Caesar 51 - Portrait of a Neo-Stalinist: Annex to CAESAR XXXIX Andrey Kirilenko and the Soviet Political Succession

8/2/2019 Caesar 51 - Portrait of a Neo-Stalinist: Annex to CAESAR XXXIX Andrey Kirilenko and the Soviet Political Succession

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DIRECTORATE OF

INTELLIGENCE

I

Intelligence Report

Anntx To CAESAR X X X l X

(Andrey Ki&nko and the Soviet PoIitiGdl S d )

(IRejkmTitk:W A R L)

HR70-14

(U )

I I

June 1971





PORTRAIT O F A NEO-STALINIST

ANNEX TO CAESAR X X X I X

(ANDREY K I R I L E N K O AND THE S O V I E TPOLITICAL S U C C E S S I O N )

MEMORANDUM T O RECIPIENTS:

T h i s Annex t o CAESAR X X X I X (March 1971) t racest h e r i s e of a tough app a ra t ch ik , Andrey Ki r i l enk o, t oa t o p p o s i t i o n w i t h i n t h e S o v i e t s ys te m.Annex i s p u b li s he d e s p e c i a l l y f o r t h o s e i n t e r e s t e d i nt h e S o v i e t l e a d e r s h i p q u e s ti o n i n some depth , th e gene ra lr e a d e r w i l l f i n d p r o f i t i n t h e p a t t e r n s -- o f l e a d e r s h i ps t y l e , p o l i c y , an d p r o t eg e s -- which c o n t in u e t o p r od uc emore S t a l i n s t h an Khrushchevs.

Although the

The analys is and judgments of t h i s A nne x arec o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h o s e o f CAESAR X X X I X , and have s i m i -

l a r l y m e t g e n e r a l a gr ee me nt among S o v i e t s p e c i a l i s t sw i t h i n t h e Ce nt ra l I n t e l l i g e n c e Agency. Comments ont h i s Annex are welcome, and shou ld be add ress ed t o i t sa u tho r , Mr. A l b e r t L. S a l t e r , of t h i s S t a f f .

H a l FordC h i e f , D D / I S p e c i a l Research S t a f f



P O R T R A I T O F A N E O - S T A L I N I S T

C o n t e n t s

A NOTE ON SOURCES

Page

P R E V I E W . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

I. CASE STUDY OF A N E O - S T A L I N I S T ON T H E R I S E . . . 7

A. Learning t h e R o p e s : I n the U k r a i n e

B . J o i n i n g t h e Fray: T h e Sverd lovsk Y e a r s

C . I n Khrushchev 's Serv ice: T h e R SF S R B u r e a u

C. I n B r e z h n e v ' s Service: T h e R SF SR B u r e a u

( 1 9 3 8 - 5 5 ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

( 1 9 5 6 - 6 2 ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 7

( 1 9 6 2 - 6 4 ) . . . . . 2 2

( 1 9 6 4 - 6 6 ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

11. K I R I L E N K O ' S C A R E E R As DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY.47

A. Sha r ing Power w i t h B r e z h n e v ' s Rivals . . . 50

B. T o w a r d "Second i n C o m m a n d " S t a t u s . . . . . 56C. O u t l i n i n g the Five-Year P l a n . . . . . . . 6 4D. Toward t h e 2 4 t h P a r t y C o n g r e s s . . . . . . 79

111. P O S T S C R I P T ON T HE 2 4 t h C ON GR ES S. . . . . . * . 87



A NOTE ON SO U RCE S

As i n t h e case of C A ESA R XXXIX (Andrey Kir i lenkoand t h e S o v i e t P o l i t i c a l S u cc e ss i on ) , t h e r e i s veryl i t t l e c l a nd e s t in e d a t a a v a i l a b le ; t h u s t h e a n a l v s i s~~-

p r e s en t e d i n t h i s A nnex i s b as ed a lm o st e n t i r e l y o n' in forma t ign f rom open sources ]

I4 I

f i c a n t p a t te r n s do e vo lve , how ever, i n t h e be ha v io r of

i l l u m i n a t e c e r t a i n i m p or ta n ta 1 leaders an ups of l eader s , and occas iona l

L L nd l i f e - s t y l e w i t h in t h e to pS o v i e t l e a d e r s h i p .





R E T I

PORTRAIT O F A NEO-STALINIST

Pr e v i e w

The a t t i t u d e s , p r e j u d i c e s , and w or ki ng s t y l e ofs e n i o r P o l i t b u r o a nd S e c r e t a r i a t m e m b e r Andrey Kir i lenkoare f a i r l y r e p re s en t a ti v e of t h e n e o- S ta l in i sm t h a t h a scome t o mark t h e So v i e t l e a de r s h ip s ys te m s inc e Khrush-c h e v ' s o u s t e r . T h i s h a s i t s d e ep e st r o o t s i n the groundof t e r ro r pr e pa r e d by S t a l i n in t he mid-19309, when hes ou g ht t o c o n s o l i d a t e h i s d i c t a t o r s h i p t h ro u gh the methodica le l i m i n a t i o n of r e a l o r imagined opponents. Those purgestook a n e s p e c i a l l y hea vy t o l l among t he P a r t y e l i t e , andi n t h e U kra ine t h e s weep w a s c l e a n .

LxZZIin e i n 1937 had been rep laced , by th e end of1938, by pre vio us ly o bscure person s . T h i s w a s the "newg e n e r a t i o n " of loyal Communists , many of them previous lyt e c h n i c i a n s r a t h e r t h a n p o l i t i c i a n s , whom S t a l i n and h i sl ie u t en an ts r e c ru i te d t o f i l l t he many vacuums they w e r ec re a t in g i n t h e P a r t y ' s e l i t e corps .

a lm os t a l l of t h e l e a d i n g L I LIQAL~ a e ~A n y

I n J an ua ry 1938. Khrushchev arr ived i n t h e U k r a i n eas S t a l i n ' s v i c e ro y t o wind up tile pur ge a nd t o ove r s e et h e P a r t y recrui tment campaign.s e t him o f f s h a r p l y a g a i n s t t h e n e o - S ta l i n i s t i n i t i a t e swhom he r e c r u i t e d t h a t ye a r . K hrushchev had j o ine d t heCommunist Pa r t y i n 1918, and a l though no t t e ch ni ca l l yan Old Bolsh evik, he had much i n common wi th t h e o ld erg e n e r a t i o n of Pa r ty leade rs who were d i r e c t l y a ss o c i a t edw i t h t h e October Revolut ion. H e had observed and t osome e x t e n t p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e e a r l y L e n i n i s t r e g im e, w i t hi t s degree of t o le ra n ce f o r d i s s i d e n t p o l i t i c a l v i e w sand f a c t i o n s a n d i t s u ni fy in g s p i r i t of e n thus i a s m f o rt h e Communist cau se. Khrushchev w a s a l s o

fami l ia rw i t h

H i s p o l i t i c a l e xp er ie nc e

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'1I I

i t s m or e c ons p i r a to r i a l a s pe c t s , w h ic h w e r e t o loome s p e c i a l l y l a r g e a decade l a t e r as S t a l i n t ig h te n edh i s g r i p on t h e P a r t y .

By co n tr as t , the new e l i t e which Khrushchevfo rm ed i n t he U kra ine i n 1 9 3 8 comprised young Communistswho, var ious ly, were s i n c e r e i n t h e i r d ev ot io n t o S t a l i n ,o r i n t i m i d a t e d by h i s t e r r o r , o r a t l e a s t aware of howt o s u r vi v e i n t h e sy stem .s e l v e s t o a dv an ci ng t h e S t a l i n i s t c au se , S t a l i n ' s namehaving become synomynous with the i d e a l of world communism.Because of t h i s awesome b a pt i sm i n t o t h e P a r t y ' s s e r v i c e ,

and of t h e i r r e l a t i v e i n ex pe ri en ce of t h e g r e a t e r p o l i -t i c a l d i v e rs i t y Khrushchev and oth er s had known i n t h e1920s, t h i s "new gene ra t i on" of l ea de r s acqui red manyof t h e p o l i t i c a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f S t a l i n and, i n f a c t ,became neo-Sta l in i s t s .

I n a ny case, t he y a pp l i e d them-

T hi s d i s t i n c t i o n between Khrushchev and hi s youngerU k r a i n i a n h i r e l i n g s was t o s e t t h e s t a ge f o r c o n f l i c t i nt h e p o s t - S t a l i n p e r i o d , a f t e r K hru sh ch ev as t h e new P a r t yboss had brought many of t h e s e l e a d e r s t o Moscow f o r po l i -t i c a l sup por t . Al though they a ide d him i n h i s f i g h ta g a i n s t u l t r a co n s e r v a t i v es , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e 1950s, t h e s en e o - S t a l i n i s t s were a m aj or f o r c e i n t h e c o a l i t i o n o fle ad er s who dumped Khrushchev i n 1964, opposing him i nl a r g e p a r t f o r h i s un ort ho do x, ( t h a t i s , u n - S t a l i n i s t )ideas and methods. There is some e v ide nc e t o s ugg e s tt h a t no t a l l o f them had endorsed Khrushchev 's use ofd e - S t a l i n i z a t i o n f o r h i s own p o l i t i c a l p u rp o s es , and someof them may ev en have been s u r p r i s ed and dismayed whenhe launched t h e famous a t ta ck on S t a l i n i n t h e " S e c r e tSpeech" a t t h e 20th Par ty Congress i n 1956 . In any even t ,most of them d e p l or e d t h e e r o s i o n o f p o l i t i c a l a nd s o c i a ld i s c i p l i n e under Khyushchev, and many proba bly hoped fo rand worked toward a revival of more or thodox Sov i e t rule.

I n s h o r t , t h e n e o - S t a l i n i s t s of today -- and t h e yin cl ud e such men as Brezhnev, Podgornyy, S h el es t , andK i r i l e nko , a l l of whom g o t t h e i r s t a r t i n t h e Ukraine

1I

I I

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I



I I I ,

dur i ng t he l a s t years o f t h e g r e a t p u r g es , as w e l l as thes l i g h t l y more " o ld - l in e " S t a l i n i s t S us lo v -- t end as a

g ro up to wa rd a u t h o r i t a r i a n methods o f r u l e . I n p o l i t i c a land s o c ia l sph eres they promote or thodoxy and conformi ty ,al lowing l i t t l e o r no zoom fo r exper iment and d i s se n t .Fo r n e o - S t a l i n i s t s d i s c i p l i n e i s th e watchword, andl i b e r a l i z i n g i de a s are anathema. I n economic a f f a i r st h e y g e n e r a l l y f a v o r s t r i c t ce n t r a l i za t i on o f managementf o r pu rposes o f con t ro l , a l though a cer t a in pragmat i smo f t e n i s v i s i b l e i n a t te m p ts t o a c h ie v e more w i t h l i m i t e dmeans. They c a l l t hem sel ves L en i n i s t s , b u t t hey a re a l -most t o t a l l y com mitte d t o S t a l i n i s t m eth od s, e x c e pt f o r t h e

g e n e r a l and o u t r i g h t u s e of t e r r o r as an ins t rument o fr u l e -- and t h e abandonment o f t e r r o r appa ren t ly has beenr e pl ac e d i n r e c e n t y e a r s by a n i nc r e a s i n g r e l i a n c e o n thelabor-camp system, which had been gr ea t l y reduced underKhrus hchev .

K i r i l e n k o ' s career makes a good s ub j e c t f o r i n q u i ryi n t o t h e n e o- S ta li n is m of t h e p r e s e n t S o v i e t l e a d e r s h ip ,i n t h a t it i l l u m in a te s f a i r l y t y p i c a l s a l i e n t c h a ra c t er i s-t i c s o f t h e g e n e r a t i o n o f P a r t y leaders who have becometh e Kremlin policyma kers of today. H i s fo rm a t i ve yea r si n S t a l i n ' s p o l i t i c a l machine were m arked , e spec i a l l ydu r i ng t he pu rge pe r i od of t h e 1930s, by an atmosphereof conspi r acy i n which p o l i t i c a l p ro t e ct i on w a s a minimum

r e q u i s i t e f o r s u r v i v a l and ad va nc e. H i s ups and downsduring th e Khrushchev ye ar s , when he a l ig ned himsel f wi tht h e " U kra i n i an c l i que , t prov i de a measure of the in f ig h t -in g which waxed wi th in the P a r t y a t t h a t t i m e and whichc o n ti n u es , t o a lesser degree , t o impai r t h e smooth func-t i o n i n g of t h e regime, And, Ki r i le nk o ' s career of ap-p r e n t i c e s h i p i n t h e U kra i ne , of na t i o na l prom inence i n t h eRuss ian Federa t ion ( R S F S R ) , a n d f i n a l l y a t t h e p i n n a c l eof P a r t y s e r v i ce i n th e c e n t r a l Secre t a r i a t demonst ra t est h e un iq ue c l o s e n e s s o f h i s ' a s s o c a t i o n d u r in g a l l t h e s ey e a r s w i t h t h e p r e s e n t r e g im e ' s l e a d i n g n e o - S ta l i n i s t ,General Secretary Brezhnev.

how decisions are made within th e framework of t h e

K i r i l enko ' s a c t i v i t i e s a l s o g iv e gl im ps es i n t o

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o l i g a r c h i c l e a d e r s h i p i n t h e B rezh nev e ra , h i s successi n p u r s u i t o f p o l i t i c a l power o f f e r i n g a gauge of th ee x t e n t o f n e o - S t a l i n i s t i n f lu e n c e o n p r e s e n t p o l i c i e s .I n a d d it i o n , K i r i l e n k o' s e n t i r e career -- h i s de ve lop -ment as a n a p p a r a t c h i k , h i s p e rf or m an ce as a d e c i s i o n -m aker and t e c hn oc r a t i c a dm in i s t r a to r , a nd h i s e me rgenceas B r ez h ne v' s p o s s i b l e s u c c e s s o r -- reveals t h e s t y l e ,p e r s o n a l i t y , an d p o l i t i c a l o u tl oo k of a man who i s nowp l a y i n g a pr imary r o l e i n s h ap i n g t h e S o v i e t c o u r s e an dt h e S o v i e t l e a d e r s h i p of t h e f u t u r e .

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. .

I. CASE S T U D Y O F A NEO-STALINIST ON THE RISE

When he arrived a t h i s f i r s t p r o fe s si on a l P ar typos t i n K hrushchev 's U kra ine i n 1938 , K i r i l enk o had be-

h in d him r e l a t i v e l y s c a n t e xp e ri en c e i n p o l i t i c a l work.I n f a c t , h i s h i s t o r y as r e ve a le d i n o f f i c i a l though i n-comple te So vie t b iograph ies sugg es t s t h a t as a youth h ew a s a ny th in g b u t p o l i t i c a l i n o ut lo ok . A l a r g e f a c t o r

i n h i s e n r o l lm e n t i n t o t h e ra n ks o f P a r t y a d m i n i s t r a t o r sprobably w a s h i s t e c h n i c a l a b i l i t y , combined w i t h h i sa v a i l a b i l i t y a t t he r i g h t t i m e -- t h e end of the g r e a tpurge of t h e P a r t y e l i t e .

K i r i l e nk o ' s o f f i c i a l b i o gr a p h ic d a t a i n c l u d e t h ef a c t s o f h i s b i r t h o n 8 S ep te mb er 1906 i n t h e f am il y o fan a r t i s a n i n a v i l l a g e of present -day Voronezh Oblast .( E a r l i e r it w a s t e r r i t o r i a l l y p a r t o f Belgorod O b l a s t ,

which borders on the eas t e r n Ukraine. ) Thus w a s he bo rna R uss i an , de sp i t e h i s Ukrainian sounding name and prob-ab l e de scen t from U kra in i an s t ock , and h i s b i og raph i e sl i s t h i s n a t i o n a l i t y as Russian. Af te r comple t ing a pro- .

f e s s i o n a l- t e c h n i c al s c h o ol i n 1925 , the 18-year-old K i r i -

lenko began a four-y ear per iod of work as a m a c h i n i s tand e l e c t r i c i a n , p a r t o f t h e t i m e i n Voronezh e n t e r p r i s e s ,and p a r t i n a mine i n th e Donbass.have come i n c on ta ct wi t h Khrushchev i n t h e Donbass, i nt h a t t h e l a t t e r had been ac t i ve t h e r e s e v e r a l y ea r s p r i o rt o 1 928, work ing f i r s t i n the mines and th en i n t h e DonetskPa r t y appa ra t u s .

K i r i l e nko appea r s t o have dec i ded o r been encou ragedby 1 9 2 9 t o e n t e r p o l i t i c a l work and t o p r ep a r e f o r h i g he reduca t ion . H e served t h e n e x t two y e a r s i n v a r i o u s Kom-somol and government organizat ions w h i l e s t udy i ng i n h i ss p a r e t i m e . On comple t ing h i s p rep ara tor y cours es i n 1930 ,h e e n r o l l e d i n t h e R ybinsk A v ia ti o n I n s t i t u t e i n Y ar o s la v l '

O b l a s t ( i n t h e RSFSR). H i s s t u d e n t y e a r s w e r e , by a l l

H e could conce ivab ly

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a pp e ar an c es , d i s t i n g u i s h e d o n l y by h i s j o i n i n g t h e Com-m u n i s t P a r t y a t t he a ge o f 2 4 i n 1931; he gradua ted onlyi n 1936.* Ki r i le nk o the n moved t o t h e U kr aine t o t a k eup t h e p r o f e s s i o n of d e s i gn en g i n e e r i n a Zaporozh'yea i r c r a f t p l a n t . H e h e l d t h i s j o b f o r two y e a r s -- t h ew o r s t p e r i o d of t h e S t a l i n i s t t e r r o r a nd pu rg es -- u n t i lK hr us hc he v's a r r i v a l t o r e b u i l d t h e Ukra in ian Pa r ty appa ra -t u s .

A. Learning the Ropes: I n t h e U k ra in e (1938-55)

The 32- ye ar o l d K i r i l e nk o began h i s p r o f e s s io na lP a r t y s e r v i c e i n 1 938 as t he s e c ond secre tary of a rayon( d i s t r i c t ) committee i n Zaporozh'ye Oblas t . H e advancedr a p i d l y , i n 1939 becoming a s e c r e t a r y and t he n s e conds e c r e t a r y o f t h e Zaporozh'ye Ob la st Par ty Committee.How much of K ir i l e nko ' s p r om ot ion w a s due t o Khrushchev ' sd i r e c t i n f l u e nc e i s unknown; a s s i s t ing t h e U kr a in i a n Pa r tyboss i n cadres a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l matters t he n w a s M.A.Burmistenko, who r e p o r t e d l y had worked i n t h e s e c r e tp o l i ce i n the 1 9 2 0 s and l a t e r h ad b ee n c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e dw i t h S t a l i n ' s p er s on a l s e c r e t a r i a t . * * In any event , K i r i -l e n k o c o n t i n u e d u n t i l 1 9 4 1 t o s e r ve a s s ec ond sec re ta ry ,presumably o ve rsee in g or ga ni za t i on a l and pe r sonne l matters

* C o i n c i d e n t a l l y , a n o t h e r f u t u r e Leader was graduatingi n 1936 i n R y bi n sk , a l t h ou g h f r o m t h e Wa t e r T r a n s p o r tTechnica I Schoo I : Y u r i y A n dr o po v, p r e s e n t Zy KGB c h i e f .I t is not known if t h e t w o yo un g e n g i n e e r s w e re a c q u a i n t e da t th a t t im e . Andropov went in t o KomsomoZ w o r k i n

Y a r o s l a v l ' O bZ as t a f t e r g r a d u a t io n , and h i s p a t h i s n o tknown t o h av e c r o s s ed X i r i l e n k o ' s a g a i n u n t i l much l a t e r .

* * R ob e r t C o n qu e s t, T he G re a t T a r o r .

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. 'i n t h e p r e d o mi n an t ly h e a v y - i n d u s tr i a l and m e t a l l u r g i c a larea of Z aporozh ' ye , w h i l e S t a l i n and t h e K reml in p l an ne r sbegan t o acce le ra te th'eir p r e p a r a t i o n s f o r a p o s s i b l ec o n f l i c t w it h H i t l e r ' s Germany.

Ki r i l e nko had meanwhile the op por tun i ty t o make

c o n t a c t w i t h a number of Par t y o f f i c i a l s who would l a t e rassume pow er ful pos i t i on s i n t he r egi me , e sp ec i a l l y a f t e rS t a l i n ' s d ea th . Some o f t h e s e l e a d e r s a pp ea r t o h av eb ee n i n s tr u m e n t a l i n a s s i s t i n g K ir i le n k o ' s advance. The

most impor tan t of t hese w a s an-

other young engineer namedLeonid Brezhnev, who had beenpromoted i n 1938 from a second-ary government po s t t o t h e p o s i -t i o n o f s e c r e t a r y o f t h e ne ig h-boring Dnepropet rovsk O b l a s t

P a r t y Committee. I n view of t h egeo gra phic and economic close -nes s of Zaporozh' ye and Dnepro-p e t r o v s k , it would not have been

BRUHNEV, L. I.

u n us ua l f o r K i r i l e n k o an dBrezhnev t o hav e h ad somec o n t a c t a t t h a t t i m e . B o t h

of them, i n t u r n , p re su ma blyh a d s o m e p o l i t i c a l associa-t i o n wi th Aleksey Ki r i chenko ,who served as c h i e f o f t h e

Ukrainian Central Commit tee ' sTranspor t a t ion Depar tment

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KIRICHENKO,A. 1



du ri ng 1938-40 and who became Khrushchev's Uk rain ian Par tyS e c r e t a r y f o r i n d u s t r y b e f o r e t h e German a t t a c k o n t h eSo vie t Union i n 1 9 4 1 . Kir ichenko w a s t o p l ay an evenmore i m por t an t ro le a f t e r t h e w a r and a f t e r S t a l i n ' s d ea thi n b ot h U kr ai ni an and n a t i o n a l P a r ty a f f a i r s . I n f a c t ,h i s in fl ue nc e may have been as g r e a t as Khrushchev 's o rBrezhnev 's w a s i n pr om ot in g K i r i l e n k o i n t h e 1950s.

P.t t h e s t a r t o f t h e w a r i n 1 9 4 1 , many of t h e lead-i n g U k ra i ni a n P a r t y c a d r e s e n t e r e d m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e asp o l i t i c a l commissars. Khrushchev and Kir ichenko funct ionedas such on th e Southwes te rn Fro nt , f o r example . Ki r i l enko

became a m e m b e r of t h e m i l i t a ry counc i l o f t h e 18 t h Armyof t h e Southern Fro nt . Brezhnev, too, w a s w i t h t he Sou t he rnF r o n t a t t h a t time, as deputy ch ie f of t h e Pol i t i ca l Admin-i s t r a t i o n . I n f a c t , Brezhnev a l s o se r ved , presumablys i m u l t aneous l y , as c h i e f of the 18th Army P o l i t i c a l Depart-m en t, and an a r t i c l e w hich K i r i l e nko au t ho red i n December1 9 6 6 sugges ted t h a t he and B rezhnev had worked i n t h esame area a t t h e f r o n t d u r i n g t h i s p e r io d . However, K i r i -

lenko soon l e f t t h e m i l i t a r y se rv ice -- p ro ba bl y i n A p r i l

KHRUSHCHEV,N.S.

