Gorbachev hampered by Stalin legacy

Press, 15 May 1985, Page 27

Gorbachev hampered by Stalin legacy

By

ANDREW ROSEN-

THAL, Associated Press

NZPA-AP Moscow Although Mikhail Gorbachev is the first Soviet leader of a generation historically separated from the era of Josef Stalin, he has inherited much of Stalin’s legacy. At 54, Mr Gorbachev could hold power for many years and his tenure began with a talk of novelty and change. But can he, or will he want to, make the fundamental changes in the structure that Stalin built and his successors modified only slightly? Interviews with Soviet scholars, Westerners and East Europeans in Moscow reveal a common uncertainly about the course Mr Gorbachev will take, in spite of hints at political and economic reform. These sources would discuss the issue only on condition of anonymity, which is generally the rule laid down by such sources in Moscow for interviews.

The sources expressed a belief that there is little Mr Gorbachev can do beyond tinker with the system and perhaps make it run a little better.

To accomplish this, and to stay in power, Mr Gorbachev will have to embrace much of the Soviet system, and modify other aspects, they indicated. “I don’t know anyone in modern history who had the kind of sweeping and lasting influence Stalin had,” said a Soviet scholar who is in his late 60s.

“Everyone is saying how

young Gorbachev is, how new Gorbachev is. That is true. But he did not come to power in a vacuum and he must deal with the legacy of history.”

The relationship of the Stalin era to modern Soviet society is complex. After the de-Stalinisation of the 19605, power is now shared more widely among Politburo members. The atmosphere of terror and midnight purges abated long ago.

But the Soviet system of the 1980 s is in essence the Stalinist model, with its pyramid power sytructure and its centralised industry and agriculture. “The post of general secretary as we now know it was created in many ways by Stalin,” said one of the Western diplomats. The hero worship directed at Stalin appears to be a thing of the past, but many of the powers and privileges he accumulated still accure to the general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. Before Stalin, the office was a secondary one. Lenin ruled as chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars, the equivalent of Premier. But Stalin, who became general secretary two years before Lenin died in 1924, changed the balance and made the party chief dominant. Mr Gorbachev is considered unlikely to surrender any of his power or privilege.

Another portion of Mr Gorbachev’s inheritance is a political machine in which power and responsibility overlap so much that it sometimes is not clear who is in charge, the party official or the Government official. “There is little Gorbachev can do — or even would want to do — to make any serious changes,” said an East European.

The Soviet scholar added: “First of all, Gorbachev is part of the system and second, any major changes are dangerous. What we are likely to see are some new faces.”

Many people expect Mr Gorbachev to alter the makeup of the party cadres and Government Ministries, partly to cement his own

power base. A Soviet leader has no specific term of office and so must replace supporters of past administrations with his own allies to gain control of the political structure.

“Stalin simply wiped out the old party, (Nikita) Khrushchev used poor performance in agriculture as a reason, (Yuri) Andropov employed the discipline theme. Now there is Gorbachev,” said a Soviet historian.-

Mr Gorbachev also has long supported the idea of replacing party apparatchiks with technocrats and professionals, and there have been warnings that inefficient officials will be removed.

He is bound to face opposition from those he wants to replace, especially since the system lacks any tradition of honourable retirement.

In the economy, Mr Gorbachev inherits Stalin’s system of strict central control and planning, quotas and giving precedence to the

military when allocating resources.

Using terror, coercion and wartime necessity, Stalin made this machine produce dramatic results. What Mr Gorbachev inherits is just the machine, its momentum slowed almost to a standstill.

Mr Gorbachev supports a series of limited economic reforms initiated by Mr Andropov to increase in a tentative way local control over planning and over distribution of industrial funds. Soviet officials have made it clear these are limited experiments and will not change the basic Stalinist-Socialist economic model.

Soviet agriculture is still the system of huge State farms created by Stalin’s collectivisation, a system plagued by crop failures, transport problems and inefficiency. Mr Gorbachev has long specialised in agriculture, but so far has not succeeded in turning it around. “Tossing more and more money into farming won’t help, that’s already been

tried,” a Western diplomat said. “What is needed are major reforms, and that looks like -' something that may be beyond the reach of a single man.”

It also remains to be seen what, if anything, Mr Gorbachev will do about the relationship of party, military and security forces. “It has always been the traditional wisdom that the party, the army and the K.G.B. (secret police) are the three pillars of Soviet society,” said an East European. Kremlin watchers noted with interest the lack of military officials on Lenin’s Mausoleum when Konstantin Chernenko was buried. However, it is too early to say what this means about the Army’s political role. The K.G.B. chairman, Viktor Chebrikov, is a candidate member of the Politburo, and the Soviet historian said Mr Chebrikov supported Mr Gorbachev’s rise to the top party job. Outsiders are now waiting to see if Mr Chebrikov will be rewarded with full Politburo membership.