Chapter 413: Power Struggles
Unter den Linden, East Berlin - June 1953
"Form ranks!" shouted Major Valentin Varennikov to his men.
His soldiers formed a line across the street and pointed their rifles at the crowd of student protesters marching their way.
Captain Dmitry Yazov raised a megaphone. "Attention, rioters!" he shouted in broken German. "Disperse your illegal demonstration at once, or we will fire!"
He put down the megaphone and reached for his gun.
"You ready, Valentin?" said Dmitry, loading his pistol.
"Ready as I'll ever be," said Valetin, raising his gun, "I've been itching for a fight for the last ten years."
The protesters didn't stop. Thousands of them walked down the street, yelling anti-equalist slogans and singing capitalist songs.
"We destroyed their palace, and they still don't learn," said Valentin, "Has it ever occurred to them we're acting in their best interests?"
"Never knew Romans were this stupid," said Dmitry.
The protesters continued to approach them as more Soviet soldiers and East German police took up defensive formations next to them.
"Last chance!" shouted Dmitry to the protesters. "We will shoot you!"
"Shoot us, then!" shouted a protester. "At least we die free!"
"Very well, then." Valentin shot the protester in the head.
As the headless student fell to the ground, blood spurting everywhere, Valentin shouted, "FIRE!"
The Soviet soldiers and East German police opened fire, and dozens of protesters fell.
Valentin calmly fired off every bullet in his gun without flinching. As protesters screamed and fell, he coldly picked out a target, fired, and moved on to another target. He fired again. He fired again. A young man with a beer bottle charged him. He shot him in the head. An older man waved a Roman flag. He shot him in the head. A woman shouted at him to stop the shooting. He shot her in the head. One student reached him and prepared to punch him. Valentin point the gun in his face and blew it to pieces, not even flinching as his own face was showered with blood and gore. Their screams were far away. Their blood meant nothing to his boots. They were just fascists and reactionaries and capitalists. They did not deserve to live in a workers' paradise.
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War raged in Siam. As the Thai Royal Army charged out from the hills and jungles of northern Thailand, the Siamese National Army prepared to counter them. However, despite having numerical superiority, the SNA was woefully underequipped. Corruption had resulted in most of the Roman aid being siphoned into the pockets of Plaek Phibunsongkhram's cronies, who used the weapons to supply their own personal armies. The SNA's officers had never been tested in battle before. Many of the troops had been demoralized by the guerrilla tactics and propaganda of the Seri Thai, not wanting to fight their cultural brethren in the north. After Prachinburi, many outright defected. The remainder were not given orders to ship out to the front, and as a result, the bulk of the SNA remained stationed around Bangkok. The Seri Thai and TRA were thus allowed to rampage through the countryside, further turning public opinion in favor of the north.
The Reich did not directly intervene in the war for two reasons. First, the Chinese backed Thailand, and while Chiang hadn't publicly announced that he would directly intervene, Adenauer didn't want to provoke him into doing so. Second, the SPR unexpectedly sided with the KRA in opposing direct involvement, saying that the Malayan Emergency showed that the Reich was not ready for a war in the jungles of Southeast Asia. In addition, the Neurhomanian Emergency need all of the government's attention. While the Reich controlled the major coastal cities, nationalist strongholds held sway over large parts of the interior. Repeated airstrikes did little to dislodge the nationalists and only pushed the so-far generally neutral population closer to siding with the nationalists. The SPR argued that if anything Adenauer should be opening negotiations with Thailand and resolving the conflict peacefully, which would show to the Neurhomanian nationalists that he was willing to talk to them as well.
In the Soviet Commune, the power struggle that ensued after the unexpected retirement of General Secretary Molotov raged on. Although Beria was the "legitimate" General Secretary and used his power to purge as many of his opponents as he could, there were simply too many dissenters for the NKVD, MGB, and MVD to handle. Eventually the power struggle spread out from just a conflict within the highest circles of power to a war between different factions within the Politburo and the Party, where leaders of opposing factions declared war on each other. It took just a few weeks for the army to go into full revolt, but it was too busy fighting itself to topple Beria. Instability in Russia allowed nationalist sentiments, previously suppressed by Molotov's strategic management, to flare up again in Yavdi, eastern Finland, the Baltic States, and the Occupied Territories. Fearing a total counterrevolution might break out at any time and bring back the monarchy, Beria ordered the NKVD to launch a purge of unprecented scale against the military and political establishment. The purge was so large, encompassing even equalist leaders in other equalist dictatorships, it would put Molotov's purges of 1937 to shame. It would take just one month to complete, after which Beria was in complete control of the CSSR. It is unknown how many were killed or sent off to gulags in the purge, as all of the documents regarding it were immediately destroyed on Beria's orders.
Beria's excessive purging, even by his own standards, caused some dissent among even his own "allies" in the Politburo. And yet Beria couldn't purge his allies, as he couldn't rule the CSSR without them. But he couldn't let them criticize him, as they could ultimately get rid of him if left to their own devices. To ensure their loyalty, Beria named himself First Deputy Premier and head of the MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs), which he merged with the MGB (Ministry of State Security). He named Georgy Malenkov as General Secretary, although he passed decrees which moved most of its duties and responsibilites to the office of First Deputy Premier. Beria also named Nikita Khruschev, a Russian farmer from Yavdi, as Party Secretary, hoping to quell Yavdian unrest. His other allies received other high-ranking positions, which all conveniently were figurehead ones.
Lavrentiy Beria
Georgy Malenkov
Nikita Khrushchev
Faced with unrest within his own coalition, Adenauer agreed to open negotiations with the Thais. Over radio, the chancellor pleaded for the nationalists to lay down their arms so that the Reich could mediate on a peaceful settlement. The Siamese complained that the Romans had abandoned them, but after some prodding from Chiang, the Thais agreed to talks. Adenauer called up Chiang and asked for his help imposing a ceasefire. Chiang obliged, and on 14 March, he ordered the Thais to stand down or face retribution from China. Adenauer, in turn, asked the Siamese to withdraw to their side of the border and demobilize. The two nations called for a conference on the "Siam question" to start in a month.
On 26 April, the Vienna Conference assembled in Hofburg Palace, Vienna. Delegations from the Reich, China, India (as a neutral party), Thailand, and Siam attended to work on "the problem of restoring peace in Indochina."
While the delegates began to assemble in Vienna from late April, the discussions on Indochina did not begin until May 8, 1953.
The Roman government did not have a unified position on what the Conference was to achieve in relation to Indochina. The KRA and SPR favored a negotiated settlement to the conflict in favor of the status quo. Adenauer and the CMU disagreed, wanting to push for concessions from Chiang.
