NOTES BY W.B. BLAND
On the Coups and Counter-Coup in Georgia
Poplar UK
5 December 1998
This was contained in a letter to Hari Kumar where Bland took strong
exception to conjectures that Beria was not a Marxist-Leninist.
In this letter, he rightly upbraids Kumar, of: “expressing
doubt” and “in effect, wringing your hands and
saying: “Dearie me, it’s all too complicated. Maybe
he was, maybe he wasn't!”
Bland on the basis of the chronology and events of the Mingrelian Case,
argued forcefully that Beria was a Marxist-Leninist.
The full letter will be published in the forthcoming volumes of Bland.
Editor, Alliance Marxist-Leninist
November 2006.
LAVRENTY BERIA
In the first part of your report, you praise Beria as People's
Commissar of Internal Affairs in the late 30s, saying:
"Stalin was
trying hard to limit the damage being done by a revisionist (i.e.,
Yezhov -- WBB). In this situation, Lavrenty Beria was put in this
sensitive and critical job. Stalin himself put Beria into this job.
Beria 'cleansed' the NKVD (the People's Commissariat for Internal
Affairs -- Ed.). He placed trusted Bolsheviks in the key positions. As
he had personal knowledge from Georgia of who was reliable or not, many
of the appointees were from Georgia.
It is accepted by even hostile and anti-Marxist writers that, following
Beria's changes, thousands of prisoners in the camps were released.
Marxist-Leninists are aware that Beria effectively cleared the NKVD of
revisionist practices and revisionist personnel".
(Alliance
No. 30 (October 1998); p. 85. 86. 87).
Later in the report you praise Beria's 'utter reliability' in
connection with his work in the development of the Soviet atom bomb,
saying:
"It was
essential to have in charge of the Russian atomic bomb project someone
who was an utterly reliable Bolshevik. Stalin ensured that Lavrenty Beria
was given this mandate"
(Alliance,
No. 30 (October 1998); p. 87).
You report correctly that, as a result of change in April 1943,
"...the NKVD
-- still under Beria...was now no longer responsible for state security
but only for economic security". (Alliance,
No. 30 (October 1998); p. 87).
But instead of presenting this as a revisionist move to weaken the
state security services, you justify this on the grounds that
"...it is
likely that the work load was already too great to enable one agency to
cover the work".
(Alliance,
No. 30 (October 1998); p. 87).
But the Departments concerned were reunited into a single Ministry in
March 1953:
"On15 March
(1953 -- WBB) the Supreme Soviet resolved to amalgamate the Ministry of
State Security with the Ministry of Internal Affairs".
(Boris Levytsky: The
Uses of Terror: The Soviet Secret Service: 1917-1970;
London; 1971; p.214).
So your non-political excuse for the removal of Beria’s
authority from state security is clearly invalid...
The Coups and Counter-Coup in
Georgia
In the past you
have agreed with us that if a thesis is correct, it must be sensible
and coherent.
You have also agreed that the class struggle in the Soviet Union in the
early 1950s, took the principal form of an intra-Party struggle between
a Marxist-Leninist grouping headed by Stalin (representing the
interests of the working class) and a revisionist grouping headed by
Khrushchev (representing the interests of world imperialism).
As Robert Conquest notes,
"...changes
in the Georgian leadership were especially crucial to the main struggle
in the USSR".
(Robert Conquest: Power
and Policy in the USSR: The Study of Soviet Dynastics,
London; 1961; p. 129).
If, therefore, we examine the series of coups and counter-coup which
occurred in Georgia in 1951-53 with these points in mind, the Marxist-Leninist
role of Beria becomes irrefutable.
The Revisionist Coup in Georgia: November 1951
In November 1951, revisionist
conspirators staged a coup in Georgia.
On the 15th of this month, the Central Committee of the Communist Party
of Georgia announced that:
"Recently it
has become known that the Second Secretary of the CP(b) of Georgia, M.
I. Baramiya, Minister of Justice A. N. Rapava, and the Prosecutor of
the Republic B. Y. Shoniya, have been extending protection to certain
officials who have committed crimes".
("CC. CPG: Announcement of November 1951," in: Robert Conquest's Power and Policy in the USSR:
The Study of Soviet Dynastics, London; 1961; p. 139).
The allegations related to:
"embezzlement in a major
Tbilisi construction trust".
