Servant of the People in Kyiv

In June this year, Kravchuk was promoted to the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine.

This second secretary was the first person in Ukraine to respond to Gorbachev's reforms and is also one of the more outstanding middle-aged cadres in recent years. He was not given much use during the Sherbitsky era. After Gulenko came to power, he vigorously promoted Ukrainian reformers. Comrade Leonid Makarovich Kravchuk was discovered and reused by Gulenko because of his radical reform proposals, and was appointed as the second secretary of the Central Committee of the Party of Ukraine in mid-this year, focusing on ideological work.

Because Kravchuk was in charge of ideological work, the investigation into "Rukh" and the people's movement was led by Kravchuk. Previously, due to the non-cooperation of relevant departments, Kravchuk had difficulty in advancing his work, but he still found "Rukh", the mastermind behind the people's movement that had swept major universities in Kiev in the past month. Only then did Gulenko dismiss several ministers and order the arrest of Haniyev and the organizers of the Ukrainian people's movement.

It can be said that the person Gulenko trusts and values ​​the most recently is Kravchuk, and the person he relies on the most in this incident is also Kravchuk.

As the second secretary in charge of ideology, Comrade Leonid Makarovich Kravchuk has been unable to sleep or eat well recently. Every day he analyzes the causes and consequences of the "Ukrainian People's Movement" and the intentions of the propaganda content of the "People's Daily".

After analysis, Kravchuk and Gulenko reached the same conclusion that as the soul figure and initiator of this movement, Haniyev dared to do this and accomplish such a big thing, and he must have the support of Sherbitsky behind him.

However, what puzzled Kravchuk was that he knew that Sherbitsky was a complete conservative who had always opposed Gorbachev's reforms and had always been in opposition to Gorbachev within the party. Gorbachev had also been looking for an opportunity to overthrow Sherbitsky.

Sherbitsky was unlucky. After the Chernobyl incident, Gorbachev found a breakthrough and suppressed him.

If Haniyev was Sherbitsky's man, how could he carry out reforms in Yalta? You should know that Sherbitsky was recuperating in Yalta. Moreover, Haniyev became a political celebrity by relying on economic reforms. In less than two years, he was promoted to the ninth deputy director of the Education Commission and achieved the deputy provincial level.

Kravchuk knew very well that promoting Haniyev was not Gurenko's idea, so it must have been Sherbitsky's idea. Why would he tolerate Haniyev, a reformist, becoming a close confidant of the conservatives?

However, although Kravchuk did not figure it out, he knew that this major mass event organized by Haniyev, which was rare in Ukrainian history, must have been instructed by Sherbitsky, and its purpose was to oppose Gorbachev's reforms.

As a cadre who supports reform, Kravchuk was quite dissatisfied with Sherbitsky, who was conservative. However, after learning about "Rukh" in detail, Kravchuk, as a Ukrainian, was amazed and admired Haniyev's "History of the Development of the Ukrainian Nation".

It was this contradictory mentality that prevented Kravchuk from reporting the details of Haniyev and Rukh to Gulenko immediately, allowing the matter to ferment for a few more days, so that after the arrest of Haniyev and others, Gulenko and the Ukrainian Central Committee became even more passive.

Kravchuk was the first to know about what happened today. The various rumors made him shudder with fear. He arrived at the Mariinsky Palace early to meet with the two heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB to find out the real situation.

After being summoned by the First Secretary, Kravchuk took the two ministers into the First Secretary's office and met Gulenko with a grim face.

Gulenko asked coldly, "What's the situation now?"

"The protest teams from all the major universities in Kyiv have already gathered and are heading towards the Mariinsky Palace. The Ministry of Internal Affairs police dare not approach and can only linger far behind them. Secretary, rest assured, I have mobilized the surrounding police for emergency support. In twenty minutes at most, 13,000 armed forces from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB will arrive at the Mariinsky Palace. There are also Kyiv garrisons. These people are mainly students, so if the situation gets out of hand, they won't be able to storm the Mariinsky Palace."

But now they have over 100,000 people, and their numbers are still increasing. I’m afraid we can no longer suppress them with force…”

Kravchuk, as the second secretary of the Gulen Science and Technology Committee, who was entrusted with an important task, stood up and made a report.

Gulenko asked, "What do you think we should do?"

"appease!"

Kravchuk said in a deep voice, "They will be outside the Mariinsky Palace in at most an hour. These people are supporters of Haniyev and the Ukrainian People's Movement. Their actions this time are organized and premeditated, and they will definitely have demands.

Now that things have gotten out of hand, the only solution is compromise or a fight to the end...

Kravchuk and Gulenko's face turned grim as they spoke, and they changed their tone and said, "If we can't suppress them by force, we can only negotiate with them and compromise with them in exchange for their departure..."