1 9 4 2 , a l though official S o v i e ts o u r c e s c o n fu s e t h e d a t e -- t o b eg inwork a t a ??oscow a i r c r a f t p l an t asa r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of t h e S o v i e tDefense Committee. H e r e t u r n e d ,r e p o r t e d l y i n 194 3, t o h i s f o r m e rU kra i n i an pos t of s ec o nd s e c r e t a r yf o r Z aporozh 'ye Oblast.

K i r i l e n k o ' s p o s t w a r caree r

was marked by unspectacular butre gu la r advances , beh ind whichwere a number of Ukr aini an Pa rt yleaders . The c e n t r a l f i g u r e , ofc o u r s e , w a s Khrushchev, who hadr e t u r n e d t o t h e U kr ai ne i n 1 9 4 4 .For t h re e yea r s , u n t i l March 1947,Khrushchev ruled t h e Ukra ine v i r -

tu a l l y s ing le -handedly . Duringt h i s immediate pos t w ar pe r i od

,

. .

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'I

Khrushchev combined t h e pos t s o f U kr a in i a n f i r s t s e c r e t a r y ,Ukra in ian P r e m i e r , and Pa r ty boss of bo th t h e c i t y and t h eoblas ' t committees of Kiev. H e w a s i n d e f a t i g a b l y a c t i v e ,and a l l i m p o r t an t p e r s o n n el a c t i o n s d u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d h adt o h av e h i s a p p ro v a l. H i s d e c i s i v e i n f l u e n c e i n s ha p in gt h e U k r ai n ia n c a d r es c o r p s i n t h e p o s tw a r p e r i o d of re-c o n s t r u c t i o n w a s mani fes ted l a t e r i n t h e s u p p o r t h i s U krain -i a n a s s o c i a t e s , i n c l u d i n g K i r i l e n k o , g av e h i m i n h i s p o l i -t i c a l s t r u g g l e s a g a i n s t s uc h fo rm id ab le r i v a l s as Malenkov,Moloto v, Kag anovich, and Kozlov.

S e v e r a l c i r cu m s ta n ce s s u g g e s t , n e v e r t h e l e s s , t h a t

Brezhnev and o t he r s i n Khrushchev ' s Ukra in ian c oho r t hada more d i r e c t i n t e r e s t a nd i nvo lve me n t i n p r om oting K i r i -

l en ko t o h i g h e r p o s t s t h an h ad t h e P a r t y boss h im s e l f .For example, B rezhnev's f i r s t a ss ig n me n t on r e t u r n i n g t othe U kr ai ne fro m h i s p o l i t i c a l work i n t h e m i l i t a r y i nSeptember 1 9 4 6 was t o t h e p o s t o f P a rt y boss i n Za por oz h 'ye ,r e p l a c i n g t h e f i r s t s e c r e t a r y f o r whom K i r i l e n k o had workeds i nc e 1943 and even be f ore t h e w a r . B r e z h n e v ' s i n s t a l l a -t i o n as P a r t y boss o v e r the head of K i r i l e n ko doe s no ta r gue s t r on g ly t h a t K hrushchev had y e t a cq u ir ed an i n t e r e s ti n f u r th e r in g t h e career of t h e second s ec re t ar y . How-e ve r , B re zhnev a nd K i r i l e nk o d i d no t work t og e th e r ve r yl on g, f o r t h e l a t t e r ' s fo r t un es soon improved: he w a spromoted i n February 1947 t o t h e p o s t of P a r t y bo ss i n

Nikolayev Oblas t , a blaek Sea por t and machine -bui ld inga rea . I t seems p l a u S ib l e , e s p e c i a l l y i n view of Brezhnev' sprobable prewar and w a r t i m e a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h K i r i l e n k o ,t h a t t h i s s ud de n ch ange i n K i r i l e n k o ' s f o r t u n e s w a s i nl a r g e p a r t d ue t o a Brezhnev recommendation.*

*The promotion was, ho wever , o n l y a s ma l l cha p t er i nt h e s t o r y o f h i g h - l e v e l m an eu ve ri ng f o r c on t l' o l o v e r c a d r e si n t h e U k r a i n e , B e l o r u s s i a , an d M oZ da vi a. I n May 2946Geo r g i y Ma lenko v , b y t hen o ne o f t he mo s t p o wer f u l Kr eml i nf i g u r e s , a p p a r e n t l y h a d s u f f e r e d a s e t b a c k a t the hands

of h i s r i v a l s i n t h e c e n t e r and l o s t d i r e c t c o n t r o l o v e r( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u ed o n p ag e 1 2 )

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In Dneprope t rovsk

B r e z hnev ' s i nvo lvem e n t a ppe a re d l i ke iy a ga in i nt h e t r a n s f e r of K i r il e n k o i n J u l y 1950 t o the more im-p o r ta n t p o s i t i o n of Dnepropetrovsk Par ty b o s s .had he ld t h e po s t from l a t e 1947 u n t i l e a r ly 1950, whenhe foll owe d Khrushchev from t h e Ukraine t o Moscow. *D e sp i te t h e i r p h y s i c a l a b se n ce f ro m t h e U k ra in e, b o t hKhrushchev and Brezhnev undoubkedly continued t o e x e r t

Brezhnev

( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p ag e 11)

t h e c a d r e s s e c t o r . As o ne c o n s e q ue n c e , t h e h a n d l i n g of

ca dres a f f a i r s i n t h e U k ra in e was c r i t i c i z e d i n a C e n t r a lCommi t t ee decree and , more impor tan t l y , A lek sey Yep i shevwas r e l e a s e d f r om p o t i t i c a l work i n t h e a rmed f o r c e s i n

July t o become Khrushchev ' s " cadres sec r e tar y . " The as -

signment of Yep i sh ev , who had se rve d Khrushchev be fo re t h ewa r as Khar ' kov Par ty bo ss , underc u t t he growing powerof Second Se cr et ar y Dem'yan Korotche nko, a Kaganovich

c l i e n t who had succeeded i n g e t t i n g d i r e c t c o n t r o l o v e rp e rs o n ne l a s si g n me n ts i n J u l y 1945 w i t h t h e e x i l e of t h e

t h e n c ad r es s e c r e t a r y , K i r i ch e n k o , t o t h e p o s t of f i r s t

s e c r e t a r y o f O de ss a Ob l a s t . Y e p i s h e v c o n t i n u e d t o s e r v ea s c a d r e s s e c r e t a r y u n t i i ! 1 9 4 9 , when h e w en t i n t o a p e r i o d

of p o l i t i c a l d e c l i n e . However, s i n c e 19 62 , u n de r t h e

a e g i s of f i r s t K h ru s hc h ev and t h e n B r ez h n ev , Y e p i s h e vhas h el d t h e i m p o rt a n t p o s i t i o n . o f c h i e f of t he Main P o l i -t i c a t A d m in i s tr a t io n o f t h e S o v i e t A rmy and Navy , w h i c hc a r r i e s p o l i t i c a l ra nk and power e q u i v a l e n t t o t h a t o f

a Cent ra2 Commit t ee depar tment c h i e f .

*Khrushchev wen t t o Moscow i n December 1949 t o j o i nt h e c e n t r a l S e c r e t a r i a t . B re zh ne v l e f t D ne pr op et ro vs k

t h e f o l l o w i n g A p r i l t o wo rk i n t h e C e n t r a l C om mi tt ee a p-p a r a t u s and t h e n , i n J u l y , was i n s t a l l e d a s M ol da vi anPa rt y f i r s t s e c r e t a r y .

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Lt

t h e i r i n f l u e n c e i n t h e U kr ai ne . I n p a r t i c u l a r , B re zh ne vprobably would have had a d e c is i v e s ay i n t h e m a t t e r ofs e l e c t i n g K i r i l e n ko as h i s s u cc e ss o r. O f c o u r s e , K i r i -l e n k o ' s t r a n s f e r w ou ld h av e h ad a t l e a s t t h e f o r ma l a p p r o v a lof t h e new U kr a in i a n f i r s t and s e cond s e c r e t a r i e s , LeonidMel 'nikov and Aleksey Kir ichenk0. f

K i r i l e n k o ' s Dnepropetrovsk ass ignment w a s t o l a s tf i v e and a h a l f y e a r s, u n t i l t h e en d of 1955. H e presum-ably g a in e d f u r t h e r v a l u a b l e e x p e r i en c e from a d m i n i s t e r i n gt h e l a r g e P a r ty o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t h i s i m p or t an t i n d u s t r i a larea , b u t h e d i d ' n o t a pp e ar t o be invo lved much i n t h e

p o l i t i c a l b a t t l e s t h a t w e r e b e in g f o u g h t i n t h e l a s t y e a r so f S t a l i n ' s r ei g n . H e w a s n o t e l e c t e d t o t h e C e n t r a l Com-

m i t t e e o r C en t r a l Audi t ing Commiss ion a t t h e 1 9 th P a r ty

" M el 'n i ko v had b ee n i n s t a l l e d i n t h e U k r a in i a n S e c r s -

t a r i a t d u r in g Ka g a no v ic h 's 9 -m on th s t i n t a s P a r ty b o s si n 1 9 4 7 -- t h a t i s , when Khrushchev had been t emporar i l yremoved f ro m a l l p o s t s b u t t h a t of U k r a i n i a n p r e m i e r .

When Khrushchev reg a in ed t h e p o s t of P a r t y f i r s t s ec r e-t a r y i n t h e U k r a in e , h i s f o r m e r s ec o nd s e c r e t a r y andr i v a l Korotchenko became premier , and Met ' n i k o v became

s e a o n d s e c r e t a r y . I t i s u n c l e a r w h e t h e r K h r u sh c h ev h i m-s e l f ar ra ng ed t h e s e t r a n s f e r s or t h e s Ub 8eq Uen t e l e v a t i o nof M e l ' n ik o v t o f i r s t s e c r e t a r y ; h e may mo re p z a u s i b t y

have proposed or s a n c t i o n e d K iP iC he nk O' s r e t u r n f r o m h i sO de ss a e x i l e t o re p Za c e M e l ' n i k o v a s s ec o n d s e c r e t a r y .M e t ' n i k o v w as t o b e r em ov ed a s U k r a i n i a n P a r t y b o s s s o o n

a f t e r S t a Z in ' s d ea th i n 1 95 3, and t h e e v i d e n c e s u g g e s t st h a t K hr us hc he v s a c r i f i c e d h im i n c o t l u s io n w i t h B e r i y a .

i n o rd er t o i n s t a l l K i r i ch en ko i n h i s p t a c e . M e Z ' n i k o vreappeared i n a d i p l o m a t i c p o s t a f t e r B e r i y a ' s removaZ

b u t n e v e r r e g a in e d a p o s i t i o n of power . S ince 1 9 6 6 he hasbeen chairman of t h e S t a t e C om mi tt ee for S u p e r v i s i o n of

I n d u s t r i a l and Min ing S a fe t y , presumab Zy e n o y i n g t h e

p a t r o n a g e of B r e ah n e v a nd K i r i l e n k o i n t h i s s i ne c ur e .

Korotchenko was r e l e g a t e d i n Ja nu ar y 1954 t o t h e h o n o r i f i cb u t r e l a t i v e Zy p o w e r l e s s p o s t of U k r a i n i a n " P r e s i d e n t , I'

i n w h ic h he r em ai ne d u n t i l h i s d e a t h i n 1 9 6 9 .

I I



C ongres s i n O c tober 1952, d e s p i t e t he f a c t t h a t Khrushchevplayed a major r o l e a t t h e c on gr es s i n o r g a n i z a t i o n a l

matters and Brezhnev w a s e l e c t e d t o t h e c e n t r a l S e c r e t a r i a tand made an a l t e rn a t e member o f t h e en l a rged Pa r t y P re s i -dium, as t h e P o l i t b u r o w a s c a l l e d t h e n and u n t i l 196 6."I n f a c t , t h e p e r i o d of 1950-53 w a s one of a p p a r e n t r e t r e n c h -ment f o r m os t " o l d e r " U k ra in i an P a r t y o f f i c i a l s as t h et u r n o v e r of p e r s on n e l i n c r e a s e d i n t h e r e p u b l i c . Thechange i n membership of t h e U kra i n i an C en t r a l Committeebetween r e p u b l i c P a r t y c o n g r es s e s i n J an u ar y 1 9 4 9 andSeptember 1 9 5 2 r e g i s t e r e d a c a s u a l t y r a t e of 50 p e r c e n tamong lea din g cad res . Kir i le nk o w a s one o f t hose o l de r

leaders whose p o l i t i c a l connec t ions (and , perhaps , admini s-t r a t i v e t a l e n t s ) h e l d them i n good s t e a d .

The d e a t h of S t a l i n and t h e co nso l id a t i on of Khru-s h ch e v' s p o s i t i o n i n 1953 b ro ug h t i n c r e a se d p o l i t i c a l up-h e a v a l i n t h e Ukraine as e l s e w h e r e , b u t K i r i l e n k o d i d n o tg e t a career break f o r more than two ye ars . Meanwhi le ,he had an o p p o r t u n i t y t o s t r e n g t h e n p o l i t i c a l t i e s t h a twould p ro v e u s e f u l i n t h e f u t u r e . H i s f a s t - r i s i n g as-s o c i a t e Kir ichenko moved up from Ukrain ian second secre-

t a r y t o r e p l a c e t h e demoted Mel 'nikov as U kra i n i an Pa r t yboss soon a f t e r Khrushchev took o v e r t h e Par ty . NikolayPodgornyy, who had s e r v e d three. y e a r s as Khar 'kov Par tyf i r s t secre tary and w a s t h e r e f o r e o n e of K i r i l e n k o ' s p e e r s

*On t h e o t h e r h an d, t h e D n e p r o pe t r o vs k p o s t a p p a r e n t l yd i d n o t r a t e a s e a t on e i t h e r t h e C e nt r a2 Co mm it te e o rt h e Cent r a 2 Aud ing Co mmis si on a t t h a t t i m e . VZad i mirS h c h e r b i t s k i y , t h e o b l a s t f i r s t s e c r e t a r y a f t e r K i r i Zenko,u as e l e c t e d a member of t h e Cent r a 2 Aud i t i ng Commi ss io na t t h e n e x t c o ng r es s in 1 9 5 6 , b u t K i r i Z e n k o ' s a d va n cehad atready made h i m e Z i g i b Z e f o r fu2Z membership i n t h eC e n t r a 2 Commi t t e e .

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i n th e Ukra in ian h ie r a rch y , became second secre tary i nKi r i chenko ' s - vaca ted p la ce i n Augus t 1953.*

Within Dnepropetrovsk Ob la st , where he had in-h e r i t e d B re zh n ev 's p o l i t i c a l b a s e , K i r i l e n k o d e ve lo pe da d d i t i o n a l c o n t a c t s w hic h p ro ba b ly d i d n o t s i g n i f i c a n t l yc o n t r i b u t e t o h i s subseq uent advance b u t which may now,i n 1 9 7 1 , r ed ou nd t o h i s p o l i t i c a l a dv an ta ge . These i n -c lude , above a l l , Vladimir Shcherb&skiy and Aleksey V a t -

chenko. Shcherbi t skTy made re gu la r advances i n h i sc a r e e r a f t e r K i r i l e n k o 's a r r i v a l i n 1950: from h i s p o s i -t i o n of second se cr et ar y of Dneprodzerehinsk Ci t y , he

r o se i n l a t e 1952 t o c i t y f i r s t s e c r e t a r y an d moved upi n e a r l y 1 9 5 4 t o become s e co nd s e c r e t a r y t o K i r i l e n k o i nthe ob la s t Pa r t y commi tt ee . Ki r i l e nko may have co l l a bor -a t e d w i t h t h e t op U kra in ian: l e ad e r sh i p -- t h e f i r s t andsecond secre tar ies were s t i l l Kirichenko and Podgornyy --i n t h e l a t t e r promotion, as w e l l as i n t h e s e l e c t i o n of

Shc herb i t sk iy t o become Dnepropet rovsk Pa r ty boss whenK i ri le n ko l e f t +e Ukra ine in - . l a t e 1955. Shc herb i t sk iys u bs e qu e nt ly r o s e t o t h e p o s i t i o n o f U k r a in ia n P r e m i e rand CPSU Presidium a l t e r n a te member. Vatchenko alsor o s e f r o m t h e r anks i n D nep rope trovsk O b l a s t du r i n g K i r i -

l enk o ' s and Shc he rb i t sk iy ' s re ign : i n 1954 he advanced

*Khrushchev and Kir ichenko may have pre fer red Podgornyyo v e r Ki r i Z en k o a nd o t h e r p o s s i b l e c o n t e n d e r s for t h e U k r a i n -

i a n "secon d i n command" because of h i s more e x t e n s i v e c o n-t a c t s . Podgornyy had t h e advan tage of h a v i n g s e r v e d dur-

i n g 1 9 4 6 - 5 0 a s t h e U k r a i n i a n N p er ma n en t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e "i n Moscow, i n e f f e c t a8 K hr us hc he v' s l i a i s o n w i t h t h eregime ' 8 c e n t r a l a p pa r at u s. A no th er p o s s i b l e f a c t o r i nPodgornyy ' 8 8 e Z e c t i o n wa8 h i s e a r l i e r b a ck g ro u nd i n t h ef o o d i n d u s t r y , w h i ch c o i n c i d e d w i t h Kh ru sh c he v ' 8 s p e c i a li n t e r e s t i n a g r i c u Z t u r e and co mp le me nt ed K i r i c h e n k o ' 8

i n d u s t r i a 2 e x p e r i e n c e . N e v e r t h e l e ss , i t see ms d i f f i c u Z t

t o e s ca p e t h e c o n c Zu s i o n t h a t K h r us hc h ev p r e f e r r e d more

a c t i v e Zy p o Z i t i c a Z t y p e s t h a n K i r i e n k o a p p ea r ed t o b e .

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fro m t h e p o s t o f c h i e f of a n u n i d e n t i f i e d d e p a r t m e n t t os e c r e t a r y o f t h e o b l a s t P a r t y c om m it te e, p r o b a b ly s i m u l -t an eo u sl y w i t h S h c h e r b i t s k i y ' s a r r i v a l as second secre-t a ry . Va tchenko, who ha s been Dneprope trovsk Pa r t y bos ss i n c e l a t e 1965 , a c t ua l l y a ppe a r s m ore c lo s e l y associa tedw i t h S h c h e r b i t s k i y t h a n w i t h K i r i l e n ko , t o j u d ge by th ec i rcums tances of t h e i r l a t e r careers, b u t K i r i l e h k o p re -sumably can cou nt on Vatchenko's sup por t .*

The r a t h e r e x t e nd e d l e n g t h of K i r i le n k o 's t o u r i nDnepropetrovsk probably w a s c onne c te d w i th B r e z hnev ' stemporary s e t b w k im med iat ely a f t e r S t a l i n ' s d ea th . I n

one of severa l h i g h - l e v e l c ha ng es , K hr us hc he v' s p o l i t i c a lopponents f or ce d Brezhnev t o leave h i s h i gh P a r t y p o s t si n t he Se c r e t a r i a t -and Pres id ium and t o serve as a p o l i -t i c a l " co mm is sa r" i n t h e armed f o r c e s . As Khrushchevmade gains, however, so Brezhnev advanced again t o h i g h e rp o s t s i n the Pa r t y , becoming Kazakh second se c r e t a r y i n1954.** Soon t h e r e a f t e r he moved up t o t he po s t of Kazakh

"Vatchenko 8 own s e c on d s e c r e t a r y V . M. Chebr ikov , fore x am p le , t r a n s f e r r e d t o Moscow i n 2967 t o a h i g h post i n

t h e s e c r e t p o t i c e : h e was i d e n t i f i e d i n October 1969a8 KGB d ep ut y c ha ir ma n. T he l i t t l e t h a t is known o f

C h e br i ko v 's c a r e e r s u g g e s t s t h a t h e i s a t 8 0 c l o s e Z y a s -s o c ia t e d w i t h S h c h e r b i t s k i y .

**A t t h e same t i me , a number o f i m p o r t a n t c h a n g e s oc-c u r r e d b o t h i n t h e c e n t r a l a p p ar a tu s and i n t h e U k r a i n e ,i n c lu d i n g i n K i r i Zenko ' 8 D n ep r op e tr o vs k s e c r e t a r i a t . P ro b-

a b l y t h e m o st i m p o r t a n t of t h e c h a n g e s i n t h e c e n tr a 2 ap -p a r a t u s was t h e r e o rg a n i za t i o n o f t h e D e pa r tm e nt o f P a r t y ,Trad e Union, and KomsomoZ Organs i n t o a Department o fP a r t y Or ga ns , w i t h a b r an c h f o r t h e RSFSR u n de r t h e s u p e r -v i s i o n o f V i k t o r C h ur a ye v. T h i s w as c l e u r l y a K h r u sh c h ev

move t o break u p t h e .dyna sty w hich MaZenkov had bu iZ tover t he ye ar s and was a fore shadowing o f t h e c r e a t i o n oft h e Bureau f o r t h e RSFSR t w o y e a r s l a t e r . C h ur a ye v h ad

( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u e d on p ag e 17)

-16-

1

. . _ ..~ ... . -... . . ~ .. .. . - .. . . .

.~ . ..



Pa rt y boss. By l a t e 1955 Brezhnev had recouped h i s e a r l i e rp o l i t i c a l s t r e n g t h and w a s p r e p ar i n g t o r e e n t e r t h e c en-t r a l S e c r e t a r i a t a nd P a r t y P r es id iu m a t t h e 2 0 t h P a r t yCongress. 11

was l a r b e l y r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e December 1955 t r a n s f e rof Kir i l enko f rom t h e Ukraine t o the p o s i t i o n of Sverd lovskP a r ty b o ss , which r e s u l t e d n o t o nl y i n h i s e l e c t i o n t w omonths l a t e r a t t he 20 t h cong re s s t o f u l l m e m b e r s h i p i nt h e C e n t r a l C om mittee , b u t a l s o i n h i s becoming e x o f f i c i o

a c h a r t e r m e m b e r of t h e newly formed C e n t r a l C o d t t e eBureau for the RSFSR.

