Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-03-23
Division of Powers in Moscow

The conjecture that Soviet Russia is enter
ing an era of rule by committee rather than by
one-man dictatorship is given tangible support
by the naming of Nikita Krushchev as secre-
tary of the Central Committee of the Com
munist Party. The action was accompanied,
also, by further shifting of individuals in the
Communist hierarchy indicating that influ-
ence and control within the Soviet Union are
being transferred to another group.
Stain served in three posts-Premier,
chairman of the PreSidium of the Supreme
Soviet and Secretary of the Central Committee
In that multiple capacity. he did in fact hold
absolute control of both government and party.
Georgi Malenkov, his nominal successor, in
herited the first two of these positions of COM
mand but upon assuming them it was an
nounced that he had requested relief from the
duties of chief of the party secretariat The
naming of KruShchev was Ito accede" to this
request.
Communist Party membership in the Soviet
Union is estimated at seven million, a tiny
minority in population of about 1913 million.
The oligarchy which controls the party, and
the country is comparably small and the post
of secretary to the Central Committee has been
a key job in the shaping and application OF
Communist policy, not only within the Soviet
Union but in it's international conspiratorial
aspects. Much of the aggrandizement of Josef
Stain, amounting virtually to dedication in the
Communist mind, was founded upon the fact
of his holding, by presumption, the three posts
which symbolized absolute power.
There has been much speculation on the
true extent of Malenkovs succession And while
it is obvious that he has the predominant influ-
ence in the new regime, there has been valid
reason for wondering how comprehensive this
dominance was The naming of Beria, head of
the secret police as Minister of Interior and the
re-promotion of Molotov as Foreign Secretary
indicated that these two aspirants to Stains
position are still in position to exercise strong,
and perhaps threatening, influence on Malenkov
personally and on Soviet policy in general. Not
to be ignored either is the role assigned to
Marshal Bulganin, professional soldier of the
old guard, who is now Minister of War.
While many students of Russian commu-
nism feel that the military is still more an
instrument of. than a threat to, the party
control there are two factors worthy of con-
sideration. One is that many of the military
from top to bottom rank, have had contact
with the West. They are not so apt to swallow
the line that life outside the Iron Curtain is
made up of slave VS.. master society. The
second is that the professional soldier, includ-
ing the Russian, knows that war involves much
more than individual bravery on the field of
battle. The Russian military leadership in
World War II was well aware of the high quality
of allied equipment and the Importance of
Western production of ornaments.
AS for Krushchev, not much is known
here about his attitude toward the West,
It may be significant, however, that most of
his party service has been in the Ukraine,
an area often considered as one of the soft
spots" within the Soviet Union, a region of luke
warm sympathy toward some Of the Communist
theories.
While there has been no outward sign of
discomfort or friction within the new Soviet
leadership, the fact that there has been
redistribution and a wider dissemination of
powers gives weight to the feeling that the
present preoccupation in Moscow is directed
more toward internal rivalries than has been
the case for many years past There has never
in history been an instance of successful transi-
ton of dictatorship from one pair of hands to
another pair of hands. History may repeat
itself in the present case.