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Khrushchev's intrigues against Beria
Meanwhile, Khrushchev was plotting against Beria. He first acquired the support from Beria's `protégé, Malenkov, then talked with the others, individually. The last to be contacted was Mikoyan, Beria's best friend. On June 24, the presidium was convened so that Beria could be arrested. Mikoyan stated that Beria `would take our criticisms to heart and reform himself'.
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Khrushchev, Khrushchev Remembers, op. cit. , p. 337.
On a prearranged signal, eleven marshals and generals, led by Zhukov, entered the room and arrested Beria, who would be shot along with his collaborators on December 23, 1953.
On July 14, 1953, General Alexei Antonov and Major-General Efimov organized a `coup d'état' in the Georgian Communist Party and pushed out Beria's men. Mzhavanadze, former Lieutenant-General, became the Party's Prime Minister.
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Ryumin was arrested by Beria on April 5, 1953. Fifteen months later, the Khrushchevites would condemn him for his rôle in the `Doctors' Plot'. On July 23, he was shot. But his boss Ignatiev, protected by Khrushchev, was named First Secretary of the Bashkir Republik.
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Ibid. , pp. 67--70.
At the end of December 1954, Abakumov , former Minister of State Security, and his associates, were condemned to death for having fabricated, on Beria's orders, the `Leningrad Affair' against Voznesensky and his friends.
In September 1955, Nikolay Rukhadze, responsible for Security in Georgia, who had led the purge of Beria's men in 1951, was condemned and shot as `Beria's accomplice'.
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Ibid. , p. 73.
So, from 1950 to 1955, different revisionist groups lashed out with at each other with their fangs, taking advantage of the situation to eliminate Stalin's supporters.
Next: The `rehabilitated' enemies Up: Khrushchev's coup d'état Previous: Stalin's death
Fri Aug 25 09:03:42 PDT 1995