Gulenko closed his eyes. "We absolutely can't use force. The General Secretary has just issued an order requiring us to resolve the mass incident within three days and not to escalate it. Reporter's from Reuters, AFP, and AP are all in the crowd, and they're keeping an eye on us!"

As long as we use force, it will become an international incident. Even if we eventually suppress the rioting students, the problem will not be solved.

Foreign media can also bring us down, and even give Americans a reason to deny reform, so we may have only one way to go..."

Kravchuk asked: "The Western media are so sensitive, have they already reported today's events?"

"Yes, and they are reporting maliciously that our Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs police shot and killed three students."

Gulenko gritted his teeth and said, "Didn't you say that the shooting was just to intimidate the students and no one was injured?"

The Minister of the Interior shook his head like a rattle. "Of course not. Even the dumbest of my subordinates knows what shooting civilians means. I've conducted a thorough investigation and determined that our shooting was merely intimidation. The bullets were all blanks. Before we could even use tear gas, these students attacked our police force. As you know, no students died, but they killed two of our Interior Affairs officers... and more than a dozen are still in the hospital..."

Gulenko chuckled, "How can you ask us to explain such a shameful thing?

If we tell others about this, won’t foreigners and the public laugh at us to death?

If the General Secretary knew about this, wouldn't he scold us all as a bunch of good-for-nothings?

The two ministers hung their heads in silence. Kravchuk coughed lightly and asked, "Secretary Gulenko, please calm down. Now is not the time to blame or hold anyone responsible. We should appease the people as quickly as possible and make the popular movement in Kyiv disappear as quickly as possible. This is the only way to minimize the impact. What do you think?"

Gulenko said in a deep voice, "Comrade Kravchuk, let's go out together to meet with the student representatives later..."

Chapter 217: The Spring Breeze of Reform Blows Across the Land (3)

After Gulenko and Kravchuk reached a consensus and decided to follow the General Secretary's order to cancel the use of force to suppress the movement and chose to meet with the students who were demonstrating and rallying aggressively, the Mariinsky Palace fell into silence and the atmosphere was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.

Neither Gulenko nor Kravchuk had such a frustrating past. They were forced to the door by a group of students and opposition. If this had happened to any previous leader, the result would have been iron-blooded suppression without having to worry about the impact.

However, Gorbachev has been on good terms with the Western world led by the United States in recent years, and even signed a treaty with the United States to reduce nuclear weapons. In December, he unilaterally announced disarmament. He was eager to carry out comprehensive reforms in the Soviet Union, integrate it into the Western world economically, accept the advanced institutional reforms of the West politically, and cancel the Cold War confrontation between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in the military, and instead embrace reconciliation.

For Gorbachev, the attitude and public opinion of the Western world were very important, and it was important that reforms could proceed smoothly. Therefore, when dealing with the Kiev People's Movement incident that was followed up by overseas reports, Gorbachev's attitude changed quickly, from demanding serious handling at the beginning to gentle handling.

Gulenko did not dare to disobey the General Secretary's request, so he could only send the leaders of the Education Commission and the school to find the students and teachers who were marching and demanding to have a dialogue with them.

In order to stabilize the situation, Gulenko issued more than a dozen orders, requiring members of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic to exercise their powers to maintain stability in Kiev and coordinate the normal operation of various departments.

About forty minutes later, Sergei Kovit, the first director of the State Committee of National Education, came in with the presidents and secretaries of more than a dozen universities.

"Secretary Gulenko, the students have arrived at Mariinsky Park!"

Gulenko coughed lightly, straightened his clothes, and waved his hand: "Okay, order the police and guards to maintain order. We will go out and meet the students now."

About ten minutes later, Gulenko, Kravchuk and more than a dozen other leaders walked to the square outside the Mariinsky Palace.

On the right side of the Mariinsky Palace is the office building of the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine. It can be said that the highest leaders who decide the fate of Ukraine gather here. The large square between the Mariinsky Palace and the Mariinsky Park is now filled with a "petition group" composed of students, teachers and citizens of Kiev. There are at least 100,000 of these people. The huge Mariinsky Square and park have become packed with people.

Thousands of police special forces were on high alert inside the Mariinsky Palace, holding their guns tightly to protect Gulenko and others.

Special police have erected barbed wire in front of the palace as an obstacle to prevent students from storming the Mariinsky Palace.

Before Gulenko and his companions came out, the Mariinsky Park was in chaos. When the students saw Gulenko and his companions, they shouted excitedly. Under the organization of "Rukh", the shouts gradually merged into one sentence: "The Soviet Communist Party violated human rights, Gulenko step down!"

Every corner outside the palace suitable for filming and taking photos has been occupied by reporters from Reuters, AFP, AP, TASS and Ukrainian National News Agency, whose cameras are constantly recording what is happening in the Mariinsky Palace.