I n view of t h i s , it appea rs p robab l e t h a t B rezhnev

B. J o i n i n g t h e Fray: The Sverdlovsk Years (1956-62)

Kir i lenko ' s ass ignment t o the Sverd lovsk pos t w a sn o t a p u r e l y p o l i t i c a l move b u t f o ll o we d l o g i c a l l y u ponhis previous experience in heavy-industrial areas. The

l o c a t i o n of S ve rd lo vs k i n t h e h e a r t of t h e s t r a t e g i c a l l yi m por t an t U r a l s i n d u s t r i a l complex req ui r ed someone l i k eKir i le nk o whose te ch n ic al competence had been demonst rated.Several c i r cum s t ances , how eve r, i n add i t i on t o t h e immin-

ence of t h e 20 th Pa r t y C ongre s s, i nd i ca t ed t h a t t h e a s s i g n -ment was f a r from rou t in e . F i r s t , t h e plenum of t h e Sverd-l ovsk Pa r t y o rga n i za t i on wh ich i n s t a l l e d . K i r i l enko as itsc h i e f was h e l d i n t h e p r e s en c e of a t o p Kreml in l e a d e r :Averkiy Aris tov, w h o j u s t a f e w m o n t h s e a r l i e r , a f t e r a

( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u e d f r om p a ge 16)

s e r v e d i n t h e K h ar 'k ov P a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n b o t h b e f o r e anda f t e r th e wa r, f ro m 1 9 4 4 t hr o ug h mo s t of 2950 as o b l a s tf i r s t s e c r e t a r y . S u b s e q u e n tl y C hu ra ye v w or ke d i n t h ec e n t r a Z ca d r es a p p a r a t us a nd p r es umab Zy w a s i n s t r u m e n t a l

i n a s s i s t i n g K hr us hc he v' s r i s e t o po we r.

-17-

1 I



two-year per iod of p o l i t i c a l e c l i p s e , had r e t u rn e d t othe c e n t r a l S e c r e t a r i a t t o o ve rs ee the c ad r es s e c t o r f o rKhrushchev. Second, t he pre ss accou nt of t h e plenum in -d i c a t e d t h a t t h e fo rm er P a r ty f i r s t s e c r e t a r y , A.M. Kutyrev,and the incumbent execut ive commit tee chairman, K.K.Nikolayev, were " s ha r p ly" c r i t i c i z e d f o r l e a d er s h ip f a i l i n g s .Aga ins t such a bac kground, t h e a r r i v a l of a Ukra in iano f f i c i a l to head t h e o b l a s t P a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n p r o ba b lyf o s t e r e d r es en t me nt a nd r i v a l r y w i t h i n i t . *

The a p p a r en t p o l i t i c a l mo ti ve i n K i r i l e n k o ' s t r a n s -f e r t o S v er d lo v sk a t t h i s p a r t i c u l a r t i m e w a s r e i n f o r c e d

w i t h t h e forma t ion of th e Bureau for t h e R S F S R -- t h em i n i - s e c r e t a r i a t which Khrushchev crea ted a t t h e 20thPa r ty Congress t o improve h i s c o n t r o l o v er t h e C e n t r a lCommittee ap pa ra tu s. Bureau m e m b e r s i n c l u d ed , i n ad d i-t i o n t o r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s of t h e RSFSR a ppa r a tus , t h e P a r t yf i r s t s e c r e t a r i e s of MOSCOW, Leningrad, Gor 'k iy, andSve r d lovs k ob l a s t s -- a l l under t h e s d p e r v i s i o n of Khru-shchev and one other member o f t h e C e n t r a l S e c r e t a r i a t .Thus Ki r i l en ko was drawn more c l o se ly i n t o th e s e rv i c eof Khrushchev on t h e eve of t h e gather ing s torm of u l t r a -c o n s e r v a t i v e o p p o s i t i o n t o t h e P a r t y b o ss .

When t h e moment o f t r u t h a r r i v e d , K i r i l e n k o a p p a r -e n t l y d e c id e d t h a t h i s own p o l i t i c a l f u t u r e was t i e d t o

*For o n e t h i n g , N i k o l a ye v had c h a i r e d t h e S v e rd Z o vs ke x e c u t i v e c o m mi t te e s i n c e 1 9 4 8 and th us had bee n i n con-

t e n t i o n t o a ccede t o t h e top P a r t y p o s t . He d i d e v e n t u -

a l l y a t t a i n t h i s p o s i t i o n , b u t onZy a f t e r K i r i l e n ko l e f t

i n 1 96 2. T h a t n o l o v e h ad b e e n Z o s t b e t w e en t h e t w ol ead ers L)as sugge s ted i n A p r i l 1963 -- a t i m e of i n t e n s e

p o l i t i c a l s t r u g g l e b e t we e n K h ru s hc h ev and K o zl o v w h i c hi n v o l v e d , among o t h e r t h i n g s , s e v e r a l i n d i c a t i o n s o f ana t t e m p t t o u n de rm in e K i r i e n k o 's p o s i t i o n -- when Niko layevp u b l i s h e d a n a r t i c l e i n Pr av da wh i ch t o o k a s w i pe a t t h e

h a n d l i n g o f c o n s tr u c t i o n a f f a i r s i n S ve rd lo vs k d ur in gK i r i l e n k o ' s t e n u re as P a r t y boss.

I I



I I I

K i r i l e n k o c l e a r l y w a s on h i s way up w i t h t h i s p ro -

motion, f o r t h e s ak e of which he gave up membership onthe RSFSR Bureau. I t seems l i k e l y t h a t he w a s b e i n ggroomed f o r e v e n t u a l me mbers hip o n t h e c e n t r a l S e c r e t a r i a to r f o r d e p u ty c h ai rm a n sh ip o f t h e RSFSR Bureau. Meanwhile,K i r i l e n k o c o n t in u e d t o d e v o t e m o s t of h i s a t t e n t i o n t o h i sSve rd lovsk du t i e s . A f t e r A ugus t 1958 these i nc l uded h i s

membership on t h e m i l i t a r y c o u n c i l of the Ural d i s t r i c t

*The m i l i t a r y , behi nd Marshal Zhukov, ensu red th a tK h r u sh c h e v' s s u p p o r t e r s l j e re f l o w n t o Moscow s o a8 too ut nu mb er h i s o p p on e n t s i n t h e quorum of t h e C e n t r a l

C om mi tt ee w h i c h m e t i n t h e p l e n a r y s e s s i o n .

-19-

T I

. . . . . . . .i.~~

. ... , . . - . .



(okrug) -- a Ce nt ra l Committee de c i s ion ass igned such aro le t o t h e P a r t y b o s s e s i n a l l t h e c e n t e r s o f t h e m i l i -

t a ry ok rugs -- b u t t h e r e i s l i t t l e e v i d e n c e t h a t t h i sf u n c t i o n w a s much m o r e than nominal .

I n 1959-60, however, f o rreasons which remain obscur e , t h ef o r t u n e s of t h e " U k r a i n i a nc l ique" took a t u r n f o r t h eworse, a nd K i r i l e n k o ' s p o s i t i o ns u f f e r e d as a r e s u l t . F r o1

Kozlov, th e Leningrad-based f i r s tdeputy premie r , s uddenly arose asKhrushchev 's he i r- de sig na te . Theascendacy of Kozlov, himself a

new-generat ion "neo-Stal inis t , '

w a s f a c i l i t a t e d by t h e d e p a rt u r eof m o s t o f t h e o l d - l i n e S t a l i n -i s t s l i k e Molotov; it marked t h ebeginning of a new stage of p o l i -t i c a l s t r u g g l e , p i t t i n g neo-S t a l i n i s t s a g a i n s t ea ch o th e r .Aleksey Kir ichenko, who s incel a t e 1957 had been a m e m b e r oft h e c e n t r a l S e c r e t a r i a t and Khru-

s h ch e v' s h e i r a p p a r en t , was de-moted i n January 1960 t o RostovP ar ty f i r s t s e c r et a r y (and s e v e r a l

KOZLOV, F.R.

months l a t e r w a s t o l o e

even tha t remnant of h i s po we r) . I n !4ay t h a t year , Kozlovjo ined the S e c r e t a r i a t and gave up h i s f i r s t de pu ty p r e mi erpo s i t io n t o ano ther Leningrader , A leksey Kosygin . WithKoi lov ' s a r r i v a l i n t h e S e c re t a r i a t , a number of Khrushchev 'sa l l i e s were f o r c e d t o depart : Brezhnev w a s k ic k ed u p s t a i r st o t he l a r g e l y h o n o r i f i c p o s t of S o v i e t " P r e s i d e n t , " a ndA r i s t o v w a s compelled t o g ive up h i s s e c r e t a r i a l p o s i t i o n ,o t s e n s i b l y t o c o n c e n t r a t e o n h i s d u t i e s as deputy chai rmanof t h e RSFSR Bureau.

Al though Ki r i l enko cont inued t o pe r fo rm rou t i ne

f u n c t i o n s d u r i n g 1 9 6 0 , t h e r e w e r e s i g n s t h a t K oz lo v 'sdr ive for increased power began t o a f f e c t K i r il e n ko ' s

-20--1



po s i t i on i n 1961 . K oz lov 's a t t e n t i o n may have been a t -t r a c t e d when t h e S v er dl ov sk f i r s t s e c r e t a r y h e ad ed a l a r g eo f f i c i a l d e l eg a ti on t o W a r s a w i n l a t e Septemkler 1 9 6 0 ,

a p p a r e n t l y o n a n i n d u s t r i a l m is si on .* I n any case , K i r i -

l enko showed s i gn s of s l i p p i n g a f t e r K ozlov i n c r e a s e d h i si n f lu e n c e i n t h e RSFSR B ureau i n J anua ry 1 9 6 1 w i t h t h et r a n s f e r o f Aristov t o t h e a mb as sa do ri al p o s t i n W a r s a wand t h e ap po int me nt of Gennadiy Voronov as t h e b u r e au ' sdeputy chairman. For . example , t h e de l eg a t i o n t o Hungarywh ich K i r i l e n k o he ad ed i n A p r i l w a s small a nd i n c l u d e dno on e o f s i g n i f i c a n c e . I n J u n e , j u s t a few months befo re

t h e 22d Pa r t y Congress , K i r i l en ko w a s f or ce d t o p u b l i s h

i n P r a v da a n a d m is s io n of economic shor t comings i n Sverd-l o v s k . F i n a l l y , a t t h e c on g re ss i n O ct ob er , K i r i l e n k ow a s dropped as an a l t e r n a t e m e m b e r of t h e P re s i d i um andr e v e rt e d t o h i s pre -1957 s t a t u s as a m e r e member of t h eRSFSB Bureau.

K i r i l e n k o ' s pub l i c promi nence dropped sha rp l y a f t e rt h a t c o n gr e ss , r e f l e c t i n g h i s p o l i t i c a l downgrading.A f t e r a p p e a s i n g a t a S v e rd l ov s k P a r t y m e e t in g i n e a r l yNovember t o d i s c u s s t h e outcome of t h e 22d c o n g r e s s , K i r i -

l e n ko d i s a p p e a r e d g e n e r a l l y f ro m p u b l i c v i e w . His name,t o g e t h e r w i t h t ha t - of Sve rd lovsk exe cu t i v e committee chair-man Niko lay ev, ap pe ar ed on a pro forma " l e t t e r " t o Khru-shchev i n P ravda w hi ch announced f u l f i l l m e n t of t h e o b l a s t ' s

annua l p l an a t t h e y e a r ' s end, b u t h e f a i l e d t o a p p e a ri n any m e a ni n gf u l p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t y . T h i s c ha ng e u nd ou bt -e d ly r e f l e c t e d t h e g r e a t i n f l u e n c e which a l l i e s of Kozlovh ad g a i n e d i n th e RSFSR Bureau. The b u r e a u ' s t w o deputychairmen a t t h e c lose of t h e 22d congress w e r e t h e h o l d o v e rVoronov and t h e newcomer P e t r Lomako -- the l a t t e r an

* A . P . Rudakov, chief of th e Centra i ! Commit tee Depa r t -ment of Heavy Indus t ry and a member of Khrushchev' s" U k r ai n i a n c t i q u e , u a s t h e l e a d i n g f u n c t i o n a r y a cc om pa ny -i n g Kiri Zenko.

-21-

I .

I



i n d u s t r a l i s t assoc ia t ed w i t h t h e Leningraders Kosyginand Kozlov.* The de gr e e t o which th e new le ad e r sh ips i t u a t i o n i n t h e RSFSR Bureau unde rmined Ki r i l enko ' sp o s i t i o n w a s i l l u s t r a t e d i n m id-December, when he

conspicuous ly f a i l e d t o a pp ea r a t tw o c onf e r e nc e s he ldi n S v er dl ov s k -- t h e f i r s t on ag r i cu l t ur e which Voronovand th e t he n RSFSR Prem ier Dmitr iy P olyan skiy co ndu cted,and t h e second on economic management a t which Lomakop r e s i d e d . I t appea red a t t h a t s t a ge t o be merely a

m a t t e r of t i m e b e f o r e K i r il e n k o ' s co mp lete p o l i t i c a ldemise.

C. I n Khrushchev 's Serv ice : The RSFSR Bureau ( 1962 - 64 )

K i r i l e n k o d r a m a t i c a l l y r e g a i n ed a nd added t o h i sf or me r p o l i t i c a l power i n A p r i l 1 9 6 2 , a f t e r almost s i xmonths of obscur i ty . The c i r cu m s t a n ce s s u r r o u n d in g h i ssudden recove ry w e r e e x t r a o r d i na r y a nd s ugge s t e d hanky-p an ky : h e r e t u r n e d t o t h e P a r t y P r e si d iu m , n o t as before

w i t h t h e r an k of a l t e r n a t e member but now as a f u l l memberw i t h a vote on p o l i c y matters , and h i s i n s t a l l a t i o n oc-c u r r ed n o t a t a r e g u l a r l y s c h e d u le d C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e ep lenum b u t " i n t h e b ack room." Ki r i l en ko ' s co- opt a t io n

*Lomako h ad b e e n i d e n t i f i e d a s d e p u t y c h a ir m an o n t h e

e v e of t h e congress. Re probab-Zy al re ad y had bee n cho sent o r e p Za c e V i k t o r C h ur a ye v, a member o f t h e " U k r a i n i a nc l i q u e " who ha d b e e n a p p o i n t e d d e p u t y c h a ir m an j u s t t w o

w ee ks a f t e r V o r o n o v' s r e p l a ce m e n t o f A r i S t O V i n January1 9 6 1 . K oz Zo v' e v i c t o r y o v e r t h e U k r a i n ia n s a t t h e c on -g r e s s was r e g i s t e r e d i n t h e d e mo ti on of C hu ra ye v t o b u r ea u

member, t h e r e t e n t i o n of Lomako as deputy chairman for

i n d u s t r i a 2 a f f a i r s , and t h e p r om o ti on of Voronov f roma l t e r n a t e t o fuZZ member o f t h e P r e s i d i u m a nd t o t h e newZy

c r ea t ed p o s i t i o n of b u r ea u f i r s t d e p u ty c ha iy ma n, t o g e t h e r

w i t h K i r i Z e n ko ' s d ow ng ra di ng f r o m P r e s i d i u m a l t e r n a t emembership t o Chu rayev ' s ZeveZ o f b ureau member .

-22-



i n t o t h e P a r t y P r es id iu m w a s r evea l ed du r i ng a 23-25A p r i l s e s s i o n of t h e USSR Supreme Soviet. A communiqueannouncing th a t a Central Committee plenum had been held" du r i ng t h e f i r s t s e s s i o n " o f t h e Supreme Soviet and hadconf irm ed K i r i l e nko ' s co -op t a t i on w a s not publ i shed un-til 26 A pr i l . T h i s plenum apparent ly had had no o t h e rbus i nes s t h a n t h e e l ev a t io n of K i r i l en ko and t h e down-g rad i ng of Kozlov 's p ro t ege Spi r idonov , d i s cu sse d below.The i r r e g u l a r i t y of t h i s procedure* and t h e presumed opposi-t i o n t o t h e a c t i o n w e r e s u ch t h a t t h e e x t r a o r d i n a r y plenum,wh ich supposedly conf i rmed K i r i l en ko i n t he pol icy-mak-i ng s t a t u s he ho l d s t oday , ha s no t been r ecogn i zed i n of-f i c i a l Par t y h i s t o r i e s and handbooks .

P e r s o n n e l a c t i o n s which accompanied Kir i lenko 'si r r e g u l a r c o -o p ta t io n i n d i c a t e d t h a t it w a s - one move i nKhrushchev 's maneuvering a ga in s t t h e for ces l e d by Kozlov,whose power and ambition had grown so t h a t t h e y p o s e d as e r i o u s t h r e a t t o t h e F i r s t S e cr e ta r y. Thus, K i r i l en k ow a s confirmed a t t h e same t i m e i n t h e p o st of f i r s t deputychai rman of the RSFSR Bureau, the reb y matching Voronov i nrank and pos i t i on . In add i t i on , K oz lov 's succe s so r i nLeningrad, Ivan Spirdonov, who had moved i n t o t h e c e n t r a lSe c r e t a r i a t j u s t s i x months e a r l i e r a t the 22d Party Con-gress, now was demoted t o chairman of t h e Supreme Soviet ' sC ou nc il of t h e Union; h i s f a l l t o t h e pow er l es s p os t nea t l y

b a la n ce d t h e su dd en r e v e r s a l o f f o r t u n e s f o r K i r i l e n k o ,who had l o s t o u t a t t h e c o ng r es s . S p i r i d o n o v ' s t r a n s f e re n t a i l e d h i s d i sm issa l from the S e c r e t a r i a t and from thepo s t o f Leningrad Par t y boss , t h u s e f f e c t i v e l y r e m o v i n g

" Iv an ZhegaZ in, a Sus Zov as so c i a t e and Ambassador t o

Romania a t t h e t im e, commented [he had been unabZe t o a t t en d t h e p c num oecause st

b ee n caZZed t o o p r e c i p i t a t e l y t o p e r m i t h im t o r e ac hMoscow i n t im e.

t h a t

-23-



l'vr 3E64WL+

him as a s o u r ce o f r e s i s t a n c e t o K i r i l e n k o a nd o f s u p p o r tf o r Kozlov i n t h e P a r t y ' s h i g h e s t e x e c u ti v e b o d ie s . *

K i r i l en k o ' s e l e v a t io n t o t h e p o s t of f i r s t depu t ycha i rman of t h e RSFSR Bureau had t h e e f f e c t o f p reven t -i n g t h e K ozl ov - led fo r ce s f rom m onopol iz ing co n t ro l ove rth e appointment of cad re s i n t h e RSFSR. I n March, onemonth prior t o Kir i l enko ' s comeback , a major reorganiza-t i o n of t h e S o v i e t farm sec to r -- a c t u a l l y a p r e l u d e t othe P a r t y ' s b i f u r c a t i o n a h a l f y e a r l a t e r -- had g i venVoronov co nt ro l over a revised and expanded "nomenklatura"f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l c a d r es i n t h e r ep ub li c. ** I t seems

l i k e l y t h a t Lomako, t h e deput y chai rm an f o r i ndus t ry ,h ad be en i n l i n e t o c o n t r o l a s i m i l a r nomenkla tura f o rR S F S R i n d u s t r i a l c ad r es and p os s i bl y t o r e c e iv e a promo-t i o n t o f i r s t depu ty cha irm an, b u t K i r i l en ko ' s suddena r r i v a l b l ocked t h a t oppo r t un i t y . Lomako r em a ined adeput y chai rm an a f t e r A pr i l bu t p resum ab ly had l i t t l e

s a y i n a p p oi n tm e nt s .

K i r i l e n k o ' s a c t i v i t i e s during 1962 added t o t h e s e .i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t h e w a s i n s tr u m e nt a l i n s u p p o rt i ng Khru-

shchev ' s s t r ug g l e ag a i n s t K oz lov. Fo r example , i n A ugus tK i r il e n ko s u p e rv i s ed t h e i n s t a l l a t i o n of V i k t o r Sk ryab i n ,h i s c lose as soc i a t e f rom Z aporozh ' ye , as Rostov Par ty

*If, as seems I ' i ket y , Ki r iZ en ko was bein g groomed dur-i n g 1 9 5 7 - 6 0 as Bre zhne v ' s unde rs tu dy and was in t h e p o s i -t i o n of r i v a l i n g KozZov d u r i n g t h e n e x t t w o y e a r s , t h e n

S p i r i d o n o v a p p a r e n t Zy h a d r e p l a c e d him a t t h e 2 2d c o n g r e s sa s t h e o n l y p r o v i n c i a Z P a r t y boss wi th some na t io naZ respon-

s i b i l i t y i n t h e sp h e r e of i n d u s t r y , s e rv i n g i n e f f e c t a sKoz l o v ' s s e c o nd . How.ever, w i t h h i s d e mo t io n t h e f o l l o w i n gA p r i Z S p ir i do n ov f a i l e d e v en t o r e t a i n a p l a ce on t h eRSFSR Bureau.

**The nomenkzat ura i s a l i s t of d e s i g n a t e d P a r t y a nd

s t a t e p o s t s o v e r wh i c h a h i g h e r e c h e l o n of t h e P a r t y a p-p a r a t u s has f u Z 2 j u r i s d i c t i o n i n making appointments .

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II



4

f i r s t s e c re t a ry i n p l ac e of Aleksandr Basov, who had beengiven a d i p l o a a t i c a s s i g n m e n t . T h e a c t i o n w a s a c l e a rswipe a t Kozlov ' s au th or i ty : Basov had gone t o Rostovo n ly weeks a f t e r K o zl ov 's a r r i v a l i n t h e Se c r e t a r i a t i nMay 1960 , t o r e p l a c e t h e a l r e a dy s e ve r e ly dow ngraded A le ks eyKirichenko. A l s o , Kozlov had been i n Rostov i n June - - ' t h a ti s , on ly tw o m on ths be f o r e Sk r a yb in ' s a r r i v a l -- t o m e e twith the P a r ty l e a d er s h ip a f t e r r i o t s h ad bro ken o u t i nnearby Novocherkassk, b u t he had t a k e n no a c t i o n a g a i n s tBaso v; h e may, i n f a c t , h av e b ee n a t t e m p t i n g t o p r o t e c th i m . The Skryabin appoin tment probably was a l s o of fen-s i v e t o P a r t y S e c r e t a r y M i k h ai l S u s l o v , who ha s demons t ra teda s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t i n h i s f orm er R osto v b a i l i w i c k a ndwho presumably w a s i n s t ru m e n t al i n g e t t i n g Basov a d i p l o -

P o l i c y s u p p o r t wh ich K ir i l e n ko ga ve i n 1962 t o

a .

