Struggle in Soviet Russia

Entering September, the weather in Karelia begins to be cold day by day. On the shore of Lake Onega, the vast jungle is changing from green in summer to yellow in autumn. Everything is going on quietly, as if it is constantly changing. The prevailing international situation is general.

On the outskirts of Petrozavodsk, at the Tulodimo Palace Villa by Lake Onega, Victor sat in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows in the hall on the first floor, flipping through a newspaper in his hand.

The newspaper is the "Izvestia" published today, and the front page headline on it published the report made by Comrade Stalin at the work meeting of the Central Committee at the end of August. In this report, Comrade Stalin expounded the advantages of the alliance socialist system in many aspects, and creatively put forward a concept of "spiritual civilization construction", requiring the workers in the propaganda and agitation departments to cultivate the alliance's "four characteristics". ” work and do as much as possible.

Also in this report, Comrade Stalin recalled the victory of the Great Patriotic War just now, and pointed out predictably that as long as the capitalist system still exists in this world, to be precise, as long as the exploitation system still exists The existence of war is inevitable. Therefore, the construction of military power must always be placed in a more critical position in the government work of the alliance.

Without a strong military force, there can be no national security, and without the existence of national security, there can be no promotion of socialist construction. Therefore, according to this logic, the construction of military force must be placed in a series of secondary, It is more secondary or even non-primary national work. At the same time, this also means that the focus of alliance country construction should still be placed in the main industrial field dominated by heavy industry.

Seeing this, two main meanings have already been revealed in this report. One is that Comrade Stalin has come up with a new socialist theory, and perhaps in a period of time to come, a brand-new and systematic socialist ideology and theory. , it will be gradually expressed, and those theoretical researchers must keep up with the rhythm as soon as possible.

And another meaning is that after a long period of debate, the various disputes about economic work within the alliance are finally coming to an end, because Comrade Stalin has already made a final decision on this issue, and he has come up with the final opinion. , that is the focus of the alliance's economic work, which is still heavy industry. Fundamentally, economic policies in all aspects should still follow the pre-war set.

Then, the various views in the economic field of the Union have been fighting for so long, no matter whether it is Zhdanov, Malenkov, or Woznesensky, no one has the absolute upper hand, but why did Comrade Stalin suddenly At this time, he personally went into battle and put forward an opinion of his own?

In fact, those who are a little more politically sensitive can smell an unusual smell from the recent series of events, and this smell comes from the international environment, from the rapidly complicated relationship between the alliance and the United Kingdom and the United States. .

In the past month or so, the international situation has indeed undergone great changes. First in Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States stepped up their intervention in the situation in Italy, and the guerrillas led by the Italian left-wing forces were completely suppressed. Before the situation in Italy eased, Britain and the United States had a series of frictions with the westward Yugoslavs, which led to a confrontation between the alliance and the United States in the western Balkans.

In Greece, the KKE, which was acquiesced by Moscow, finally fired the first shot against the British intervention. Afterwards, the Greek civil war broke out in an all-round way. The KKE, which received Yugoslav support and received a large number of Soviet military equipment, was able to resist the British intervention in just one month. He drove the British and the restored royal family out of Athens. Even if they were counterattacked by the British, the KKK's troops obviously always had the upper hand. If the situation develops according to this situation, it is estimated that it will not be long before the British. had to be forced to leave Greece.

In Vietnam, with the outbreak of the August Revolution, the Viet Cong quickly took control of the entire North Vietnamese region, and took advantage of the situation to declare independence from the French colonial rule. Immediately afterwards, Indonesia also declared its independence. In South Asia, the Foreign Intelligence Service has established a firm foothold in India and other places. The Indian Communist Party, led by Coats and others, has begun to step up its activities and plans to launch armed struggles in a series of regions, including Andhra Pradesh. In North Korea...

In short, with the surrender of Japan, the war came to an end all over the world, the main contradiction between fascism and anti-fascism disappeared, and the secondary contradictions that were once concealed quickly emerged and occupied a dominant position. As for the main contradiction that is becoming more and more obvious, it is the conflict between the communist ideology pursued by the alliance and the capitalist ideology pursued by Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States. This conflict can be said to be a comprehensive conflict. All turbulent regions of the world exist.