The Adenauer administration had launched air strikes in support of the Siamese at Prachinburi, but it was unable to obtain a commitment to united action from other parties of the Diet. Adenauer, listening to the SPR's arguments, was wary of becoming drawn into "another Mitteleimerica" that would be deeply unpopular with the Roman public. Roman domestic policy considerations strongly influenced the U.S. position at Vienna. Columnist Walther Lippmann wrote on April 29 that "the Roman position at Vienna is an impossible one, so long as leading CMU senators have no terms for peace except unconditional surrender of the enemy and no terms for entering the war except as a collective action in which nobody is now willing to engage." The State of Siam refused to attend the negotiations until Adenauer wrote to Bhumibol assuring him that any agreement would not permanently partition Siam.
Adenauer opened the conference on May 8 by proposing a cessation of hostilities, a ceasefire in place, a release of prisoners, and a disarming of irregulars.
On May 10, Pridi Panomyong, leader of the Kingdom of Thailand's delegation, set out their position, proposing a ceasefire, separation of the opposing forces, a ban on the introduction of new forces into Indochina, exchange of prisoners, independence and sovereignty for Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, and Burma, elections or meritocratic examinations for unified governments in each country, withdrawal of all foreign forces (including Chinese), and the inclusion of Laotian and Cambodian nationalist representatives at the Conference. Panomyong first proposed a temporary partition of Thailand on May 25. But their victory at Prachinburi and given the worsening Roman security position near the border, a ceasefire and partition would not appear to have been in the interests of the KOT. It appears that the KOT leadership thought the balance of forces was uncomfortably close and were worried about morale problems among their troops and supporters.
On May 12, the State of Siam rejected any partition of the country, and the Reich expressed a similar position the next day. The Romans sought to implement a physical separation of the opposing forces into enclaves throughout the country, known as the "leopard-skin" approach. The KOT/Seri Thai would be given the themes of Prachinburi and Chanthaburi, three enclaves near Bangkok, and what the KOT already controlled; the State of Siam and Roman forces would retain most urban areas, the Malay archipelago, and several northern cities, including Sukhothai and Chiang Mai, allowing it to resume combat operation in the north if necessary.
Behind the scenes the CMU, KRA, and SPR continued to discuss the terms for possible Roman military intervention in Indochina. By May 29 the three parties had reached an agreement that if the Conference failed to deliver an acceptable peace deal, Adenauer would seek Diet approval for military intervention in Indochina. However, following discussions with the Malayan and Nusantaran governments, in which it became evident that neither would support Roman military intervention, reports of the plummeting morale among the Siamese forces and opposition from senior officers on the General Staff, the Reich began to shift away from intervention. They continued to oppose a negotiated settlement. By early-mid June, the Reich began to consider the possibility that, rather than directly supporting the Siamese in Indochina, it might be preferable for the Reich to train and equip native Siamese troops so that they could fight on their own. This would remove the taint of Roman colonialism. Unwilling to support either the proposed partition or intervention, by mid-June the Reich decided to withdraw from major participation in the Conference.
On June 15, Chiang proposed that the ceasefire should be monitored by a supervisory commission chaired by neutral India. On June 16, Chiang stated that the situations in Thailand, Cambodia, Burma, and Laos were not the same and should be treated separately. On June 18 Pridi Panomyong said the Seri Thai would be prepared to withdraw their forces from Laos, Cambodia, and Burma provided no Roman bases (Chinese bases were allowed) were established in Thailand or Siam. This apparent softening of the nationalist position appeared to arise from a meeting among the KOT and Chinese delegations on June 15, where Chiang warned the Seri Thai that their military presence in Laos, Cambodia, and Burma threatened to undermine negotiations in relation to Thailand. This represented a major blow to the KOT, as they had tried to ensure that the Laotian and Cambodian nationalists would join the juntas in Laos and Cambodia, respectively, under the leadership of the KOT. The Chinese likely also sought to ensure that Laos and Cambodia remained under China's influence.
On June 18, following discussions with the SPR, Adenauer abandoned earlier assurances to the State of Siam that the Reich would not pursue or accept partition, and engaged in secret negotiations with the Seri Thai delegation, bypassing the State of Siam to meet a deadline imposed by the SPR. On June 23, Adenauer secretly met with Chiang at the Chinese Embassy in Constantinople. Chiang outlined the Chinese position that an immediate ceasefire was required, the three nations should be treated separately, and recognition that two governments existed in Thailand. Adenauer returned to Constantinople. The following day he met with his main advisers on Indochina. Field Marshal Doukas outlined the deteriorating military position in Siam, and Lorenz de Normandie suggested that the situation on the ground called for partition at the current borders. The three agreed that Bhumibol government would need time to consolidate its position and that Roman assistance would be vital. The possibility of retaining Sukhothai and Chiang Mai or just Sukhothai was dismissed, as the Romans believed it was preferable to seek partition with no Seri Thai enclaves in the south, which would cause "horrible borders," in one diplomat's words.
On June 16, Bhumibol appointed Plaek Phibunsongkhram as Chancellor a second time (he had previously resigned after the disaster at Prachinburi). Phibunsongkhram was a staunch nationalist, both anti-Chinese and anti-Seri Thai, with strong political connections in the Reich. Phibunsongkhram agreed to take the position, on the condition that he receive all civilian and military powers. Phibunsongkhram and his foreign minister were strongly opposed to partition. At Vienna, the State of Siam's proposal included "a ceasefire without a demarcation line" and "control by the United Nations ... of the administration of the entire country [and] of the general examinations, when the United Nations believes that order and security will have been everywhere truly restored."
On June 28 following an summit in Constantinople, China and the Reich issued a joint communique that included a statement that if the Conference failed, "the international situation will be seriously aggravated." The parties also agreed to a secret list of seven minimum outcomes which both parties would "respect;" these included preserving a meritocratic south Siam, future reunification of divided Siam, and the integrity of Cambodia, Laos, and Burma, including removal of all Seri Thai forces.
From July 3 to 5, Chiang met with Pridi Panomyong and other senior KOT leaders in Liuzhou. Most of the first day was spent discussing the military situation and balance of forces in Thailand. One Thai general explained that:
"While Prachinburi represented a colossal defeat for the Siamese traitors ... their Roman masters were far from defeated. The Reich retained a superiority in numbers - some 470,000 troops, roughly half of them Siamese, versus 310,000 on the Seri Thai side as well as control of most of Siam's major cities (Pattani, Siam, Chanthaburi). A fundamental alteration of the balance of forces had thus yet to occur despite Prachinburi."
