Rebirth: I am in Jin-Cha-Ji

Many technicians sent by China to Berlin expressed the situation of the Berlin workers to Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin. They had been accumulating anger, and when it reached a certain point, it would definitely explode.

During this period, Eastern European leaders were very enthusiastic about Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin.

But Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin's moods were growing worse. This was because the situation in Eastern Europe was not very good. Some Eastern European countries had small populations and markets, while some were resource-poor.

But they insisted on learning from the Soviet Union.

They all vigorously developed heavy industry and even shouted the slogan of building a "steel country".

This is not a joke.

Even if you are a small country, what can you do even if you really become a "steel country"? Now they have economic problems.

Many people in China were dissatisfied with the Soviet-style economic system. However, they did not dare to rebel against the Soviet Union, or rather, they did not dare to rebel against Comrade Stalin. Now that Comrade Stalin has passed away, the Soviet Union will not have the time to manage Eastern Europe in the short term.

This has made many forces in Eastern Europe ready to take action.

It’s just that Comrade Stalin’s influence is still there, so it hasn’t erupted yet.

But it's just a matter of time.

The regimes in Eastern Europe were already unstable. Khrushchev's secret report, which directly repudiated Comrade Stalin, naturally made the situation in Eastern Europe even more precarious. Although Khrushchev later realized the situation was not right, he immediately stated that the complete repudiation of Stalin and the maintenance of the socialist path did not conflict. The Soviet Union's socialist path was correct.

But who would believe such a self-deception?

Comrade Stalin was responsible for 90% of the Soviet socialist path. You completely deny Comrade Stalin and yet claim that the Soviet socialist path was correct. This is like treating people like fools.

How could such contradictory words not cause unrest in socialist countries?

921 Prediction

Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin spent a considerable amount of time organizing the results of their research. The data was complex and difficult to compile. Afterward, they wrote a report based on their findings.

It should be said that this is also a secret report.

These are reports that will not be made public in the short term.

Wei Hongjun analyzed the situation in Eastern Europe from a political perspective. Most of the Communist parties in Eastern Europe were relatively underdeveloped. Many, like those in North Korea, were led by Communist Party leaders who returned to their homeland with the Soviet army. Prior to their return, their influence in Eastern Europe was limited.

With the support of the Soviet Union, it became the ruling party.

However, due to their limited strength and influence within the country, they lack the ability to establish a socialist state, or a proletarian dictatorship under the leadership of a true Communist Party, as China has. To stabilize their regimes, they must unite with other powerful forces within the country. For example, the Hungarian Communist Party merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the new Hungarian Communist Party in order to establish a socialist state in Hungary.

In fact, this is the case with the Communist parties in many Eastern European countries.

To put it bluntly, the country they established was a coalition government, not a socialist country.

The benefits of this are obvious.

That is, they can quickly form a new regime. If they had not adopted this coalition government approach, with their strength, they would not have been able to secure the new regime.

However, the aftereffects of this approach were more severe than one might imagine. Just look at the Kuomintang (KMT) at the founding of the Republic of China. To establish a political party on the first day of the National Assembly, Song Jiaoren reorganized the Tongmenghui (Tongmenghui) to form the KMT. While the KMT was the leading revolutionary party at the time, it lacked the strength to control the National Assembly. Therefore, they recruited anyone with a modicum of prestige.

They even sent invitations to Yuan Shikai and other bigwigs of the Beiyang government, inviting them to join the Kuomintang.

Song Jiaoren's point was simple. If Yuan Shikai joined the KMT, and all the Beiyang warlords joined the KMT, then everyone would be part of the KMT, and there would be no more disputes. What a wonderful thing! This shows how naive Song Jiaoren and his colleagues were in the early years of the Republic of China, believing that controlling Congress in this way would achieve a republic. As a result, Beiyang warlord officials like Zhao Bingjun joined Song Jiaoren's reorganized KMT, making it the largest party in Congress.

What's the use?

It's of no use at all except for being the unworthy first party in Congress.

When things really get bad, no one considers themselves a party member. The policies formulated by the KMT Central Committee are completely ignored by the powerful party members below.

This is currently the case in Eastern Europe.

Politically, the Communist parties of Eastern Europe were essentially spawned ruling parties. Due to their unstable foundations, they adopted a Stalinist-style model when learning from the Soviet system. For example, the Hungarian Communist Party, in order to maintain its control over the regime, executed hundreds of disobedient Party members in 1951, labeling them "Titoists."

Use this high-pressure method to maintain rule.

However, this political model is incompatible with many political groups in China. A coalition government is a political power formed by a coalition. Using such high-pressure tactics to suppress other parties and other factions is not easy.

Those powerful people below are not easy to mess with.

In terms of real strength, these powerful groups are more powerful than the ruling Communist parties in Eastern European countries.

So now conflicts are accumulating.

