Struggle in Soviet Russia

From a personal point of view, Victor supports and approves the ideological rectification work led and initiated by the propaganda and agitation department this time. Corrective movements are also very necessary.

Before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, despite the three five-year plans for the construction of the Union, the overall economic development was still far behind that of Western countries, especially developed European countries like Germany. The most important thing is that , the Union's economy has only experienced three five-year plans for development, and its uneven level of development is a notable feature.

In fact, for a country as vast as the Soviet Union, unbalanced economic development is an inevitable feature, including the country where Victor lived in his previous life, which also has the feature of unbalanced economic development, which cannot be overcome in a short period of time. .

After the construction of three five-year plans, the development of the Union economy is mainly concentrated in the west of the Ural Mountains and in Ukraine and other regions, while in the east of the Ural Mountains, including the Far East, Siberia and other vast areas, backwardness and poverty are still the same. local theme.

With the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the most economically developed areas of the alliance became the first areas to be destroyed. In the following years of war, in order to persevere in the battlefield, the conscription department of the alliance recruited from the poor and backward eastern areas. A large number of soldiers, and they continue to be put into the battlefield of the Western Front.

In this way, as the front continued to advance westward, and finally to Berlin, those young people recruited from the poor eastern areas of the Union saw the prosperity of Europe, especially developed countries such as Germany, Austria, and Hungary. , to use a cliche, they saw the false prosperity of capitalism.

This kind of development of vision will inevitably have a great impact on the mentality and thinking of young people, and even shake their beliefs to some extent. For this reason, Victor believes that this ideological rectification led by the Propaganda and Agitation Department Action is necessary.

Furthermore, from the perspective of culture, literature and art circles, during the war period in the past few years, the main foreign policy of the alliance was to focus on anti-fascism, and at the same time, to maintain friendly relations with the United Kingdom and the United States and other Western allies, in this case, In their creative work, the cultural and literary circles will inevitably advocate a certain Western-oriented cultural theme.

Now, with the end of the war, the alliance's foreign policy has changed, and its relations with the United Kingdom and the United States and other Western countries have also shifted from friendship in the past to confrontation with reservations. The main melody tone naturally needs to be changed accordingly.

But a very real problem is that people's thinking is not so easy to make changes due to the defects of vision and cognition. Just like in the current culture, literature and art circles, there are people who worship the cultural elements of Western society and worship the West. Their way of life, and their adoration has penetrated into their works. Therefore, in order to prevent this phenomenon, a targeted ideological rectification movement is naturally imperative.

All in all, this league-wide ideological rectification movement is indeed necessary, and Victor will not deny this.

But the problem now is that, perhaps it is Comrade Zhdanov himself, or it is a problem created by people like Komovsky below. Obviously, this ideological rectification campaign was used as an opportunity to fight against dissidents and gain political qualifications for oneself. Most importantly, this situation exists not only in Karelia, but also in other parts of the Union.

One of the most obvious examples is that in the magazine "Culture and Life", the criticism of pro-Western thinking in the cultural and literary circles is turning into a sharp criticism of cosmopolitanism.

Of course, Victor also does not agree with the overly idealized idea of ​​"cosmopolitanism". In his view, international and national attributes are innate labels of a person, and considering obvious external factors such as skin color, The cosmopolitanism of one person or a group of people is meaningless unless everyone in the world becomes cosmopolitan at the same time.

As criticized by the Ministry of Propaganda and Agitation, the "cosmopolitanism" of some people is actually indifference to their own country. If a person cannot serve his own country first, his behavior is no different from a traitor. Just imagine, if a cosmopolitan entered the alliance's technology department, would they leak important technical information in the department to foreign spies? They are cosmopolitans after all.

