Brothers in Arms (145 page)

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Authors: Odd Arne Westad

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missile technology in the Soviet Union has been laid down under the leadership of some sort of "fool"?
From what you have said it appears as if the supreme commander of the great Soviet Army turns out to have been some sort of "idiot." Can it really be that the great victory of the Soviet Army during World War II was won under the command of some sort of "idiot"?
From what you have said it appears as if the great CPSU was in the position of having some sort of "bandit" at the head of its leadership for thirty years. Can it really be that the CPSU which for a long time had the love and respect of the revolutionary peoples of the whole world had a "bandit" as its great leader for several decades?
From what you have said it appears as if the ranks of the international Communist movement which grew and became stronger from year to year were under the leadership of some sort of "shit." Can it really be that Communists of all countries considered some sort of "shit" to be their flag-bearer for several decades?
From what you have said it appears as if the great proletarian leader for whom imperialists and reactionaries of different countries felt fierce hatred for a long time has turned out to be all-in-all some sort of "gambler." Can it really be that the Soviet people and the revolutionary peoples of all countries straggling against imperialism and reaction considered their teacher some sort of "gambler"? . . .
Comrades, you, so to speak, having picked up the stone, have thrown it on your own feet. How can you treat Stalin in such a way? Your actions in this regard not only go counter to historical reality, but also put you in a very awkward position. In depicting Stalin as such a bad man, you also blacken the entire leadership of the Soviet state and the CPSU; and, at the same time, as comrades who then took part in the leadership of the state and the party, you cannot justify yourselves by saying that you do not carry your portion of responsibility for the "crimes" you talk about.
Let us take, for example, Comrade Khrushchev. He heaped all of the errors of the period of Stalin's leadership, especially the excesses committed on the issue of counterrevolutionary elements, on Stalin alone while he presented himself as being completely clean. Can this really convince people? If the memory of men is not too short, they will be able to recall that during Stalin's leadership Comrade Khrushchev more than once extolled Stalin and the policy he was then carrying out of struggling with counterrevolutionary elements.
Comrade Khrushchev constantly praised Stalin, calling him "a close friend and comrade-in-arms of Lenin," "a very great genius, teacher, great leader of humanity," "a great Marshal of victories," "a friend of peoples in his simplicity,'' "one's own father," and so on and so on.
On June 6, 1937, in his report at the fifth party conference of the Moscow oblast', Comrade Khrushchev said: "Our party will mercilessly crash the band of betrayers and traitors, will wipe all the Trotskyist-rightist carrion from the face of the earth. . . . The

 

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guarantee is the unshakable leadership of our CC, the unshakable leadership of our great leader, Comrade Stalin. . . . We will annihilate our enemies without a trace to the last one and will scatter their ashes in the wind."
Later, for example on June 8, 1938, while speaking at the fourth party conference of the Kiev oblast', Comrade Khrushchev said: "Yakiry, balitskie, liubchenki, zatomskie,
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and other bastards wanted to bring Polish nobles to the Ukraine, wanted to bring German fascists, landowners, and capitalists here. . . . We have destroyed quite a few enemies, but not all. For that reason one must keep one's eyes open. We must firmly remember the words of Comrade Stalin, that as long as capitalist encirclement exists, they will send spies and provocateurs to us. . . ."
Frankly speaking, on the issue of criticism and self-criticism you are inferior to Stalin. Having made mistakes, Stalin sometimes still practiced self-criticism. For instance, Stalin gave some mistaken advice relating to the Chinese Revolution. After the victory of the Chinese Revolution, he recognized his mistakes before Chinese comrades and friends. And how are you acting? You know well that .you slough off all of your mistakes onto others and ascribe all successes to yourself. . . .
Suslov: Our delegation states a decisive protest against the distortion, falsification, and slanders made in relation to the leadership of our party and to Comrade N. S. Khrushchev, against our party and the decisions of its congresses. The delegation of the CPSU also states its protest against the sort of propaganda that has begun in the last few days on Beijing radio. We consider that the entire responsibility for these actions rests with the leadership of the CCP. . . .
Deng Xiaoping: Comrade Suslov has expressed some sort of protest. If we are talking about protest, then we have an even greater basis for voicing even more protests. . . .
Already two weeks have gone by since our meeting began. At the meeting both sides stated their views. Although as of yet it has been difficult to attain a unity of both sides' views right away, still, a frank exposition of views by both sides in this circle where the representatives of the two parties have been meeting is very useful for mutual understanding, for gradually finding a common language, for searching out a way to eliminate disagreements and strengthen cohesion. For that reason we consider that it serves as a good start . . . our delegation is introducing a proposal temporarily to adjourn the current meeting; the representatives of the CCP and the CPSU, both sides, can continue their meeting at another time. The time and place of the next meeting will be set through a consultation between the Central Committees of our two parties. . . .
Our delegation once again expresses the sincere hope of our party that we and you will not spare our efforts toward an all-around, repeated, and most careful discussion of the
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Peter Iakir, V. A. Balitskii, Iridor Liubchenko, Vladimir Zatomskii, Ukrainian Communists who were killed on Stalin's orders during the 1930s purges. Reference here is to their names in plural form.

