Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov was a Politburo member and a Russian statesman. From 1953 to 1955, he was the leader of the Soviet Union following the demise of Joseph Stalin. Malenkov, born into a wealthy farming family, entered the Red Army as a volunteer during the 1917 Russian Revolution. Throughout the Civil War, he rose to prominence as a notable figure. Through his partner, Malenkov had a personal connection with Vladimir Lenin, which facilitated his steady ascent through the Soviet leadership echelons. After being appointed to supervise the party’s records, he also established a working relationship with Stalin. During the purges, he worked closely with Stalin, and at the onset of World War II, he was given responsibility for the Soviet missile program. Malenkov promptly seized control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and the nation’s Council of Ministers after Stalin’s death in March 1953. Although he was shortly forced to relinquish his control over the party apparatus, he remained Premier of the Soviet Union until 1955, when he was deposed by Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the CPSU. In 1957, he unsuccessfully attempted to organize a revolt against Khrushchev. He was consequently dismissed from the Politburo and exiled to Kazakhstan.
Youth and Early Life
Georgy Malenkov was born in Orenburg, Russian Empire, on January 8, 1902. His father, Maksimilian Malenkov, was a wealthy landowner in the province of Orenburg, and his mother, Anastasiya Shemiakina, was the daughter of a blacksmith. The orthodox priest was Malenkov’s great-grandfather on his mother’s side.
Malenkov was an impressionable adolescent when the Russian Revolution and Civil War began. His family was dispersed during the ensuing chaos. After graduating from the Orenburg gymnasium a few months prior to the revolution, Malenkov witnessed the uprooting of his family as a result of the revolution.
After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1918, Malenkov joined the Red Army as a volunteer, fighting alongside communists against the White Russian forces. He was among the most ardent adherents of the ideology. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1920. In Turkestan, he served as a political commissar on a propaganda train during the final years of the Civil War.
Georgy’s Political Profession
Even though the White Russians remained active until 1934, the Civil War was essentially over by 1923. In the 1920s, the Bolsheviks consolidated their authority in the former empire. Malenkov emerged as a tenacious communist Bolshevik who was devoted to the cause.
He ascended rapidly through the ranks of the party to become the Communist Secretary at the military-affiliated Bauman Moscow Higher Technical School. According to reports, Malenkov did not graduate from university, opting instead to pursue a career in Soviet politics. However, some sources assert that he did earn a degree in electronics from Bauman.
During this time, he befriended Vyacheslav Malyshev, who would later become a prominent figure in Soviet Russia and co-direct the Soviet nuclear program with Igor Kurchatov. Stalin appointed Malenkov to the Organizational Bureau (Orgburo) of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party in 1924. One year later, he was appointed to the Orgburo of the CPSU Central Committee.
Malenkov was Stalin’s direct subordinate when he oversaw the project of maintaining records on members of the Soviet communist party. During the following decade, two million member files were compiled. During Stalin’s purges, these files were utilized extensively in treason proceedings. Nikolai Yezhov was a Soviet secret police officer operating under Stalin as the head of the People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD).
During the purges from 1936 to 1938, Yezhov supervised mass arrests and executions. However, he eventually lost Stalin’s favor and power as the Politburo feared Yezhov would disclose Stalin’s involvement in the purges. Malenkov collaborated with Stalin and other members of the Politburo to bring down and ultimately execute Yezhov.
In 1939, Malenkov became the director of the Cadres Directorate of the communist party, effectively gaining control over the personal matters of the party bureaucracy. He was also designated as a member and secretary of the Central Committee and promoted to full membership in the Orgburo in the same year. By February 1941, he was a candidate for membership in the Politburo.
If the Civil War was the “greatest national catastrophe Europe had ever witnessed,” then the impact of World War II on Russian society was cataclysmic. Academic estimates indicate that approximately 27 million Russians, both military and civilian, perished.
The Soviet economy, which had risen steadily prior to the conflict, was in complete disarray after the war: factories were destroyed, railways were disrupted, and mechanized farming was nonexistent. To pull the country out of a third-world economy, Politburo had to initiate a new iteration of the Five-Year Plans.