Wei Guoqing, the chief Chinese military adviser to the Seri Thai, said he agreed. "If the Reich does not interfere," Chiang asked, "How long will it take for us to seize the whole of Indochina?" In the best-case scenario, the general replied, "full victory could be achieved in two to three years. Worst case? Three to five years."
That afternoon Chiang "offered a lengthy exposition on the massive international reach of the Indochina conflict ... and on the imperative of preventing a Roman intervention in the war. Given Constantinople's de facto opposition to the Empire... one must assume that the current administration would not stand idly by if the Seri Thai sought to win complete victory." Consequently, "if we ask too much at Vienna and peace is not achieved, it is certain that the Reich will intervene, providing Cambodia, Laos, Burma, and Bhumibol with weapons and ammunition, helping them train military personnel, and establishing military bases there ... The central issue", Chiang told Panomyong, is "to prevent the Reich's intervention" and "to achieve a peaceful settlement". Laos, Cambodia, and Burma would have to be treated differently and allowed to pursue their own paths, provided they remained in China's sphere and did not permit Roman bases on their territory. The Adenauer government, having vowed to achieve a negotiated solution, must be supported, lest it fall and be replaced by one committed to continuing the war." Panomyong pressed hard for the partition line to be at the prewar border.
Several days later the Thai junta's annual conference took place. Pridi Panomyong emphasized to his fellow generals the need for an early political settlement so as to prevent a military intervention by the Reich, now the "main and direct enemy" of Thailand. "in the new situation we cannot follow the old program." Panomyong declared. "efore, our motto was, 'war of resistance until victory.' Now, in view of the new situation, we should uphold a new motto: peace, unification, independence, and democracy." A spirit of compromise would be required by both sides to make the negotiations succeed, and there could be no more talk of wiping out and annihilating all the Roman and Siamese troops. A demarcation line allowing the temporary regroupment of both sides would be necessary ..." The junta endorsed Panomyong's analysis, passing a resolution supporting a compromise settlement to end the fighting. But Panomyong plainly worried that following such an agreement at Vienna, there would be internal discontent and "leftist deviation" and in particular that analysts would fail to see the complexity of the situation and underestimate the power of the Roman adversary.
The Conference reconvened on July 10, and Adenauer arrived to lead the Roman delegation. The State of Siam continued to protest against partition but this had become inevitable, with the only issue being where the line should be drawn.
All parties at the Conference called for reunification examinations and elections in the relevant parts of the country, but could not agree on the details. Panomyong proposed elections under the supervision of "local commissions". The Reich, with the support of India and the governments of Siam, Laos, Cambodia, and Burma, suggested UN supervised examinations. This plan was rejected by Chiang, who argued for a commission composed of an equal number of nationalist and pro-meritocracy members, which could determine "important" issues only by majority agreement. The negotiators were unable to agree on a date for the elections or examinations for reunification. The KOT argued that the elections should be held within 6 months of the ceasefire, while the Central Powers sought to have no deadline. Chiang proposed June 1955, then later softened this to any time in 1955 and finally July 1956. The Phibunsongkhram government supported reunification examinations, but only with effective international supervision, arguing that genuinely free elections or examinations were impossible in the totalitarian North.
Vienna Conference, 21 July 1954. Last plenary session on Indochina. Molotov is second from right; he is attending as a non-participating observer.
By the afternoon of July 20 the remaining outstanding issues were resolved as the parties agreed that the partition line should be at the current borders and that the elections (with meritocratic screening of candidates) for reunification should be in July 1956, two years after the ceasefire. The "Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Siam" was signed only by Roman and Seri Thai military commands, completely bypassing the State of Siam. Based on a proposal by Chiang Kai-Shek, an International Control Commission (ICC) chaired by India, with Kanata, Vietnam, and Korea as members, was placed in charge of supervising the ceasefire. Because issues were to be decided by majority vote, Vietnam's Korea's presence in the ICC provided the nationalists effective veto power over supervision of the treaty. The unsigned "Final Declaration of the Vienna Conference" called for reunification elections and examinations, which the majority of delegates expected to be supervised by the ICC. The Seri Thai never accepted ICC authority over such elections and examinations, stating that the ICC's "competence was to be limited to the supervision and control of the implementation of the Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities by both parties." Of the nine delegates present, only the Reich and the State of siam refused to accept the declaration. Bedell Schmidt delivered a "unilateral declaration" of the Roman position, reiterating: "We shall seek to achieve unity through free examinations supervised by the United Nations to insure that they are conducted fairly."
While the three agreements (later known as the Vienna Accords) were dated July 20 they were in fact signed on the morning of July 21.
The Vienna Accords, which were issued on July 21, 1954, set out the following terms in relation to Siam:
a "provisional military demarcation line" running approximately along the former Roman-Chinese border "on either side of which the forces of the two parties shall be regrouped after their withdrawal".
a 3 miles (4.8 km) wide demilitarized zone on each side of the demarcation line
Roman-Siamese forces to regroup to the south of the line and Seri Thai to the north
free movement of the population between the zone for three hundred days
neither zone to join any military alliance or seek military reinforcement, or for any zone to invoke an existing alliance
establishment of the International Control Commission, comprising Kanata, Vietnam, Korea, and India as chair, to monitor the ceasefire
The agreement was signed by the Kingdom of Thailand and China. The State of Siam rejected the agreement, while the Reich stated that it "took note" of the ceasefire agreements and declared that it would "refrain from the threat or use of force to disturb them."
To specifically put aside any notion that the partition was permanent, an unsigned Final Declaration, stated in Article 6: "The Conference recognizes that the essential purpose of the agreement relating to Siam is to settle military questions with a view to ending hostilities and that the military demarcation line is provisional and should not in any way be interpreted as constituting a political or territorial boundary"
Separate accords were signed by the signatories with the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Kingdom of Laos, and the Kingdom of Burma in relation to Cambodia, Laos, and Burma respectively.
The KOT at Vienna accepted a much worse settlement than the military situation on the ground indicated. "For Pridi Panomyong, there was no getting around the fact that his victory, however unprecedented and stunning was incomplete and perhaps temporary. The vision that had always driven him on, that of a "great alliance" of all Thais, had flickered into view for a fleeting moment in 1945–46, then had been lost in the subsequent war. Now, despite vanquishing the Siamese military, the dream remained unrealized ..." This was partly as a result of the great pressure exerted by China for its own purposes, but the Seri Thai had their own reasons for agreeing to a negotiated settlement, principally their own concerns regarding the balance of forces and fear of Roman intervention.
