ABSTRACT
The most dangerous challenge to Stalin's authority in May 1945 came from the military. They were the heroes and rightly so. The star was Marshal Georgy Zhukov. Stalin was very jealous of his popularity. He had to be cut down to size. At a grand reception for Red Army commanders in the Kremlin, on 24 May 1945, Stalin made a striking confession. Our government committed many errors; there were times, in 19412, when we found ourselves in a desperate situation. Another people might have said to the government: you have not come up to our expectations, go that shall appoint another government which will conclude a peace with Germany and guarantee us a quiet life. But the Russian people did not do that. Stalin then instructed his colleagues to convene a Party Congress, the first since 1939, on 28 February 1952. He was going to give an opening address. He then changed his mind.