Those powerful and opposition factions at home did not dare to take action because they were afraid of Comrade Stalin's tough tactics.

Now that Comrade Stalin has passed away, they no longer have anyone to fear, which will inevitably lead to turmoil in Eastern European countries to break away from the Soviet political and economic model. In the Soviet Union, Comrade Stalin had just passed away, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union did not have the energy to care too much about Eastern European affairs.

There will be a period of relaxation in Eastern Europe.

Once the Soviet Central Committee resolved its own issues, it would undoubtedly turn its attention to Eastern Europe. At that time, they would tighten their control over Eastern European countries that strayed from their path. However, the more control and suppression the Soviet Union exerted, the more rebellious Eastern European countries would inevitably become.

There will inevitably be a certain period of continuous conflict between the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.

If Khrushchev's secret report hadn't happened, the Soviet Union would have slowly regained control of Eastern Europe. However, the secret report incident happened, disrupting the thinking of the entire socialist camp.

This led to the Polish-Hungarian incident.

Of course, Wei Hongjun didn't write about the secret report later. But he did outline the general outline. For some time to come, a prolonged struggle for control and counter-control would ensue between the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

This is an analysis from a political perspective.

But as the saying goes, the economic base determines the superstructure. Many problems aren't just ideological; they're political issues stemming from economic problems. Take, for example, Eastern Europe today: if the economy thrives and everyone lives a prosperous and happy life, then many political issues won't be a problem.

Therefore, Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin attached great importance to the analysis of the Soviet economic system.

Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin started with the analysis of the entire economic system, and then carefully analyzed the market conditions in the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, and gave a detailed report.

Wei Hongjun even wrote out the future development of the entire Soviet economic system.

The advantages and disadvantages of the Soviet economic system were all written out.

Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin both believed that China was different from the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union had a limited population and placed all its resources on heavy industry, which led to problems in the development of its light industry and agriculture.

Compared to the Soviet Union, China has a larger population and faces greater pressure, but also greater potential. If China, like the Soviet Union, places all its weight on heavy industry, it would be unnecessary and would have even more serious consequences. Because of its large population, it relies more heavily on light industry and agriculture.

Once China's light industry and agriculture collapse, the entire Chinese economy will collapse.

Therefore, China needs to coordinate the development of heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture. Furthermore, China has a large population, and as long as education keeps pace, it can fully develop heavy industry, light industry, and agriculture. While there is a need for certain priorities, there should not be too much deviation, and the proportions must be balanced.

Wei Hongjun also concluded that after the Soviet Communist Party's Central Committee stabilized, the next major task would be to stabilize the socialist camp. However, once Eastern European countries began to experience centrifugal forces, it would be difficult to bring them back together. The Soviet Union could not simply resort to military intimidation.

There is no problem with you intimidating a country with force.

But a potential problem is that one country is intimidated, and as a result, other Eastern European countries begin to distance themselves from the Soviet Union, fearing that the Soviet Union might threaten them with force in the future. Therefore, this is not a completely effective approach.

Carrots and sticks.

While the Soviet Union was somewhat rough in its dealings, especially in diplomacy, it also understood these simple principles. Physical intimidation was one thing, appeasing them was another. And by then, the CPSU Central Committee would undoubtedly need China's support. For the unity of the socialist camp, the Soviet Union needed China's support.

Therefore, the Central Committee can now begin to consider what conditions we need to put forward when the Central Committee of the CPSU needs support.

Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin proposed that the Soviet Union should be asked for assistance in the nuclear industry, as well as in the fertilizer and chemical fiber industries, which were crucial to the people's food and clothing needs. This was intended not only to address China's own food and clothing needs, but also to enable China to develop from its current processing capacity to an independent center of socialist light industry and agriculture.

China began cooperating with the Soviet Union in 1947, and it has been almost six years now.

Furthermore, after the Anti-Japanese War, the industries of Northeast and North China were stabilized. Furthermore, the Korean War ended relatively early, allowing more fiscal funds to flow into industry. As a result, China now has a solid foundation in heavy industries such as steel, energy, and machinery, including the military industry.

Although we don't have a complete industrial base, we can still cope with it in a short period of time.

Because of this, we cannot continue to invest heavily in this area of ​​heavy industry. If the Soviet Union were to continue aiding the construction of more heavy industry in this area, it would easily bring down China's economy. The impact of the two years of unified purchase and marketing on rural sideline businesses clearly demonstrates the depth of China's current financial difficulties.

Therefore, Soviet aid projects should be shifted slightly to heavy industry that improves people's living standards.

Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin requested that the Soviet Union provide at least five to seven fertilizer plants with an annual output of 15 tons of synthetic ammonia and 7 cubic tons of urea. If such large-scale fertilizer plants could not be obtained, plants with an annual output of 10 tons of synthetic ammonia and tons of urea would also be acceptable.