I matic pos t . *

V a s i l i y T o l s t i k o v , S p i r i d o n o v ' s s u c c e s s o r i n L en i ng ra d ,appeared t o r e f l e c t K hr us hc he v' s i n t e n t t o break up t h eKozlov-Kosygin "dyn as ty" th er e . To ls t i ko v had r i s e n t h r o u g ht h e ranks of t h e L e ni ng r ad P a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n b u t n o tc l e a r l y as a Kozlov protege: Khrushchev h i m s e l f had takent h e h i gh l y u nu su al s t e p of p r e s i d i n g o v er h i s i n s t a l l a t i o na s Le n ing ra d Pa r ty bos s , a ppa r e n t l y t o u n d e r l i n e h i s s u p -po r t o f h im ( a nd pos s ib l y a l s o t o p u t down d i s s e n t amongKozlov a l l i e s who may ha ve be en op posed t o t h e j u n i o rT o l s t i k o v )

.A g a in s t t h i s b ac kg ro un d, K i r i l e n k o ' s p u b l i c s u p p o r tf o r a Le n in ig r a d p r opo s a l on i n d u s t r i a l management a t a

* Under t he c i r cums t a n ces , ho wever , Ba so v ' s d i p Z o ma t icass ignmef i t was dangerous and tha nk le ss : he showed up asan "economic counse ZZOP" a t t h e S o v i e t Embassy in Havanaon 10 A u g us t , j u s t w e e ks b e f o r e t h e C uban m i s s i l e c r i s i sr ea ched i t s p e a k . The p o s t i n g had t h e p o Z i t i c a Z e f f e c tof removing h i m f ro m P a r t y p o l i t i c s a nd p o r t en d i n g l o s s

of membership on t h e C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e .



C e n t r a l Committee con fere nce i n l a t e J u l y assumed p o l i -t i c a l s i g n if i c an c e . I n h i s o th er wi se ro u t i n e r e p o r t onP a r t y management of i n d u s t r y , K i r i l e n k o s a i d t h a t t h eL e ni ng r ad er s' p r o po s al f o r m erg in g a f f i l i a t e d e n t e r p r i s e si n t o p r oduc t i on c om plexes , o r i n d u s t r i a l " f ir m s, " w a s ofg r e a t i n t e r e s t , and h e i n s t r u c t e d t h e l e a d e rs i n o t h e rRSFSR p ro vi nc es t o d r a f t s i m i l a r pr opos a l s . H e a l s or e f e r r e d f a v o r a b l y t o Kh ru sh ch ev 's s u p p o r t f o r the " i n i t i a -t i v e " of t h e L en in gr ad P a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n i n i n t r o d u c i n g

a tw o- s h i f t s c he du l e i n t h e machine -bui ld ing ind us t ry .*

o t h e r b o o sti n

November as a r e s u l t of Khrushchev's con-t r o v e r s i a l b i f u r c a t i o n o f t h e P a r t y i n t o i n d u s t r i a l andr u r a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s . The r e o r g a n i z a t i o n i n v o l v e d a d di -t i o n a l chan ges i n t h e l e a d e r s h i p o f t h e RSFSR Bureau which

I v i r t u a l l y e l imina ted K o zl o v' s i n f l u e n c e i n it. F i r s t ,Voronov was appoin ted RSFSR Premier and, a l though remain-i n g a f u l l member of t h e P a r t y P re si d iu m , the r e by w a s re-duced t o be in g on ly a member of t h e RSFSR Bureau; t h a ti s , h e became nomina l ly Ki r i l en ko ' s sub ord ina t e i n t h eRSFSR P a r t y h i e r a r c h y . Second, Leonid Yefremov, an appar-e n t Brezhnev a l l y who had been a bure au m e m b e r b y v i r t u eof h i s p o s i t i o n as G or 'k iy P a r t y f i r s t s e c r e t a r y , r e pl a ce dVoronov as f i r s t de pu ty chai rm an w i th a g r i c u l t u r a l re spon-s i b i l i t i e s an d became a n a l t e r n a t e m e m b e r of t h e P a r t yPres idium. F in a l ly , Lomako w a s dropped as de pu ty c ha i r -man and t r an s f e r re d ou t of t h e RSFSR P a r t y a p p a r a t u s a l -

to ge th e r ; appa re nt ly unde r th e aegi s of Kosygin and Koz lov,

K i r i l e n k o ' s g e n er a l p o l i t i c a l p o s i t i o n r e c e i v ed an-

* I t was a l s o a bo ut t h i s t i m e , i n S ep te mb er 7 9 6 2 , t h a tK i r i l e n k o w a s f i r s t n o te d i n c o n t a c t w i t h P e t r A n i si mo v ,

a y ou ng L e ni n g ra d P a r t y o f f i c i a l who r o s e r a p i d l y u n d e r

T o l s t i ko v b e fo r e t r a n s f e r r i n g i n e a r l y 1 9 6 8 t o h i s p r e se n tp o s i t i o n i n t he c e n t r a l P a r t y a p p a r a t u s a s d e p u t y c h i e fof t h e Par ty - O rga ni z a t i ona l Work Department . The ava i Z-

ab l e i n f o r m a t i o n on An i si m ov ' s a c t i v i t i e s s t r o n g l y s ug -

g e s t s t h a t he is a K i r i l e n k o c l i e x t .

-26-



he w en t i n t o a newly created c e n t r a l pl a nn in g p o s t . K i r i -

l enko t ook up w ha t eve r s l a ck r e s u l t e d from Lomako's de -p a r t u r e . *

K i r i l e n k o ' s i nc rea sed power a f t e r November 1962b r o u gh t i n c r e a s e d o p p o s i t i o n f ro m the K oz l ov f ac t i on ,r e f l e c t i n g t h e h ei gh te ne d i n t e n s i t y o f t h e i r g e n e r a ls t ru gg l e ag a i n s t K hrushchev and t h e U kra in i ans. S i gnso f s n i p i n g a t K i r i l e n k o p i c k e d up markedly i n March andA p r i l 1962. H i s named a ppe are d ou t of C y r i l l i c a l ph a b e t i c alo rde r , fo l l ow i ng K oz lov 's and K osyg in ' s , i n a l i s t of t h et o p l e a d e r s h i p i n P ra vd a on b o th 1 2 and 1 3 M arch. Theannua l e d i t i o n o f Sp ravochn ik Pa r ti ynogo R abot n ika (Pa r t yO f f i c i a l ' s Handbook) , which was s i g n e d t o t h e p r e s s o n30 March, conspicuously f a i l e d t o p u bl is h t h e communiqueof t h e A p r i l 1 9 6 2 plenum a t which K i r i l e n k o w a s "e lec ted"

a P r e s i d i u m member. On 1 A p r i l , P ra vd a p u b l i s h e d t h ee a r l i e r d i s c u s s e d a r t i c l e by Sverd lovsk Par ty boss Nikolayevi m p l i c i t l y c r i t i c a l of Ki r i l enko ' s per fo rm ance i n cons t ruc -t i o n work. F i n a l l y , o n 2 2 and 23 A pr i l , I z ve s t i y a and a

f e w o t he r new spape rs (no t ab l y the Leningrad Pa r ty pape r )a g a i n s l i g h t e d K i r i l e n k o by p l a c i n g h i s name a f t e r Kosy-g i n ' s i n an o t h e r w i s e a l p h a b e t i c a l l i s t of t h e P r es i di u mm e m b e r s a t a n R S F S R P a r t y c o n f e r e n c e -- and t h i s w a s amajor con fere nce which heard and d i scus sed a K i r i l e n k ore po r t on i n d u s t r i a l management! Absent f rom t h e l i s t

w a s Kozlov, who h a d s u f f e r e d a p a r a l y z i n g s t roke s e v e r a ldays e a r l i e r and w a s neve r t o r e t u r n t o a c t iv e p o l i t i c a ll i f e .

" T h e d i v i s i o n of r e s p o n s i b i Z i t i e s b et we en K i r i Zenkoa nd Yef r emo v ua s fo r ma Z i z ed wi t h t h e c r e a t i o n of two

s m a l l e r R S F S R b ur ea us -- f o r ru ra l management and fo ri n d u s t r i a l m a n a g e m e n t -- w i t h i n th e o l d e r RSFSR Bureau.I t i s unclear how t h i s a r ra n ge m en t a f f e c t e d V o r on o v, w horemained a member of t h e o l d e r b ur e au b u t had no c l e a r l yd e f i n ed r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r one o r a n o t h e r e c o n o m i c s e c t o r .I n any c a s e , K i r i l e n k o o u t ra n k ed Y e fr e mo v i n t h e P a r t y

P r e s i d i u m e v e n th o ug h t h e y h e l d n o m i n al l y e quaZ p o s i t i o n si n t h e RSFSR Bureau.

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B u t w i t h K oz lov s i de l i ne d , Kir i lenko came i n t o h i sown as Khrushchev's main spokesman f o r i n d u s t r i a l a f f a i r s .The r e p o r t w hich he d e l i v e r e d t o t h e A p r i l c on fe re nc er e v e a l e d a s t r o ng p r a gm a t i c a pp roa ch t o e c onom ic a dm in is -t r a t i o n and a g r e a t e r w i l l i n g n e s s t h a n h e h ad shown i n t h ep a s t t o t ou ch on c o n t r o v e r s i a l q u e s ti o n s . I n a r a r e de-

p a r t u r e from h i s n e o - S t a l i n i s t p o s i t i o n , K i r i le n k o c l a i m e dt h a t s t e r e o t y p e s an d r i g i d p o l i c i e s w e r e a t h i n g o f t h ep a s t , t ha nk s t o t h e r e n u n ci a t io n of S t a l i n ' s p e r so n a l i t yc u l t , a nd he laud ed t h e November 1 9 6 2 b i f u r c a t i o n of t h eP a r t y as a n o u t st a n d in g c o n t r i b u t i o n t o im prov ing Pa r t yl e a d e r s h i p of t h e na t i on a l economy. H e complained, how-

e ve r , t h a t q u i t e a f e w Pa r ty a nd e conomic l e a d e r s s t i l lwere h e l d c a p t i v e by t h e f o rm e r " t r a d i t i o n s a n d c us to ms ."While he s a i d t h a t t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l e x p e r i e n c e w hi ch t h ePa r ty had accumula ted ove r many ye a rs sho uld n o t be re -nounc ed , h e w ar ne d o f t h e " g r e a t dange r" i n t r a n s f e r r i n goutworn methods t o t h e new Party and economic organs.

Ki r i l enko ' s Economic V i e w s

T h i s forward- lo oking a t t i ude p r oba b ly w a s i n t e n d e dt o p r o v i d e a backdrop f o r K i r i l e n k o ' s more p r a c t i c a l sug-g e s ti o n s f o r r e or g an i zi n g p ro d uc ti on . I n p a r t i c u l a r , h e

s t r on g l y r e i t e r a t e d t h e s u p p o rt h e had g i v e n i n J u l y 1 9 6 2t o t h e L e ni n gr ad p r o p o s a l on m erg in g e n t e r p r i s e s i n t oi n d u s t r i a l f i r m s, o r p r o d u c ti o n a s s o c i a t i o n s , as t h e ywere now be in g cal le d . Several times i n h i s r e p o r t K i r i -lenko termed t h e s e a s s o c i a t io n s a " p r o g r e s s i v e " form ofpr oduc t i on o r ga n i z a t i on , a nd he a ske d f o r i t s bolder usei n all br a nc he s of i n d u s t r y . A s s e r t i n g t h a t a s s o c i a t i o n shad proved t h e i r economic soundness , h e n e v e r t h e l e s s s u g -g e s t e d t h e e x i s t e n c e of some controversy over t h e schemewhen c l a i m i n g t h a t a s s o c i a t i o n s were c a pa b l e of c a r r y i n go u t a u n i f i e d t e c h n i c a l p o l i c y w i th o u t i n f r i n g i n g on the

i n t e r e s t s of sovnarkhozes ( t h e na t i ona l - e c onom ic c ounc i l s ,or reg iona l gove rnment organs of p l a n n i n g and management).I n f a c t , t h e r e g i o n a l s o v na rk h oz es h ad a l r e a d y lost some

pow ers, p r e c i s e l y i n c o n t r o l o ve r t e c h n i c a l p o l i c y , t o

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c e n t r a l s t a t e committees which were s e t u p p r i m a r i l y f o rd ef en se i n d u s t r i e s d u r i n g t h e b i f u r c a t i o n of t h e P a r t y a lo nge co no mic l i n e s i n November. K i r i l e nko t hus s eem ed se ns i -t i v e t o o b j e c t i o n s w hic h r e g i o n a l P a r t y leaders presum-ably had raised t h a t t h e p r o d u ct i on a s s o c i a t i o n s m i gh tf u r t h e r a s s i s t a t r e n d toward s t a t e - a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c e n -t r a l i z a t i o n h ar mf ul t o t h e i r i n t e r e s t s . Although h i ss t a t e m e n t w a s equ i voca l , K i r i l en ko ' s p ragm a t i c app roachappeared t o e n v i s i o n t h e o r g a n i z a ti o n of a s s o c i a t i o n s o na s t r i c t l y r e g io na l bas i s . "

T h a t K i r i l e n k o h e l d no b r i e f f o r t h e c e n t r a l p la n-

n e r s a n d a d m i n i s t r a t o r s became more e v i d e n t as t i m e wenton. H i s speech t o a n o t h e r i mp o rt an t i n d u s t r i a l c o n f er e n c ei n May 1 9 6 4 w a s e s p e c i al l y h a r d- h i t t in g i n t h i s r e s p e c t ,p e rh a ps r e f l e c t i n g i n c r e a s e d c on f id e nc e as Kozlov's perman-e n t r em ov al f r om p o l i t i c s became m ani fe s t . ** In h i s speech,

* Th e r e p o r t a l s o c o n t a i n e d a c ou p l e of s u g g e s t i o n s ofK i r i e n k o ' s i n t e r e s t i n somewhat o r t ho d ox d i r e c t i o n s .He m e n t io n e d f a v o r a b l y , f o r e x am p le , t h e n ee d t o i n t r o -duce computer t echn o log y i n t o management . A t the same

t i m e, h e s a i d t h a t a " p r o d u c t i o n - t e c h n i c a 2 a s s o c i a t i o n "was be in g s e t u p w i t h i n t h e RSFSR Sovnarkhoz t h a t wou ld

produce computer equ ipmen t , e v i de n t ly for manager ia l u s ei n t h e sov narkhoa. K i r i k n k o ' s main i n t e r e s t i n a12 t h i sseemed t o b e t o s t r e n g t h e n t h e s ov na rk ho z a p p ar a t us , r a t h e r

t h a n t h e c e n t r a l i z e d p l a nn i n g a g e n c i e s. T h i s wouZd p r e -s um ab ly a l l o w g r e a t e r P a r t y c o n t r o l i n ma na ge me nt a t t h er e gi o n al l e v e l . I n a d d i t i on , X i r i l e n k o d w e lt on i d e o l o -

g i c a l means o f i n f l u e n c i n g p ro d u ct i o n, s u ch a s " s o c i a l i s tc o m p e t i t i o n , I' t h e "movement f o r Communist Zabor, " andpropaganda of "advanced exper iencen -- aZZ o f whi ch re -v e al e d h i s p r e fe r e nc e f o r e x h o r ta t i o n o v e r t h e a p p li c a -t i o n of m a t e r i al i n c e n t i v e s .

" " X i r i l e n k o p re su ma bl y f e l t l e s s f e t t e r e d when w or ki ngw i t h t h e Uk rai ni ans Brezh nev and Podgornyy, who had be en

brough t i n t o t h e c e n t r a l S e c r e t a r i a t as su c c e s s or s t oK o z l o v i n June 1 9 6 3 .

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. . .-. . ., . . . I -. . . . . . .. . . . . . ____



K i r i l e n k o r e p e a t e d h i s c a l l f o r a f u r t h e r "bo l d advance"i n f o r mi ng p r o d u c t i o n a s s o c i a t i o n s . H e c o u p l e d t h i s ,however, w i t h a w a r n i n g t h a t t h e i r fo rm a t i on shou l d no tbe a n e nd i n i t s e l f b u t p rom ote b e t t e r o r g a n i z a t i o n o fp roduc t i on . T h i s admoni t ion r e f l e c t e d awareness of t h er e s i s t a n c e o f t h e c e n t r a l p l a nn i n g ag e n c ie s , b e ca us e h ewent on t o r i d i c u l e t h e i r i n d i s c r i m i n a t e i s s u a n c e ofg e n e r a l d i r e c t i v e s t o i n d u s t r i a l e n t e r p r i s e s a l r ea d y f unc-t i o n i n g w i t h i n a s s o c i a t i o n s :

G en er al d i r e c t i v e s [ f r o m c e n t r a l a g e n c i e s ]o f t e n a r e a dd re ss ed t o t h os e e n t e r p r i s e s

w h i c h j o i n e d a s s o c i a t i o n s l o n g a go anda r e n o t i n d e p e n d e n t e co no mi c u n i t s . T h i sis wh at we c a l l h a b i t . P eo pl e do n o t f o l -low l i f e , b u t i t is changing, i t d o e s n o t

r em ai n s t a t i c ; s m a l l e n t e r p r i s e s a r e merg-i ? g , b u t t h e y c o n t in u e t o r e c ei v e i n s t r u c -t z o n s . We f e e l l i k e t e l l i n g t h e comrades

who w r i t e [ s u c h i n s t r u c t i o n s ] : 'Do n o t

make pe op le Zaugh.

I n a d d i t i o n , K i r i l e n k o made a s e e m i n g l y g r a t u i t i o u s s t a t e -ment on S ta l i ni sm i n economic management which app eare daimed again a t t h e r e s i s t a n c e of c o n s e r v a t i v e a d m i ni s tr a -

t o r s :

S t a l i n ' s dogmas, d i v o r c e d from Z i f e , d i d n o tm a k e p o s s i b l e a s o b e r a s s e s s m e n t of t h e pro-

c e s s e s t a k i n g p l a c e i n t h e ec on omy . T he yd r ov e e co no mi c t h o u g h t i n t o a blind a l l e y

and in t roduced a s p i r i t of c o n se r v at i s m i nt e c h n i c a l p o l i c y . T he b u r e a u c r a t i c a pp ro ac h

t o p l a nn i n g d e t r a c t e d f ro m t h e r o l e of

p l a n s t h e m s e l v e s , r e s u l t e d i n m aj or m i s c a l -c u l a t i o n s , and h am pe re d s c i e n t i f i e and tech-n ic a Z t h o u g h t . T he l i q u i d a t i o n of t h e c u l tof p e r s o n a l i t y . . . made it p o s s i b l e . t o p u tecono mic work on s t r i c t l y s c i e n t i f i c founda-

t i o n s .

-30-



E xcep t f o r t he e a r l i e r m en ti oned r em arks on t h e s t e r e o t y p esand r i g i d po l i c i e s wh ich he l d sway unde r S t a l i n (p . 31),t h i s u n us u al d e v i a t i o n from K i r i l e n k o ' s s t a n d a r d l i n emarked t h e on l y obse rved pu b l i c r e f e ren ce he had made o rw a s t o make t o t h e person of t h e l a t e d i c ta t o r . *

The speech w a s . n ot ab le a l s o f o r K ir i l e nk o 's f i r s to bs er ve d p u b l i c r e f e r e n c e t o t h e u s e o f mate r ia l incen-t i v e s , c a r e f u l ly l abe l ed f o r t h e purpose of " t e c h n i c a lp rog re s s . "t u s for f a i l i n g t o come t o g r i p s w i t h t h e " co m pl ic at ed "bu t unavoidable p rob lems of app l y i ng "mater ia l rewards forg o o d r e s u l t s , f o r i nc rea sed e f f i c i e ncy and p roduc t l ongev i t y . "The bulk of t h e speech , however, re vea led an unchangedg e n e r a l a t t i t u d e i n fa v o r of a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a nd " mo ra l"means of improving produc t ion e f f i c i ency .

H e a pp ea re d t o blame t h e s t a t e p l an n i n g appara-

I

I 1

. . . .a 1 a ma r a tc h l k i n t e r e s t

IUL I L ail L I I L L L ~ ~ L L ~ LIIL r ; r i e r n T ( T d i se r,

of wh ich had r ece i v ed unusual a t t en t i o nfrom Khrushchev as an a l t e r n a t i v e t o expansion of t h em e t a l l u r g i c a l b r an c he s o f i n d u s t r y . -

* I n t h i s c o n n e c t i on , a s i g n i f i c a n t me asure of K i r i -

l e n k o ' s r e s e r v e on t h e S t a Z i n i s s u e was h i s a v o i d i n g men-t i o n of t h e l a t e d i c t a t o r b y name i n h i s s p ee ch a t t h e

2 2 d Par ty Congress , where many o t he r l eade r s were jo i n -i n g t h e c h o r us b eh i n d K hr us hc he v i n a t t a c k i n g S t a l i n ' a

p er so n. K i r i l e n ko r e s t r i c t e d h i ms e l f t o a f f i r m i n g t h ec o r r e c t n e s s of th e 20 th Par ty Congress deCis iOn6 , sp ec i -f i c a Z Z y for t h e i r co nd em ni ng t h e f f p e r s o n a Z i t y c u l t " ( a

phenomenon divorced, i t woutd seem, from t he perso n ofS t a Z i n ) , e x p o s i n g i t s h ar mf ul e f f e c t s and r e e s t a b z i s h i n geo Z e c t i v e l e a d e r s h i p - - a r e Z a t i v e l y i n n o c uo u s e n d o r s e -

ment of d e - S t a l i n i z a t i o n .



Li

4

I

of a newly created C e n t r a l Committee department, whichwould achieve c lo s e r s u p e r v i s i o n of t h e c he m ic al i n d u s t r yt h rough Pa r t y cad re s a s s i gned as deputy chairmen f o r chem i s t ryi n t h e a p p r o p r i a t e s ov n ar kh oz es . I t seems p r o b a b l e t h a tt h i s a c t i v i t y r e f l ec t e d the fo rmat ion of t h e RSFSR Depart-ment of Chemical Industry, which w a s f i r s t p u b li c ly iden-t i f i e d i n September 1964 .