As a consequence of the German invasion of Russia in June 1941, Moscow underwent significant changes. As the Politburo had signed the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact with Nazi Germany in August 1939, it was taken completely by surprise by the German aggression. Nevertheless, they responded appropriately.
The State Defense Committee (Gosudarstvennyj komitet oborony, GKO) included Lavrentiy Beria, NKVD chief after Yezhov; Kliment Voroshilov, a high-ranking officer in the Russian military; and Vyacheslav Molotov, a statesman, and diplomat, with Stalin himself chairing the committee.
This small group of men held all of the country’s economic and political authority. Malenkov was one of the five most influential individuals in Soviet Russia as a member of this committee. The committee was later joined by Anastas Mikoyan, Commissar of Foreign Trade, and Nikolai Voznesensky, First Deputy Chairman of Sovnarkom.
Malenkov supervised military aircraft production from 1941 to 1943. He also oversaw the development of nuclear weapons. With the notable exception of Leningrad, Stalin appointed him chairman of the committee that oversaw the post-war economic rehabilitation of several liberated areas in 1943.
Malenkov and Beria created the infrastructure for the Soviet missile program under Stalin’s direction. Dmitri Ustinov served as Malenkov’s subordinate in the Soviet Missile program. In subsequent years, Ustinov would become a prominent figure in the Soviet government. He was a rocket scientist and was later designated Soviet Russia’s defense minister.
The Soviet missile and rocket program was founded by Malenkov, Ustinov, and Mikhail Khrunichev, a statesman and lieutenant-general in the technical and engineering division. In one of their initial steps, they assimilated the already-established German missile industry into their program.
Malenkov supervised the Soviet government’s acquisition of the German V2 missile industry, which was transferred from Peenemünde to Moscow in its entirety. This relocation produced unfathomable success. Because of this, not only were the Russians able to construct their own indigenous missiles (Vostok missiles), but it was also instrumental in the development of the Russian space program (Sputnik artificial satellites). Malenkov simultaneously established a number of space centers, including the Kapustin Yar and Khrunichev missile centers.
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov was the most decorated and renowned military commander in Soviet Russia during World War II, having won decisive victories against Nazi Germany in Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Berlin. In the first few years after the war, Zhukov was a national celebrity, which alarmed Stalin, whose own hold on power was partially based on his popularity with the public.
As a result of Zhukov’s close association with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Stalin and his loyalists such as Malenkov and Beria became suspicious of him. They feared he had developed capitalist leanings. Malenkov began building an exhaustive case against Zhukov and several other military officers who were considered national heroes after World War II ended. Malenkov charged Zhukov with anti-revolutionary conduct and “Bonapartism” He orchestrated Zhukov’s demotion and downfall.
Stalin was very impressed by Malenkov’s treatment of Zhukov. Malenkov entered the Politburo as a candidate member in 1946. After the enigmatic death of his political rival Andrei Zhdanov in 1948, Malenkov became one of Stalin’s most favored government associates. In that year, he was designated Secretary of the Central Committee.
After the end of World War II, the leaders of Leningrad, including Mayor Alexei Kuznetsov and his deputies, had become national icons, and Leningrad’s significance was on the rise.
Despite the fact that Kuznetsov and his men were staunch Stalinists, there was a concern in Moscow that Leningrad posed a threat to the capital’s image as the sole center of power in the Soviet Union. Malenkov, with the assistance of Beria, caused Kuznetsov’s downfall. He and his comrades were put on trial, executed, and buried in unmarked graves.
Thirteen Soviet Jews were executed at the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow on August 12, 1952. This became known as the Night the Poets Were Murdered. The men who were executed were all members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee.
Following their detention on charges of espionage, treason, and numerous other offenses between September 1948 and June 1949, they were beaten, isolated, and tortured for three years prior to being formally charged with anything. During the Night of the Murdered Poets and beyond, Malenkov supervised the annihilation of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee.