In a press conference on July 21, Adenauer expressed satisfaction that a ceasefire had been concluded but stated that the Reich was not a party to the Accords or bound by them as they contained provisions that his administration could not support.
Antinationalist Siamese refugees moving from a Roman landing ship to the SMS Mark Brandenburg during Operation Passage to Freedom in August 1954.
After the cessation of hostilities, a large migration took place. North Thais, especially Christians, Muslims, Hindus, intellectuals, business owners, land owners, anti-nationalist meritocrats, and members of the middle-class moved south of the Accords-mandated ceasefire line during Operation Passage to Freedom. The ICC reported that at least 892,876 North Thais were processed through official refugee stations, while journalists recounted that as many as 2 million more might have fled without the presence of Seri Thai soldiers who frequently beat and occasionally killed those that refused to turn back. The Athanatoi attempted to further influence Orthodox Siamese with slogans such as 'Saint Gunhilda is moving South'. At the same time, 52,000 people from the South went North, mostly Seri Thai members and their families.
Plaek Phibunsongkhram asserted his power in the South. Phibunsongkhram refused to hold the national examinations, citing that the South did not sign and were not bound to the Vienna Accords and that it was impossible to hold free elections and examinations in the nationalist and militarist North, and went about attempting to crush nationalist opposition.
Thailand immediately violated the Vienna Accords by failing to fully withdraw Seri Thai troops from Siam, stifling the movement of North Thai refugees, and conducting a massive military build-up that more than doubled the number of armed divisions in the Thai Royal Army (while the Siamese National Army was reduced by 20,000 men). Thailand established military operations in Siam in violation of the Vienna Accords, by providing military supplies and equipment, weaponry, and military personnel and leadership to nationalist insurgents in Siam. Guerrilla activity in Siam escalated, while U.S. military advisers continued to support the Siamese army. The failure of reunification led to the creation of the National Liberation Front (better known as the Chaw Thai, or "Thai Nationalist") by Pridi Panomyong's government. They were closely aided by the Thai Royal Army (TRA) of the North, also known as the North Siamese Army.
Historians have said that the 1954 accords "were so hastily drafted and ambiguously worded that, from the standpoint of international law, it makes little sense to speak of violations from either side."
One of the reasons that the accords were so hastily drafted was because Adenauer couldn't afford the distraction of Indochina when Mossadegh started acting up again. The sanctions imposed on Persia didn't seem to be having an effect on Mossadegh's government, which had turned first to China and then the CSSR itself for support. After Chiang insisted that Persia grant China heavy concessions in the oil industry, Mossadegh expelled the Chinese diplomats and entered into negotiations with Beria. Fearing a nightmare scenario, Chiang issued an ultimatum to the CSSR demanding that they stand down. Beria refused to accept Chiang's terms. Not wanting to lose influence in Central Asia, Adenauer sent his own ultimatum, which Beria also ignored. He then conducted secret talks with Chiang over coordinating their next move. Should the CSSR not back down, Adenauer suggested a temporary alliance with Chiang, where they would work together to take down Mossadegh and install a more friendly capitalist government. Chiang agreed.
The next day, Adenauer publicly announced he would be tightening the embargo on Persia, while Chiang issued a similar announcement, withdrawing his previous support for Mossadegh. India also issued its own embargo. Roman and Chinese patrols would ensure no support came from the Soviets through the Caspian. Persia would now be completely isolated in preparation for Operation Ajax, the Athanatoi-Jinyiwei plot to depose Mossadegh.
While the operation got underway, Chiang busied himself with other reforms, as usual done in Penglai. He announced the establishment of the Penglai Atomic Energy Commission in May 1953 with the goal of providing cheap and reliable power for all Chinese within a decade.
In India, the coronation ("Delhi Durbar") of Empress Sita as Samrajni Chakravartin of India, Indian Africa, and Nusantara took place on 17 May 1953 at the Coronation Park in downtown Delhi. The official ceremony lasted from 17 May to 23 June, with the Durbar (coronation) itself occurring on 2 June.
The ceremony followed a similar pattern to the coronations of previous Samrats and Samrajnis Chakravartin before her, being held in Coronation Park and involving the nobility and priesthood. However, for the new Empress, several parts of the ceremony were different. The coronation was the first ever to be televised and was the first major international event to be fully broadcast on television. There had been considerable debate with the Indian Cabinet on the subject, with Nehru against the idea, but Sita insisted that the event be televised. The event was also filmed in color. Tens of millions of Indians watched the coronation live.
Along the route lined with sailors, soldiers, and airmen and women from across the Indian Empire and its colonies, guests and officials passed in a procession before about ten million spectators gathered in the streets of Delhi, some having camped overnight to ensure a view of the imperial carriage, and others having access to specially built stands and scaffolding. For those not present, more than 200 microphones were stationed along the route, with 750 commentators broadcasting descriptions in 39 languages.
The procession included foreign royalty and heads of state riding to Coronation Park in various carriages, so many that volunteers ranging from wealthy businessmen to rural landowners were required to supplement the insufficient ranks of footmen.
After being closed since the Empress's accession for coronation preparations, Coronation Park was opened at 6 a.m. on Coronation Day to the approximately 8,000 guests invited from across the Indian Empire and its allies; more prominent individuals, such as members of the Empress's family and foreign royalty, the peers of India, heads of state, Members of the Sansad Bhawan from the Indian and Indian African legislatures, and the like, arrived after 8:30 a.m.
Empress Sita and Prince Shahaji arrived at Coronation Park in their Coronation robes, the Samrajni Chakravartin wearing the Imperial Crown of India. They received homage from the federal princes and rajahs of the empire's states at the shamiana (ceremonial tent). Afterwards, the imperial couple ascended to the domed royal pavilion, where the Samrajni Chakravartan took the Coronation Oath as administered by a prominent Hindu cleric. In the lengthy oath, the Empress swore to govern each of her countries according to their laws and customs, to mete out law and justice with mercy, and to uphold the faiths of her citizens in the empire (the original oath called to uphold Hinduism, but that became associated with Gandhi's madness). She proceeded to the altar where she stated, The things which I have here promised, I will perform and keep. So preserve me Vishnu," before kissing a copy of the Rigveda. Sita then sat in the Coronation Chair, where she was annointed with holy oil (the Christian-inspired practice had been started by the first Samrat Chakravartin, Jayasimha I), while all television footage was cut off. Once this part of the coronation was complete, the cameras were allowed to broadcast, and Sita was presented with the Sword of Jayasimha. The Empress was invested with the imperial robes and the Sovereign's Orb, followed by the Samrat's Ring and the Imperial Scepter. With the first two items on and in her right hand and the latter in her left, Empress Sita was crowned by a Brahmin priest, with the crowd shouting "Vishnu preserve the Empress!" three times at the exact moment the crown touched the monarch's head. The princes and peers gathered then put on their coronets and a 21-gun salute was fired.