Gulenko stood in front of the barbed wire fence and before he could even open his mouth to speak, he heard a thunderous roar: "The Soviet Communist Party violated human rights, Gulenko resign!"

Gulenko's face turned pale, and he was shaken by the noise and pressure and almost fell down. Fortunately, Kravchuk was quick to help him up.

In terms of age, Gulenko is a few months younger than Kravchuk. He is only 53 years old this year, but the roaring and scolding of more than 100,000 people put tremendous pressure on him both physically and mentally.

After opening his mouth, Gulenko knew that it was no longer appropriate for him to say anything. His eyes rolled back and he fainted.

Kravchuk and others hurriedly hugged him and sent him to the palace to see a doctor for treatment.

Gulenko was so frightened that he fainted. Many students became more and more excited, and their shouts became louder and louder until they gradually stopped after twenty minutes.

Seeing that the students were tired, Kravchuk hurriedly ordered people to allocate supplies and send tea.

Half an hour later, the students' hostility eased slightly after drinking the tea and coffee provided by the government. Kravchuk, not wanting to wait any longer, quickly picked up a loudspeaker, climbed onto an armored vehicle behind the iron fence, and waved his hands. "Comrades, students, hello! I am Kravchuk, the Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Party. I have been authorized by the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Party to come and talk to you..."

Kravchuk's speech lasted about ten minutes. The core idea was to appease the people and explain that Haniyev and others who were arrested before were not treated harshly. They were only invited to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Committee to cooperate with the investigation. They would all be released after the investigation confirmed that they had no counter-revolutionary behavior.

Kravchuk's speech was well-reasoned. He had the General Office of the Central Committee prepare the draft in advance, and he revised it. He believed that his speech was very sincere and should be understood by the people and students of Kiev.

But after his speech, students began to speak out in support of Haniyev and the "Ukrainian People's Movement". These students also brought up Gorbachev's reforms, such as opening newspapers, freedom of speech, and allowing the emergence of private economies and private organizations.

"Since you are truly carrying out reforms, why are you afraid of others' doubts? This precisely proves that your reforms are fake. You are afraid that the world will know the truth, which is why you hate Haniyev, Drak, Ivanov, Gonchar, Makar and others so much that you arrested them on trumped-up charges so early on and revoked the legal status of the 'Ukrainian People's Movement'. Why?"

"That is, we no longer trust you. You are playing with people's hearts. You nominally want to take the path of reform, so that the Soviet people will support you and be full of hope. But in fact, your reform is just a name. The criticism of you by the People's Daily is completely correct.

Rote reforms are self-destructive! "

Amid the accusations from the student leaders, Kravchuk was speechless for a moment.

The students became excited and, led by some of Haniyev's admirers, began to recite or read Haniyev's manuscripts collectively to satirize and criticize Gorbachev's reforms.

"We in the Soviet Union need reform, but how should we reform? What should we rely on to identify and solve problems that arise during the reform process? What should we do?"

"Comrades, let us not be deceived by appearances..."

"Reform is the only antidote to the Soviet Union. But precisely because it's medicine, how to take it, how much to take, and whether to let Western doctors, who have always been conflicted, prescribe it or take it according to their own conditions are all issues we need to consider..."

"In any case, we should wake up and stop blindly believing in complete Westernization, nor should we cling to the old ways, and we must not refuse to correct our mistakes or admit them when we know they are wrong..."

The movement of students, teachers and people outside the Mariinsky Palace was more intense than ever before. Although they said they were willing to have a dialogue with the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Party, they proposed things that the CPSU could never do, such as dismissing Gulenko and unconditionally releasing Haniyev and thousands of other arrested people.

After Gulenko fainted from anger, Kravchuk was temporarily the highest leader on the scene, but his status and position made it impossible for him to make any decent promises to the students. Therefore, the people participating in the Ukrainian People's Movement outside the Mariinsky Palace not only showed no signs of dispersing, but instead gathered in larger and larger numbers.

By the afternoon of that day, most of these students and teachers had set up tents in the park, preparing to blockade the Mariinsky Palace and the Verkhovna Rada for a long time, and it was obvious that they would not give up until they achieved their goal.

Kravchuk, the awakened Gulenko, and other central leaders who rushed over met and held a meeting for more than an hour. Everyone pessimistically discovered that if violent expulsion was not carried out, the more than 100,000 students, teachers and people outside the Mariinsky Palace would occupy the Mariinsky Park for a long time and blockade Ukraine's highest power center.

Gulenko's mouth was so anxious that a blister formed. He looked around and asked urgently, "The General Secretary has only given us three days. If we can't evacuate the masses and resolve the Ukrainian people's movement within three days, I and everyone here will be punished. Do you have any good ideas now?"

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. As for the "Ukrainian People's Movement" that had reached this point today, these intellectuals and students were on the opposite side of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Party and even the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. There were only two solutions: one was to send out the army to suppress it with iron-blooded force, and the other was to meet the students' demands, release those arrested, and at the same time deal with a group of officials who arrested Rukh and the students.