It was also at this sensitive time, on the first day of September, that the U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, Harriman, suddenly submitted a note to the People's Committee for Foreign Affairs on behalf of the Washington government. As the current U.S. president, Mr. Truman, on behalf of the U.S. Congress, A proposal to Moscow: They hoped that the alliance would repay the military aid that Britain and the United States provided to the Soviet Union during the war in the next two to three years.

Well, this request came a bit suddenly. It is estimated that Comrade Stalin was not prepared in the slightest. After the initial complicated mentality passed, it is estimated that the old man was furious. Therefore, Comrade Molotov took the position of the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs. , on behalf of Moscow, sent a letter to Harriman, making it clear that the alliance did not owe Britain and the United States anything, not even a dollar, a bullet, or a grain of salt, because in the war, the alliance took on the great burden of fighting against the German army. Part of the mission, thus saving Britain from perishing and reducing the losses of the Americans, not to mention that the Alliance also eliminated nearly 700,000 Japanese Kwantung troops in the Far East.

Correspondingly, it is the huge losses suffered by the alliance in the war. Considering these realities, the aid that Britain and the United States gave to the alliance during the war can only be regarded as making up part of the losses of the alliance. Therefore, this is a kind of An exchange, not a loan from one party to another.

It is precisely because of various events here that the relationship between the alliance and the United Kingdom and the United States has a tendency to expand rapidly, and this has also shattered Comrade Stalin's previous illusions about the Americans. Gradually, he is no longer. He expects to maintain the kind of friendly relations with the Americans during the war. What he expects may be the peaceful coexistence between the United States and the Soviet Union. After all, the nuclear weapons of the alliance have not yet been successfully developed. Therefore, in the In terms of strategic comparison, the alliance is still in a weak position.

Of course, it was precisely because he had foreseen the end of the U.S.-Soviet honeymoon period that Comrade Stalin would continue to adhere to his economic construction plan. After all, the economic policy he implemented at the beginning promoted the rapid development of the Union industry in the 1920s and 1930s. The development of the Great Patriotic War also laid the prerequisites for winning the Great Patriotic War. Now, although the Germans have been defeated, the external danger of the alliance has obviously not disappeared. On the contrary, the potential enemies of the alliance have now become Americans, and the Americans are much stronger than the Germans in terms of industrial capabilities. .

Today, Victor is staying in Karelia, and he is obviously far enough away from international politics. If it weren't for the reports in the newspapers, he would be almost blind to current affairs. What he can see in front of his eyes is that of Karelia. something.

Also at the Central Committee working meeting at the end of August, after some continuous discussions, the site selection of the nuclear power plant finally came to the result that Victor was most looking forward to. Then, through scientific research and demonstration by experts, The construction of the nuclear power plant was eventually placed on the island of Valaam in the northern part of Lake Ladoga.

Valaam Island is in the territory of the Karelian-Finnish Soviet Republic, but it is located on Lake Ladoga. In the past, this island used to be a religious shrine. There are a large number of churches and religious facilities on the island. Only in October After the revolution, especially after the turmoil in the 1920s and 1930s, most of the churches on the island were abandoned, which is the best place to build a nuclear power plant.

In addition to the nuclear power plant project settled in Karelia, the "Institute of Precision Instrument and Computer Engineering" led by the Soviet Academy of Sciences also finally selected Petrozavodsk as its base, and the project was approved by the State Planning Commission. Highly valued, Comrade Woznesensky, who is known as a miser, actually likes this project, whether it is in terms of funding or the allocation of materials, he has given the green light.

In general, so far, Victor's work has been basically smooth, although he has not established a personal prestige among the officials in the Karelia region, but he definitely has a sense of presence. Especially on the issue of the implementation of the nuclear power plant project, many people are saying that this project was snatched by Viktor from Comrade Popov, an alternate member of the Politburo, the first secretary of the Moscow State Party Committee and the Municipal Party Committee, and there are only some. With this record in hand, no one in Karelia dares to truly ignore his existence.

The sound of clicking footsteps behind him pulled Viktor's thoughts back from the newspaper. He raised his head and glanced at the glass window in front of him. From the mirror-like glass, he saw Sophia's shadow walking from behind.

Folding the newspaper and placing it on the coffee table in front of him, Victor stood up and asked without looking back, "Are all the comrades who are in the meeting here?"