Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-03-07
Dictator MoIenkov

il looks could Kill, the United States and
the West as a whole would have some reason
to be alarmed by the fact that Georgi Malenkov
has donned the mantle Of the late Joseph
Stain But looks. Of course, are not lethal in
themselves, and so the free world ought not to
be too much disturbed by photographs Of the
new Soviet dictator True enough, he seems to
have a uniquely fat pallid, grim, humorless,
inscrutable and somewhat repellent face, but
that does not necessarily mean that he will
be any harder to get along with than his
predecessor. ae
Actually, although he is said to "Ihate" the
Western world, nothing in Malenkov's record
indicates that he excels other Russian Com
munists on that score. The truth is that
relatively very little is known about him in
non-Soviet circles. The bare biographical facts
the only facts available in this country-do
not tell great deal. He is 81 years old. His
family background, apparently bourgeois" is
obscure. He has been active in his country's
affairs ever since the revolution in 1918 when
he was an adolescent in the Red Army. He Is
a young" Bolshevik-as distinct from "old"
Bolsheviks like Molotov-and the beginning
OF his advance to power dates back to 1925 when
he became one of Stains personal secretaries.
In fact, what has distinguished Malenkov's
career is his long years of apprenticeship
directly under Stalin-years in which he served
his master faithfully and well, years in which
he slowly but surely edged his way upward
toward control of the Communist Party's ma
chinery and his present place Of chill eminence.
He is generally regarded as a man of very
great ability and an extraordinary capacity
for hard work. Although he seems to have
been especially adept, like his predecessor, in
the dark and devious business of internal Soviet
nOlitjpS he hos dannonStratnd 0ltSfa pdioO mr..
ganizational and administrative talents in a
larger sense particularly so during the Second
World War when he turned in decidedly
impressive performance as the driving force
behind his country's production of tanks and
planes.
Apart from this broad outline of his past,
not much else is known in our world about
Malenkov He is said to have done little or no
travelling on the free side of the Iron Curtain,
and all his education seems to have taken place
within the bleak and narrow confines of Marxist
dogma Yet he is reported to have been put in
the Soviet doghouSe as recently as 1947 for
delivering a speech attacking comrades" adj
herring too rigidly or too unimaginatively to
such dogma. It is noteworthy, also, that he is
reputed to be realiSt who took dim view of
the infamous Berlin blockade and who advocates
Russian caution, rather than reckleSSneSS, in
the field of foreign affairs. Despite his grim
looks, therefore, it may well be that this newly
enthroned dictator will be no more difficult to
deal with-even if he is not less difficult-than
Stain himself.
Yet the mere fact that the Soviet Union
is now headed by a new mantle first such
change in 80 years-createS great element of
uncertainty in the affairs of the world on both
sides of the Iron, Curtain. Is this transition
really as smooth as 1t Is meant to seem? Is
Malenkov firmly seated in his place of power
as Stains successor? Is his control Of the
Communist Party together with the control of
the secret police by Lavrenti Beria IBERIA who
apparently is his good friend) enough to insure
that no Brutus will drive dagger into him?
Is he in position, in Short where he can feel
confident of long reign unconvulsed by any
bitter or bloody challenges?
These are questions that can hardly fail
tentative or heSitant execution of international
policy by our own country and most other
countries throughout the globe, including not
least of all Red China. Malenkoy'S ascendancy
to the Soviet throne, coupled with Vishinsky's
departure and Molotov's return as Foreign
Minister, confronts the whole world including
Russia itself, with new speculative, doubt
up for months to come. Our American actions
should be governed accordingly-with great
caution and circumspection.