With the benediction read, Sita moved to the throne and all of the Brahmin high priesthood offered to her their fealty, after which, while the choir sang, the princes and peers of the Indian Empire each proceeded, in order of precedence, to pay their personal homage and allegiance to Sita. When the last baron had completed this task, the assembly shouted "Vishnu preserve Empress Sita. Long live Empress Sita. May the Empress live for ever!"
Now wearing the Imperial Crown and holding the Sceptre and the Orb, and as the gathered guests sang the Indian national anthem, Sita left Coronation Park, followed by members of the Royal Family, the priesthood, her ministers and others. Then, transported back to Red Fort in the Gold State Coach, with an escort of thousands of armed forces personnel from around the empire, the Empress appeared on the balcony of the Centre Room before a crowd as a flypast went overhead.
The day after, the imperial couple made a darshan (appearance) at the jharoka (balcony window) of Red Fort, to receive a million or more of the common people who had come to greet them. The next day, Sita presided over a military parade of 100,000 troops. Now that India had finally been reunified, her reign could finally begin.
Empress Sita with one of her cats, although she preferred corgis.
On 15 May, the Athanatoi was given the green light to begin the coup. The official pretext for the start of the coup was Mossadegh's decree to dissolve the Majlis a couple days earlier, giving himself and his cabinet complete power to rule, while effectively stripping the Shah of his powers. It resulted in him being accused of giving himself "total and dictatorial powers" in preparation to establish an equalist republic (documents recovered by the Athanatoi afterwards confirmed that Beria had pushed him to depose the Shah). The Shah, who had been resisting the Athanatoi's demands for the coup, which included bringing back Reza Khan, finally agreed to support it. Having obtained the Shah's concurrence, the Athanatoi executed the coup. Farmans (royal decrees) dismissing Mosaddegh and appointing Reza Khan (who had been covertly flown into Isfahan by the Athanatoi while the coup began) were drawn up by the coup plotters and signed by the Shah. Having signed the decrees and delivered them to Khan and his second-in-command, General Zahedi, the Shah and Queen Soraya departed for a week-long vacation in Mesopotamia. On Saturday 15 August, Colonel Nematollah Nassiri, the commander of the Imperial Guard, delivered to Mosaddegh a firman from the Shah dismissing him. Mossadegh, who had been warned of the plot, probably by the equaliist Tudeh Party, rejected the firman and had Nassiri arrested. Mossadegh argued at his trial after the coup that under the Persian meritocratic monarchy, the Shah had no right to issue an order for the appointed Chancellor's dismissal without the Majlis's consent. However, the Basic Code of Persia at the time did allow for such an action, which Mossadegh considered unfair. The action was publicized within Iran by the Athanatoi and in the Reich. Mossadegh's supporters (millions of National Front supporters as well as members of the Tudeh Party) took to the streets in violent protests, calling for the end of the monarchy. Following the failed coup attempt, the Shah, accompanied by his Queen Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari and Aboul Fath Atabay, flew to Damascus. Reza Khan fled to the nearest Athanatoi safe house, as he hadn't had time to make news of his return known yet. He asked Zahedi to carry on the coup for him.
General Zahedi
After the first coup attempt failed, General Zahedi, declaring that Khan was the rightful chancellor of Persia, shuttled between multiple safe houses attempting to avoid arrest. Mossadegh ordered security forces to round up the coup plotters, and dozens were imprisoned. Believing that he had succeeded, and that he was in full control of the government, Mossadegh erred. Assuming that the coup had failed, he asked his supporters to return to their homes and to continue with their lives as normal. The Tudeh party members also returned to their homes, no longer carrying out enforcement duties. The Athanaoti was ordered to leave Persia, although they were slow to receive the message—allegedly due to Jinyiwei interference—and eagerly continued to foment anti-Mossadegh unrest.
However, General Zahedi, who was still on the run, met with Khan, the pro-Shah Mobad Mohammad Behbahani, and other Shah supporters in secret. There (using Athanatoi money deridingly known as "Behbahani marks"), they quickly created a new plan. Already, much of the country was in shock from the Shah's flight from Iran, fears of equalist takeover, and Mossadegh's arrests of opponents. They capitalized on this sentiment in their plans. The Mobad Behbahani also used his influence to rally religious demonstrators against Mossadegh.
On 19 May, hired infiltrators posing as Tudeh party members began to organize a "equalist revolution". They came and encouraged real Tudeh members to join in. Soon, the Tudeh members took to the streets attacking virtually any symbols of capitalism, and looting private businesses and destroying shops. Much of southern Isfahan's business district, including the bazaars, were vandalized. One Tudeh Party member raised the red flag over the bazaars, declaring the birth of the Socialist Republic of Iran. With sudden mass public revulsion against this act, the next part of Zahedi's plan came into action. From the vandalized bazaars, a second group of paid infiltrators, this time posing as Shah supporters, organized angry crowds of common Persians who were terrified about an "equalist revolution" and sickened by the violence.
Anti-Tudeh "demonstrators"
Pro-coup soldiers outside the Majlis in Isfahan
By the middle of the day, large crowds of regular citizens, armed with improvised weapons, took to the streets in mass demonstrations, and beat back the Tudeh party members. Under Zahedi's authority, the army left its barracks and drove off the Tudeh and then stormed all government buildings with the support of demonstrators. Mossadegh fled after a tank fired a single shell into his house, but he later turned himself in to the army's custody. To prevent further bloodshed, he refused a last attempt to organize his supporters. By the end of the day, Zahedi, Khan, and the army were in control of the government. Despite the Athanatoi's role in creating the conditions for the coup, there is little evidence to suggest that Athanatoi agents were directly responsible for the actions of the demonstrators or the army on May 19.
Coup supporters celebrate victory in Isfahan
The Shah stayed in a hotel in Syria until he learned what had transpired, upon which he "chokingly declared": "I knew they loved me." The director of the Athanatoi flew back with the Shah from Damascus to Tehran. Zahedi officially replaced Mosaddegh, after which he resigned and named Khan his successor. Mossadegh was arrested, tried, and originally sentenced to death. But on the Shah's personal orders, his sentence was commuted to three years' solitary confinement in a military prison, followed by house arrest until his death.
