The Rise of the Third Reich

On July 11, 1944, in the Communist Building in Chelyabinsk, meetings related to the future and destiny of the Soviet Union and the international Communist movement continued.

Yesterday, Stalin suddenly arrived in Chelyabinsk. First, he announced the Japanese invasion that no one (other members of the political bureau) knew about. Then, while everyone was still in shock, he announced the "establishment of the Russian Anti-Japanese National United Front." The banner of defending Russian national interests was raised high. They also disguised the incident of ceding territory to Belarus as a sign of unity and joint resistance to Japan.

A few simple measures immediately suppressed all other political bureau members, plus the Cheka organization (the NKVD has now been changed to the Cheka, directly controlled by Beria) in Cheka The power of Ryabinsk made everyone obey Stalin, and at the same time "forgot" under whose wise leadership the great Soviet Union became what it is now. It also seems to have been "ignored" that the so-called anti-Japanese national united front was only realized when Soviet Russia ceded large tracts of land to Belarus.

The Central Committee of the Bolshevik Party of the Soviet Union soon gathered around Comrade Stalin once again. However, the crisis facing the Soviet Union and the Bolshevik Party was far from over.

The current crisis of the Bolshevik Party mainly has two aspects. One is the war with Japan! The war started in the early morning of July 10. In the first 24 hours, the powerful Japanese Kwantung Army achieved relatively good results in the three main assault directions (marching towards Vladivostok, Chita and Mongolia respectively). Big progress. If all of the Soviet Far East fell, the legitimacy of the Bolshevik Party would once again be tested.

The second aspect is the issue of reform. It is Russia's practice to reform after losing the war. Now the Bolshevik Party has recorded a record of defeats and has lost all its territory in the western Ural Mountains! Without drastic reforms, even if the Soviet Red Army could win the war in the Far East, the Bolshevik Party's rule east of the Ural Mountains would still be difficult to maintain.

Moreover, the Soviet Union has now lost its main grain-producing areas and industrial centers. Not only can it not continue to maintain the social welfare and people's living standards before the war, it also faces great difficulties in even basic food and clothing.

The rule of the Bolshevik Party would also be unsustainable if economic difficulties were not resolved.

Therefore, the urgency of carrying out reforms in the Soviet Union—mainly economic reforms—was no less urgent than resisting the Japanese invaders.

"Comrades, now we must admit the fact that the cause of communism has encountered unprecedented difficulties and setbacks! Our cause is on the verge of failure. If we cannot unite and resist foreign enemies with the greatest determination, and at the same time carry out a thorough, If we cannot make major reforms that allow our cause to survive and develop in the most difficult environment, then we will become sinners of the communist cause!"

In the conference room, Comrade Stalin slowly talked about his thoughts, his expression was not strange, and he looked confident. At this time when the whole party is in panic, Stalin, as the leader, must let everyone know that he has a solution.

"Comrade General Secretary, our current difficulties are indeed unprecedented, and we must reform. But...how should we change?" Molotov asked with a puzzled look on his face. Other political bureau members and alternate members present at the meeting also They looked at a loss, as if except Stalin, the leaders of the Bolshevik Party had nothing to do.

Stalin took a puff of his pipe and said with a smile: "We also encountered such difficulties in the 1920s. Didn't we overcome them through reforms back then?"

"Comrade General Secretary," Khrushchev said as if he suddenly understood, "are you saying that you want to resume the implementation of the New Economic Policy?"

Stalin smiled and nodded - in fact the NEP was now beginning to resume! Long before Stalin left Moscow, the reform of equal land distribution had already begun in the "Soviet Area" west of the Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union. Rumors of the implementation of new economic policies throughout the Soviet Union have been circulating for quite some time.

However, the Soviet bigwigs attending the meeting today seemed to have heard of this for the first time.

Stalin nodded and said, “The New Economic Policy will be the reference for our reforms this time, but the difficulties we face now are greater than in the early 1920s, and the pace of reform must also be greater.

For example, in terms of agricultural policy, it is not enough to simply divide land equally among farmers. Because we have now lost the most fertile and easily cultivated land. Although we still own a lot of land, more than 10 million square kilometers, most of the land is either located in the cold zones of higher dimensions or in the deserts and grasslands of Central Asia. Small family farms are not suitable there; large farms with the advantages of scale are most suitable. And we must allow private individuals—not only Soviet citizens, but also businessmen from Europe or the Americas—to lease or acquire land in the Soviet Union to establish large farms. "

"Comrade General Secretary," Andreev, the political bureau member in charge of agricultural work, interjected at this time and asked, "Do you mean that there is no need to allocate land east of the Ural Mountains?"

