The
Power Grab
HMalenkov lasted as chief organizer of the party for only one
week and was
eclipsed there by Khrushchev, whose title was elevated to first secretary in September 1953.
HMinister Beria was arrested in June and
denounced for “criminal and antiparty activities”; in December 1953 the Kremlin announced he had been tried for treason,
found guilty, and shot.
HSecretary Malenkov was demoted in
February 1955 and replaced as head of government by Bulganin, a confederate of
Khrushchev.
