The fate of successive Foreign Ministers

Author: (Russian) Leonid Mlechin / Xu Kui et al
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Although foreign ministers merely execute the will of the general secretary or president, their personalities also have a decisive influence on the formation of foreign policy. The Fates of Russian Foreign Ministers is another historical work by Russian author Leonid Mlechin, following his book The Fates of KGB Chairmen. Mlechin is a renowned journalist and writer in contemporary Russia, having served as deputy editor-in-chief of Nовая Газета and Izvestia, and is currently a political commentator at Russia TV Center, as well as a writer and host of the program Who's Who. In recent years, he has written numerous works on Soviet and Russian figures and history, published both domestically and internationally. This new work covers 15 foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and Russia since 1917, spanning over 80 years (13 individuals, as 2 served twice). Based on extensive and hard-to-access archival materials, the author brings to life the true portraits of all these foreign ministers and introduces many aspects of national politics that were previously obscured. The book stands out for being "not only a fascinating account of the lives and activities of these high-ranking officials, most of whom are little known, but also a perspective on the history of the homeland since the October Revolution." Another feature is its rich and vivid narration. The author extensively quotes memoirs of leaders and foreign ministers from the Soviet Union, the UK, France, Germany, the United States, and other countries from various eras, as well as the works of prominent writers who witnessed many events. The author himself has conducted numerous interviews with Soviet and Russian diplomats and their families, incorporating these materials into the book. In addition to providing many previously unknown facts, the author also offers his own insights on certain figures and events, which hold significant reference value for the study of Soviet and Russian historical figures and events. For example, regarding Trotsky, who served as foreign minister. Few people knew that Trotsky was once the foreign minister of the Soviet Union. This was a result of Stalin's power struggle within the party, where he defeated political opponents like Trotsky and Bukharin, branding them as "enemies of the people" and "imperialist spies," and then erased them from history. Even at the International Relations Academy, a specialized institution for training diplomats in the Soviet Union, the history of Soviet foreign policy was taught starting from the second foreign minister, Chicherin, with absolutely no mention of Trotsky. Another example is the author's presentation of numerous materials on the close ties between the Soviet Union and Germany, and between Stalin and Hitler in 1939, along with his own conclusions on this period of Soviet-German relations. He points out that the Soviet Union began its policy of approaching Germany as early as 1938. The author also offers his own insights into the reasons behind Stalin's rapprochement with Hitler, suggesting that Stalin signed those treaties with Hitler because Hitler agreed to provide Stalin with things that Britain and France could not. As for the Soviet Union's official stance that signing treaties with Germany delayed the war and bought time, the author also raises objections. He argues that this claim is meaningless, as Hitler's plan was to launch an offensive on the Western Front first, seize Western Europe, and thus could not have envisioned opening two fronts simultaneously against the Soviet Union. The author's account of the seventh foreign minister of the Soviet Union, Shepilov, is also highly fresh for us. Shepilov became foreign minister in 1956, shortly before Tito's visit to the Soviet Union, when Khrushchev removed Molotov, who opposed improving relations with Yugoslavia. Shepilov served as foreign minister for only eight and a half months. We know very little about Shepilov, except that in October 1957, Khrushchev accused him of being an "appendage" of the anti-party group during the struggle against Molotov and Malenkov's anti-party faction. In Chapter 7 of this book, the author provides a detailed account of Shepilov's life, offering a vivid profile of the inner workings of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Soviet political life at that time. The author considers Shepilov one of the most noteworthy politicians of the Soviet era. He was upright, principled, had independent thinking skills, and possessed excellent oratory skills. At the October 1957 meeting of the Central Committee Presidium of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he criticized Khrushchev's emerging cult of personality, which led to his later being purged, expelled from the party, and forced out of Moscow. The speeches critical of Shepilov quoted in the book make us feel as if we are hearing some of the rhetoric from the struggle sessions during China's "Cultural Revolution." A honest, independently-minded, and upright secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union thus spent his later life in great hardship. In narrating the 28-year tenure of Gromyko as foreign minister, the author provides a detailed account of many major international political events and incidents the Soviet Union experienced during Khrushchev's later years, the entire Brezhnev era, and the brief periods of Andropov and Chernenko. The book also offers detailed introductions to the three foreign ministers of the Gorbachev era and the three foreign ministers of Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, covering their backgrounds, career paths, policy ideas, working styles, and some of the diplomatic events they handled. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Chinese society, particularly academia, has engaged in extensive reflection and research on the reasons and lessons of the Soviet Union's and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's failure. The Soviet Union's foreign policy of great-power chauvinism, expansion, and hegemony, as well as its arms race that exceeded economic capacity and disregarded people's lives, were important factors that led to the decline of the Soviet Union. The lessons from the Soviet Union's foreign policy are undoubtedly an important aspect that requires in-depth study and summary. This book provides much useful material for such research. As for whether the author's views on many historical events are entirely correct, that is something for the readers to judge for themselves. With the declassification of historical archives and the revelation of the true portraits of the foreign ministers, the formulation of Soviet and Russian foreign policy and its impact on the global landscape have become key to historians' reinterpretation of 20th-century history. Leonid Mlechin is a renowned historian and writer in contemporary Russia, with numerous influential works to his name. This book is his second major historical work following the publication of The Fates of KGB Chairmen. The vivid portrayals of the 15 foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and Russia since 1917 (13 individuals, with 2 serving twice) are woven together to form an encyclopedic account of Soviet and Russian political life, uncovering many secrets that were deliberately concealed. From diplomacy to politics, and from politics to history, the book offers readers multiple perspectives on the relationship between diplomacy, the state, and history, enriched by unique interview materials and the author's personal insights.