The Death of Andrei Zhdanov

Abstract

SEER,VTol. 8o, No.2, April2002 The Death of Andrei Zhdanov C. N. BOTERBLOEM THE years immediately before the death of Central Committee Secretary and Politburo member Andrei Aleksandrovich Zhdanov (I896-I948) were the high point of his career as Soviet leader. Zhdanov was Stalin's 'all-powerfulfavourite', and seemed poised to succeed Stalin who was, by almost a generation, his elder.' As the spokesmanof the Communist Partyin the culturalfield, Zhdanov had in the summer of I946 criticized the writers Mikhail Zoshchenko (i 894- I958) and Anna Akhmatova (i 889- I966); posturingas Stalin's deputy, he had addressed in the same year the Soviet Union and the Communist world in commemoration of the October Revolution; in the guise of a leading Marxist-Leninist philosopher, he had in the summer of I947 attacked a recently published textbook on Western philosophy; as a Soviet musical connoisseur, he had in early I948 berated the famous composers Dmitrii Shostakovich (I906-I975), Aram Khachaturian (I903-1978), and Sergei Prokofiev(i 89I- I953); as an international statesman, he had in September I947 defined the emergence of two hostile camps competing for global supremacyafter World War Two at the founding session of the information bureau of the main European communist parties, the Cominform.2 Suddenly, however, in the summerof I948, Zhdanov disappearedfromview. On IOJuly 1948, the Central Committee (CC)'s Politburogave him leave from his duties as second Partysecretaryto recuperate from a severe illness,while thisleading organ of the Communist Partyconcomitantly reorganizedthe CC Sekretariat.3Soon after,in an open letterto Stalin published in Pravda, Zhdanov's only son Jurii(b. I9I9), a high-ranking Central Committee official, admitted to unwarranted criticism of Academician T. D. Lysenko (I898-I976). Then, on September I, Andrei Zhdanov was reporteddead at the age of fifty-two. C. N. Boterbloem is Associate Professor of History at Nipissing University, Ontario. 1 See, for instance, 'Foreign News: Russia', Time, 9 December I946, pp. 18-20, and B. Pares, Russia,rev. ed., New York, 1949, p. 203. 2 See, for example, G. M. Adibekov et al. (eds), Soveshchaniia Kominforma, I947, I948, I949. Dokumenty i materialy,Moscow, I998; L. Maksimenkov, 'Partiia-nash rulevoi', Muzykal'naia zhizn', 14-I7, I993, pp. 6-8; V. V. Aspaturian, 'The Contemporary Doctrine of the Soviet State and Its Philosophical Foundations', American Political Science Review, 4, I954, pp. 1031-57; A. A. Zhdanov, '29-aia godovshchina Velikoi Oktiabr'skoi Sotsialisticheskoi revoliutsii. Doklad na torzhestvennom zasedanii Moskovskogo Soveta 6 noiabria I946 goda', Bol'shevik,2 I, 1946, pp.- I I3; A. A. Zhdanov, Essays on Literature, Philosophy,and Music,New York,I950. See, for instance, Y. Gorlizki, 'Party Revivalism and the Death of Stalin', SlavicReview, I, 1995, pp. I-22 (p. i6). 268 C. N. BOTERBLOEM The circumstances of Zhdanov'sdeathand its consequenceshave been obscureand merit investigation.Lackof evidencehas led to speculation byhistorians fondof seeingintriguein Stalin'sdoings.For example,somehavesuggested thatZhdanov's politicaldemisewasnot just theresultof hisson'snaiveescapades,butthathe wasalsobeing punishedforthe SovietUnion'sgrowingriftwithYugoslavia andthe BerlinBlockade(and possiblyother foreign-policy issues),developmentsthatcoincided withhisdisappearance frompubliclife.4Recently, theRussianhistorianJu.N. Zhukovhasarguedthatin I948 Zhdanov lostoutin a ruthless rivalryamongthehighestSovietleadersinwhich supposedly evenStalinhimselfwasonthedefensive againstsomeofthe others.5 InJanuaryI953, the highestleadershipannouncedthatZhdanov waskilledbywilfulmedicalmalpractice. Althoughthisaccusation was withdrawn afterStalin'sdeathin MarchI953, historians haveargued thatZhdanovwasphysically annihilated on Stalin'sordersbyobedient doctors.6 The argumentthatZhdanovwasmurdered appearsplausibleif his killingisseenasthefirststepinthelethalpurgeofhisclosestassociates in I949 and 1950. Conventionalwisdomhas it that,duringStalin's rule, a fall frompoliticalgracewas usuallyfollowedby the physical extermination,not only of the 'unmaskedenemy', but also of his politicalfriends.A fewyearsagobothFrenchhistorian NicolasWerth and Russianplaywright(and Stalinbiographer)EdvardRadzinsky drew attention to a possible parallel between the fall-out after Zhdanov'sdeathin I948 andthatof S. M. Kirov(I886-I934).7 The similarities appearstriking. LikeZhdanov,Kirovhadbeena Central CommitteeSecretarywho hadled the LeningradPartyorganization for many years.Many have claimedthat substantialcircumstantial 4 R. Conquest, PowerandPolicyin theU.S.S.R.. TheStrugglefor Stalin'sSuccession, i945-1g60, New York, I967, pp. I 0I -03 (hereafter, PowerandPolicy);W. G. Hahn, PostwarSovietPolitics. TheFall of Zhdanovand theDefeatof Moderation,I946-i953, Ithaca, NY, I982, pp. 98- IOI (hereafter, Postwar SovietPolitics). Conquest's argument is based on the coincidence of Zhdanov's fall with the Soviet-Yugoslav rift, while Hahn in his speculations bases himself largely on one Yugoslav source. 5 Iu. N. Zhukov, TainyKremlia.Stalin,Molotov,Beriia,Malenkov,Moscow, 2000, pp. 467-7 I (hereafter, TainyKremlia...