The Soviet Union also previously assisted China in building two fertilizer plants.

Each fertilizer plant has an annual production capacity of 5 tons of synthetic ammonia. Previous negotiations envisioned building a 7.5-cubic-meter fertilizer plant for China, but the Soviet Union stated it would take five years. Currently, some of the challenges with Soviet aid are that while high-level Chinese and Soviet officials have reached an agreement, the various lower-level industrial departments continue to delay.

Some factories could have completed tasks in two or three years, but Soviet industry kept delaying them, and as a result, it took four or five years to complete them.

But China was about to have a golden opportunity, and Khrushchev needed China's political support.

In order to stabilize the socialist camp, Khrushchev needed China's support and the Chairman's political backing. So at this time, Khrushchev would give the green light on many issues.

In fact, in order to gain China's support, Khrushchev put pressure on his subordinate industrial departments, telling them that they must complete China's projects first. As a result, during the First Five-Year Plan, China's industrial construction accelerated dramatically. Furthermore, to support China's First Five-Year Plan, technical experts were continuously sent to China, with tens of thousands of them sent to China within a few years.

It can be said that Khrushchev really did everything he could to gain support from China. At that time, the total output value of the industrial projects Khrushchev assisted China in building was about 1959% of the Soviet Union's national income in 7.

So now was another golden opportunity. That's why Wei Hongjun proposed that the Soviet Union help China establish fertilizer and chemical fiber factories. It was at this point that China could obtain sufficient fertilizer and chemical fiber plants from the Soviet Union.

At the same time, Wei Hongjun suggested that the industrial sector should focus on developing the machinery and equipment needed for fertilizer plants. Historically, China was home to numerous small fertilizer plants, thanks to China's breakthroughs in a series of technical requirements for fertilizer production.

Only certain areas remained unsolved and had to be imported. Commonly used machinery and equipment had already been successfully developed by the end of the 1950s.

Moreover, Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin both judged that once the Soviet Union relaxed its control over Eastern Europe, Eastern European countries would inevitably invest more of the funds originally invested in heavy industry into the people's livelihood.

This is another good opportunity for our country.

As they invest less in heavy industry, their factories must seek other markets. Similarly, as they invest more in people's livelihoods, they will need to import more agricultural and sideline products from China. This will lead to greater mutual demand between my country and Eastern European countries.

The report went directly to the Chairman.

After reading it, the Chairman showed it to every Politburo member. But only to the sub-Politburo members. This was a confidential report that only Politburo members could see.

After all, in this report, Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin made extensive analyses of the Soviet economic system, including numerous criticisms. Now that the entire Party, the entire nation, and society are learning from the Soviet Union, such a report must absolutely not be circulated.

However, the Chairman only circulated it among the Politburo members and did not hold a centralized discussion.

As a result, less than a month after Wei Hongjun and Mao Zemin returned to China, on June 1953, 6, the hugely influential June 17 Incident broke out in East Germany.

Of course this was not without signs.

As early as late May and early June, a series of strikes broke out across East Germany. Under pressure from the strikes, some regional party leaders yielded, promising workers that work quotas would remain unchanged. East Berlin even released a labor leader arrested by state security. The Communist Party in Germany, lacking sufficient experience in governing, was forced into power by the Soviet Union.

Faced with this situation, everyone from top to bottom was in a panic and had no idea what to do.

As a result, the workers' strike issue has never been truly resolved. It can be said that the situation has developed step by step.

On June 6, it began as a small-scale economic strike by 16 construction workers in East Berlin to protest against the state-owned company leaders' increase in work quotas without a pay increase.

As a result, the workers' demands were rejected.

The Tribune then published an article defending the Council of Ministers' decision. This article sparked worker outrage, and construction workers on East Berlin's St. Petersburg alley marched to the government district and surrounded the government building. Faced with this situation, the top brass of the East German ruling party were in a state of panic, unsure how to proceed. Ultimately, the Politburo was forced to withdraw the decree increasing work rations.

But to no avail.

The ruling party does not know how to deal with the situation, so it can only choose to retreat step by step and agree to the demands raised by the workers again and again.

On June 6, East Berlin university and high school students, along with some members of the public, joined the workers in the protests, bringing the total number of over 17 people to the streets. They raised slogans such as the withdrawal of all foreign troops, freedom of speech and the press, the release of political prisoners, and free elections throughout Germany. Initially, police maintained order, but as the situation became irreversible, the Soviet army began to suppress the demonstrations. Soviet tanks entered the center of East Berlin and suppressed the mass demonstrations.

在苏军镇压行动中,估计有50人至125人丧生。苏军临时军事法庭枪决了18人,东德法庭判处二人死刑，立即执行。617事件之后至少有2300人被苏联和东德法庭判刑入狱。

This incident caused a sensation in the entire socialist camp.