L I-

A ppar e nt l y c onvinc ed o f t he e f f i c a c y o f h i s p l a n s ,K i r il e n k o i n h i s s pe ec h l a i d o u t t h e o r g a n i za t i on of h i sPa r ty-c ont ro l l ed campa ign f o r deve loping "pu bl ic " formsof economic work. Acc ord ing t o Kir i lenko, economic labo-r a t o r i e s h ad be en o r g a n i z e d i n 450 e n t e r p r i s e s i n t h e

RSFSR, t h e po s t o f c h i e f e conom ist ' ( f u n c t i o n i n g as a deputy)d i r e c t o r for economic matters ) had be en i n t r o duc e d i n moret h a n 1 , 0 0 0 m aj o r i n d u s t r i a l e n t e r p r i s e s , a nd eco no mic

la bo ra to r i e s and economic-ana lys i s depa r tments had beenformed i n the sovna rkhoxes -- a l l of which ap peared t o b e

legi t imate economic work. H e a l s o i n d i c a t e d , however,t h a t 1 6 0 , 0 0 0 persons were engaged i n t h e work of more than1 6 , 0 0 0 "pu bl ic " bureaus and groups of economic ana lvs i si n e n t e r p r i s e s t h r o u ah p u t t,he r e pub l i c I I I I

I

-- ,L ~YVI *V ' . , *C k"cU*b.l.J.3 " I LuLiitcu LU auuuius;er

a c t i v i t y i n 30 o b l a s t i n d u s t r i a l P a r t y c o m -m i t t 4 5 0 c i t y and rayon Pa r t y committees through-o u t t h e RSFSR. He c i t e d approvingly t h e e x p e r i e n c e of t h eVolgograd O b l a s t I n d u s t r i a l P a r t y Com mittee, which usedeconomic counci ls and "commiss ions f o r promot ing te ch ni ca l

I I I

-33-



committee's i n d u s t r i a l d e p ar tm e nt s, t o f i n dways t o c u t p r o d u c t i on costs . K i r i l e n k o l a u d e d t h i s new,P a r t y - d i r e c t e d e f f o r t as a means of br i ng in g l a r ge numbersof w or ker s a nd e ng in e e r ing - t e c hn i c a l pe r s on ne l i n t o e conom ica d m i n i s t r a t i o n .

Although t h i s a c t i v i t y a p-p a r e n t l y was r e s t r i c t e d t o t h ec h e r i c a l i n d us t ry i n t h e RSFSRan d d i d n o t a f f e c t a l a r g e p a r tof t h e na t i on al economy, some

profess iona l gove rnment adminis -t r a t o r s and p l a n n er s i n t h e cen-t e r -- Premie r Kosygin forexample -- undoubtedly had amuch l e ss s an g ui ne a t t i t u d e to -ward Ki r i le nk o' s campaign. Thee m pha si s on t h e Pa r ty ' s i nvolve-ment i n economic work, which,a c c o r d ing t o Kir i lenko, wouldmean improving economic t ra ininge ve n i n t h e P a r t y e d u c a t i o n s y s -tem,* probably al so r a i s ed theh a c k l e s of Sus lov a nd o t h e r m o r eor thodox Pa r ty i de o logue s who

were concerned t h a t s u c h t r a i n - KOSYGIN, A. N.

i n g w a s de t r a c t i n c j f r om t h e o r e t i -

c a l s t u d i e s and l e a di n g t o t h e n e g l e c t .uf p o l i t i c a l worki n t h e P ar ty .* * I t w a s c l e a r , t h e r e f o r e , t h a t K i r i le n k o

*Kir i e n k o s a i d t h a t e co n om i c d e p a r t m en t s h ad b e e n fo r m edi n " Ma rx is t - Le ni ni st u n i v e r s i t i e s " w i t h i n c i t y Party commit -t e e s , a t w hi ch a b ou t 40 ,000 p e r s o n s we re s t u d y i n g , b u t h e

~ f e l t t h a t t h e q ua Zi ty o f t h i s w o r k l e f t much t o be d e s i r e d .

* *T he i d e o l o g u e ' s v i e w p o i n t p r ob a b Ly was exp res se d most .c l e a r l y i n an a r t i c l e w hich I/. S t e p a n o v p ub l i s h e d i n S Pravdaon 17 May 1 9 6 5 , a t t a c k i n g t h e p r a c t i c e u n de r K hr us hc he v o ft h e P a r t y ' s i m m e r s io n i n e c on o mi c m anagement t o t h e d e t r i -ment o f i d e o l o g i c a l a n d p ro pa ga nd a i n t e r e s t s .

- 3 4 -

. .



had commit ted h imse l f t o sup por t in g Khrushchev ' s schemesf o r broad chemical iza t ion and Par ty management of t h eeconomy when t h e c o a l i t i o n s f l eader s , i nc l ud ing K os yg inand Sus lov , f i n a l l y formed around Brezhnev t o ou s t Khru-s h ch e v from p o l i t i c a l o f f i c e i n Oc to be r 1 9 6 4 .

D. I n Brezhnev' s Ser vic e : The RSFSR Bureau (1964-66)

During t h e p o l i t i c a l l y u n s e t t l e d p e r i o d im m ed ia te lya f t e r Kh ru sh ch ev 's o u s t e r a nd f o r m ost of 1 9 6 5 K i r i l e n k o

m a in t a ine d a low p r o f i l e , e ng ag in g i n few p u b l i c a c t i v i t i e sw h i l e pr es um ab ly c o n c e n t r a t i n g on s e c u r i n g h i s o r g a n i z a t i o n a lbase. A c tua l l y K i r i l e nko w a s somewhat on t h e per i ph eryof t h e main b a t t l e f i e l d , which w a s the c e n t r a l S e c r e t a r i a t .

H e r e Podgornyy, who w a s "second i n command" t o Brezhnevby v i r t u e o f h i s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r s u p e r v i s i ng P a rt y-o r g a n i z a t i o n a l matters, seemed a c t ua l l y t h e ne a r e qua l oft h e P a r t y b o ss i n t h e f i r s t s e v e r a l months of the new re-gime. A secondary are na was i n t h e f i e l d of c om pe t i t i onbetween the S e c r e t a r i a t and t h e Counci l o f Mi ni s te r s -- t h a ti s , betw een Brezh nev and Kosygin. Thus the R S F S R Bureaur e p r e s e n t e d a minor area f o r s ki r m is h e s i n t h e l a r g e r p o l i -t i c a l maneuvers i n t h i s per iod .

The r e g im e ' s f i r s t m ajor change , r e ve r s in g Khru-s h c he v 's P a r t y b i f u r c a t i o n scheme, im p l i e d a s l i g h t s e t -back f o r K i r i l e nk o a nd o th e r s who had p r o f i t e d p o l i t i c a l l yf r o m b i f u r c a t i o n . A t t h e November plen um'w hich made t h ed e c i s i o n t o r e t u r n t o t h e o r g a n iz a t io n a l s t r u c t u r e of t h eP a r t y t h a t e x i s t e d b e fo r e b i f u r c a t i o n , Podgornyy d e l i v e r e dthe repor t r ecommending t h i s ac t io n , whi le Brezhnev p layedno v i s i b l e r o l e . I n a sen se , th e r e f or e , Podgornyy wasi d e n t i f i e d w i t h a de c i s i o n w hich was no t c l e a r l y i n K i r i -

l enko ' s i n t e r e s t .

T he d e c i s i o n t o r e o r g an i ze t h e P a r t y a lo n g o l dl i n e s l e d t o t h e r e i n s t a t e m e n t , f o r t h e most par . t , of a l l

t h e P a r t y b o s s e s i n t h e r e pub l i c s and l ow e r l e ve l s who had

given up some of t h e i r power i n 1962. However , severa l



p e r so n n e l ch an ge s i n t h e RSFSR had some e f f e c t o n K i r i l e n k o ' sp o s i t i o n , t h e o v e r a l l r e s u l t o f which w a s i n h i s f av or .I n December Leo ni d Yefremov w a s t r a n s f e r r e d f rom t h e p o s tof f i r s t d ep u ty c ha ir ma n of t h e RSFSR Bureau t o becomeP a r t y b o s s i n S t a v r o p o l ' K ray. T h i s mani fes t demotion,which por t e nde d t h e loss of Yefremov's p o s i t i o n on t h eP a r t y P r es id iu m , l e f t K i r i l e n k o t h e s o l e d ep ut y ch air ma nof t h e bur e a u unde r B r e z hnev ' s s t r i c t l y nominal chai rm an-sh ip . Voronov may hav e wan ted t o reclaim t h e v a c a t ed p o s i -t i o n of deputy cha i rman f o r a g r i c u l t u r e , b u t h e re ma in edonly a m e m b e r of t h e b u re au .* I n e f f e c t , t h e r e f o r e , K i r i -

l enko became de f a c to P a r t y b o s s f o r t h e e n t i r e RSFSR.

A t t h e same t i m e , a no the r c ha nge a t t h e p r o v i n q i a ll e v e l i n d i c a t e d t h a t K i r i l e n k o w a s n o t immune from a t t a c ki n h i s own area. On 3 December, S u s l o v p r e s i d e d overt h e i n s t a l l a t i o n o f M i k h ai l So lo me nts ev i n t h e p o s t ofRos tov Rura l Pa r ty c h i e f i n p l a ce of K i r i l e n k o ' s f o r m e rZaporozh'ye a s s oc i a t e Viktor Skryabin , who w a s " p l a c e d a tt h e d i s p o s a l of t h e C en tr a l Commit tee." Three weeks l a t e r

Solomentsev became R osto v P a r t y f i r s t s e c re t a r y o f t h er e u n i f i e d o r g a n i z a t i o n -- t h e p o s i t i o n w h i c h Skryabinhad h e l d p r i o r t o t h e 1 9 6 2 b i f u r c a t i o n ; S k r y a bi n d i s a p p e a r e df r o m p u b l i c view and w a s n o t re lec ted t o t h e Ce nt ra l Com-m i t t e e a t t h e 23d Pa r ty C ongr es s i n A pr i l 1966 . Thus Suslov

--

" P o s s i b Zy B r ez h n ev d e c i d e d t o mo n o po l iz e c o n t r o l o v e rt h e a g r i c u Z tu r a 1 s p h e r e on t h e Pa r t y s i d e , s h a r i ng r e sp o n-

s i b i l i t y f o r t h i s s e c t o r o n l y w i t h Dep uty P r em ie r P o Z ya n s ki yo n t h e g ov er nm en t s i d e . T en d in g t o c o n f ir m t h i s p o s s i -b i Z i t y was t h e a p p o in t me n t of Fedor Kulakov somet ime i nNovember t o t h e p o s t of c h i e f of t h e C e n t r a 2 C o m m i t t e e ' s

A g ri c ul t ur a Z D ep ar tm en t b u t n o t t o t h e p o s i t i o n of s e c r e -

t a r y f o r a g r i c u Z t u r e , from w h i c h V a s iZ i y PoZyakov waso u st e d a t t h a t t i m e . KuZakov d i d n o t a t t a i n t h a t posi-

t i o n for aZmost a ye ar ; meanwhiZe, Br ezhn ev emerged ast h e r e g i m e ' s a g r i c u Z t u r a Z s p ok e sm a n i n March 1 9 6 5 when he

announced a major program f o r a g r i c u l t u r a Z d e v e l o p m e n t .

. .



s t r u c k b ack f o r K i r i l e n k o ' s e a r l i e r i n t r u s i o n i n R osto v P a r t yp o l i t i c s ( see page 25). Hovever, Su sl ov 's sally came be-f o r e K i ri l e n k o had c o n s o l i d a t e d h i s p o s i t i o n on t h e RSFSR

Bureau, and s i m i l a r i n c u rs i o n s i n t h e r e p u b l i c ' s P a r t y or-ga n i z a t i ons s ubs e que n t ly were not observed.

Probably the most s i g n i f i , -ca nt move inv ol vin g a p r o v i n c i a lP a r ty o f f i c i a l i n December w a st h e r e tu r n o f I van K ap itonovfrom p o l i t i c a l e x i l e t o t h e p o s tof c h i e f o f t h e r e un i f i e d C e n-

t r a l Commit tee Department ofRSFSR Pa rt y Organs. Kapitonovhad been demoted i n 1959 f r o mr.ioscow C i ty f i r s t s e c r e t a r y t othe p o s i t i o n o f P a r t y b os s i nIvanovo Oblas t . H i s r e t u r n t oth e c en te r i n December 1964probably had t he backing ofBrezhnev and Suslov as w e l l asKir i lenk o. Kapi tonov ' s twode pu t i e s i n t h e new de pa r tm e ntwere t h e former ch ie f s of t h eb i f u r c a t e d d e p ar t me n ts f o r R S F S RPa r ty o r ga ns -- Nikolay Voronov- KAPITONOV, 1 v.

s ki y- ( i n d u s t r i a l ) , and- M i k h a i lPolekhin ( r u r a l ) . Both Kapitonov and Voronovskiy were t o ad -vance as Brezhnev and Ki r i l en ko cons ol id a ted t h e i r own posi-t i o n s d u r i n g 1 9 6 5 , as w e l l as a g a i n i n 1966 .

One of t h e i n t e r m e d ia t e moves i n t he s t r e nG the n ingof K i r i l e n k o ' s i n f l u e n ce i n t h e cadres s e c t o r , a l t h o u g hall t i e e f f e c t s were no t immedia te ly appa r ent , was t h eApril 1 9 6 5 demotion of V i t a l i y T i to v f r o m t h e c e n t r a l Secre-

t a r i a t t o Kazakhstan t o f i l l t h e vacancy of r e pub l i c s e c onds e c r e t a r y w h ic h had r e s u l t e d from S o l o m e n t s e v ' s t r a n s f e r t oRostov. Titov, a Ukra in ian a s s o c i a t e o f Podgornyy, had!Seen t h e j u n i o r s e c r e t a r y i n c h ar ge of P a r t y - o r g a n i z a t i o n a l

-. .- I 1



uI

matters and cadres appoin tment s s ince 1962 . * The demotionhad a t w o - f o l d s i g n i f i c a n c e . F i r s t , it r e p r e s e n t e d a

se r i ou s blow t o h i s pat ron Podgornyy, whose dominance i nt h e cad res sec to r it weakened. Second, Ti tov ' s removalc o i n c i d e d w i t h t h e c o n f e r r i n g of new t i t l e s and, a p p a r e n t l y ,of changed roles upon t h e union-republ i c and RSFSR d e p a r t -ments of Par t y o rgans . P u b l i c i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s i n May re-v e al ed t h a t t h e union-republ i c depar tment ca r r i ed t h e de-

s i gn a t io n , Department o f Par ty -Organiza t iona l Work; t h eRSFSR department underwent t h e same t ransformat ion, becom-ing the Depar tment of Par ty-Or ganiza t ion a l Work f o r t h eRSFSR. The f u l l s i g n i f i c a n c e of t h e s e t i t u l a r c ha ng es w a s

u n c l e a r , b u t t h e y s ug g e s te d a t l e a s t t h e a b o l i t i o n of T i t o v ' sCommission on Party-Organizat ional Work.

f i l e d u r i n g the s p r i n g a nd summer of 1 9 6 5 , whi le Brezhnevbecame i nc rea s i n g l y i nvo l ved i n m aneuve ri ng ag a i n s t Pod-gornyy and se n i o r Pa r t y Sec re t a ry A l eksand r She l ep i n . Byl a t e September , Brezhnev had se r i ou s l y weakened Podgornyy ' si n f l u e n c e i n t h e c a d r es s e c t o r a nd a p p a r e n tl y h a d p u t downa cha l l enge f rom She l ep i n f o r c o n t r o l of t h e t o p P a r t y p o s t .B rezhnev a l s o had asser ted h i ms e lf s t r o n g l y i n c o m p e ti t io nw i t h Kosygin a t a C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e e plenum which laun che da re form of in d u s t r i a l p l ann ing and management.

K i r i l e n k o c o n t in u e d t o m ai n t a i n h i s low pu b l i c p ro-

As B rezhnev grew i n s t a t u r e , so K i r i l e n k o be g an t obe more p o l i t i c a l l y ac t i v e . On 14 September, the l e a de d i t o r i a l of Sove tskaya R oss iya ca r r i e d t h e g i s t of a n

* T i t o v had b e e n c h i e f of the Depar tmen t of Party Organs

f o r U ni o n R e pu b Zi c s s i n c e e a r y 1961; h e became a d d i t i o n a l l ya member of t h e S e c r e t a r i a t and ch a ir ma n of t h e C o mm i ss i on

on P a r t y - O r g a n i z a t i o n a l Q u e s t i o n s i n Novembe r 1 9 6 2 . A l m o s tn o t h i n g i s known of t h e f u n c t i on of h i s c o mm is si on , b u t

c o n c e i v a b l y i t was c re at ed i n p a r t t o a r b i t r a t e j u r i s d i c -

t i o n a l d i s p u t e s a nd o t h e r c o nf l i c t s a r i s i n g b e tw ee n t h e

n e wl y b i f u r c a t e d P ar t y o r g a n i z a t i o n s .

-38-



RSFSR Bureau decree which c r i t i c i z e d t he R os tov Pa r ty l e a d -e r s h ip f o r a l l ow ing a n ove re mpha si s on t h e p r o d u c t i o n o fh e a v y - i n d u s t r i a l g oods t o t h e d e t r im e n t of t h e f oo d s e c t o rand l i g h t i n d u s t r y -- an obvious swipe a t R os tov Pa r ty bossSolomentsev. The fol low ing month Ki ri le nk o headed a S o v i e tPa r ty de l e g a t i on t o t h e C h il e a n Pa r ty C ongr es s, w hich w a sh i s f i r s t t r a v e l i n s uc h c a p a c i t y t o a f o r e i g n C ommunistPa r ty c ongr e s s . The assignment may n o t h a ve p l e a s e d o r h adt h e whole -hea r ted approva l of Sus lov , t h e s e n i o r s e c r e t a r yr e s p o n s i b l e f o r r e la t i on s w i t h i n t h e Communist movement,i f o n ly be ca us e of K i r i l e nk o ' s s t r i c t l y p r o v i n c i a l p o s i t i o ni n t h e RSFSR.

T h i s i nc re as ed p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t y and s t r e n g t h f o rBrezhnev and Kir i lenko i n t h e f a l l of 1965 w a s fo l lowed

by a s i g n i f i c a n t s h i f t i n t h e power ba l anc e i n December.Podgornyy w a s t r a n s f e rr e d t o t h e less p o we rf ul p o s i t i o n o fS o v i e t " P r e s i d e n t " i n p la c e of An astas Mikoyan, who "re-t i r e d , " and She lepin ga ined the key r e s p o n s i b i l i ty f o rP a r t y - o r g a n i z a t i o n a l matters . The g a i n f o r S h e l e p i n en-t a i l e d , however, some lo sse s as w e l l : h e w a s f o r c e d t og ive up h i s US SR deputy premie rsh ip w i t h th e a b o l i t i o n o fth e Pa r ty -St a te Cont ro l Commit tee, o f which he w a s cha i r -man. I n ad d i t io n, Brezhnev and Ki r i l en ko presumably to-ge t he r s uc ce e ded i n pu t t i ng a c hec k on Sh e l e p in ' s secre-t a r i a l powers i n th e person of Kapi tonov, who became a

member of t h e S e c r e t a r i a t an d to ok c h a r g e of t h e union-re pu bl ic Par ty- Org ani za t i on al Work Department .the v a c a n ci e s which T i t o v ' s d e p a r t u r e i n A p r i l had crea ted ,

K apitonov a p pa r e n t l y c e as e d t o he ad t h e RSFSR depar tment .However, t h e e n t i r e q u e s ti o n of t h e e x i s t e n c e o f t h e R S F S RBureau may h ave become moot by t h a t t i m e , f o r it w a s t obe a bo l i s he d several m onths l a t e r a t t h e 23d Pa r t y C ongr es s. *

I n f i l l i n g

*An a d d i t i o n a l i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e s t r e n g th o f Brezhneva n d K i r i l e n k o i n December w as t h e r e i n s t a t e m e n t of t h e i rf o r m er a s s o c i a t e S h c h e r b i t s k i y as a n a l t e r n a t e m e m b e r oft h e P a r t y P r e s i d i u m . Fo r s Z i g h t l y m ore t h a n t w o y e a r s

S h c h e r b i t s k i y h ad b e e n r e du c e d i n r an k and p Za c ed i n( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u e d on page 4 0 )

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4

The F ig ht Over t h e Goryachev Pro pos a l

The d e c i s i o n t o a b o l i s h t h e RSFSR Bureau under t h e

c i rcums tances im pl i e d a c o n s o l i d a t i o n of K i r i l e n k o ' s p o si -t ion and paved t h e way f o r a reass ignment of r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e sw i t h i n t h e S e c r e t a r i a t a t th e 23d Party Congress. The c a d r e sa ppa r a tus w a s t h e s u b j e c t of a h i g h l y c o n t r o v e r s i a l t ho ug hmuted debate which arose a t t h e b eg i nn i ng o f t h e c o n g r es swhen t he se r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s w e r e i n f lu x . T he e v ide nc ed oe s n o t p e rm i t f i r m c o n c lu s i on s , b u t t h e debate appea redt o r e f l e c t maneuvering by Brezhnev and K i r il e nk o t o p r e ve n t

S h e l e p i n from c o n s o l i d a t i n g h i s h o ld o v e r t h e c a d r e s s e c t o r .I n any case, by t he end of t h e c o ng r es s S h e l e p i n w a s t oy i e l d t h e cadres p o r t f o l i o t o K ir il en k o, who had meanwhilebecome a f u l l - f l e d g e d member of t h e S e c r e t a r i a t .

The debate , which revolved around t h e q u e s t i o n o ft h e c o n c e n t r at i o n of f u n c t i o n s w i t h i n t h e c e n t r a l P a r t ya p p ar a tu s , s u g g es t ed i m p o rt a n t d i f f e r e n c e s i n p r i n c i p l ebetween Shelepin a nd K i r i l e n k o o n P a r t y - o r g a n i z a t i o n a l m a t -t e r s , b u t it a l s o t ou ch ed i n d i r e c t l y on a number of import-

a n t i s s u e s a f f e c t i n g t h e p o s i t i o n of o t h e r l e a d e rs . I t

began on t h e second day of t h e c o n g r e s s , 30 March, whenN ovos ib i r s k Pa r ty c h i e f Goryachev r a i s e d t h e s e n s i t i v e q ue s-t i o n of P a r t y - o r g a n i z a t i o n a l work i n t h e c e n t r a l a p p a r a t u s .