Leadership within the Soviet Union
Stalin passed away on March 5, 1953, following a cerebral hemorrhage on March 1. Immediately following, Stalin’s top lieutenants engaged in a power struggle. At Stalin’s funeral, four of these individuals, Malenkov, Molotov, Beria, and Khrushchev, delivered eulogies.
Malenkov secured the premiership on 6 March 1953 with the assistance of Beria, becoming Stalin’s first successor as leader of the Soviet Union. His name was also at the head of the list of the Presidium of the Central Committee, the alternative name for the Politburo since 1952. The following day, he was designated first among the Secretariat’s secretaries. This made him the most influential individual in the Soviet Union.
However, Malenkov did not experience absolute power for as long as his predecessor. Nine days later, he was compelled to resign from the Secretariat, and Khrushchev was appointed in his stead. Malenkov and Khrushchev would govern the Soviet Union until February 1955.
Malenkov was a well-liked administrator due predominantly to his belief that consumer goods production should be increased. Malenkov was unable to prevent the rapid accumulation of power by the party apparatus and the advancement of newer generations of politicians. It gave Khrushchev the confidence to organize a “palace coup.”
In February 1955, Malenkov resigned from his position as prime minister after being criticized for the slow rate of progress, particularly regarding the rehabilitation of political prisoners. He would continue to serve as the Deputy Premier under Premier Nikolai Bulganin for another two years.
In 1957, Malenkov attempted to organize his own palace revolt against Khrushchev, who had the backing of Zhukov and, by extension, the military. At a succeeding session of the Party Central Committee, Khrushchev dubbed Malenkov and his co-conspirators, Molotov and Lazar Kaganovich, the ‘Anti-Party Group’. Malenkov and the other individuals were expelled from Politburo.
The Final Years & Death
The communist party severed all ties with Malenkov in 1961, and he was sent to Ust’-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan to manage a hydroelectric facility. He was subsequently permitted to return to Moscow and avoided politics for the remainder of his life. At the time of his demise, he had converted to Russian Orthodoxy and was an avid reader and choir singer.
Malenkov would spend the following twenty-six years in political obscurity. On January 14, 1988, at the age of 86, he passed away. Most prominent Soviet newspapers initially failed to mention his passing. About a month later, the government revealed the news to foreign media.
Georgy’s Major Reforms
As the Soviet Union’s premier, Malenkov adopted a more liberal stance than his predecessor. While adhering to Stalinist ideals, he was outspoken in his opposition to nuclear weapons, once stating, “A nuclear war could lead to global destruction.”
In addition, Malenkov reduced the supplementary payments to high-level political officials and invested the savings in the wages of lower-level employees. He attempted, albeit unsuccessfully, to improve the country’s agriculture by increasing the purchase price and decreasing tariffs. During this time, a proverb began circulating in rural Russia: “When Malenkov arrived, we ate pancakes.”
In addition, he established the system for issuing passports to villagers who had been denied permission to depart their village since 1932. This reform was never fully implemented, however.
Georgy Malenkov’s Awards
Georgy Malenkov obtained the title of Hero of Socialist Labor on September 30, 1943.
He had been awarded three Orders of Lenin. He received his first on September 30, 1943, his second in November 1945, and his third in January 1952.
Personal History and Legacy
Valeria Golubtsova was a graduate of engineering and the daughter of Aleksei Golubtsov, the former State Councilor of the Russian Empire in Nizhny Novgorod and superintendent of the Imperial Cadet School. She began cohabiting with Malenkov in Turkestan in 1920, the same year she joined the Soviet Communist Party. Their union was never officially registered, and for the rest of their lives, they were unregistered companions. Together, they had three children, including a son named Andrei.
According to her coworkers, Golubtsova held anti-Semitic views. Years before the revolution, her mother was a member of the Nevzorov sisters, a Moscow-based women-only society associated with Lenin. In the early stages of their respective careers, Malenkov and Golubtsova achieved success within the communist party with the assistance of this connection. She served as the director of the Moscow Energy Institute in the years that followed.
Estimated Net Worth
The net worth of Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov is $2 Million.
Trivia
In the 2017 satirical film ‘The Death of Stalin,’ veteran American actor Jeffrey Tambor portrayed Malenkov.