Yes, Viktor also does not agree with the idea of ​​cosmopolitanism, and he also agrees with the criticism of this kind of thinking by the propaganda and agitation department, but the problem is that the criticism of the propaganda and agitation department is obviously over the line, or they confuse cosmopolitanism and cosmopolitanism. The difference between internationalism confuses the difference between anti-cosmopolitanism and isolationism, and the consequence of this is to expand the scope of attack.

To give the simplest example, Comrade Rokossovsky has encountered a series of troubles in the recent period. Not qualified to wear the "Marshal Star" of the Soviet Red Army, will he betray the interests of the alliance for the interests of the Poles. Of course, the situation faced by Rokossovsky is not an exception. In the Karelia-Finnish Republic, Comrade Kusinen suffered the same trouble.

Victor had great hostility and vigilance against all forms of nationalism within the Union, and it was out of this mentality that he was in favor of the national migration policy promoted by Comrade Stalin, if possible , he prefers to stifle all the tendencies of national separation in the cradle, leaving no trace of life for them.

But nationalism and internationalism, internationalism and cosmopolitanism, cosmopolitanism and nationalism, these three concepts are completely different. If they cannot distinguish clearly, it will bring huge mistakes in work, just like the propaganda and agitation department is now The same as what they do, the style they show in their propaganda is no longer pure anti-cosmopolitanism, but is moving towards narrow nationalism. If it is allowed to continue to develop, it may be in the near future. from nationalism to racism.

This idea of ​​Victor is not alarmist, because recently, offensive remarks against Jews have begun to appear in newspapers and magazines.

Today, with the ruling party in Karelia, Victor's views on certain political issues are becoming more and more clear. To a certain extent, he is forming his own political ideas. Therefore, for some incompatible He also began to dare to confront and express his own opinions, even if the people who stood against him were central bosses like Comrade Zhdanov.

The breakfast prepared by Sofia is very simple. As someone close to Victor, she is very aware of the habits of her men. Unlike most Soviet people, Victor has always paid little attention to breakfast. In many cases, he can even eat breakfast with only a slice of bread. deal with it.

While Victor was having breakfast, Sophia recounted today's schedule to him - recently, Victor's work has not been very busy, but even so, his schedule is still full, most of which are full. Meeting with so-and-so and listening to so-and-so's report is boring, but it is necessary and cannot be avoided.

As far as today's itinerary is concerned, Viktor's most important meeting is scheduled for 10:40 in the morning. He will meet at his residence at his residence, the Director of the Foreign Economic Relations Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, Sakkari Granlon. Germany.

Logically speaking, as the first secretary of the Karelian-Finnish Soviet Republic, Viktor did not need to meet Sakkari in person, and the positions of the two parties were not equal. Sakkari is only the head of a division under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, while Viktor is a real head of state - yes, Karelia is a member republic of the Union after all. According to the provisions of the Soviet constitution, the member republic has its own independence. Diplomatic power, therefore, Viktor's status is the same as that of the President of Finland.

However, Viktor didn't care about these etiquette things, he was more concerned about practical interests. Considering the purpose of Sakkari's visit to Petrozavodsk this time, Viktor was happy to take the time to see each other.

Mr. Sakkari did not come alone on this trip to Karelia. He was accompanied by a guest from France named Jean Monet, who was temporarily representing Charles de Gaulle in France. The government, who came to the alliance to discuss the purchase of bulk materials.

In a previous life, Victor knew about Jean Monet, who made outstanding contributions in the establishment of the European Union, and therefore, has the reputation of "Father of Europe". In the early days of World War II, this person proposed to unite Britain and France into one country with only one government, a coalition government of one army. But it is a pity that he failed to accomplish this. After all, France lost too quickly in World War II. However, his idea of ​​establishing a united European government has never subsided. With the end of World War II, he proposed the idea of ​​a French-German union. The "European Coal and Steel Community" was established under his leadership, and this organization was the predecessor of the European Union.

Of course, Viktor has no interest in the "Father of Europe" himself. What he is really interested in is the order in the other party's hands, the order for bulk materials, which is very important to Karelia.