Goryachev' s proposa l , which h e i n t r o d u c e d i n t h e c o n t e x tof c r i t i c i s m of young leaders of ob l a s t , c i t y , ,and r a yonPar ty commit tees w h o w e r e " s p e c i a l i s t s o f v a r i o u s br a nc h esof t h e economy but w h o d o n o t have s u f f i c i e n t Marxist-L e n i n i s t e d u c a t i o n , " w a s f o r a r e t u r n t o a S t a l i n i s t

' ( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a ge 3 9 1p o l i t i c a l l i mb o i n D n ep r o pe t r ov s k , w h er e h e h ad s e r v e d un-d e r K i r i l e n k o as s ec on d s e c r e t a r y . Now, h ow ev e r , h e r e ga in 3h i s f or me r p o s i t i o n of Ukra in ian Pre m ie r and t h e P r e s i d i u mrank of a l t e r n a t e m ember w h ic h norm al l y g oe s w i t h t h a t post.



or ga n i z a t i ona l f o r m -- t h e C adre s D ir e c to r a t e .of t he a r rangement which had ex is te d s i nc e 1 9 4 8 , whereby a

c e n t r a l d ep ar tm e nt (o r depar tments ) of Pa r ty o r ga ns coor-d i n a t e d t h e d i v e r s e a s p e c t s o f c a d r e s work w i t h a l l t h eeconomic and o th e r fu nc t i on a l depa r tments of t h e C e n t r a lCommittee con cern ed, Goryachev arg ued t h e need t o " c r e a t ecadres d i r e c t o r a t e s a nd de pa rt me nt s i n l o c a l P a r t y o r ga n sand t h e P a r t y C e n t r a l Committee, c o n c e n t r a t in g i n one p l a c eth e r e c r u i tm e n t , a s signme n t, and t r a i n i ng of cadres . "Such a p r o p o sa l , i f a c ce p te d , m eant i n e f f e c t a r a d i c a ld iminut ion of t h e powers, o r e ven t h e c om ple te e l im ina t i on ,

of th e Ce nt r a l Commit tee' s fu nc t i on a l depa r tments and a

I n p l a ce

con cen tra t io n of enormous power i nthe Cadres Direc to ra te .

t h e p e r s o n c o n t r o l l i n g

-S h e l e p i n was s e n i o r cadres

s e c r e t a r y a t t h e s t a r t of t h econgress , and it t h u s seemsp la us i b l e t h a t Goryachev w a ss pe a king on h i s be ha l f . Th i si n f e r e n c e i s s t r e ng the ne d by t w of a c t s . F i r s t , Goryachev's i m -p l i c a t i o n t h a t th e new di r ec to r -a t e would p lace grea te r emphas i son "Marxist-Leninis t" i n d o c t r i n a -t i o n i n t h e t r a i n i n g of economiccadres appea red i n consonancew i th t h e i d e o l o g i c a l b i a s , Shele -p in had a c qu i r e d du r ing l ongy ea rs i n t h e K o m s o m o l and as a

watchdog over the sec re t p o l i c e . "

SHELEPIN, AN.

* A s o v i e t p r o f e s s 0 a s d e s cr i b ed

She l e p i n , w i t h ohom h:! was pe rso naL Ly a c q u a z n t e d , 'as a cham-p i o n of " f i r m " l e a d e r s h i p an d i d e o Z o gi c a Z c o n t i n u i t y . S h e Ze-

p i n , he s a i d , b e l i e v e d t h a t t h e economy s h o u l d b e s u b j e c t t o( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u e d o n p ag e 4 2 )

-41-

I I I

~-... .....*- . .. ~. . . ~



( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u e d f r o m p ag e 4 1 )s t r i c t P a r t y c o n t r o l and d i r e c t e d b y an e l i t e of i d e o l o g i c -

a l l y r e l i a b l e and h ig h l y t r a i n e d s p e c i a l i s t s , who w ou lde n s ur e among o t h e r t h i n g s t h e p u r i f i c a t i o n a nd r e ne w al of

i d e o l o g y i n o r de r t o "mak e i t t h e p ro gr am of t h e m a s s e sa ga in " a nd t o r e p r e s s m a t e r i a l e g o i sm i n a l l s o c i a l s t r a t aand groups . Th i s program would a i m a t a P a rt y t h a t was t ot h e h i g h e s t d eg re e i d e a l i s t i c , e g a l i t a r i a n , i n fo rm e d, andorg an i z e d . c o n t r a s t e d S h e l e p i n ' s p ro gr am , i n -

c i d e n t a l l y , ' t o i t s opposL t e "ex t reme" i n S o v i e t e c o n o m i c

t h i n k i n g -- K o s y g i n ' s p l a t f o r m of r e l i a n c e o n economic methodss u ch a s m a t e r i a l i n c e n t i v e s and e x p a n s i on o f t h e m a rk etm ec ha ni sm , w i t h a c e r t a i n d e v o l u t i o n o f d e c i s i o n - m a k i n gon t h e e n t e r p r i s e , within a s y s t e m of i n d u s t r i a 2 a g e n c i esf r e e d f r o m P a r ty c o n t r o l . I t s ho u ld b e no t ed t h a t t h ee co no mi c v i e w s w h ic h X i r i l e n k o e x p r e s s e d i n 1 9 6 2 - 6 4 c l o s e l yr e s e mb l e d t h e S he l e p i n p r og ra m.

- 42-

TOP SECRET I I



r ece ived a l ause a t t he t ime

- 4 3 -



'I

say i n d e c i d i n g who among t h e o f f i c i a l s o f lower P a r t ycommit tees should be b e s t q u a l i f i e d f o r r e cr u it m en t andt r a i n i n g . *

Two days a f t e r Kebin ' s speech , d ur in g t h e windup ofd i s c us s i on on B r e z hnev ' s r e po r t , two s pe a ke r s f rom th eRSFSR spoke as i f t h e i s s u e h ad been t i l t e d , b u t t h e o ut -come app aren t ly rema ined undec ided . The spea ke rs , Perm '

P a r t y c h i e f G a l a n s h i n and Kemerovo P a r t y boss Yeshtokin ,

i n t h e Urals

for many years as a ne ighbor t o K ir i l e nko , e xp r e s s e d t h eview t h a t i t would be "exp edient" t o crea te a s t r o n g s y s-t e m f o r i mp ro vin g t h e p r o d u c t io n s k i l l s of m a na ge r i a l c a d r e s .H i s s t a t e m e n t t h u s ch an ge d t h e d i r e c t i o n of t h e d e ba t e awayfrom t h e i d e ol o g i ca l s l a n t of t h e Goryachev proposa l to-ward a more p r a gm a t i c app r oa c h t o t h e t r a i n i ng of economiccad res.* ** On t h e o t h e r h a n d , a f a i l u r e t o reach a consensus

* T he re w er e s e v e r a l h i n t s i n Ke b i n 's r em a rk s on P a r t y -

o r g a n iz a t i on a 2 qu e .s t io n s t h a t h e was a l l i e d w i t h K o sy gi n

and/or Sus o v i n r e j e c t i n g G orya zh ev 's p r o p o s a l .l i n g l y , h e was h i g h l y c r i t i c a l of t h e p a s t " p as s io n f o r

c r e a t i n g v a r io u s c o n t r i v e d a nd o f t e n d u p l i c a t i v e n o n - s t a f fPar ty commiss ions and coun c i Is w i t h o u t c o n s i d e r a t i o n oft h e i r e xp ed ie nc y" - - a f a i r l y c l e a r a l l u s i o n t o t h e ec on om icc o u n c i l s f o r eco no my , t e c h n i c a l p r o g r e s s , e t c . , w h ic h K i r i -

l enk o had promoted and which Kosyg in and Su s lo v proba blyopposed in 1 9 6 4 .

M os t t e 1-

I

Lid L an sn zn , z n c z a e n t a L l y , made r e f e r e n c e t o t h e a b o l i -

t i o n of t h e RSFSR Bu rea u, w h ic h v i r t u a l l y a l l o t h e r s p e a ke r s( f o o t n o t e c o n t in u e d o n pa ge 4 5)

- 4 4 -

I .



on t h e q u e s t i o n w a s r e g i s t e r e d v e ry l a t e d u r i n g t h e d i s c u s -s i o n of B r ez h ne v' s r e p o r t , i n t he remarks of Yeshtokin, whohad served f o r f o u r y e ar s as K i r i l e n k o ' s s e co n d s e c r e t a r yi n S ve rd lo vs k. Y es ht ok in i n d i c a t e d t h a t " s u b j e c t i v i s ta r b i t r a r i n e s s an d c o n t r i v e d fo rm s" s t i l l e x i s t e d i n P a rt y-o r g a n i z a t i o n a l an d i d e o l o g i c a l work , b u t h e f a i l e d t o sug-g e s t a rem edy . I n s t e a d h e s ugge s t e d t h a t t he s e p r ob l e m ss h o u l d be a i r e d on a broad s c a l e w i t h i n t h e P a r t y , " p e r h a p s "e ve n i n a d i s c u s s i o n a t a Central Cormnittee plenum.*

Thus , t h e p r o p o s a l f o r a r ev iva l of t h e Cad resD i r ec t o r at e and o t h e r S t a l i n i s t ,forms of o r g a n i z i n g P a r t y

work d i e d a q u i e t d e a t h a t t h e c o n g re s s , a nd S h e l e p i n , t h epr e s um e d in s p i r e r of t h e i d e a , r e l i n q u i s h e d h i s c o n t r o lo v e r t h e cadres s e c t o r t o K i r i l e n k o .

( f o o t n o t e c o n ti n ue d f r o m page 4 4 1

had ignored . H i 8 r em ar k s u g g e s t e d t h a t h e f a v o r e d g r e a t e rc e n t r a l i a e d P a r t y c o n t r o l t h a n K e bi n w o ul d h a v e a p p r ov e d .

T h u s, G a l an s h in s a i d h e p re su me d t h a t t h e b u r e a u ' s e l i m i n a -t i o n w ou ld l e ad t o a s t r e n g t h e n i n g r a t h e r t h a n a w ea ke ni ngo f t i e s be tw e en t h e c e n t e r and t h e p r o v i n c e s . His p r o p o s a l

f o r a s y s t e m o f m an a ge ri al t r a i n i n g , t h e r e f o r e , p ro ba b Zye n v i s i o n e d a l a r g e r o l e f o r t h e c e n t r a l Pa r t y a p pa r a tu sd e s p i t e i t s a pp a re nt l i n k w i t h K o s y g in ' s e co no mi c r e f o rm

program.

* I n t h e e v e n t , h o we ve r, n o s u c h b ro ad P a rt y d i s c u s s i o n

o r p l en u m h a s b e e n n o t e d .

- 45-



11. KIRILENKO'S CAREER AS DEPUTY GENERAI, SECRETARY

E xa m in at io n o f t h e g e n e r a l l i n e s of a u t h o r i t y i nt h e S e c r e t a r i a t d u r i n g 1966-71 p r o v i d es a framework fo ra n a ly z i ng K i r i l e n k o ' s f u r t h e r career i n g r e a t e r d e t a i l .The a c t i v i t i e s of t h e t o p P ar t y l e a d e r s h i p d u r i n g t h i sp e r i o d i n d i c a t e t h a t e ac h s e n i o r s e c r e t a r y h a s servedroughly on a p a r as a deputy t o t he G ene ra l Secre tary ,

a t l e a s t u n t i l mid-1970, when Kir i le nko ' s s to c k seemedt o r i se . The o v e r - a l l e v i de n c e s u g g e s t s t h a t a ny of themc an d e p u t i z e f u l l y f o r Br ez hn ev d u r i n g t h e P a r ty c h i e f ' s

a b se n ce , a l th o u g h t h e y m o s tl y h av e r e s t r i c t e d t h e i r d e p u t i z -i n g a c t i v i t i e s t o t h e i r own ass ign ed ar ea s of r e s p o n s i -b i l i t y .

The new assig nments wi th in the S e c r e t a r i a t as a

r e s u l t of t h e RSFSR B u r e a u ' s a b o l i t i o n a t t he 23d congresswere p r i m a r i l y t o Brezhnev 's advantage, of c o u r s e , b u tt hey w e r e g r e a t l y t o t h e p o l i t i c a l b e n e f i t o f K i r i le n k oas w e l l . I n a d d it io n t o h i s g ai ni ng f u l l c o n t r o l overt h e cadres s e c t o r , K i r i l e n k o c o n t in u e d t o s u p e r v i s e t h ei m p or t a nt i n d u s t r i a l a nd c o n s t r u c t i o n s e c t o r s of t h eeconomy -- h i s b a i l i w i c k now e xt en de d beyond t h e RSFSRand embraced t h e e n t i r e c ou nt ry -- whi le Brezhnev gaveup whatever formal s e c r e t a r i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y h e may h av e

had i n t h i s s p he r e p r i o r t o t h e congre s s . She l ep i n l o s tn o t o n l y the c a d r e s sec to r b u t a l so h i s c o n t r o l over t h eA d m in i s t f a t i v e Organs Department , which f e l l under Brezh-nev ' s pe r son a l purvi ew . She l ep i n w a s l e f t t o s u pe r vi sethe work of P a r t y o rg an s i n l i g h t i n d u s t r y a nd t h e c on-sumer sector . S u s l o v ' s l o ng - st an d in g f o r m a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y

f o r Communist theory and propaganda remained intact , h i sp o s i t i o n a p p a re n t ly b e i ng t h e on l y ,' one una f f e c t e d by t h e

changes dur ing t h e congress . *

* S u s Zov a p p a r e n t l y t o o k u p t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r l i g h ti n d u s t r y a nd consumer go o ds when SheZepi n Ze f t t h e Se cr e -

t a r i a t i n m id -1 96 7, and K i r i Zenko 's d u t i e s r ema i ned un-change d .

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The l i n e s o f s e c r e t a r i a l a u th o r i t y i n t h e f i e l dof f or ei gn Communist r e la t i o n s w e r e no t c l ea r l y d raw n ,however. Brezhnev as P a r t y boss obvious ly t o o k a d i r e c tp e r s on a l i n t e r e s t i n t h e s e r e l a t i o n s a nd i n vo lv e d him-s e l f i n t h e m o s t impo rtant problems. In t i m e a p a t t e r nseemed t o t a k e shape. Brezhnev appear ed t o have a g r e a t e ri n t e r e s t i n l i a i s o n wi th r u l i n g p a r t i e s and t o be m o r ea c t i v e i n o v e rs e ei ng t h e work o f t h e B l o c Department.K i r i l enko a l s o p l ayed a l a r g e r o l e i n t h i s b us in es s,e s p e c i a l l y o n m a t t e r s p e r t a i n i n g t o economic r e l a t i o nswi th in t h e Counci l f o r Economic !4utual Assi s tan ce (CE5IA).

Meanwhile , Susl ov d e a l t m o s t o f t e n w i t h no n- ru li ng p a r t i e sand s u p e r v i s e d t h e d a i l y work o f t h e C e n t r a l Committee'sIn te rn a t io na l Department . The In te rn a t i on a l Depar tment 'sr ol e , however, goes beyond l i a i s o n w i t h non- ru l i ng Pa r t i e sand encom passes gen e ra l r e sp on s i b i l i t y f o r t he coo rd i na t i onof m os t a spe c t s o f f o re i g n po l i c y , so t h a t S u sl ov h as a ni m port an t s ay i n a l l f o r e i g n q u e s t i o n s .

The none too p r e c i s e ar-rangements among th e Gen era lS e c r e t a r y ' s d e p u t i e s w e r e c l e a r l ym a ni fe s t i n s e v e r a l cases of over-l app ing i n K i r i l en ko ' s and Sus-lov ' s p u b l i c a c t i v i t i e s . D uring1966-70, approximately t w o t h i r d sof K i r i l e n k o ' s s i g n i f i c a n t o f f i -

c i a l co nt ac ts wi th fo re ig n Com-munists ( r ec ei vi ng ambassadors ando f f i c i a l d e le g at io n s i n Moscow,a t te n d in g f o r e i g n e d a s s y r e ce p-t i ons , head i ng Sovie t P a r t y d e l e -ga t i ons ab road, and o t he r a c t i -

v i t i e s n o t i n v ol v in g a n o th e rs e n i o r s e c r e t a r y ) w e r e w i t h i n t h eB loc o f r u l i ng P a r t i e s ; a f u l lt h i r d o f h i s ' c o n t a c t s, t h e r e f o r e ,were wi th non-ru l ing P a r t i e s .S i m i l a r l y , a lmost h a l f of Sus l ov ' s

SUSLOV, M. A.

p u b l i c c o n t a c t s d u r i n q t h e same p e r i o d were wi th Bloc P a r t yo f f i c i a l s . I n f a c t , t h e i r s h a r e of t h e r e s p o n s ib i l i t y i nt r i p s a b r o a d w a s j u s t abou t equa l: Susl ov l ed a CPSU

-48-

1



8

d e l eg a t io n t o F i n la n d i n November 1966 and went (w ithP r e m i e r Kosygin) t o Romania i n Ju ly 1970; K i r i l en ko l e d aP a r t y d e l e g a t i o n t o I t a l y i n J u ly 1 9 6 8 and o f f i c i a l l yr e p r e s e n t e d t h e CPSU a t t h e F r e nc h Pa r ty C ongr es s i n Feb ru -ary 1970.

Some of t h e c ro ss in g over i n r e l a t i o n s w i th f o r e ig nCommunist P a r t i e s may h av e be en d ue t o S u s l o v ' s i n a b i l i t yt o a t t e n d c e r t a i n f u n c ti o n s b ec au se of c h r o n i c ill h e a l t h ,a l t hough he a ppe a r e d t o carry a nor ma l work l oa d u n t i l1970 . A l s o , r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r c e r t a i n p a r t i e s seemedt o r e f l e c t a s p e c i a l c on n ec ti on o r knowledge, such as

has b een e v i d e n t i n t h e case o f K i r i l e n k o ' s c o n t i n u e dd e a l i n g s s i n c e 1 96 5 w i t h the Ch il ea n Communist Par ty .However, i n many if n o t m o s t cases t h e c h o i c e of e i t h e rK i r i l e n k o o r Sus lov as t h e l ea d in g S o v i e t r e p r e s e n t a t i v eappeared t o depend on t h e n a t u r e of t h e b u s in e ss t o be

c on du ct ed i n t h e g i v e n i n s t a n c e , K i r i l e n k o b ei n g i n v o l ve dmost o f t e n i n e co no mic d i s c u s s i o n s ( an d t h e r e f o r e l o g i c a l l ymore o f t e n w i t h t h e E a s t e r n Eu ro pea ns i n t h e CEMA frame-w ork ) a nd Sus lov p l a y ing t h e major ro le i n t h e o r e t i c a lmatters a nd ge ne r a l gu ida nc e.

The a ppa r e n t c on f us ion of s e n i o r se c r e t a r i a l respon-s i b i l i t i e s w a s even gre a t e r i n t h e s p h e r e of P ar ty - or ga n i-z a t i o n a l q u e st i o n s , w here t h e o v e r t a s s o c i a t i o n of any

P o l i t b u r o m e m b e r w i t h p e r s o n n e l p l ac e m en t w a s v e r y ra reand us u a l l y m i s l e a d i ng . Fo r e xa mple , t h e So v i e t p r e s sr e v e a l e d t h a t S u s l o v a l o n e among t h e o t h e r P o l i t b u r omembers w a s p r e s e n t a t t h e J u l y 1967 i n s t a l l a t i o n of She le -p i n as t r ade un ion c h i e f . A c cord ing t o one r e po r t r e a c h -i n g t h e U S Embassy i n MOSCOW, S u s lo v a l s o had a t t e n d e d th e

meeting of t h e Moscow C it y Pa rt y Committee which t w o weekse a r l i e r " d e c i d e d " t o e l e c t t h e t h e n t r ade u n i o n c h i e f ,V i k t o r G r i s h i n , as i t s f i r s t s ec re t a ry i n p l ac e of NikolayYegorychev, t h e "Young Turk" c r i t i c of Brezhnev ' s handl ingof t h e A r a b - I s r a e l i p ro bl em . S u s l o v a l s o p r e s i d e d o v e rt h e i n s t a l l a t i o n o f G r i g o r i y Romanov as P a r t y boss i nL en in gr ad i n p l a c e of t h e t r a n s f e r r e d V a s i l i y T o l s ti k o vi n September 1970 . The reason f o r S u s l o v ' s p u b l i c i n v o l v e -

ment i n the c a d r e s s e c t o r o n t h e s e o c c a s i o n s i s u n c l e a r

- 4 9 --1



b u t seems t o have had a c onne c t i on w i t h the p o w e r p o l i t i c sbehin d t h e moves. I t i s q u i t e l i k e l y t h a t Brezhnev a s s ignedSus lov t h e t a s k of pr e s id ing ove r t h e a bove c ha nge s s o a st o a vo id t o o b l a t a n t a demon s t ra t ion of h i s own pe r son a linvolvement i n a pow er s t r ug g l e a ga i ns t She l e p i n , who w a st h e l o s e r i n each case.

I I I

h a t ev e r t h e i rov w h o s i n c e

1 9 6 6 has had formal j u r i s d i c t i - at1

r k , i nc l ud in q a ppoin tm e n ts .I (I

t , .l.ne=e 1s no c l e a r ev a s imi l a raence orp l a c e f o r S us lo v i n t h e cadres h i e r a r c h y .

A. Sha r ing Power w i th B r e z hne v' s R iva l s

F o r s e v e r a l weeks a f t e r t h e 23d Pa r t y Congress ,K i r i l e n k o w a s pr e oc cup i e d w i t h t he bus ine s s o f m e r ging

the R S F S R B ur e a u s t a f f w i t h t h e union-republ ic componentsof th e Ce nt ra l Committee appa ra tus and w a s , t h e r e f o r e ,n o t y e t i nv ol ve d i n s i g n i f i c a n t a d m i ni s t r a t iv e o r p o l i -t i c a l matters.h i s r e l a t i o n s w i t h Sus lov and She lepin , who had b u i l ts t r o n g f o l l ow i ng s i n t h e a p p a r a t u s , f o r mo st of t h e c h i e f sof former R S F S R depar tments became m e r e l y d e p u t y c h i e f so f t h e c on s o l i da t e d de pa r tm e n t s . The f a c t t h a t t h e r e w a sno wholesa le t akeover by t h e former RSFSR a p p a r a t c h i k s ,

Presumably he dec ided t o t r ea d e a s i l y i n

J



I 1

7

even i n t h e i n d u s t r i a l d e p a r t m e n t s w h i c h w e r e f u l l y u n d e rK i r i l e n k o ' s c o n t r o l i n t h e new se tup , sugges te d somes e l f - r e s t r a i n t . However, VoronovSkiy and Pe tro vic he v o ft h e RSFSR cad re s appa ra t u s w e r e i d e n t i f i e d a f t e r t h e con-g re s s a s depu t i e s t o Kapi tonov i n t h e c o n s o l i d a t e d P a r t y -Or gan iza t io na l Work Department, i nd ic at in g a v i r t u a l t ak e-o ve r i n t h i s sp he re .* N e i th e r w a s i d e n t i f i e d a t f i r s t i nt h e p o s t of f i r s t d ep uty c h i e f o f t h e d e pa rt me nt , b u t t h e yappeared t o ou t rank Aleksey Skvor t sov , th e on ly remain ingdeputy f rom th e former un ion-rep ubl i c depar tment . I n addi -t i on , Mi kha i l K haldeyev t r a ns fe r r ed du r i ng t h e congressf r o m t h e RSFSR Agi tpro p Department (where he had worked

i n t h e b i f u r c a t i o n y e a r s i n K i r il e n ko ' s i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o ra s depa rt m en t ch i e f ) t o t h e pos t o f ed i t o r - i n -ch i e f o ft he i m por t an t C e n t r a l Committee j ou rn al P a r t i na a Zhizn ' .Th is move, alt ho ug h a m a n i f e s t g a i n f o r& n-doubt edl y was a l so qu i t e accep t ab l e t o Sh e l ep i n , who hadra i s ed Khaldeyev t o a po s i t i o n o f p romi nence i n t h e Komsomolorga niza t ion dur ing th e mid-1950s .

