Struggle in Soviet Russia

The sense of identity itself is a kind of standing in line, it is soft power, or in other words, it is the best effect that cultural output can bring. This sense of identity may not see any effect in the short term, but in the long run, when most of the people in a certain country are inclined towards Moscow in terms of cultural identity, how can this country stand in the alliance in terms of diplomatic stance on the opposite side? Especially when the country is a so-called "democracy".

The informal meeting of the members of the Politburo lasted until four o'clock in the afternoon. In fact, if Comrade Stalin was not in a good mood and needed to get some sleep, it is estimated that this meeting could have been held directly into the evening.

For Victor, he also didn't sleep last night. Although he took a nap in the morning, but more than an hour was not enough to make up for all the sleep he lost last night. When he followed the members of the Politburo Comrades, when I left Comrade Stalin's office, I was exhausted and just wanted to find a place to sleep well.

However, when he went downstairs, this idea was ruthlessly shattered by Comrade Zhdanov.

"Victor," Comrade Zhdanov walked ahead when he came out of Comrade Stalin's office. In the entire Politburo, only Voroshilov and Kaganovich were older than him. This is a comrade. Although these two are currently behind Comrade Zhdanov in the ranking of the party, as a basic etiquette, Comrade Zhdanov will still compare the performance of these two old comrades in public. Dear.

However, just as he was about to reach the corner of the stairs, Comrade Zhdanov, who was walking in front, suddenly slowed down. He whispered something to Comrade Molotov, who was walking next to him, and then gave way to the corridor. on the side, turned around at the same time, looked at Victor who was walking behind, and said, "Any work arrangements next?"

Victor was stunned for a moment, and the other party asked such a question, obviously what was the next arrangement.

He looked at Comrade Zhdanov, and then subconsciously glanced at Comrade Malenkov who was walking in front, and then said: "There is still a document in the International Department that needs to be reviewed, I think..."

"Then it will take up half an hour of your time," Comrade Zhdanov interrupted him without giving him a chance to finish his sentence, "I am very interested in your concept of soft power. , I hope to listen to your detailed and in-depth talk."

After a pause, he added: "Our ideological work and propaganda and agitation work are closely related to the work of the International Department. In addition, recently, I have also studied what you have proposed before. Regarding the idea of ​​establishing a joint intelligence agency within the Communist Party and Workers' Party of various countries, I think we can all do some active communication in this regard."

Victor hesitated for a while, he could see that Comrade Zhdanov should be telling the truth, he was really very interested in the concept of soft power, if nothing else, the boss should be planning to do this He was even willing to make some sort of compromise for this. What he added was actually giving Victor, and even Comrade Malenkov, conditions that the ideological department and the propaganda and agitation department under his leadership could give Victor enough in the work related to the International Department. He can also make certain concessions on the formation of the "Communist and Workers' Party Intelligence Bureau".

In Victor's previous life, after the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Alliance also established such a "Communist Party and Workers' Party Intelligence Bureau". And the person who pushed this matter at that time was Comrade Zhdanov, who was very ambitious and was considered likely to take over the post of Comrade Stalin.

However, in this time and space, when Victor was still in the National Security People's Commissariat, he was already promoting this matter, and the "Communist Party and Workers' Party Intelligence Bureau" he promoted at the beginning was to put more work The focus is on intelligence work, and the members who are recruited are mainly the heads of security departments of European countries.

It is a pity that Victor left the People's Commissariat for National Security, after all, it was still too early. The series of work he had done in this area had not yielded results, so he left the People's Commissariat for National Security. After that, although he 's successor is also pushing for it, but the support it can get is so far removed from Victor's situation at the time that in many respects it appears to be more than enough.

Now, Comrade Beria, who has a certain influence on the National Security People's Commissariat, is also promoting this work. However, his influence on the national security agency is secret, and in terms of power, he is in the national security department. He has no say in his work, so the impetus he can give in this regard is also very limited.

At this time, Comrade Zhdanov took the initiative to hand over an olive branch. He would rather make concessions on the issue of the People's Commissariat of State Security and grasp the concept of developing soft power proposed by Victor. How important is this new concept.

To put it bluntly, what Comrade Zhdanov wants is not just to hear Victor’s introduction to the connotation of the concept. What he needs is cooperation. The Propaganda and Agitation Department and the Central International Department have comprehensive cooperation on the issue of promoting soft power. It can even be said that , what Comrade Zhdanov wants to do is to firmly hold the main power to promote this matter in his own hands. In his view, the shabby affairs with Beria and Malenkov in the People's Commissariat of State Security It should be far less promising than this work.

Viktor could naturally understand what Comrade Bzhdanov said, so he immediately looked at Comrade Malenkov who was walking in front of him. As a result, he saw that the other party turned down the stairs without looking back and went straight downstairs. went.

Seeing that Comrade Malenkov had no intention of turning back, and Comrade Beria, who was walking in front of him, also had no intention of stopping, Victor understood the attitude of the two. Obviously, they did not prevent him from sharing the same ideas with Comrade Zhdanov. The contact between them is only after the fact, and they must know the result.

"Alright then, Comrade Andrei Alexandrovich," retracting his gaze, Viktor nodded to meet Comrade Zhdanov's gaze on him, "If you don't mind the small size of my office, we will You can sit there for a while."

Comrade Zhdanov can directly address him by his first name, but he cannot address each other in the same way. After all, the age difference between the two is a bit big. It is his elder.

Facing Viktor's proposal, Comrade Zhdanov smiled and nodded, and then made a gesture of invitation to him, but he took the first step down the stairs.

Comrade Zhdanov is very tall, but because of the stairs, Viktor followed behind him, and he could still see the top of his head... This guy has already bald a bit, but it's not obvious. However, according to Victor's estimation, it will take about ten years for this guy to become a bald old man.

However, what Victor could not have predicted was that the Alliance boss who was ahead of him had actually not had a good ten years to live.

From walking down the stairs until returning to his office, Viktor's mind was on the issue of cooperation with Comrade Zhdanov.

It's not that there is any high profile, nor that the revolutionary sentiment is too lofty, but to seek truth from facts, Victor and Comrade Zhdanov are in different positions, and the way they think about issues is also different. Power expansion, the honor of this "pioneer", is very important to his personal political position in the alliance. Just imagine, after a few years, once the alliance's influence on the world in terms of soft power has greatly increased, as the main person in charge of this work, what kind of honor will Comrade Zhdanov get in the party? Such an honor is of great help for him to reach the pinnacle of power, and compared to this gain, a momentary power struggle is naturally insignificant.

And what about Victor? His current status is not that high, and what he needs to win is not the opinions of other comrades in the party, but the opinions of Comrade Stalin and the leading comrades of the Politburo. For this, what he needs to do is practical work , instead of figuring out those false names.

All in all, all in all, what Comrade Zhdanov needs now is not to show Comrade Stalin or someone in the Politburo his ability to work, but to demonstrate his leadership to the entire Bolshevik group. , and this leadership ability includes not only work ability, but also vision and vision. As for Viktor, he has not yet come this far, and his status and reputation in the Bolshevik party group is determined by the evaluation of the superior leadership.

This is why the two view the problem from different angles.

Therefore, Viktor doesn't care that Comrade Zhdanov comes to compete for the dominance of related work, as long as the actual work is finally handed over to him, and when the results come out, Comrade Zhdanov can certainly deduct the honor to his own In this way, he showed his ability to the whole party and the whole alliance, and Victor was not without gains. After all, Comrade Stalin and the members of the Politburo who attended the meeting today knew what he had done for this.