#andrei aleksandrov-Agentov

[revolutionary-marxism]

"In the spring of 1965, a large group of consultants from our and other departments were entrusted with the preparation of a report by the First Secretary of the Central Committee for the 20th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. We were sitting on the fifth floor in a room not far from Brezhnev's office. I was assigned to lead the group, and that is why Brezhnev's assistant [Aleksandrov-Agentov] passed on to me his request to analyze and evaluate the parallel text sent to him by Shelepin. Later, Brezhnev came out himself, shook hands with everyone and turned to me with a question:

- Well, what kind of dissertation did he send?

And the "dissertation", I must say, was serious - no more and no less than an application for a complete revision of the entire party policy of the Khrushchev period in the spirit of frank neo-Stalinism. We counted 17 points of a sharp turn of the political rudder to the old times: the restoration of Stalin's "good name"; revision of the decisions of the XX and XXII congresses; the rejection of the approved Party Program and certain guarantees fixed in it against the recurrence of the personality cult, in particular, the rejection of the rotation of personnel; the liquidation of economic councils and the return to the departmental principle of leadership, the installation of strict labor discipline to the detriment of democracy; return to the line of world revolution and rejection of the principle of peaceful coexistence as well as from the formula for a peaceful transition to socialism in the capitalist countries; restoration of friendship with Mao Zedong through complete concessions to him in regard to criticism of the cult of personality and the general strategy of the communist movement; the renewal of the former characteristics of the Union of Communists of Yugoslavia as a "hotbed of revisionism and reformism " ... And much more in the same direction."

- Fyodor Mikhailovich Burlatsky, scientific secretary of the editorial and publishing council for social sciences and political columnist for the Pravda newspaper; F. M. Burlatsky. Leaders and advisers. M.: Politizdat. 1990.

#soviet union #quotes #anti-revisionism #stalin #alexander shelepin #leonid brezhnev #Fyodor Burlatsky #andrei aleksandrov-Agentov #marxism-leninism #cold war #China #Mao Zedong #mao zedong thought

[revolutionary-marxism]

"I am reminded of the lengthy remarks and corrections that Shelepin constantly made to the texts of the speeches sent out by Brezhnev. They all went in the same direction: to sharpen the class approach to problems, to strengthen discipline, to stand firmer against the intrigues of imperialism, to put an end to the relapses of "Khrushchevism", to which he attributed the course towards strengthening peaceful coexistence in foreign policy, to resume mutual understanding with the leadership of China (and after all it was the time of the "cultural revolution" in Beijing). Brezhnev read these remarks, but generally ignored [them]."

- A. M. Aleksandrov-Agentov, assistant to Brezhnev, recalling the adversarial relationship between General Secretary Brezhnev and Secretary of the Central Committee and Politburo member Alexander Shelepin during their power struggle in the mid-1960s, from his book; From Kollontai to Gorbachev: Memoirs of a diplomat.

#soviet union #leonid brezhnev #Alexander Shelepin #Andrei Aleksandrov-Agentov #quotes #anti-revisionism #marxism-leninism