*See f o l d o u t opposite p . 56.



4

There w a s ev i dence of s i g n i f i c a n t m an eu ve rin g int h e S e c r e t a r i a t t h r ou g h o u t t h e s e c on d h a l f of 1 9 6 6 , m os t l y

-5 2-



betwe en B re zhnev a nd She l e p in bu t a l s o i nvo lv in g K i r i l e nko .The con f i rma t ion , probably i n ea r ly August , o f Voronovskiyas f i r s t de pu ty c h i ef of th e Pa r ty-Organiza t io na l WorkDepar tment c le a r ly marked a g a i n f o r Kir i lenko . Then i nSeptember, Nikolay Shchelokov, whose main t i e s w e r e t oBrezhnev but who also ha d be e n a s s oc i a t e d t o some de gr e ew i th K i r i l e nko a nd Podgornyy i n t h e U kr a ini a n Pa r ty o r -ga n i z a t i on , be c a m e c h i e f of t h e uni fo rm ed p o l i c e ( m i l i t i a ,now known as MVD) which had been headed by a S h e l e p i na l l y , Vadim Tikunov.* A t t h e same t i m e , Shelepin seemedt o b e n e f i t most among t h e se n io r s e c re t a r i e s from theSeptember appointment of B o r i s Moralev to t h e va ca nc y o fdeputy ch ie f of t h e Pa r t y-Or gani za t io na l Work Depar tmentwhich Voronovskiy ' s promotion c rea te d . Jockeying by Sus lo vw a s c l e a r l y d e mo n st ra te d i n November when Mikhail Solomentsevl e f t Rostov t o become chief of t h e C e n t r a l Committee Depart-ment of Heavy Industry -- an appoin tment which l e d t oh i s j o i n i n g t h e S e c r e t a r i a t t h e next month. Aga ins t t h ebackground of K i r i e n k o ' s a p p a r e n t o p p o s i t i o n t o Solomentsev(see pp. 36-37 and 3 9 ) , h i s a pp o in tm en t, t o g e t h e r w i t hM o r al e v' s, c r e a t e d t h e i m p re s si o n t h a t B r ez h ne v 's r i v a l sh ad t h e i n t e n t and a b i l i t y t o c i rcumscr ibe th e power of t h ec a d r e s s e c r e t a r y .

I n view o f t h e s e i n d i c a t i o n s of s h a rp e n in g c o n f l i c ti n t h e l e a d e rs h ip , it i s p er ha ps n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t K i r i -

l en k o to o k t h e o p p o r t u n i t y d u r i n g a p u b l i c s pe e ch i n December

1966 t o de m o n st r at e h i s l o y a l t y t o B rezh nev . S p ea ki ng i nNovoross iysk on a commemorative occasion, Kir i lenko r e c a l l e dBrezhnev ' s w a r t i m e service i n a manner which exceeded thebounds of c o l l e g i a l i t y : r e f e r r i n g t o B rez hn ev 's p o l i t i c a lwork w i th t he 18 th A r m y i n No v or os si ys k, K i r i l e n k o c i t e dt h e " i n d e f a t i g a b l e a c t i v i t y o f L eonid 11' ch Brezhnev,h i s p e r s o n a l b r a ve r y a n d s t e a d f a s t n e s s , and h i s p r of o un d

i d e o l o g i c a l c o n v i c t i o n , w h ic h se r v e d as mode ls of Pa r tys p i r i t a nd m i l i t a r y va lo r . " Such f ul som e p r a i s e , wh ic h

* K i r i l e n k o was caught i n t h e m i d d le h e r e , h a v in g w o r k eds e v er a Z y e a r s h i m se Z f w i t h T i k u n o v .

-53-

I



w a s r e m i n i s c e nt o f t h e p u b l i c a d u l a t i o n of Khrushchev i nt h e e a r l y 1960s ( a nd K i r i l e n k o w a s among t h e most v o c a lp u b l i c s u p p o r t e r s of t h e P a r t y boss t hen as w e l l ) , mayhave been i n t en ded t o r emi nd B rezhnev t h a t he had cau set o p r o t e c t K i r i l e n k o an d t o g i v e him p r e f e r e n c e o v e r S us -l o v a n d S h e l e p i n as a more r e l i a b l e deputy.

The f o l lo w i ng s p r i n g t h e r e w e r e s i g n s o f i n c r e a s e da c t i v i t y o n K ir i l e n k o 's p a r t t h a t r e s i s t e r e d B re zh ne v' s

rl II \I

I

e d l y n o t p l a y i ng t h e d e c i s i v e r o l e , m u st h av e be en i n v o l v e di n Brezhnev ' s swinging th e appoin tment of Marshal Grechkoas M i n i s t e r o f D ef en se , a l s o i n A p r i l , a g a i n s t e v i d e n toppos i t i on f rom some q u a r t e r s . C l e a r l y , h e a nd o t h e r l e ad -ers of t h e "U kra ini an group'' had g r e a t e r i n f l u e n c e o v e r

Ki r i l e nko , a l though undoubt -

- 5 4 -d



OCI66 DJC 67 - Jan 68 No v 68 P re s e n t



C

Oec 64Nav 62

COMMISSION ON PARTY-

ORGANIZATIONAL OUESTIONS

Chief: V. N. Ti tov -

PARTY ORGANS DEPARTMENT

FOR UNION REPUBLICS

Chief: V. N. Titov-1st Deputy: P. F. Pigalev-eputy: N.A Belukha (to Latvian 2nd Secretary)

(Deputy): 1 Ye. Ryazanov

(Deputy): A. G. Skvortsov

PARTY ORGANS DEPARTMENT

FOR RSFSR

C h i e t M. A Polekhin

Deputy: N. A. Voronovskiy

Deputy: N. A. Petrovichev

PARTY. ORGANS FOR

RSFSR INDUSTRY 1hief: N.A. Voronovskiy

Depu ty: Ye.'K. Ligache v

I--PARTY ORGANS DEPARTMENTFOR RS FSR AGRICULTURE

C h i e t M. A. Polekhin

Deputy: N. A. Petrovichev

PARTY ORGANS DEPARTMEN

FOR RSFSR

Chief: 1 V. Kapitonov-Deputy: M. A. Polekhin-Deputy: N. A. Voronovskiy

0 entral Cadres Sta ff

0 sFSR Cadres Staff

0 entral Caldres Staf f . incorporating

RsFSR Cadres Staff in April 66



Ap r 6 5 De c 65 Ap r 66 Oct 66 Cac 6 7

PARTY ORGANIZATIONAL WORK

DEPARTMENT

Chick 1 V. Kapitonov

1s t Deputy: N. A. Voronovskiy

Deputy: N. A. PetrovichevDeputy: A. G. Skvortsov

(Deputy): 6. . Moralev



w a s i d e n t i f i e d i n December 1967 as a deputy chief of the

depar tmen t. Poss ib ly Ki r i l enk o in t ended h im as a r e p l a c e -m ent f o r Vo ro no vs ki y, who v a c a t e d t h e p o s t o f f i r s t d ep u tychief and became Party f i r s t s e c r e t a r y i n Chuvash O b l a s ta t a bout t h a t t i m e . The person who eve nt ua ll y was ide n-t i f i e d i n Ju ne 1968 as Voronovskiy 's successor , however ,was h i s c l o s e a s s o c i a t e from the RSFSR cadres a p p a r a t u s ,Pet rovich ev, whose exp erie nce was broader than Razumov'sand whose con tac t s ex tended beyond Ki r i l enk o t o inc l ude ,i n pa r t i c u la r , Voronov and Demichev as w e l l a s S h e l ep i n .I f , th er ef or e , Ki r i l en ko had p lanned on making RazumovKapi tonov 's f i r s t d e p u ty , t h e o p p o s i t i o n t o s u c h a move

was s u f f i c i e n t t o pr e v e nt h i s d oi ng so d e s p i t e h i s un-q u e s ti o n ed a u t h o r i t y i n t h e c a d r e s s e c t o r . I n any case ,the n e t g a i n w a s i n Ki r i l e n ko ' s f a vo r .

Meanwhile, i n February 1968, Kir i le nk o ' s hand w a sa g a i n v i s i b l e i n t h e a p p ea ran c e of a n o t h e r new d e p ut ych ie f o f Kap i tonov ' s depar tmen t i n th e pe rson o f Pave1Anisimov. Ri sin g from t h e ranks of the Leningrad Partyo rga n iza t ion , Anis imov had es t a b l i s he d pu b l i c t i e s w i t hKi r i l enko exc lus ive ly among the t op l eade r sh i p s i n c e 1962.H e apparen t ly r ep la ced t h e one ho ldover f rom th e un ion-r e p u b l i c d e pa r tm e n t of t h e Podgornyy-Shelepin e ra , AlekseySkvortsov, who r e t i r e d i n t h e same month. I n a d d i t i o n ,i n t h e w a k e of Petrovichev's move upward, Nikolay Perunwas r e l e a s e d from h i s p o s t o f s e c r e t a r y of the DonetskP a r t y o r g a n i z a t i o n i n t h e U kr ai ne to become deputy chiefof t h e department. Although Perun app ear s m o s t . beholdent o U kra in i an P a r t y c h i e f S h e l e st, b i o g ra p h i c i n fo rm a t i o non h i m i s t o o t h i n t o a l l ow a f i r m judgment on h i s p o l i -t i c a l c o n n ec t io n s w i t h i n t h e " U kr a in i an g ro up . " H e c o u l d ,for example , be a l l i e d w ith S h e l e st ' s r i v a l , Ukra in ian

P r e m i e r S h c h e rb i s k i y , whose in f lu enc e appears t o havei n c r e a s e d s i n c e 1 9 6 6 -- t h e same y e a r t h a t Perun emergedfrom a l o n g p e r i o d of p o l i t i c a l o b l iv i on t o t a ke up h i sd u t i e s i n Donetsk.

K i r i l e n k o ' s i n c re a s e d pow er a nd a u t h o r i t y i n t h e

S e c r e t a r i a t w a s r e f l e c t e d a l s o i n h e ig ht en ed p u b l i c promin-ence, g i vi n g r i s e t o s p e cu la t i o n i n some quar t e rs that h e

-59-T I I I



had " r e p l a c e d" Sus lov as the ' "number two man'' i n t h e Pa r ty .For example, Ki r i le nk o r a t h e r tha n Suslo.: accompaniedBrezhnev and o t h e r s t o D resd en i n l a t e March f o r a m e e t ingof P ar ty and Government le ad er s f rom t h e Eas te rn Europeanc o u n t r i e s , where p o l i t i c p l u ph ea va l i n C ze ch os lo va ki a wast h e main s u b j e c t o f d i s c u s s i o n . * A few days l a t e r K i r i l e n k owas named chairman of a commission fo r t h e f u n e r a l o f Sov ie tcosmonaut Gagarin -- the same f u n c t i o n S u s l o v had perfofmedt h e p r e c e d in g y e a r on t h e d e a th of cos monau t Komarov. Thes p e c u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e d i n J u n e , when R i r i l e n k o a n d U st i n o vh e l d a r e c e p t i o n f o r p a r t i c i p a n t s i n a C e n t r a l C o m m i t t e econfe rence of o f f i c i a l s i n v o l v ed i n the work of " ad min is t ra-

t i v e " ( s e c u r i t y - r e l a t e d ) or g an s : S u s lo v had had an ana logousrole w i t h r e g ar d t o a s i m i l a r c o n fe r en c e i n A p r i l 1967.

While it seems im proba bl e t h a t K i r i l e nko ha d assumed

a forma l ly des igna ted "number t w o " p o s i t i o n a t t h i s t i m e ,h e d i d become m ore a c t i v e i n t h e f i e l d of i n t e r n a t i o n a lCommunist r e l a t i o n s , i n which Su slov a lways had been promin-e n t . K i r i l e n k o a p pe a re d t o b e e s p e c i a l l y ac t ive d u r i n g1967-69 i n p u sh in g f o r t h e e a r l y c o nv en in g o f t h e I n t e r -n a t i o n a l Communist Conference , w h i c h w a s f r o m t h e s t a r t

a p e t p r o j e c t o f B rez hn ev , as w e l l as of Sus lov . Repor t sof h i s t a l k s w i t h f o r e i g n C ommunists i n t h i s p e r i o d p r e -s e n t e d a p i c t u r e of K i r i l e n k o ' s i n s i s t i n g on h o l d i ng thec on fe re nc e i n o r d e r t o " res to re un i ty" a nd on r e c ogn i z ing

the l e ad i n g r o l e of t h e S o v i e t P a r t y so as t o p r e v e n t f ur -t h erf r a gm e n ta t i on of t h e Communist "movement". K i r i l e n k o re-por ted ly compla ined t h a t p o s i t i o n s of "non-alignment"-- h e w a s e s p e c i a l l y u p s e t over t h e Romanian p o s i t i o n --made progress toward the c o n fe r en c e d i f f i c u l t . A lt ho ug hh i s a t t i t u d e i n t a l k s wi th fo re ig n Communists w a s one ofsweet reasonableness, K i r i l e n k o r e p u t e d l y was among t h e

*However, K i r i e n k o ' s p r e s e n c e m i g h t be exp Zained asrelating t o ec on om ic q u e s t i o n s , a s t h e i n c l u s i o n of G o s p ZanChairman N i k o lay Baybakov i n t h e S o v i e t de Zeg a t i o n s u g -

ges ts.

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II II I

-.. . .



4

Leff o Right (front row onh): D.S. Polyanskiy,A. P. irilenko,L. 1. Brezhnev, A. N. Kosygin,N.V. Podgornyy

Left to Right: A: N. Kosygin, A. P.Kirilenko,

Funeral Procession for Cosmonaut Yu. Gagarin, March 1968

L. 1. Brezhnev, N. V.Podgornyy .



most dogmat ic advoca te s of a m i l i t a r y s o l u t i o n t o t h e grow-ing problem of C z ec hos lovak de m oc r a t i z a t i on i n 1968. Sus lov ,on t h e o t h e r hand, w a s w i d e l y r e p o r t e d t o have been i n t h e

m i n o r i t y whic h urged a p o l i t i c a l s o l u t i o n t o the Czechoslovakhe r e s y ; i f s o , i t w a s p o s s i b l y b e c au s e h e p l a c e d a h i g h e rp r i o r i t y t ha n B r ez hne v a nd K i r i l e n ko on c onven ing t h e o f t e np o st p on ed i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o n f e r en c e ac c o r d in g t o s c he d u le i nNovember 1 9 6 8 . I n any case , r e p o r t i n g c o n s i s t e n t l y p l acedKirilenko among t h o s e l e a d e r s whose p r e s s u r e f i n a l l y b r o u g h tBrezhnev around t o t h e d e c i s i o n t o go ahead i n A ug us t w i t ht h e i n t e r v e n t i o n i n C z ec ho sl ov ak ia .

KATUSHEV,K.F.

K i r i l e n k o ' s g r e a t e r i nv o lv e me n ti n f o r e i g n C ommunist r e l a t i o n s n a t u r a l l yi n t e n s i f i e d h i s r i v a l r y w i t h Sus lov .I n d i c a t i o n s of t h i s compe t i t ion ap-p e ar e d i n t h e appoin tment of P a r t yo f f i c i a l s t o work w i t h the Bloc Depart-ment. The m o s t im por t a n t of t he s ew a s ' t h e une xpe c te d p r om otion i n A pr i l1968 of K ons t a n t i n K atushe v, p r e v io us lyP a r t y boss i n G o r k' iy an d a p r o f e s s i o n a l

, a u t o d e s i g n e r w i t h almost no e xpe r i -e nc e i n f o r e i g n a f f a i r s , t o t h e cen-t r a l S e c r e t a r i a t w i t h the pr imaryr e s p o n s i b i l i t y of s u p e r v i s i n g t h eB l o c Department. T h i s advancementof a n o f f i c i a l who had r i s e n t h r o u g hth e r a n k s i n Go r' ki y u nd er K i r i l e n k o ' saegis and who had received p e r s o n a la t t e n t i o n from Brezhnev s ince 1965had a l l t h e a p p ea r an c es of a powerp l a y t o p r e v e n t the ass ignment of

t h e S e c r e t a r i a t p o s t t o Ko nsta nt i n Rusakov, an as soc i a t e ofKosygin and Suslov whose p u b l i c i d e n t i f i c a t i o n as c h i e f oft h e B loc De pa rtme nt j u s t t w o we e ks e a r l i e r had sugges ted t h a t

he w ould e n t e r t h e S e c r e t a r i a t . *

*Rusakou s p r e d e c e s s o r i n t h e d e p a r t m e n t, A nd ro po u, h adcombined the j o b s o f depar tment ch ie f and member o f t h eS e c r e t a r i a t .

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F u r t h e r p o s s i b l e i n d i c a t i o n s o f S u s l o v ' s d i s p l e a s u r ewi t h th e Kir ilenko-Brezhnev push i n B l o c l i a i s o n matterso c cu r re d a f t e r t h e i n t e r v e n t i o n i n C ze ch os lo va ki a, d u r in gt he pe r i od o f " no rm a l i za t ion" and renew ed p re pa r a t i o n f o rth e I nt er na t i on a l Communist Conference (now sch edu led f o rmid-1969). One s i g n of s n i p i n g w a s a 1 9 December Pravdai d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f Ka tu sh ev as a s e c r e t a r y " a t t a c h e d t o "( " p r i " ) t h e C e n t r al C o m m i t t e e , a highly unusua l fo rmula t ionwhich implied a lower s t a t u s t h an t h e f u ll - f l e d g e d andp r o p er " s e c r e t a r y of t h e C e n t r a l Committee." Then, i n Apr i l1 9 6 9 , a mix-up i n i d e n t i f y i n g t h e S o v ie t p a r t i c i p a n t s i n aCEMA summit con fe rence , i n i t i a l l y om i t t i ng K i r i l en ko ' s name

and t h e n m i s r ep r e s en t i ng h i s s t a t u s o n t h e d e l e g a t i o n , ap-peared t o r e f l e c t an a t t em pt t o downsrade h i s r o l e i n it.*

Lett to Right: K. V. Rusakov, K.F. Katushev, A. P. Kirilenko, A. N. Kosygin, and L.1.Brezhnev

International Communist Conference, June1969

*On 2 1 A p r i l an o f f i c i a l a n n ou n ce m en t , b as e d on a C e n t r a lCommi ttee and government de c i s i on , l i s t e d o n l y Brezhnev ,Kosygin, and Katushev among the t o p l e a d e r s on t h e d e l e g a t i o n .

( f o o t n o t e c o n t i n u e d on pa ge 6 4 )

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C. O ut l i n in g t h e F ive-Y ea r Plan***

I n July 1 9 6 9 , w i t h the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Communist Con-f e r e n c e o u t of t h e way, K i r i l e n k o tu r n e d h i s main a t t e n t i o n

( f o o t n o t e c o nt i nu e d f r o m page 63)

A T A S S b u l l e t i n , r e p o r t i n g on t h e o p en i ng s e s s i o n o n 2 3

A p r i E , r e v e a le d t h a t K i r i e n ko was " a l s o p r e s e n t " w i t h t h ede l e g a t i o n . F i n a l l y , o n 29 A p r i I , t h e ce n t ra l p r e s s l i s t e dK i r i l e n k o a 6 a f u Z l - f l e d g e d m e m b e r of t h e d e Z e g a t i o n .

*See p p . 56-57 of C A E S A R XXXIX.

m'

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away from r e l a t i o n s w i t h f o r e i g n C ommunist p a r t i e s and begant o work i n t e n s i v e l y o n t h e 1971-75 na t iona l -economic p lan .As s e n i o r s e c r e t a r y r e s p o ns i b le f o r i n d u s t r i a l p r od u c ti o n,K i r i l e nko obv ious ly ha s a d i r e c t i n t e r e s t i n ’ ong-termpla ns . I t i s ev en p o s s i b l e t h a t h e has th e forma l r e spon-s i b i l i t y f o r o ve rs ee in g t h e work of t h e Centra l Commit teeDepar tment of Planning and Finance Organs , a l though theevidence is too s p a r s e t o al low a f i r m judgment on t h i s .

-



.. . .





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1 t1

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I I I



r

L



-

-71-



I Ir e a t e d a major pr ob l em i n d r aw ing up t h e p l a n w a s w he the r

t o a d o pt p r o d u c t i o n a s s o c i a t i o n s as t h e b a s i c e co no mic u n i ta nd , i f so, how a ne tw ork o f a s s oc i a t i on s w ou ld f i , t i n t ot h e m i n i s t e r i a l s t r u c t u r e . The December plenum apparent lya ddr e s s e d i t s e l f t o t h i s p ro bl em , f o r a Ce nt ra l Commit teedecree o n a s s o c i a t i o n s ( s t i l l unpubl i shed) w a s a d o pt e d i nFebrua ry , and a c onf e r e nc e w a s h e l d e s p e c i a l l y t o - d i s c u s st h e f u t u r e of t h e m . *

Whatever t h e r e a s on , K i r i l e n ko ' s p l a n c om miss ionseems t o h av e p r e s e n t e d i t s f i n a l re comm enda ti ons t a r d i l y

* F o r Kiri e n k o' s a t t i t u d e s on a s s o c i a t i o n s , s e e p p . 2 8 - 3 0 .

The a s s o c i a t i o n s w e r e t o f e a t u r e p r o mi n e nt l y i n t h e pu b Ei sh e dd i r e c t i v e s of t h e 5 - y e a r p l a n -- s ee a hea d p . 8 4 .

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i n F e br u ar y 1970 -- t h a t i s , somewhat exceeding i t s Januaryd e ad l in e .* I n f a c t , some of the delay m a y have been due

s. /I1

I I 'I 'I I

IThere w e r e s i gn s i n A p ri l t h a t a d e t a i l e d o u t l i n e

of th e 5-year pla n, presumably based on the commission 'srecommendations, was ne ar complet ion i n d r a f t form. K i r i -

l enko r evea l ed i n a mid-Apri l speech i n Yerevan- t h a t Gosplan

had been working on such a d r a f t w i t h other government minis-t r i e s and depar tment s and wi th rep ubl i c governments and th a tit would be debated " soon" i n t h e Po l i t bu ro and t h e gove rn -

u n c i 1 of M i n i s t e r s ) . I I

nThe Reversal on Aaricul ture

A t t h e same t i m e , d e c i s i o n s on the a g r i c u l t u r a l sec-

t o r w e r e i n th e of f in g which apparen t ly would r eq ui re modi-f i c a t i o n o f some o f K i r i l e n k o ' s w ork on p l a n p r i o r i t i e s .The day be fore Ki r i l e nko gave h i s speech i n Yerevan , Brezhnevhad spoken i n Khar 'kov i n some d e t a i l on econcmic quest ions.

