With the death of Stalin in 1953, he left behind a bristling nest of problems for his Communist comrades. Each Red leader eyed his competitors, weighing the possibility of seizing power. (Sounds familiar in the world of DC politics today.) Soviet proponent Khrushchev went to work maneuvering for a position of strategic strength. Compared to the other Red leaders, he was described by both inside and outside of Russia as ‘low man on the totem pole.’
The first in terms of strength was Malenkov, secretary of Stalin, who had charge of all secret Communist files. It was said that he had collected so much damning evidence on the others, that they tried to curry his favor by pushing him forward as the temporary head of the government.
The second in line was Beria, hated leader of the secret police and an administrator of the nuclear development program. This gave him a hard core force of 2,000,000 armed men. This was too much of a challenge for Khrushchev to have to deal with, so he used an old Communist trick which was the opposite of ‘divide and conquer’. His technique was to ‘unite and conquer’. First, he united with Premier Malenkov by convincing him that Beria was his greatest threat…his greatest enemy. Thus, in December 1954, Breia and his associates were arrested and shot.
Now Khrushchev united with Bulganin to get rid of Malenkov. Bulganin was the official representative of the Communist Party in the Red Army and therefore the Army’s principal politician. Khrushchev told the political army leader that he, Bulganin, should be premier instead of Malenkov. Bulganin agreed. In the spring of 1955, a shift of power behind the scenes took place which permitted Bulganin to replace Malenkov.
Next came Molotov. He had no machine in back of him but had depended upon his prestige as Stalin’s partner. Without warning he found himself exiled to the Mongolian border.
Now the partnership of Bulganin and Khrushchev began running the entire Communist complex. But Khrushchev was not through. His next step was to persuade Bulganin to force Marshal Zhukov of World War II fame into retirement and to demote other key officials in the government. Some had been promoters of Khrushchev in previous years. By destroying his friends as well as his enemies, Khrushchev felt he was preventing them from regrouping and ousting him in the same way he ousted them.
Finally, Khrushchev was prepared for the final big step…to oust Bulganin. By forcing Bulganin to get rid of Marshal Zhukov, Khrushchev was able to create a rift between Bulganin and his main source of support…the Red Army. This allowed Khrushchev to move into the breach and fill powerful key positions with his own followers. By 1956, Bulganin found himself the captive puppet of Khrushchev, who for two more years ran the government through Bulganin…but there was no question as to who was in line for Stalin’s ‘throne’. Such was Khrushchev’s slippery and dangerous ascent to the summit.
You might ask what the rise to power by Khrushchev has to do with the church and politics. This rise to power is a good example of how Satan gains control of people, of society, of government, and eventually all the principals that have encouraged freedom and liberty. History has had too many godless dictators and not enough selfless liberators. To truly liberate the world, we must connect deeply to The Liberator who cares for each of us personally. “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading you to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as son by which we cry out, ‘Abba, Father!'” (Romans 8:14-15). True liberty does not depend on the support of government. Rather, just government derives its powers from the good will of those who join in the pursuit of right, as instructed and endowed by God. In making the Revolution that gave birth to our nation, the people of the United States exercised such powers. In due course, they established a constitution of government framed to use Godly powers continually to secure the exercise of God-endowed rights, including liberty. Christian faith is, and has ever been, the key support for American liberty. Without it, our Constitution would never have been conceived, nor long endured. The liberal/progressive/communist element in our government understands that and knows that to gain control, the Christian church will have to be eliminated. To truly succeed in politics, we must rely on God for guidance, on His pastors and church leaders for knowledge and inspiration, and on the people of God to be willing to step out of the comfort zone and take a stand for right against evil. We…you…must leave the world a better place after your victory. If your motives are right, and if you are tired of losing your country to selfish tyrants, who daily use levers of power against your liberty, then you must be willing to learn how to change bad laws or policies and use all the available political tools that are available to you. We will get into the details of these tools in the future. As a Christian activist you were created to take back your country.
Next week we will continue to follow the quest for power and dominance by Khrushchev. Slowly his power greed will lead to the fall of the Soviet Union…but not without events that could have been disheartening to all but the most dedicated to defeat world communism.
-Bob Munsey
“When I was a boy, I was told that anybody could become President; I’m beginning to believe it”. Quoted in ‘Clarence Darrow for the Defense’ by Irving Stone
Geezer Politics 