After Stalin's death, the CPSU regrouped a leadership group headed by Malenkov. Although Malenkov is nominally the "number one", he controls far less power than the "second in command" Beria who controls the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Just a few months later, however, Beria was shot on charges of "treason."
(Old photo of Beria)
So, Ming beria has a lot of power, so why was he shot so easily?
In fact, although Beria was the first person in the post-Stalin era, he lacked the help of other big men, and even made many enemies. Isolation was a big reason for his failure.
After Stalin's death, Beria, Malenkov, and Khrushchev all had the opportunity to become their next leaders.
Beria and Khrushchev urinated less than a pot, and Malenkov, the titular leader, was again oppressed by Beria as a vassal without real power. This naturally put Khrushchev and Malenkov on the opposite side of Beria.
In addition to the political bigwigs, Beria also lacked support from the military department. After World War II, Beria searched the apartment of the Soviet hero Zhukov and made a big fuss about Zhukov's pile of German booty. The most important point is that Zhukov attributed all the credit for the victory in World War II to himself, which seriously violated party discipline.
Zhukov was thus sent to the remote military districts and did not return to the center until after Stalin's death. Beria, who had persecuted him, was also hated by Zhukov. Zhukov made great achievements in World War II, and his prestige in the Soviet army was unparalleled. To offend Zhukov was basically to lose military support. In the absence of military power, Beria's chances of success are clearly very slim.
In fact, a political predator is not so easy to be overthrown, but Beria has left too much room for his opponents to operate, and his black material is too much.
(Zhukov's old photo)
Beria is a Cheka by origin and is particularly well suited to secret service intelligence. At Stalin's behest, Beria reorganized the Ministry of Internal Affairs and succeeded in creating an all-pervasive intelligence agency, the predecessor of the famous KGB. As a secret service chief, Beria played a very important role in Stalin's Great Purge. Basically, as soon as Stalin gave the order, Beria would arrest and execute the target in a furious manner.
Although Beria did this, he won the favor of Stalin, and his status rose rapidly. But as an executioner, Beria's hands were stained with the blood of his compatriots, and countless Soviets hated him to the bone.
Later, in the event of Stalin's bizarre death, Beria became the focus of suspicion. When Stalin was seriously ill and needed a doctor, Beria believed that Stalin was just drunk and sleeping, and he issued an order prohibiting the search for a doctor. By the time he later agreed to call the doctor, nearly ten hours had passed, and Stalin had long since missed the best time for treatment.
After this incident, Beria became a figure that was hated by both Stalinists and anti-Stalinists. His situation was undoubtedly already very dangerous.
In fact, a large part of Beria's success was due to Stalin's promotion. During Stalin's lifetime, Beria became dependent on Stalin and began to deal with all kinds of tedious matters. After Stalin's death, Beria lost his patron. And, above all, those who dare not speak out against Stalin will pour all their anger on Beria.
Beria was certainly not stupid, he knew he had to do something, otherwise he would not survive.
(Old photo of Malenkov)
Thus, after Stalin's death, Beriali rode on Malenkov's head and issued a series of policies. Although this would inevitably offend Malenkov, Beria had no choice.
The first thing Beria did was to redress the wrongs of the Great Purge. He took out and rearranged the cases of a large number of generals and politicians, restored the reputation of the people, and showed his determination to repent with actions.
The second thing, Beria amnesty the world. Those who have suffered wrongful convictions, wrongful convictions or crimes that are not serious can return to social and family life. After the order was issued, 1.2 million people were released from prison in the Soviet Union, and the cases of another 400,000 people were stopped from review.
Beria rejected Stalin's national policy and resolutely resisted personality cultism. On this point, Beria and Malenkov were highly in agreement, and the bill was swiftly passed.
Judging from what Beria did, it was obvious that he wanted to get rid of Stalin and win over the big guys from all sides with practical actions.
Unfortunately, stalin's mistakes during his tenure must be held accountable. And Beria, as Stalin's most powerful assistant, is obviously also the most suitable candidate for the pot.
Eventually, Beria was arrested in June 1953 and secretly executed in December.