t i t u t e , " w a s denounced f o r h i s hypoc-r i s y a nd d o u b l e d e al i n g.A s t h e i s o l a t i o n of a n t i - p a r t y g r o up becam e i n c r e a s -i n g l y e v i d e n t , i t s a d h e r e n t s , S a b u r o v , V o r o s h i l o v ,P e r v u k h in , a n d B u l g a n in b eg an t o d e s e r t o ne by o n e .Towards t h e end of t h e p lenum, each of t h e s e f o u r roset o de no un ce t h e a n t i - p a r t y g r o up a nd t o "expose" i t sa c t i v i t i e s , c on fe ss in g a t t h e same t i m e t h e i r own

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... ,..

,. .., ! I

*. ,. , . .

.. . .. .i .

. . . . ... .I

i ,

>.,,,..\ .. ,... . . . .

e r ro r s ,*t h e pl enum, when he rea f f i r med h i s sup po r t fo r Khrushcheva n d h i s op,- -i":-on t o Molotov, Malenkov, an d Kaganovich.T h i s was prcb. -. t h e f i n a l b lo w, f o r on t h e l a s t day ofthe plenum Lalenkov, Kaganovich, and She pi l ov re ca nt ed andc o n fe s se d t h e i r g u i l t ; S h ep i lo v t r i e d t o a b s o l v e h im s el fo n t h e g r ou n ds t h a t h e had o n l y j o i n e d a t t h e l a s t minute .According t o one r e p o r t , t h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s f i r s t t r i e d t omake a p a r t i a l r e t r e a t and to m i t i g a t e t h e i r d em and s, b u tt h e plenum demanded a f u l l r e ca n t a t i o n , which i t g o t ,a p p a r e n t l y i n t h e form o f w r i t t e n s t a t e m e n t s f ro m t h eth r ee men, Alolotov a lo ne he l d ou t and s tu bb orn ly re fu se d' t o r e p u d i a t e h i s p o s i t i o n .29 June , drew up a r e s o l u t i o n con dem nin g t h e f a c t i o n a l a c t i v - -i t i e s of Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich and Sh ep i lo v, andexpe l l i n 'g them from t h e c e n t r a l committee; t h e r e s o l u t i o nwas adop ted unanimously, excep t by Molotov who abs ta ined.A t t h e same t i m e , t h e f o u r l e a d e r s were a l l removed fromt h e p r e s i d i u m , a s w a s Saburov, whi le Per-vukhin w a s demotedt o can di da te member, and Shep i lo v w a s removed from t h e sec-r e t a r i a t . V o r o sh i l ov a n d B u l g an i n , a p p a r e n t l y t r e a t e d a sl e s s e r o f f e n d e r s b ec au se of t h e i r r e c a n t a t i o n s ; r e p o r t e d l yr e c e i v e d o f f i c i a l r e p r im a n d s ( wh ic h r em ai ne d sec r e t ) b u tr e t a i n e d t h e i r p o s i t i o n s . The c ha ng es i n t h e p r es id i um ,t o g e th e r w i th t h e r e s o l u t i o n o f t h e c e n t r a l committee,w e r e publ i shed i n P r av da o n 3 J u l y ; on 5 July , Malenkov,M ol ot ov , K a g a n o v i c h , v u k h i n , a n d S ab u ro v were r e l e a s e da s deputy cha i rmen of t h e C o u n c i l of M i n i s t e r s .

Somewhat s u r pr i s i n g l y , t h e fo ur r i ng l eade rs - -Ma lenkov ,Molotov, Kaganovich and Shepilov--remained i n th e pa r t y .A lt ho ug h t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s would c e r t a i n l y seem t o have w a r -r a n t e d e x p u l s io n , a nd w h i l e t h e c e n t r a l committee r e s o l u -t i o n s p e c i f i c a l l y c i t e d Lenin t o t h e e f f e c t t h a t p a r tymembers might be expel led f o r f a c t i o n a l i s m , no a c t i o n wast a k e n a g a i n s t them e i t h e r t h e n or l a t e r .Congress in Octobe r 1961, d e s p i t e r e p e a t e d c a l l s f o r t h e

Zhukov a l l e g e d l y a p p e a r e d t o w a r d s t h e e n d o f

T h e c e n t r a l committee, on t h e l a s t d a y o f t h e se s s i on ,

A t t h e 22nd P a r t y

* T h i s i s s u g g e s t e d i n t h e " c o n f e s s i o n s " o f t h e s e f o u r men:B u l g a n i n ' s a t t h e December 1958 CC plenum; Saburov 's andP e r v u k h i n ' s a t t h e 21s t Pa r ty Congre ss , J an .-Feb. 1959;a n d V o r o s h i l o v ' s s t a t e m e n t t o t he 22nd Pa r ty Congre ss ;a l s o Khrushchev 's speech a t 22nd Pa r ty Congre ss , 27 Octo-b e r 1961. - 24 -


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r em o va l f r om t h e p a r t y of Molotov, Malenkov, an d Kagano-v i c h , t h e s e dem an ds were n ot i n co r po r at ed i n t h e f i n a lr e s o l u t i o n o f t h e c o n g r e s s . H ow ever, i t has been rumoredt h a t e x p u l s i o n p r o ce e di n gs a re c u r r e n t l y u nd er way , a l -t hough , a s r e t r l b u t i o n f o r e v e n t s w hich to o k p l a c e f o u ry e a r s ago, expul s ion now seems a r a t h e r b e l a t e d an di r r e l e v a n t g e s t u r e .A lth ou gh t h e t h r e a t t o K h r u sh c h ev ' s l e a d e r s h i p e n de dw i t h t h e c e n t r a l committee plenum of June 1957, t h e a n t i -p a r t y g r o u p a6 a n i s s u e h a s b ee n k e p t v e r y much a l i v e , a n d ,o v e r t h e p a s t f o u r y e a r s , t h e p ro pa ga nd a ca mp ai gn a g a i n s tt h e f a c t i o n a l i s t s h a s b ee n r e p e a t e d l y r e v i ve d . The g r a d u alu nm as kin g o f t h e o t h e r f o u r v i l l a i n s - - B u l g a n i n in December1958, S ab u ro v a n d P e r v u k h i n i n F e b r u a r y 1959, and Voroshi -l o v i n Oc tobe r 1961--has p rov ided a more or l e s s c o n t i n u -o u s o p p o r t u n i t y f o r v i r u l e n t a t t a c k s on t h e g r o u p a s awhole. Whether Malenkov, Molotov, and Kaganovich a r ee x p e l l e d f r o m t h e p a r t y o r n o t , t h e a n t i - p a r t y g ro up seemsl i k e l y t o remain a s t a n d a r d i t e m in t h e p a r t y ' s p ro pag an dar e p e r t o r y f o r some t i m e .

. .. .. . . ,.,.......:-. . . . ,..>- ......

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