Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941 полностью

At this point, Nikolai Aseyev, the poet and screenwriter, who was attending such a gathering for the first time, committed a remarkable act. “I will speak openly,” he stated. “Comrade Stalin said that he likes the writings of Wanda Wasilewska. Very well, I should say, that you liked the works of Wanda Wasilewska. Personally, I read them and they did not touch me deeply. Why am I saying this? Because tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, Wanda Wasilewska will suddenly become the single standard of writerly achievement.” Aseyev continued, “I am not afraid of anything; I believe that here everything will be properly taken into account and weighed, but sometimes it happens thusly: ‘But comrade Stalin said it!’ Of course we must take this into account, but if comrade Stalin likes this or that written work, this or that painting, it does not signify that such works should be repeated, three hundred thousand times repeat the same written work, the same painting.” Stalin interjected: “It does not mean that.”

Aseyev was dead right: Stalin’s tastes were dispositive. The despot offered closing instructions. “I would prefer that we portrayed enemies not as beasts, but as people, harmful to our society, yet not devoid of some human qualities,” he advised. “The worst scoundrel has human qualities; he loves someone, he respects someone, he is prepared to sacrifice himself for someone.” Then this: “Why not depict Bukharin, no matter what kind of monster he was—he had certain human qualities. Trotsky was an enemy, but he was an able person, indisputably. Portray him as an enemy with negative qualities, but also with positive qualities, because he had them, indisputably.”¹⁷³

Who in their right mind might take up Stalin’s suggestion to depict Bukharin and Trotsky as having had positive qualities?

Stalin declared that evening that he disliked The Law of Life’s depiction of those who unmasked enemies, such as the protagonist Communist Youth League student, as not properly Soviet people. “We had, for example, 25 to 30 million people who starved—there was not enough grain—but now they have started to live well,” Stalin suddenly acknowledged. “Our enemies inside the party think as follows: ‘We’ll give this piece [of land] to the Germans, that to the Japanese; we have plenty of land.’ But it has turned out the opposite: we give nothing to anyone. On the contrary, we are expanding the front of socialism. . . . This is beneficial for humanity; indeed, the Lithuanians, western Belorussians, Bessarabians, those we freed from the yoke of the landowners, capitalists, police, and every other kind of scum, consider themselves lucky. From the point of view of the world struggle of forces between socialism and capitalism, this is a big plus, for we are expanding the front of socialism and shrinking the front of capitalism.”¹⁷⁴ After midnight, he repaired to the Little Corner with Zhdanov, Molotov, and Beria.¹⁷⁵

AMBIGUITIES

Thanks to Hitler’s secret July 1940 order to expand Germany’s already sizable military, shipments to the Soviet Union fell far behind contractual obligations. Beginning in August 1940, in a show of strength, Stalin had his trade representatives convey that the Soviets would be cutting back on all deliveries, including oil.¹⁷⁶ Germany had more options than ever, following the occupation of France, the Low Countries, Denmark, and Norway, to go with strong commercial ties to neutral Sweden and its ally Romania. Continued reliance on the Soviet Union, moreover, was becoming a sore point. Even if Stalin might be ready to resume and perhaps deliver even more, it was better, in the words of the Nazi economics minister, not to be “dependent upon forces and powers over whom we have no influence.”¹⁷⁷ By September 1, German divisions in East Prussia, former Poland, Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria climbed to 94 from 27 (as of June 15), according to a report from the new head of Soviet military intelligence, Lieutenant General Filipp Golikov, to Stalin, Molotov, Beria, and the military high command.¹⁷⁸

On August 31, 1940, Molotov had received Schulenburg and complained that Germany had violated the Pact by failing to consult the USSR regarding German moves in Hungary and Romania. On September 2, the Soviet envoy in Berlin, Shkvartsev, had an audience with Ribbentrop, who stated of the Pact, “I share your satisfaction and think that the year has brought great benefits to both Germany and Russia. Germany has achieved great victories and will achieve them.” That same day, Shkvartsev requested Moscow not to send wives and children to Berlin, “in light of the almost daily systematic bombing” by Britain.¹⁷⁹ On September 3, TASS announced the signing of a clarification agreement in Berlin on regulating the Germany-USSR border, “negotiations for which had proceeded in a benevolent atmosphere.”¹⁸⁰