REVOLT AGAINST KREMLIN

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27999, 20 June 1956, Page 13

REVOLT AGAINST KREMLIN

Communist Parties Abroad (Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 8 p.m.) LONDON, June 19. An open revolt against the Kremlin is spreading through Communist parties in five countries—Britain, Italy, the United States, Poland and Czechoslovakia, says a special correspondent of the “Daily Mail,” “The rebels are led by some of the most powerful Communist officials outside Russia,” says the correspondent. “They are angered at the confusion caused in Moscow by the debunking of Stalin, and they are impressed because Marshal Tito has won Kremlin recognition for his own brand of national communism. “Western experts believe that this revolt could eventually lead to Mr Khrushchev’s downfall. It was he who insisted that Russia must patch up her quarrel with Tito. “Mr Khrushchev was violently opposed by Mr Molotov, who, as Foreign Minister, was responsible for Tito’s expulsion from the Soviet Bloc. “Against the decision too was a large pro-Stalin group which warned Mr Khrushchev that friendship with Tito would encourage Communists throughout the East European satellites towards ‘Titoism’ and independence. “Mr Khrushchev replied by dismissing Mr Molotov and other members of Stalin’s ‘old guard,’ ” the correspondent wrote.

“What Mr Molotov and the Stalinists feared is now happening. “In Warsaw criticisms of the Kremlin's stranglehold over the Polish Communist Party and over Poland itself is reliably reported to be getting out of hand. “In Italy, the Secretary-General of the Italian Communist Party, Mr Togliatti, has written an article blaming Mr Khrushchev and his supporters for Stalin’s errors. “In Prague, although Czech Communists have been more cautious than in Poland, there has been outspoken criticism of Moscow's heavyhandedness in dealing with Czech industrial and agricultural problems. “In New York, the American Daily Worker' has published an article criticising Russian dictatorship m “ln°London the British Communist Party has just admitted that Mr John Gollan, who recently replaced Mr Harry Pollitt as Britain's No. 1 Communist. is now in Moscow. He is probably being briefed on the new Khrushchev line.JJ