Under the leadership of President Wang Hengyue, China is moving toward a path of benign development. And the turmoil within Soviet Russia is also intensifying!

Lenin has been hollowed out, but his prestige remains. In order to completely eliminate those who disagree with him and seize the supreme power, Stalin could not wait to start the action.

Some of his own enemies must be ruthlessly eradicated, and whoever opposes himself is his enemy, this is Stalin's only philosophy of life!

The first target was Sergei Murphy, member of the North Caucasus Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party and alternate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee. Mironovic. Kirov.

Although Stalin claimed to be the leader of the working class, he never went to any factory during working hours because he was afraid of direct contact with the workers.

And Kirov had a completely different personality from Stalin, he could even be said to be firmly on the workers' side!

Kirov began to clash with other members of the Politburo.

Kirov was known for his bluntness, and at Politburo meetings he repeatedly criticized his former patron, Ordzhonikidze, for issuing inconsistencies in instructions on industrial construction in the Petrograd region. Mikoyan, an alternate member of the Politburo, was also repeatedly accused by Kirov of disrupting food supplies in Petrograd.

He clashed with Mikoyan several times, and on one occasion, Kirov, without Stalin's permission, used part of the food stored in the storage of the Petrograd Military District. The second member of the Military Council, a loyal follower of Stalin, Voroshilov, was very dissatisfied with Kirov's actions, believing that he had overstepped his authority and interfered in the affairs of the army.

Kirov explained at the Politburo meeting that he had come to this point because the food reserves rationed to the workers had been completely exhausted. Moreover, he borrowed food from the military region, which would be returned as soon as he received new supplies.

However, Voroshilov was well aware that Stalin had his back. Not satisfied with this explanation. He also attacked aggressively: "Kirov moved the food from the troop warehouses to the counters of the factories in order to 'earn a cheap reputation among the workers'. ”

Kirov was furious. In his characteristic fiery tone, he replied: "If the Politburo wants the workers to provide products, then the workers must first fill their stomachs!" Then he shouted, "Any farmer knows that if you don't give the horse grazing, the horse can't run!" ”

At this point, Michael raised his voice and retorted, saying that, according to the materials at his disposal, the Petrograd workers had received more supplies than the average level in the country. Kirov did not deny this.

But he cited the growing figures of the industrial products of Petrograd, and then noted that it was more than enough to exchange these achievements for the little supplementary food of the workers.

"But why should the workers of Petrograd eat better than the workers of other regions?" Stalin interjected at this point.

Kirov couldn't hold back for a moment, and shouted again: "I think." It's long overdue to do away with rationing, and it's time to let our workers eat decently! ”

Kirov's fiery temper was seen as disloyalty to Stalin. Ever since Stalin took power, there has been an unwritten rule that no member of the Politburo may bring any issue to the table without Stalin's permission.

As a result, Kirov became the target of public criticism in the Politburo. Small disputes were artificially amplified, as if he had committed some heinous sin.

People's Commissar of Heavy Industry Ordzhonikidze was an influential member of the Politburo. The chairman of the Petrograd Executive Committee and several industrial leaders were summoned to the meeting. These people took their reports and budget sheets with them and set off immediately.

They waited for two whole days in the reception room of the People's Commissar of Heavy Industry, and Ordzhonikidze did not take time to meet them, and the meeting was postponed again and again. On the third day, the chairman of the Petrograd Executive Committee spoke with Kirov on the phone and reported to him about the situation here.

Kirov's decision was very decisive: "If Ordzhonikidze doesn't meet you today, then you will take the train home!" ”

The Chairman of the Petrograd Executive Committee did just that.

Ordzhonikidze reported on this at the Politburo meeting that followed!

Kirov's decision was considered "an instigation of the cadres in Petrograd to develop guerrilla habits and disobedience to the Central Committee." Kirov tried hard to explain this. But to no avail. He couldn't bear it. "I will continue to do so in the future," he announced. When I work in Petrograd, I need to have my people by my side. There is no need for them to sit on cold benches in the reception room in Ordzhonikidze! ”…,

Gradually, Kirov's relations with the Politburo were tense to the extreme.

He began to try not to run towards Moscow. What most irritated the Politburo members and Stalin was Kirov's growing popularity among the masses.

None of these members of the Politburo, including Stalin, were brilliant orators.

