ABSTRACT

Stalin was reported dead on 5 March 1953. The people mourned, butsome in the leadership, especially Lavrenty Beria, celebrated. Stalin’slast years had been replete with suspicion and fear. At the 19th Party Congress, in October 1952, there was a call for vigilance in the face of the ‘threat of a new war’. The Politburo was replaced by a Presidium, with twice as many members as the old Politburo. Was Stalin preparing a purge of the old guard so as to clear the way for a new, young, Stalin-dedicated cohort?