The Shah on his way back to Persia
Mossadegh at his trial
After Mossadegh's fall, the Shah immediately called for snap meritocratic examinations, which were won six months later by a pro-business left-wing party (which had no links with the Tudeh Party). Despite fears that the coup had brought back a fascist dictator, it appeared that Khan was willing to respect meritocratic norms now. It helped that he remained immensely popular among the common people.
A Chinese woman in Fusang, Chen Jiake, broke the sound barrier in June, becoming the first woman and first Chinese to do so. Chiang hailed the achievement as a "great leap forward" for Chinese science.
Not to be outdone, the Diet approved funding for a space center (name to be decided later) to be built in New Cordoba. The space center would be the main headquarters for all future space programs once it was completed at the end of the decade.
And not to be outdone, Beria ordered the Soviet nuclear project to go into overdrive and regain an edge in the arms race. On 2 September, Beria announced the successful detonation of a thermonuclear weapon, dubbed Johann 4 by the Reich. Johann 4 detonated with a force equivalent to 400 kilotons of TNT. Scholars dispute the authenticity of RDS-6 as a thermonuclear device as it did not manage to produce a yield consistent with a true hydrogen bomb.
"Johann 4"
The test made it clear that the Soviets weren't about to concede the arms race and in fact were about to pull ahead again. Beria also ordered his scientists to begin research into acquiring missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads to almost anywhere in the world. These intercontinental ballistic missiles would have unprecedented range, allowing missile silos in Vinland and the Eimerican Commune to hit targets in Neurhomania, Africa, and the European mainland. The Reich's thermonuclear missiles, by comparison, barely had enough range to hit most Russian cities but not the Yavdian ones, meaning that the CSSR could not be destroyed in a single strike and any retaliatory strike could destroy the Reich.
As a sign of "goodwill," though, Beria decided to release several thousand Angeloi and Axis prisoners of war in exchange for a couple NKVD spies. The move was met with criticism in both the Roman and Soviet governments, with the Soviets arguing it showed weakness and the Romans arguing that the Angeloi didn't deserve to be releaesd in such a deal. While Reza Khan helped the Iranian prisoners integrate, the Angeloi and Rasa soldiers had a difficult time adjusting to freedom, as they retained their old prejudices and nationalist tendencies, which clashed with many civilians. Both Roman and Indian society effectively ostracized the Axis prisoners, despite efforts to rehabilitate them. They and their families would be discriminated against for years to come.
The prisoner swap was intended to distract the Reich from events occurring in East Germany, where widespread protests had broken out in major cities.
A Soviet tank in Leipzig
In July 1952 the second party conference of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) took place in East Berlin. In SED General Secretary Walter Ulbricht's words, there was to be the "systematic implementation of Socialism" (planmäßiger Aufbau des Sozialismus); it was decided that the process of Sovietization and Deromanization should be intensified and the importance of the state expanded. The party was acting on demands made by Molotov and continued by Beria.
This meant for example the reorganization of the five Länder into 14 regions (Bezirke) plus East Berlin. This division marked an assault on the remaining middle stratum of the DDR: farmers who owned land, as well as small business owners/tradesmen, who were being forced to give up their independence through raised charges.
This decision was made amid the background of the catastrophic economic situation in the country. In the course of the militarisation pushed by Soviet authorities, direct and indirect military expenditures rose and already made up around 11% of the national budget in 1952. Together with reparation payments, this totalled over 20% of the budget. The economic policies of the SED favoured the development of heavy industry at the expense of the production of food and consumer goods, all of which resulted in a severe crisis in supplying the public with goods. Electricity was turned off in factories and public buildings at the onset of darkness every evening (during peak period).
The dramatic increase of emigration (Republikflucht, brain drain) in the first half of 1953, already high since the establishment of the DDR, constituted a serious economic and social problem. Another factor that contributed to an already complicated political situation was the high number of political prisoners in the DDR. Suppression of the illegal organisation Junge Gemeinde (Young Congregation), wrongly perceived as the central youth organisation of the Church, played a role here. Numerous trainee pastors were imprisoned (e.g. Johannes Hamel and Fritz Hoffmann). Ecclesiastic recreation centres were closed and taken over by the FDJ (e.g.: Schloss Mansfeld and Huberhaus Wernigerode). High school students who belonged to a church were often expelled by the school authorities, sometimes even shortly before school graduation.
Within this complicated background, the decision to raise the work norms (in short the principle 'more work for the same salary') was perceived as a provocation, which would conceivably lead to the deterioration of living standards. The Central Committee decided to address the economic difficulties with a package of changes, which included higher taxes and higher prices, and—most significantly—an increase of the work quotas by 10%.
These changes were coming into force by 30 June 1953, Ulbricht's 60th birthday. Issued as a suggestion, it became in effect a direction that was introduced in all the state-owned enterprises (so-called volkseigene Betriebe) and if the new quotas were not met then workers would have to face a reduction of salaries. The decision was taken on 13–14 May 1953, and the Council of Ministers approved it on 28 May.
Following Molotov's retirement in early 1953 and the massive increase in emigration, Beria decided to ease the policies Molotov had demanded. On 4 June 1953, the Soviet government, alarmed at reports of unrest, summoned East German leaders to Kiev. Georgy Malenkov, on behalf of Beria, warned them that if policy direction were not corrected immediately, there would be a catastrophe. After intense discussion the East German party eased policies and publicly admitted that mistakes had been made. However, that admission may have had the unintended effect of inflaming public opinion rather than easing tensions.
On the morning of 16 June, 300 East Berlin construction workers went on strike and marched down Trotskyallee, renamed Karl-Marx-Allee, towards government buildings after their superiors announced a pay cut if they did not meet their work quota. Things started with a discussion by shop stewards as regards how to respond to recent increase in their work quotas. However, this soon turned into a mass demonstration, which gathered more workers from construction sites as they marched first to the headquarters of the Free German Trade Union Federation. However, dissatisfied with the response there, the protest swelled to over ten thousand as they marched to Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus, the home of the House of Ministries in Leipziger Strasse. They bore banners with such slogans as "“We demand a quota reduction!" However soon more political demands were developed such as “Workers join us!” “Unity is Strength!” “We want the Kaiser and free examinations!” and “We want to be free, not slaves.” They then demanded that Walter Ulbricht come out to speak to them. When a minor official informed the crowd that their original demand about quotas had been met, this failed to satisfy the protestors who started developing other demands until a young engineer made the suggestion that they put out a call for general strike the next day. These events were reported by a West Berlin-based radio station which helped spread news of the intended strike. Also independent networks which had been formed within the factions of the SPR in East Germany, which had been forcibly merged into the SED, the trade unions and the Union of Persecutees of the Angeloi Regime - which had recently been dissolved by the authorities - were an element in this self-organisation.