(Amy Knight: Beria:
Stalin's First Lieutenant, Princeton (USA); 1993; p. 160).
All those named:
"...were dismissed from
their posts, to be arrested later".
(Robert Conquest: op. cit.; p. 139).
On 1-2 April 1952,
"... a
Georgian CC plenum removed (Kandida -- WBB) Charkviani from his post
(as First Secretary -- WBB)".
(Amy Knight: op. cit.; p. 162).
Charkviani, who had
been:
"head of the
republic since 1938", (Amy Knight: ibid.; p. 161),
“was replaced by (Avksenty -- WBB) Mgeladze". (Robert
Conquest: op. cit.; p. 141).
A session of the Georgian Supreme Soviet held on 5-6 April
1952:
"...revealed
that Charkviani had simply 'left the republic', but Baramiya was under
criminal
prosecution"
(Amy Knight: op. cit.; p. 162).
By the end of April 1952,
"...only two officials
from the 'old leadership' remained".
(Amy Knight: ibid.; p. 163).
and
"...the appointees to the
new provincial posts were hostile to Beria".
(Robert Conquest: op. cit.; p. 138).
In later revisionist mythology, the coup in Georgia became known as"
"... the
Mingrelian case"
(Boris I. Nicolaevsky: Note to: Nikita S. Khrushchev: Special Report to the 20th
Congress of the CPSU, New York; 1956; p. 546).
and falsely attributed to Stalin:
"Instructive...is
the case of the Mingrelian nationalist organisation which supposedly
existed in Georgia. .; Resolutions by the Central Committee, Communist
Party of the Soviet Union, were made concerning this case in November
1951 and in March 1952...Stalin had personally dictated them".
(Nikita S. Krushchev: ibid.; p. 546-47).
On this, Robert Conquest notes:
"Mingrelia
is the wedge of Georgia between Abkhazia and the River Rion...But it
seems plain that the 'Mingrelian conspiracy' refers not to this rather
small area, but to a group of Mingrelians powerful in Georgia as a
whole...All those of whom it has been publicly stated that they were
victimised at this time, were all Mingrelians, as was Beria himself".
(Robert Conquest: op. cit.; p. 140).
and even Boris Nicolaevsky feels compelled to point out:
"Though he
(Khrushchev) implies that the'Mingrelian case'...was staged by Beria
and Abakumov, this is a deliberate distortion. It was precisely in
November 1951 that Semen --WBB) D. Ignatiev, one of Beria's bitterest
enemies, was appointed (USSR -- WBB) Minister of State Security; the
Mingrelian case was, therefore, trumped up as a blow at Beria".
(Boris I. Nicolaevsky: Note to: Nikita S. Khrushchev: op. cit.; p.
5467).
I notice that you yourself, describe Ignatiev as a
revisionist...(Alliance,
No.30 (October 1998); p.104.
And:
"...Their revisionist
conspirators’ – WBB) most important ally”:
(Alliance,
No.30 (October 1998); p.124.
The Marxist-Leninist
Counter-Offensive in Georgia: April 1953
On 5 March 1953,
"...Stain died".
(Boris Levytsky: op. cit.; p. 212),
Two days later, on 7 March 1953,
"Beria was appointed
(USSR) Minister of Internal Affairs".
(Boris Levytsky: ibid.; p. 214)
...and eight days after that, on 15 March 1953,
"the Supreme
Soviet resolved to amalgamate the (USSR) Ministry of State Security
with the (USSR) Ministry of Internal Affairs".
(Boris Levytsky: ibid.; p. 214),
...thus making Beria again
"...responsible for state
security".
(Alliance,
No. 30 (October 1998); p. 87).
On 15 April 1953, it was announced:
"...that the
Georgian Minister of State Security (M. Nikolai Rukhadze) and Mgeladze
had been dismissed from their posts, arrested, and would be 'severely
punished' for fabricating 'trumped-up' charges against former leading
members of the Georgian Government, all of whom had proved to be
completely innocent".
(Keesing's Contemporary
Archives, Volume 9; p. 13, 029).
It was stated that Baramiya and Rapava:
"...had been the victims
of a case fabricated by Rukhadze".
(Robert Conquest: op. cit.; p. 140).
It was also announced
"...that three former
Ministers who had been dismissed at Rukhadze's instigation would be
immediately restored to their former posts".