"No, of course not." Stalin shook his head. "Allocating land is necessary. This is a necessary condition for us to gain continued support from the people. To this end, we must not only provide support to the Soviet Union who have long lived in Siberia, Central Asia and the Far East. Land should also be allocated to citizens with rural registered permanent residence. Land should also be allocated to all citizens who migrated from the west. Land should also be allocated to all citizens with urban registered permanent residence.

In addition, the focus of land distribution should be on Central Asia. It will also be a key area for resettling Soviet citizens moving eastward, and the citizens who follow us should be placed in rich and fertile land. "

Hearing this, the political bureau members and political bureau alternate members present all showed thoughtful expressions.

The reform and restoration of the New Economic Policy are all expected by everyone, but the issues Stalin is raising now are not just economic reforms, but also involve the party's Central Asia policy...

But if you think about it carefully, this is inevitable. Because after losing the area east of the Ural Mountains, the Soviet Union's most valuable territory is not Siberia and the Far East, but Central Asia!

Because Siberia is too cold and the Far East is too cold and far away, it is impossible to accommodate the large number of people migrating from the western Soviet Union.

So Central Asia is the only place for them to go! Once a large number of Russians arrive in Central Asia, the population structure of Central Asia will inevitably change, and there will inevitably be certain conflicts between the newly moved Russians and local non-Russians.

After all, in Central Asia, the land truly suitable for cultivation and habitation is limited. If it is all allocated to Russians, what will happen to the local non-Russian people?

Stalin continued: "Because the immigration of Russians will change the demographic structure of the five Central Asian republics, these five republics will be abolished in due course."

Is this going the route of Great Russian chauvinism?

The political bureau members and alternate members murmured in their hearts, but no one raised any objections.

Because Central Asia is clearly the core territory of the future Soviet Union, and of course it must be firmly controlled. How can we establish a union republic?

“We must allow citizens who have been allocated land to transfer their land.” Stalin did not mention the issue of abolishing several republics in Central Asia, but returned to the land issue. “We must also allow them to use land as shares to establish joint-stock farms. "

"General Secretary, is land privately owned?" Andreev asked again.

"It's private."

Stalin's answer surprised the political bureau members and alternate members present.

This pace of reform is huge! It is time to restore private ownership of the means of production. Because land is a means of production, distribution to farmers under the premise of state ownership and direct private ownership are two completely different concepts!

"This is also necessary!" Stalin swept away the political bureau members and alternate members, "We must give land to the comrades who follow us. This is the only thing we can give them at the moment.

In addition, this is also very necessary for us to absorb capital from Europe and America! If we want to develop the economies of Central Asia, Siberia and the Far East and change the current difficult situation, external investment, technology and markets are essential. "

Obviously, during his time in Moscow, Stalin seriously considered the Soviet Union's future after losing the rich land in the west.

The line of socialism in one country seems wrong now, let alone socialism in a semi-country?

If the Soviet Union wanted to survive, it had no other choice but to restore private ownership to a certain extent, and also find ways to attract investment from the United States and Europe and develop the resources and land of Siberia and Central Asia.

Moreover, according to Stalin's vision, the reforms that the Soviet Union will implement will actually be beneficial to the European Community - the future Soviet Union will not and will not have the power to exclude capital and goods from Europe.

Of course, implementing some privatization reforms does not mean completely abandoning large state-owned industries. However, most of the large state-owned industries that have moved to the east of the Ural Mountains are related to military industry and are the lifeblood of the Bolshevik Party.

However, these "lifeblood industries" produced military products and could not meet the needs of the Soviet people at all. If the Soviet government could not produce a sufficient amount of light industrial products, it would encounter the same problem it encountered before the New Economic Policy in the early 1920s - farmers were unwilling to sell agricultural products to the country, and without agricultural products, the country would be unable to maintain industry. and the functioning of the city.

Therefore, the Soviet Union must import goods from Europe in the future, and at the same time export resource products to Europe.

And this requires absorbing investment from Europe...otherwise, the Soviet Union will not be able to maintain its existence for a long time.

"But Comrade General Secretary," Voroshilov frowned, showing a puzzled expression, "Europe is now basically controlled by Germany, and our trade routes to the west are controlled by White Russia. They will allow us to absorb European capital and trade with Europe?”

Stalin smiled coldly: "Of course! Otherwise we won't be able to survive! The Germans don't want us to die now because they don't want Russia to be unified. In this case, they will let us draw the necessary resources and funds from Europe . At least for the next thirty or forty years, there will be no problem.”