A Soviet T-34/85 tank in East Berlin, 17 June 1953.
Early on 17 June 40,000 protesters had gathered in East Berlin, with more arriving throughout the morning. Many protests were held throughout East Germany with at least some work stoppages and protests in virtually all industrial centers and large cities in the country. Joint strike committees were established in Hennigsdorf, Görlitz, Cottbus and Gera.
The original demands of the protesters, such as the reinstatement of the previous lower work quotas, turned into political demands. SED functionaries took to the streets and began arguing with small groups of protesters. Eventually, the workers demanded the resignation of the East German government. The government decided to violently suppress the uprising and turned to the Soviet Commune for military support. In total, around 16 Soviet divisions with 20,000 soldiers as well as 8,000 Kasernierte Volkspolizei members were used to quell the uprising.
In East Berlin, major clashes occurred along Unter den Linden (between the Brandenburg Gate and Marx-Engels-Platz), where Soviet troops and Volkspolizei opened fire, and around Potsdamer Platz, where several people were killed by the Volkspolizei. It is still unclear how many people died during the uprising or were sentenced to death in the aftermath. The number of known victims is 55; other estimates put the number of victims at least 125.
Earlier Roman estimates of the number of people killed were considerably higher: according to the Imperial Bureau for Occupied Territories Affairs in 1966, 513 people (including 116 "functionaries of the SED regime") were killed in the uprising, 106 people were executed under martial law or later condemned to death, 1,838 were injured, and 5,100 were arrested (1,200 of these were later sentenced to an average of 5 years in penal camps). It also was alleged that 17 or 18 Soviet soldiers were executed for refusing to shoot demonstrating workers, but these reports remain unconfirmed.
On 18 June 1953
Neues Deutschland, the official party publication of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the daily national newspaper, published an article on its front page titled "Was ist in Berlin geschehen? (What occurred in Berlin?)" that explained the strike and subsequent uprising to be a direct result of the attempts by "reactionary agencies" to disrupt the national stability and legitimacy of the SED. Fortunately they had failed, demonstrating the legitimacy of the SED and the trust that the people placed in them to uphold law and order.
Other archived editions of
Neues Deutschland document similar comments made by party officials that condemned the influence of Roman popular culture on East German youth. The prominence of Roman films and music in both East and West Berlin influenced the rise of a subculture of youth commonly known as
Halbstarke (lit. half-strengths). Roman films of the era like
The Wild One and
Rebel With a Cause, featuring movie stars Markos Brando and Joachim Dean, respectively, were viewed by the DDR with romanticizing public disobedience and rebellion, as well as encouraging violent crime.
In memory of the 1953 East German rebellion, the Reich established 17 June as a national holiday, called "Day of Roman Unity". Adenauer issued a formal complaint to Beria, who like his predecessor ignored it.
(Ignore the fact that the event fired in October)
The government's handling of the prisoner swap, the East Germany rebellion, Operation Ajax, the Vienna Accords, and the Neurhomanian Emergency was not forgotten by the rest of the Diet. The Reichsrat convened in January 1954. The year didn't start well for Adenauer and his allies. The only faction that saw a significant change in number of seats was the conservative one. The CMU, CSU, and HF as a whole lost three percent of all seats, together barely controlling more seats than the traditionalist factions. The CMU and CSU's coalition with the socialists and traditionalists fell short of a majority, but the KRA and FMP had convinced the independent progressive senators and the populist parties to work with them, again giving them a bare majority.
In Cuba, Kestrel's rebellion raged across the island as royalist militias used the stolen Moncopan weapons to launch insurgencies against Balaam's government.
In February, Beria announced plans to firmly integrate Estonia into the CSSR. The deportation of native Estonians, Lithuanians, Norse, and Finns was to be accelerated and Russians settled in the region.
That month, the General Staff was proud to announce the launching of SMS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, named after the submarine that saved Empress Sita's life thirty years ago. In its first few years of operation, its nuclear propulsion allowed it to break many records as well as revealing limitations in her design. Nautilus's most famous achievement would be completing a submerged transit of the North Pole in 1958, dodging Soviet and Vinlandic naval patrols until it arrived in Chinese waters and was escorted to Jinshan.
Kaiser Otto also celebrated his Silver Jubilee that January with a grand parade through downtown Constantinople. Millions attended the celebrations, while millions more tuned in on television and radio. In his speech from in front of Hagia Sophia, Otto vowed that he would do everything in his power to liberate the peoples of the Occupied Territories. Despite what the Soviets had told them, the Reich had not forgotten them. They would return for them.
Back in Southeast Asia, steady ambushes and raids by the Chaw Thai against the Siamese government became more regular. The previous December, China had agreed to a proposal to seat both Thailand and Siam as independent members of the UN, which caused uproar in Thailand, where Pridi Panomyong saw it as a sellout of their goal of reunification. He instead ordered the Chaw Thai to go on the offensive in retaliation. A pattern of politically motivated terror began to emerge, directed against the representatives of the Bangkok government. The terror was directed at any organization or individual whose operations were essential for the functioning of Siamese society. The scale and scope of the insurgency slowly and steadily spread and intensified, until by February the Chaw Thai constituted a serious threat to Siam's overall stability.
That month, Pridi Panomyong declared the Vienna Accords dead and the beginning of a War of National Reunification to reunite all of Thailand under his leadership. His junta ordered a changeover to an all-out military struggle as the TRA charged across the border a second time to aid their Chaw Thai and Seri Thai allies. TRA troops also crossed the border into Burma, Laos, and Cambodia, reopening the Panomyong Trail. The Second Indochina War, which would soon go down in history as the Siam War, had begun.
Obeying the terms of the Vienna Accords (though the Reich had never signed), both China and the Reich refused to get involved in what was offically Siam/Thailand's "internal affairs." Instead, both countries covertly shipped supplies and equipment to their allies in Thailand and Siam, with the Chinese supplying the Seri Thai government and the Romans training the Siamese National Army. The Reich also sought to increase ties with other Asian and Central Asian countries, particularly Burma, Persia, and the Shogunate of Japan, in preparation for an armed intervention should the situation take a turn for the worse. Burma politely declined an offer to join the Central Powers, preferring to maintain ties with China first (it did, however, complain about the Seri Thai's and Chaw Thai's violation of its sovereignty in the use of the western Panomyong Trail).