 

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disagreements existing between our parties. If a single meeting is not enough for this, it is possible to hold a second meeting, and if two meetings do not suffice, a third can be held. . . .
JULY 20
Deng Xiaoping: In conclusion I would like to say a few words.
However great the disagreements between us may be, we hope that we can gradually find a way to eliminate those disagreements, since unity between us is very important.
Despite the fact that in the course of the discussion both our sides have stated more than a few views with which the other side does not agree, and despite the fact that you have said that our statements are not pleasant to the ear, and that we have also said that your statements are not pleasant to the ear, despite all of this, our current meeting will serve as a good start. Moreover, we have agreed with you to publish a communiqué on the continuation of our meetings. We consider this a good thing.
We have come to the agreement that it is necessary to continue our meetings and that the time and place of the next meeting will be agreed by the Central Committees of our parties.
Here I would like to express in passing the following hope of ours: If your delegation, if the CC of the CPSU agrees, then we would like to invite the delegation of the CPSU to Beijing for the continuation of the meeting. That issue, of course, could be agreed upon separately.
Suslov: This is also a question for discussion between our Central Committees. Finished. Will I see you [later] today?
Deng Xiaoping: At six?
Suslov: Yes, at six.
Source: Stiftung Archiv der Parteien und Massenorganisationen der ehemaligen DDR im Bundesarchiv (SAMPO-BArch), JIV 2/207 698, 187-330 (in Russian). Obtained by Vladislav Zubok; translated by Benjamin Aldrich-Moodie.

 

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Contributors
Chen Jian is associate professor of history at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He is the author of
China's Road to the Korean War: The Making of the Chinese-American Confrontation
(1994) and numerous articles on China's external relations during the Cold War period. His new book,
Mao's China in the Cold War,
is forthcoming in 1999.
Sergei Goncharenko is senior researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. He is a specialist in the history of the People's Republic of China, Sino-Soviet/Russian relations, and Southeast Asian history. He recently has published several works in Russian on Russia and East Asia in the 1990s.
Deborah A. Kaple received her Ph.D. in sociology from Princeton University. She is the author of
Dream of a Red Factory: High Stalinism in China
(1994) and the editor of the
World Encyclopedia of Political Systems and Parties
(forthcoming). She is currently a freelance writer and teaches in the Princeton University Writing Program.
Niu Jun is senior researcher at the Institute of American Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing. He has published several books in Chinese on CCP foreign policy and Sino-American relations, most recently
Cong Yan'an zou xiang shijie: Zhongguo gongchandang dui wai guanxi qiyuan (1935-1949)
[From Yan'an to the world: Origins of the foreign relations of the Chinese Communist Party 1935-1949] (1992).
Constantine Pleshakov is an independent scholar and writer living in Moscow. His most recent book in English is
Inside the Kremlin's Cold War: From Stalin

 

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