Their public speeches are always so dry and annoying. Kirov, on the other hand, was famous for his brilliant speeches and knew how to approach the masses.

He was the only member of the Politburo who dared to go to the factory and address the workers. He used to be a worker. So he is very good at listening to the voices of workers and always trying to help them. Many high-ranking cadres of the Party and industrial fronts, who were working in other cities, wanted to be transferred to Petrograd, because they had heard that Kirov was encouraging his subordinates to come up with ideas, to make innovations, and to promote those who were willing and good at work. His prestige in Petrograd is unshakable. In the eyes of the leaders of the Petrograd plant-enterprise, the people's commissars of the Moscow ministries combined were not worth a single Kirov.

After the Party Congress. Kirov's enormous prestige is even more widely known. The conference was held in mid-1920. Before the congress, all the procedures were predetermined, even the applause of the delegates welcoming the leaders. When each Politburo member came to the podium, the applause was set at two minutes, and the applause to welcome Stalin should be ten minutes.

But. When Kirov appeared in the presidium of the conference, the audience burst into stormy applause. The Petrograd delegation welcomed his passion. Drove the whole venue. Kirov received a round of applause that no other Politburo member could have dreamed of. There were people outside the hall who said that the honor that Kirov received was supposed to be given to Stalin in advance.

Kirov was so unruly that he angered Stalin. He decided to transfer Kirov out of Petrograd, and at the briefing, he was informed that there was an important leadership position waiting for him in the Organization Department of the Central Committee in Moscow.

But Kirov was in no hurry to go to Moscow, he dragged on for several days. The excuse was to take care of a series of important business that he had begun in Petrograd.

Not only that, but he also attends fewer and fewer Politburo meetings. This already looks close to provocation.

Of course, every time Kirov went to Moscow, Stalin could find an excuse to keep him and not let him return to Petrograd. But doing so is bound to cause a public quarrel, and after a quarrel. It will be even more difficult to place Kirov in any position in the Central Committee.

Moreover, it may not be so easy to forcibly keep Kirov against his own will. Can't he be arrested? No way. While Lenin was still alive, Stalin could not do anything similar to a Politburo member at will.

The expulsion of a Politburo member must go through a series of complicated procedures. To achieve this, it was necessary to start by listing Kirov's crimes, calling him an anti-Lenin heretic, or accusing him of violating the general line of the Party, and thus launching a campaign of criticism against him throughout the Party.

But under the circumstances, such an approach was undesirable for Stalin.

In the face of the Chinese attack, Stalin had to find ways to stabilize the party's situation. He has repeatedly published articles and oral statements saying that there are no enemies in the party and that the party has been very consolidated and has become "unprecedentedly united and unified."

And once the anti-Kirov campaign is launched, it will inevitably attract rumors that the party is back divided and the Politburo is divided. Moreover, Stalin understood that abroad would again doubt the solidity of his heir system, this. Exactly what Stalin did not want to hear anyway.

He came to the conclusion that there was probably only one way to solve the thorny problem he faced: get rid of Kirov and shift the blame for the assassination onto the former opposition leader.

In this way, he can kill two birds with one stone. At the same time as getting rid of Kirov, some of Lenin's close comrades-in-arms were also killed.

Those people, no matter how slandered by Stalin, remained in the minds of ordinary party members as symbols of the Bolshevik Party. Stalin was convinced that if he could prove it, he would bleed Kirov, the "loyal son of the party", a member of the Politburo. It is Zinoviev, Kamenev and other opposition leaders that he has the right to demand: blood for blood!

The only state organ that could help Stalin prepare for this murder was the Petrograd branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was responsible for the security of Kirov.

But the head of the sub-director, Fili. Medveki had a deep friendship with Kirov, so he had to be transferred away and sent another "more reliable person" to receive him.

Stalin had exactly such a person. This person's name is Evdokimov, and he is a veteran "organ" worker. For many years, Stalin had taken him with him, not only as his personal bodyguard, but also as a friend and drinking companion.

Evdokimov received far more rewards from Stalin than any other staff member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

This man has an eccentric nature, is out of place with his colleagues, and has a dull expression on his face, like a stone slab. He was a criminal prisoner, but he was released from prison after the revolution and later joined the Bolsheviks.

He personally commanded several major encirclements and suppressions of rebels against the Soviets.

So the glorious task entrusted by the party fell to him! (To be continued.) )