(Keesing's Contemporary Archives,
Volume 9; p. 13, 029).
Reporting these events, Tiflis radio:
"...eulogised M. Beria as
'the best son of
Georgia"'.
('Keesing's Contemporary Archives', Volume 9; p. 13, 029).
In short,
"...turning
first to Georgia, he (Beria -- Ed,.) swiftly reversed many of the
changes that the purges of 1951-52 had wrought. At his instigation, the
CPSU Central Committee passed a resolution, on 10 April, declaring the
Mingrelian nationalist conspiracy a fabrication and ordering a
rehabilitation of all those accused. The CC Bureau was drastically
purged of the 11 full members elected in September 1952, all were
dismissed except two officials and they were demoted to candidate
status, The new bureau was packed with Beria men, including (Vladimir)
Dekanozov and (Stepan -- WBB)
Mamulov"
(Amy Knight: op. cit.; p. 187).
Next day, on 11 April, the Georgian Prime Minister was replaced
"...by
Beria's close friend (Valerian - WBB) Bakradze. Baramiya became
Minister of Agriculture, Rapava was released from prison to become
Minister of State Control...and Dekanozov assumed the highly important
post of Minister of Internal Affairs. On the Party side, Mamulov was
placed at the head of the cadres department, which made him responsible
for Party appointments".
(Amy Knight: ibid.; p. 187).
On 15 April 1953, Bakradze, the newly appointed Prime Minister of
Georgia, told the Georgian Supreme Soviet that against Baramiya and
Rapava
"...the
enemy of the people and Party, former Minister of State Security, M.
(Nikolai -- WBB) Rukhadze had cooked up an entirely false and
provocative affair concerning a non-existent nationalism. Rukhadze and
his accomplices have been arrested and will be severely punished".
(Robert Conquest: op, cit.; p. 145).
The New Revisionist Coup:
July 1953
On 10 July 1953, revisionist
conspirators staged a decisive coup at the centre.
On this date,
"...it was
officially announced in Moscow that M. Lavrenty Beria, First
Vice-Chairman and Minister of Internal Affairs in the Soviet Council of
Ministers, had been expelled from the Communist Party and removed from
his Ministerial posts as an 'enemy of the people', and that 'the case
concerning the criminal actions of Beria' had been referred to the
Supreme Court of the USSR".
(Keesing's Contemporary
Archives, Volume 9; p. 13, 029).
The coup against Beria was followed by another change of leadership in
Georgia:
"First the
police, or former police, adherents of Beria were removed at high
speed, while Beria's own political appointees were removed -- not
merely from their posts, but from the Central Committee as well".
(Robert Conquest: op. cit.; p. 146).
On 15 July 1953, Tiflis Radio announced that:
"M.
Dekanozov had been dismissed from the Georgian Government and the
Communist Party for collaboration with 'the traitor Beria'. The
broadcast said that Mgeladze, Charkviani and other former Party leaders
on the Georgian Central Committee had taken advantage of Beria's
leadership to violate Party instructions".
(Keesing's Contemporary
Archives, Volume 9; p. 13, 029).
On 22 September 1953, Tiflis Radio announced:
"...that M. Valerian
Bakradze had been relieved of his post as Premier of Georgia",
(Keesing's Contemporary
Archives, Volume 9; p. 13, 468).
and that the First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party
"...had been succeeded by
M. Mzavaladze".
(Keesing's Contemporary
Archives, Volume 9; p. 13, 468).
On 25 September 1953, three days after the dismissal of Bakradze,
"...it was
announced that three more Georgian Ministers had been dismissed -- M.
Baramiya (Minister of Agriculture and Procurement), M. Chaureli
(Minister of Culture), and M. Tsulukidze (Minister of Education)...No
reason was given for these dismissals".
(Keesing's Contemporary
Archives, Volume 9; p. 13, 468).
On 21 February 1954, a broadcast from Tiflis Radio stated:
"...that 3,
011 persons had been expelled from the Georgian Communist Party during
the past 17 months, these figures having been given by M. Mzavaladze
(the new First Secretary of the Party)".
(Keesing's Contemporary
Archives, Volume 9; p. 13,468).
The chronology of the coups and counter-coups in Georgia
makes it clear, in my view, that Beria was a
Marxist-Leninist.
W.B. Bland
Poplar
December, 1998