In the CSSR, Beria's brief reign of terror came to an end when he made one fatal mistake. In addition, his "allies" began having doubts about his motives. Khrushchev had previously opposed Beria's alliance with Malenkov, but he said nothing about it. His opportunity came in June 1953 when the East German uprising led Beria to make cryptic statements regarding the future of the DDR. Khruschev and other leaders suspected that Beria might be willing to trade East Germany to the Reich in exchange for massive aid from Constantinople. The cost of the war still weighed heavily on the Soviet economy, and Beria craved the Reich's vast financial resources. Beria also considered giving Eastern Finland and Yavdi greater autonomy.
The uprising convinced Molotov, Malenkov, and Nikolai Bulganin that Beria was a liability to the revolution and that his policies were dangerous and destabilizing to Soviet hegemony. In February, after several months of planning, Khrushchev convinced the other party leaders to support a coup against Beria.
On 26 February 1954, Beria was arrested and held in an undisclosed location near Kiev. Accounts of his fall varied considerably. The most likely account, Khrushchev's, involved Khrushchev planning an elaborate ambush, convening a meeting of the Presidium on 26 February, during which he suddenly denounced Beria of being a traitor and Athanatoi spy. Beria, completely surprised, demanded, "What's going on, Nikita?! Why are you picking fleas in my trousers?" Molotov, who had arrived to oversee the denunciation, then denounced him as well, followed by everybody else in the room. Khrushchev then proposed and passed a motion for his dismissal. At that point, Beria realized what was going on and pleaded for Malenkov to help him. Malenkov refused to even speak with him and instead pushed a button, signaling for General Zhukov to burst in and arrest him.
Beria was taken to a guardhouse and then to a bunker of the headquarters of the Kiev military district. Defense Minister Bulganin ordered a tank and motorized infantry division to move into Kiev to prevent pro-Beria forces from rescuing him. Many of Beria's allies and colleagues were also arrested. Pravda did not announce the arrest until 10 March, crediting it to Malenkov and referring to Beria's "criminal fascist capitalist reactionary activities against the Party and State."
Beria and his allies were tried by a special session of the Supreme Court of the CSSR immediately with no defense counsel and no right of appeal. He was "found" "guilty" of:
1. Treason. It was alleged (without proof, obviously) that Beria had secret connections with foreign intelligence services, particularly the Athanatoi, Gurapu, and Jinyiwei. It was also alleged that Beria tried to let the Angeloi occupy the Volga basin, and there were allegations that he also tried to obtain the support of reactionary, fascist, and capitalist states at the price of violation of territorial integrity of the Soviet Commune and transfer of parts of the CSSR's territory to reactionary, fascist, and capitalist states. These allegations were due to Beria's suggestions to transfer East Karelia to Finland and a few border towns in Siberia to China.
2. Terrorism. Beria participated in Molotov's purge and carried out his own purges.
3. Counterrevolutionary activity during the Russian Civil War. Beria had previously tried to convince Kerensky to adopt a moderate form of equalism, attempting to establish the CSSR without bloodshed.
Beria and his allies were immediately sentenced to death. Beria pleaded on his knees for mercy before collapsing to the floor and wailing and crying energetically, but to no avail. A minute later, General Pavel Batitsky had to stuff a rag into Beria's mouth to silence his bawling before shooting him in the head. His other supporters were summarily executed seconds later. His body was then dismembered, burned, dissolved in acid, and dumped in an unmarked grave in a forest outside Kiev.
Beria's death didn't resolve the power struggle within the Presidium. Malenkov and Khrushchev immediately went to war with each other, with Molotov watching on the sidelines. Malenkov's power was in the central state apparatus, which he sought to extend through reorganizing the government, giving it additional power at the expense of the Party. He also sought public support by lowering retail prices and the level of bond sales ot citizens, which had long been effectively obligatory. On the other hand, Khrushchev had his power base in the Party and sought to strengthen both it and himself. While the Party was officially preeminent, it had been much drained of power by Molotov, who had given much of that power to himself and the Politburo (reformed into the Presidium). Khrushchev saw that with the Presidium in conflict, the Party and its Central Committee might agian become powerful. He carefully cultivated high Party officials and appointed supporters as local Party bosses who took seats on the Central Committee.
Khrushchev presented himself as a down-to-earth activist prepared to take up any challenge, constrasting with Malenkov who, though sophisticated, came across as colorless. Khrushchev arranged for government buildings to be opened to the public, which made him immensely popular. His land and agricultural reforms were much morre extensive than Malenkov's. In addition, Khrushchev also possessed incriminating information on Malenkov, which he had seized from Beria's secret files. He used this blackmail to take the seat of honor from Malenkov at Presidium meetings. He reorganized the NKVD, MGB, and MVD into the KGB, which was headed by one of his allies. At a Central Committee meeting a few days later, Malenkov was accused of involvement in atrocities, citing Beria's files, and the committee passed a resolution accusing him of allowing Beria to come to power. At the meeting of the mostly ceremonial Supreme Soviet the next day, Malenkov was demoted in favor of Bulganin, fired from the Presidium, and then forced to take an assignment in Yavdi. Molotov then suggested that Khrushchev himself assume the offices of premier and general secretary. Khrushchev completed the consolidation of power by firing Bulganin, taking his offices, and establishing a CSSR Defense Council, led by himself, effectively making him commander in chief in addition to premier and general secretary. Although he was initially allied with Molotov and Zhukov, he realized they were liabilities and could overthrow him like they did Beria and Malenkov. Khrushchev forced Molotov into permanent retirement, severing all of his ties with the government and fired Zhukov from his cabinet and the Presidium. Their allies were expelled from the Central Committee and the Presidium and sent to head industrial facilities and institutes far from Kiev. Khrushchev was now firmly in control over the CSSR, though he did not enjoy the absolute power that Molotov did.
Khrushchev immediately sought to distract Zhukov further by giving him a military conflict to deal with. He ordered Zhukov to drive the Tsarists entirely from the Aland Islands, which were mostly in Soviet hands. After a short conflict, the Tsarists were forced to retreat, and Sbyslava ordered her forces to go on high alert. Adenauer resisted pressure from his cabinet to use nuclear weapons or involve Roman troops, especially with many tied up in Neurhomania and Indochina. Instead, he proposed a mutual defense pact with the Tsarists, further strengthening the bonds of the Central Powers military alliance. Zhukov refused to escalte the situation further, fearing that the Reich could intervene at any moment. Frustrated that almost nothing had happened except for the CSSR seizing a few rocks, Khrushchev called off the whole thing (he kept the rocks) and forced Zhukov into retirement. He would not tolerate any challenges to his rule.