Evening star., 1948-09-02
Zhdunoy Passes

IL lS oil lrOLlC commentary Oh LIE COlI-
munist theory of mechanistic materialism,
whose end-product is designed to be the
Mass Man." that certain personalities
bulk so large in the course of Communist
affairs. This seeming anomaly is illus
trated by the death of Andrei Zhdanov,
one of the top group which guides the
destinies of the Soviet Union and likewise
directs the activities of organized Com
munists throughout the world.
Zhdanov had come to occupy position
second only to that of Stain himself in
that ruling body known as the Politburo
the apex of the Soviet power pyramid.
He certainly enjoyed the close confidence
of Joseph Stain and was widely regarded
as Stalin's most probable successor.
Zhdanov's headship of the so-called
Cominform combined authority over the
international Communist movement with
his prominence inside the Soviet Union.
Andrei Zhdanov represented what may
be called the Bolshevik second genera
ton" Born in 1896, he was only 81 years
of age at the time of the Revolution,
though he had been an active Communist
since adolescence. From the start of his
career he showed himself an organizer
rather than an active agitator, and it was
his organizational talents which first
brought him to Staln's notice. Like
Stain, he was a Georgian, an additional
passport to the favor of his clannish-
minded chief; though, unlike Stain,
Zhdanov came of middle-class stock, his
father being minor functionary in the
CZarist educational system
Zhdanovs rise was unspectacular, his
very name being long unknown to the
general public even in Russia itself, though
increasingly esteemed inside the party His
real opportunity came after Lenin's death
and the ensuing struggle for power be-
tween Stain and Leon Trotsky.- Zhdanov
attached himself unreservedly to Stalin's
side and profited correspondingly. From
then on his rise was rapid, eliminating in
his nomination to full membership on
the Politburo in 1889, he being the young
est member
Zhdanov is generally credited with
being an uncompromising advocate of
aggressive policy, alike for the Soviet
Union and for the advancement of Inter-
national Communism in its inevitable"
struggle for world domination over "bour-
geois capitalism" His infiexible orthodoxy
was shown most recently in his guidance
of the Cominform Which precipitated an
open rupture with Marshal Tito of Yugo-
slavia.
The passing of so uncompromising
figure must inevitably provoke widespread
speculation on the possible results, both
on the conduct of Soviet and Communist
policy and on the succession to the leader
ship within the Soviet Union. Such spec
ulation should, however, be guided by one
important fact regarding the character of
| the Soviet state. This iss that it is more
group than an individual dictatorship
Therein, it differs from the Nazi or Fascist
varieties of totalitarianism, with their
highly personal leadership principle" :"
Despite the sycophantic adulation accorded
the" Great Stain, he is, within the Polit-
buro, primus inter pares-"f1rst among
equals and does, not enjoy the almost
godlike e-eminence of an Adolf Hitler
over the Third Reich.
This, of course, intensiies the rivalry
for the succession to primacy within the
Politburo during Stalin's occupancy.
But it likewise renders possible a success
sion more orderly than would have been
the case If Nazi Germany had endured
until Hitler's death or disability. It is
this equation within which the passing of
Zhdanov should be evaluated.