"Viktor Suvorov. Inside soviet military intelligence (англ) " - читать интересную книгу автора

usual purge carried out in the ranks of State Security.
But the Ministry of State Security did not forgive the general staff
and the GRU for having taken such liberties. 1952 was a year of struggle
between the Politburo and Stalin. The Ministry of State Security presented
documents which they claimed proved the existence of a plot in the ranks of
the GRU. This time it was the turn of the GRU and all the general staff to
be purged. Stalin was opposed to the move, but the Politburo insisted.
Shtemyenko was demoted to Lt-General and expelled from the general staff.
The action continued against the general staff and the GRU, and even against
Stalin himself who was removed as general secretary of the Communist Party
later that year.
At the beginning of 1953, immediately after the death of Stalin, there
ensued a fierce squabble among his disciples and comrades at arms for the
distribution of the inheritance. The most dangerous pretender to the throne
was, of course, Beria. The united strength of Army and Party was
automatically against him. Beria was arrested at a joint session of Party
and Army leaders and immediately done away with. After this there began the
usual persecution of the Organs of State. During secret trials,
incriminating documents were produced from the GRU concerning the leaders of
the Ministry of State Security and many of its leaders were shot after
frightful torture. The torture was carried out in the GRU cellars on Gogol
Boulevard. At the beginning of 1954 the Ministry of State Security lost its
status as a ministry and was transformed into a committee.
Simultaneously with the fall of the Ministry of State Security, the
Army acquired more and more weight within the framework of the State. The
'Russian Bonaparte', Marshal Zhukov, became Minister of Defence, having
returned from his exile under Stalin. After a short time Zhukov also became
a member of the Politburo. He quickly effected the return of all the exiled
generals and marshals and appointed them to key positions. The Ministry of
State Security could not exercise any restraint on Zhukov and he was
therefore able to appoint Shtemyenko to the post of Chief of the GRU,
reinstating him as a full general after his demotion. The GRU became an
organisation solely dependent on the Army. Zhukov's next step was a blow
against Party influence in the Army. On his orders all political workers and
Party commissars were expelled from the Army. He also ordered the Chief
Political Directorate of the Soviet Army to stop interfering any more in
Army affairs, and at the same time liquidated all the special departments of
State Security present in the Army. The crocodile was clearly throwing off
its bonds. In Politburo sessions Zhukov openly contradicted Khruschev and
publicly abused him.
The party understood how rashly it had behaved in depriving the KGB of
power, since the Party alone was clearly defenceless against the Army. There
was absolutely no doubt that very soon the Army would become the only master
of the situation. But in October 1957 Zhukov committed a grave error. He
went on a visit to Yugoslavia and in his absence, a plenum of the Central
Committee of the Party was hurriedly convened. Zhukov was secretly removed
from the Politburo and also from his duties as Minister of Defence because
of 'bonapartism'. The chief of the GRU, General Shtemyenko, learned about
what had happened and immediately sent a telegram of warning to Zhukov in
Yugoslavia, but it was intercepted by the KGB. Zhukov returned from