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S a y i n g t h a t t h e December plenum had a l so d i s c u s s e d a g r i -c u l t u r a l p r ob l em s , B re zhne v ha d im p l i e d t h a t inve s tm e n t i nt h i s s e c t o r would be i n c r e a s e d o n l y g r a d u a l l y .s t a t e m e n t s f r om the P a r t y boss on 21 A p r i l s ugge s t e d t h a to t h e r p e r e n i a l l y n e g l ec t ed areas of t h e economy, s uc h asconsumer-goods pr od uc t i on and hou sing , might a l s o be s l i g h t e di n t h e n e x t 5 -y ea r p l an . I n b o t h cases, h e s t r e s s e d t h a tthe necessary development of these s e c t o r s would t a k e t i m e ,i m pl yi ng t h a t r e s o u r c e s were needed more urg ent ly e l sewhere .

head, however. T h e a p p a r e n t v e h i c l e f o r t h i s t u r n a b o u t

w a s th e memorandum "On t h e A gr ic u l tu ra l S i t ua t i on , I whichBrezhnev presented for the P o l i t b u r o ' s a t t e n t i o n an d ap-p r o v a l o n 2 1 May 1970.* The main l i n e s of Brezhnev's memowere made p u b l i c o n l y on 2 J u ly i n h i s r e p o r t t o a C e n t r a lCommittee plenum, but i t s impac t on the new 5-year plan w a simmediate. A t t h e end of May, Bre zhn ev spo ke t o a s e s s i o nof t h e U S SR C ounc i l o f Min i s t e r s , which had heard Kosyginr e p o r t on t h e b a s i c d i r e c t i o n s of t h e national economy f o r1971-75. According to t h e p r e s s a c c o un t , t h e c o u n c i l i n -s t r u c t e d Gosplan t o do " a d d i t i o n a l work" i n f in d in g re -s o u r c e s -- a b l a t a n t s u g g es t i on t h a t B rez hn ev 's i n t r u s i o ni n t h i s government a f f a i r s i g n i f i e d a r e j e c t i o n o f G o s pl a n 'sd r a f t p l a n , an d, i m p l i c i t l y , of Kir i lenko 's g u i d e l i n e s .Brezhnev immedia te ly rep ea t ed h i s pe r formance a t a s e s s i o n

of t h e RSFSR Counc i l of M i n i s t e r s o n 1 June.** Brezhnev

S i m i l a r

Brezhnev soon w a s t o t u r n t h es e s ta tements on t h e i r

**The p r e s s a c co u n t, w h ic h i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e 1971-75

p l a n for t h e R S F S R was d i s c u s s e d , f a i Z e d t o l i s t R S F S R

Premier Voronov or a n y o n e e Z s e a s h a v i n g g i v e n a r e p o r t .The in f e re n c e f rom B re zhn e v ' 8 u n p re c ed e n te d f o r a y s i nth e s e tw o gov e rn m e nt bo d i e s -- w i t h w h i c h , t e c h n i c a l l y ,h e h a s n o a s s o c i a t i o n -- i s t h a t t h e change8 i n p r o j e c t e di n v e s t m e n t w h i c h h i s ag r i cu ZturaZ memorandum ne c e s s i t a t e d

u e r e 8 0 e x t e n s i v e a s to u p s e t t h e c ar ef uZ Zy w e ig h ed p r i o r -i t i e s of t h e d r a f t pZan and t o r e q u i r e a p p r o p r i a t e e x p l a n a -t i o n and j u s t i f i c a t i o n .

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h in te d a t t he s h i f t i n pr o j ec te d inv es tm ent p r i o r i t i e s i nh i s 1 2 J un e s pe ec h t o h i s Moscow e l e c t i o n ' d i s t r i c t , s ay in gnow t h a t t i m e w a s t h e m ain f a c t o r i n d e ve l op i ng a g r i c u l t u r e .H e opted Tor a " c o n s i d e r a b l e a c c e l e r a t i o n " o f t h e pro gr amo f m a t e r i a l a s s i s t a n c e t o a g r i c u l t u r e , r a t h e r t h a n a ll o w in git t o d ra g on f o r 25 y e a r s , which s ug g e s te d t h a t c e r t a i n"comrades" had such a t i m e t a b l e i n mind .

Brezhnev used s imi la r language i n j u s t i f y in g t h eprogram of increased investment i n a g r i c u l t u r e , i n c l u d i n gi n machirfe bu i l d in g f o r a g r i c u l t u r e , w hich he f i n a l l y un-v e i le d i n h i s 2 J u l y r e p o r t t o t h e C e n t r a l Committee.

he seemed t o imply the existence o f o p p o s i t i o n bv admit t ingt h a t "O f c our s e , a c e r t a i n p e r i o d of t i m e is needed t or es o lv e f u l l y t h e t a s k of t e c h n i c a l l y r e e q u i p p i n g a g r i c u l -t u r e . " H e went on t o a rgue , however , th e need t o e n s u r et h a t t h i s p e r i o d n o t be pr olonge d. I n l i n e w i t h t h i s ,B r e z bne v i nd i c a t e d t ha t "as a r u l e " a l l branches of indus-t r y would be r e q u i r e d t o a y s i s t t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c to rw i t h pro duc tio n of machinery and equipment; n o t a s i n g l ep l an t , s a i i! Brezhnev, should remain ou ts id e " t h i s g r e a tand noble cause." H e named a number of d e f e n s e - r e l a t e dm in i s t r i e s w h ic h had s u p p l i e d es t im a tes of w h a t each couldc o n t r i b u t e w i thqu t r e duc ing i t s bas ic o u t p u t . I n e f f e c t ,

Brezhnev seemed t o b e s ay i n g t h a t f o r the immedia te f u t u r e-- t h a t is, for 1971-75 -- i n d u s t r i a l g ro wt h s h o u l d re ma in

r oughly a t i t s p r e s e n t r a t e , whi le excess c a p i t a l s ho ul dbe use d f o r m a nuf ac tu r ing a g r i c u l t u r a l e quipm en t.

Ho w d r a s t i c a l l y t h e d ec i s io n s on a g r i c u l t u r a l d e-velopment may have a f f ec te d Ki r i l e nk o ' s o r i g in a l propo sa l son e c onom ic p r i o r i t i e s a nd t h e t i m e t a b l e f o r a ppr ova l of

t h e 1971-75 p la n ou t l in e i s unclear.repor t , Gosplan o f f i c i a l s i n mid-Apr il had expec ted t o be

busy t h ro ug h J u n e p u t t i n g t h e d r a f t p l a n d i r e c t i v e s i n o r d e r ,one o f f i c i a l e ven d e c l a r i n g it e s s e n t i a l t h a t it be r e a dyi n July . However, i n June S o v ie t o f f i c i a l s ' a c t i v i t y andremarks i n d i c a t e d t h e i r r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t t h e plan would bed el ay ed , p o s s i b l y u n t i l as l a t e as the end of t h e ye a r .( I n f a c t , p r e p a r a t i o n of t h e p l a n d i r e c t i v e s would take

u n t i l Feb ruar y 1971. ) Th e f a i l u r e of t h e 2-3 J u l y C e n t r a l

Again,

According t o one



Committee plenum t o s c h e d u l e t h e 24th Pa r ty Congress , whichw ou ld be r e q u i r e d i n t e r a l i a t o a pp r ove f o r m a l ly t he 5 - yea rp l a n d i r e c t i v e s , a - e x n t u a l d e c is i o n t o d el ay t h econgre ss u n t i l March 1971, which was announced a t a n o t h e rplenum convened unexp ectedly s ev er a l days l a t e r , r e i n f o r c e dt he se i n d i c a t i o n s o f d i s a r r a y and c o n fu s io n i n p la n ni n g.I n l a t e r e x p l a i n i n g t h e d el ay i n f i n i s h i n g t h e d r a f t i n gof t h e p l a n , a Gosplan deputy chairman told a Western of-f i c i a l t h a t t h e d r a f t p l a n h ad be en rejected a n d r e t u r n e dt o t h e p l an n er s -- t o be reworked "from A t o Z " -- i n A p r i l(presumably a f t e r B r e z hne v ' s s pe e c he s i n t h e U kr a ine ) . I n

s u m , it would appear t h a t t h e s h i f t i n p r o j e c t e d a gr ic u l-

t u r a l p r i o r i t i e s which Brezhnev revealed a t t h e e a r l y Julyplenum w a s a s o u r ce o f d e l ay i n t h e c o m pl et io n of t h e d r a f tp l a n o u t l i n e a nd i n t h e c o n vo ca ti on of t h e c ongr e s s .

Th ese changes i n t h e d r a f t p l a n i n a ny case seemedt o imply a p a r t i a l r e j e c t i o n of K i r i l e n k o ' s e a r l i e r formula-t i o n s o n i n d u s t r i a l g o al s . A t t h e same t i m e , K i r i l e n k opresumably would have a g r e e d t o a program of mass ive in-ve s tme n t i n mac hine bu i l d in g for a g r i c u l t u r e , s u c h as Brezh-

n ev i n d i c a t e d i n h i s J u ly p l e num r e por t was planned . 1

Brezhnev s t r e s s e d , f o r e xa m ple, t h e i m p e r a t i v e ne ed t o c r e a t e

" w i t h i n a s h o r t t i m e " a branch of m a c h i n e b u i l d i n g f o r t h ep r o d u c t i o n of equipment f o r t h e d a i r y an d f o d d e r i n d u s t r i e s ,as w e l l a s t o d ev el op m ach in e b u i l d i n g f o r l a n d m e l i o r a t i o nand a g r i c u l t u r a l t r a n s p o r t . B rezh nev a rg u ed t h a t " n a t u r a l l y ,a c e r t a i n t i m e i s needed t o do a l l t h i s work, b u t t h e c ou n tr y-s i d e needs machinery now." Although Po ly an sk iy would no to pp ose i n ve s tm e n t i n a g r i c u l t u r a l m ac hi ne -b u il di ng i n p r i n -c i p l e , h e mi gh t f e e l , a s h e d i d i n 1969 , t h a t t h e money

'

-

*S e e p . 28 of CAESAR XXXIX.

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c o u l d be p u t t o b e t t e r u s e toward o t he r p r ogr am s f o r a g r i -c u l t u r e , g i v e n t h e a c t u a l l ow l ev e l of a gr on om ic s i n t h ec oun t r ys ide . Thus B rez hn ev a p p e ar e d t o r e c o g n i z e K i r i l e n k o ' sview on t h e immediate c ha nne l i ng of a g r i c u l t u r a l fu nd s i n t oa machine base. A t t h e same t i m e , B r e z h ne v ' s r e p o r t r e co g -n i z e d t h e j u s t i f i c a t i o n of c on t inue d h igh r a t e s of i nve s tm e n ti n t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r and r e ve a le d a c o n s e n su s , i np a r t i c u l a r , on t h e "expediency" of i n c r e a s i n g mate r i a l i n -c e n t i v e s i n t h e d a i r y i n d u s t r y -- a n a ppa r e n t bow t o t h ePolyanskiy view.

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-- I/

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y served as t h e b a s i sr0b-lC o m m i t t e e and Council of Minis-

t e r s on improving the use of t echnology i n a g r i c u l t u r e ,a g i s t of which a pp ea re d i n t h e 7 Augus t i s sue of Sovet skayaRossi a -- the newspaper most c l o s e l y associa ted w i t h K i r i -d he d e c r e e l i s t e d a number of m i n i s t r i e s s l a t e d t oa s s i s t i n t h e produc t i on of machiriery and equipment for t h ea g r i c u l t u r a l s e c t o r i n t h e for thcoming 5-year peri pd.Notably, however, t h e l i s t d i d n o t i n c lu d e s e v e r a l which



Brezhnev had named a t t h e Ju ly p lenum as p o t e n t i a l p a r t i -c i p a n t s i n t h e v o l u n t a r y program: t h e m i n i s k r i e s ofa v i a t i o n , m a c h in e -b u il d in g i n d u s t r y , s h i p b u i l d i n g , a ndd e f e n s e i n d u s t r y .

On t h e day of t h e decree 's p u b l i c a t i o n , K i r i l e n k oand Kulakov conducted a c o nf e re n ce i n t h e C e n t r a l Committeew i t h o f f i c i a l s of t h e M in is t r y of Tractor an d A g r i c u l t u r a lMachine Bui ld ing , ev id en t ly t o a s s i g n them t a s k s i n carry-i n g o u t t h e decree. They conducted a s im i l a r meet ing amonth l a t e r , on 7 September, on t h e manufac ture o f harves ters

and s p a r e p a r t s , w i t h o f f i c i a l s of t h e same m i n i s t ry . T hus ,

K i r il e n ko p u b l i c l y i d e n t i f i e d h i ms el f w i t h a t l e a s t a p a r tof t h e program f o r t e c h n i c a l a s s i s t an c e t o a g r i c u l t u r ewhich Brezhnev presen ted a t t h e July Central Commit tee plenum.

D. Toward t h e 2 4 t h Par ty Congress

The d e c i s i o n t o co nve ne t h e c o ng r es s i n March 1971,which w a s made s o m e t i m e between t h e Central Committee plenumsof 2-3 and 13 Ju ly 1970, w a s accompanied by an a pp ar en t ex-t e n s i o n o f t h e s c o p e of K i r i l e n k o ' s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e f u n c t i o n si n t h e S e c r e t a r i a t , which s u g g e s t e d t h a t Brezhnev had dele -

gated some of h i s powers t o h i m . * I t i s n o t c l e a r i f t h e

*See C AE S A R X X X I X , p p . 3- 7 . An e s p e c i a z l y s u g g e s ti v e

epi sod e was t h e earZy December 1970 Pravda pho tograph whichsh owe d K i r i Z e nk o a nd P o l y a n s k i y i n t h e s e co n d r an k b e h i n d

Brezhnev , Podgornyy , and Kosyg in a t an a i rp or t ceremony,

n o t a b l y o m i t t i n g t o show S u s l o v and o t h e r r a n k i n g l e a d e r swho were present . O n Zy Sove tska ya Ro ss i ya and Se Z ' s kaqaZ h i z n ', w h i c h a r e c o n s i d e r e d p o Z i t i c a Z Zy r e s p o n s i v e r e s p e c -t i v e l y t o K i r i l e n k o and Po l y a ns k i y o n m os t i s s u e s , among t h eo t h e r c e n t ra 2 p r e s s d a i l i e s a Zs o p r i n t e d t h e TASS p h o to .

T h i s seemed t o u n de rs co re t h e p o Z i t i c a l s e n s i t i v i t y of t h e i r

e d i t o r i a l b oa rd s t o B r ez h ne v 's p e r so n a l i n t e r e s t s and t oi n d i c a t e t h a t K i ri Z e n k o and P o l y a n s k i y w er e t h e n t h e G en e ra l

S e c r e t a r y ' s p r e f e r e nc e s for s u c c e e d i n g e v e n t u a l Zy t o t h et o p P a r t y and g o ve r nm e nt p o s t s .

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purpose w a s t o f r ee Brezhnev t o devote h i s m a i n a t t e n t i o nt o pr e p ar i ng f o r t h e c o ng re ss o r i f , as seems m ore l i ke l y ,t h e arrangement w a s i n t ended to s u g g e s t t h a t K i r i l en k o w a st h e G e n e ra l S e c r e t a r y ' s p e r s o n a l c h o ic e f o r a " second i ncommand," a s t a t u s t o be for ma liz ed i n some way a t t h e 24thcongre s s . I 1 1

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I I



1

I r 1

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I

I

1

7 1 ir i lenko's workbeen the bas i s of the publ i shedarec i v e s of t h e5-year plan which appeared i n t he So vi et pr ess i n mid-February

could w e l l have

.. . ........... . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .

--I.. . ..- _ _-



wi th Brezhnev ' s app rov i ng s i gna t u re . Th e p u b l i s h e d direc-

t i v e s , i n f a c t , c on ta in ed f o r the. f i r s t t i m e i n S ov ie tp r a c t i c e a s e c t i o n on "improving management and pl an ni ng I 1

which gave a g r e e n l i g h t t o t h e fo rm a t i on o f p roduc t i ona s s o c i a t i o n s o n a s y s t e m a t i c b a s i s , t h u s t e n d i n g t o con f i rmt h a t K i r i l e n k o h ad a dec i s ive s ay i n d r a f t i n g t h e m . U n t i lB re zh ne v s i g n e d h i s name t o t h e d i r e c t i v e s , h e h i m s el f h adno t mentioned t h e a s s o c i a t i o n s o r i n any o th e r way beenp u b l i c l y c o nn e ct e d w i t h them.

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111. POSTSCRIPT ON TSE 2 4 t h CONGRESS

The e l e c t i o n o f f o u r a d d i t i o n a l f u l l m e m b e r s o ft h e P o l i t b u r o p r o b a b ly w a s i nt e nd e d t o p r o vi de f o r the

even t ua l r ep l acem en t of some o f t h e a g i ng members o f t h a t

body, i nc lud ing Sus lov . T he o v e r - a l l e f f e c t of t he addi -t i o n s w a s a c o n s o l i d a t i o n of Brezhnev 's power, but K i r i -l e nk o a l s o made a p p r e c i a b l e g a i n s i n h i s p o s i t i o n . Two ofthe new members, U kra i n i an Premier S h c h e r b i t s k i y a nd M o s c o wC i t y P a r t y b o ss G r i s h i n , a p p e a r t o be more closely as-soc i a t ed w i t h K i r i l en ko t han w i t h Brezhnev . Kazakh Pa r t yf i r s t s e c r e t a r y K unayev has been t he m o s t vo ca l of Brezh-nev ' s pub l i c s up po r t e r s and, p robabl y owes h i s p r e se n tp o s i t io n e n t i r e l y t o t h e G e n er al S e c r e t a r y s p a t r o n a g e ,

I b u t h i s views on economic matters seem q u i t e close t ot hose of K i r i l enko .* T h e f o u r t h a d d i t i o n , P a r ty S e c r e t a r y

The p roceed i ngs and p ro t o co l o f t h e congre s s r eg i s t -ered a s l i g h t im prove ment i n K i r i l e n k o ' s p o s i t i o n i n t h e

l e a de r s hi p b u t f a i l e d t o r e f l e c t t h e h e ig h te n ed a u t h o r i t yhe appa ren t l y h e l d i n t h e S e c r e t a r i a t a f t e r l a s t J u l y .S u sl o v r e t a i n e d e x a c t l y the same p o s i t i o n s he had h e l da t t h e 23d C on gr es s i n Br ez h ne v' s l i s t i n g of t h e P o l i t -b u ro a nd S e c r e t a r i a t , a nd h i s pro minen ce i n p r e s i d i n go v e r seve ra l s e s s i o n s o f t h e c o ng re ss s u g g e s t s t h a t h ew i l l con t i nue t o be a n obstacle t o K i r i l e n k o ' s f u r t h e r

a dv an ce . K i r i l e n k o ' s im pr ov ed p o s i t i o n i n p r o t o c a l rank-i n g s a t t h e congre s s w a s due t o t h e downgrading of Voronovi n the Po l i t b u ro and t h e r em oval of She l ep i n f rom t heS e c re t a r i a t : K ir i l en ko moved up t o t h e f i f t h p l a c e o n t h eP o l i t b u r o ( a f t e r Brezhnev, Podgornyy, Kosygin, and Su sl ov )and t h e t h i r d p l a c e o n t h e Se c r e t a r i a t ( a f t e r Brezhnevand S u s l o v ) . I f in d e e d it i s B rezhnev ' s p l an t o a c h i e v ep u b l i c r e c o g n i t io n of K i r i l e n k o as "se con d i n command,"Sus lov ' s con t i nued p re sence i n t h e l e a d e r s h i p a p pe a rs t obe a m a j o r o b s t a c l e t o i t s f u l f i l l m e n t .

* S ee e s p e c i a Z Z y K u n a y ev ' s r e p o r t t o t h e Ka zak h C e n t r a lCommittee p2enum i n December 1969.

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Kulakov, has worked c l os e l y wi th Brezhnev and Polyan skiyon a g r i c u l t u r a l q u e s t i o n s s ince 1965 and has no obviousp o l i t i c a l c on n ec ti on s w i th K i r il e n ko ( a l t hough h e w a sa s s o c i a t e d w it h K i r i l e n k o a f t e r t h e J u l y 1970 plenum i nt h e area o f a g r i c u l t u r a l m ach in e b u i l d i n g ) . K ul ak ov 'spromotion t o t h e l e v e l of s e n i o r s e c r e t a r y , w here h e j o i n sK i r i l e nko a nd Sus lov as a deputy t o Brezhnev, may e n t a i lsome s l i g h t c ha nge s i n s e c r e t a r i a l ass ignments -- he may,f o r ex am ple, c o nt in u e t o s u p e r v i s e a g r i c u l t u r a l mattersw h i l e t a k i n g o n t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r ov e rs e ei n g t h econsumer s e c to r a nd l i g h t in d u s t r y -- b u t p r ob a bl y w i l ln o t e s s e n t i a l l y a l t e r t h e e x i s t i n g d i v i s i o n of l a b o r i n .

t h e S e c r e t a r i a t , a t l e a s t f o r t h e immedia te fu ture .

Thes e a nd o t he r pe r s on ne l c ha nges a t t h e c o n g r e s s ,as w e l l as t h e i n c l u s io n of a number of K i r i l e n k o ' s .manager ia l idea s i n B re zh ne v' s r e p o r t , s u g g es t t h a t t h etw o leaders are now c l o s e r t ha n ever b e f or e . T h i s s i t u a -t i o n w ou ld seem t o i mp ro ve K i r i l e n k o ' s c ha nc es as a po te n -t i a l s u c c e s s o r t o t h e G en er al S e c r e t a r y i n most circum-s t a n c e s . I t m i g h t a l s o make f o r he ig h te ne d c o n f l i c t w i t hSus lov , Kosygin , and o th e r top l e a d e r s who a re r e l a t i v e l yinde pe nde n t of the P a r t y boss . The o u t l o o k , t he re fo re ,i s f o r a c o n t i n u a t i o n an d p er ha ps i n t e n s i f i c a t i o n of t h em a i n l i n e s of r i v a l r y w h i c h have have been obse rved s ince1966 .



Caesar 51 - Portrait of a Neo-Stalinist: Annex to CAESAR XXXIX Andrey Kirilenko and the Soviet Political Succession

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