As competent politicians, Gulenko, Kravchuk and others certainly knew that the students' demands were a bit excessive, and they also thought about the extent of compromise to satisfy the students.

However, the use of force to suppress the evacuation has now been rejected by the General Secretary. If he compromises with the students, Gulenko will no longer be able to hold his head up in the Central Committee of the CPSU, and may even no longer be able to lead Ukraine.

Gulenko felt that he had been forced into a dead end and he could only rely on the wisdom of the leadership team.

However, the problems faced by the Ukrainian central government are already very difficult, and they are constrained in many aspects. It can be said that Gulenko's situation is far more difficult than that of the old man six months later.

You have to know that even that experienced old man, in a country with thousands of years of history and countless political wisdom, when faced with the same situation as the Kiev incident, ultimately chose the plan that was rejected by Gorbachev. This was because this was a political struggle, with only forward and backward options, and no other options.

Chapter 218: The Spring Breeze of Reform Blows Across the Land (4)

After Gulenko asked the question, the conference room fell into silence, everyone hung their heads, and Gulenko looked around and sighed in disappointment.

Kravchuk's eyes moved and he thought of a possibility.

Since the current people's movement in Kiev is the work of the conservatives and Shcherbitsky is behind it, if Gulenko wants to resolve the impact of this extremely serious and bad incident, it will depend on how the conservatives and reformists fight each other.

The biggest backer of the reformists was General Secretary Gorbachev. As long as the General Secretary supported Gulenko and allowed him to send troops to evacuate and suppress the students and people at the rally, the people's movement that swept Kiev could be strangled.

But it seems that Gorbachev has no intention of helping Gulenko. Perhaps if he approves Gulenko's application to mobilize the army, any loss of life or negative reports from the West will be blamed on the General Secretary.

Gorbachev, who wanted to be a great saint who embraced peace and was committed to reform, could not bear the stain of being tarnished by Gulenko II.

Then the people's movement launched by the conservatives in the conservative base camp should have had a great advantage. Gulenko did not get Gorbachev's strong support and wanted to quell this people's movement. He could only bow his head to Sherbitsky and admit his mistakes, and submit to Sherbitsky again. This might make the conservatives stop.

Kravchuk moved his lips but still didn't say anything. He felt that even if Gulenko realized this, he might not be able to take that step.

After all, he is already the First Secretary of Ukraine, and Sherbitsky is no longer the old leader who has been kind to him before. As a Soviet vice-state-level leader without a real job, Sherbitsky is blocking Gulenko's way. If Herbitsky is not brought down, Gulenko really doesn't know when he will be able to get the vice-state-level treatment he deserves for this position.

In the past year, Gulenko and Sherbitsky have almost fallen out. Regardless of whether Sherbitsky will forgive and accept Gulenko, Gulenko probably can't turn back.

On December 11, a "people's movement" erupted in Kyiv with a march and rally of over 12 people. The people's movement, composed of students, teachers, intellectuals and citizens, surrounded the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the Mariinsky Palace where the Party Central Committee is located.

The news was reported by Reuters, the Associated Press and AFP at noon that day.

Suddenly, large-scale student rallies, marches and blockades of the Party Central Committee broke out within the Soviet Union. This was like a bolt from the blue, shocking the entire European, Asian and African continents.

“Did Soviet reforms fail?”

"The so-called reforms of the Soviet leadership were lies and deceptions. They arrested a large number of progressive people and aroused public discontent..."

"Comrade Haniyev, praised by official media as 'a responsible, capable, and outstanding Soviet cadre who decisively handled the Chernobyl nuclear leak and saved hundreds of thousands of people,' was highly successful in promoting economic reforms during his tenure as First Secretary at Yalta. He was praised by Gorbachev as a model of reform, 'learning from Yalta in small-city reform.' Yet, such an outstanding Soviet cadre openly accused and criticized Gorbachev's reforms and was subsequently arrested and imprisoned. Is there anything worth considering here..."

In October 1987, Gorbachev's trusted reformist general Yeltsin publicly criticized the Soviet Union's reforms for being unfavorable. Gorbachev dismissed him from his positions as First Secretary of Moscow, alternate member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU, and member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, making him the first senior official to be punished for questioning the reforms.

On December 1, 1988, another progressive reformer, Haniyev, published an article in Rukh's official newspaper, People's Daily, titled "Lenin has been gone for 64 years, and we have forgotten the essence of struggle!" He harshly criticized Gorbachev's reforms. On the 5th, Haniyev and members of the "Ukrainian People's Movement" he founded were arrested and imprisoned by the Soviet authorities.

"The Ukrainian People's Movement is a non-governmental environmental protection organization founded by Haniyev. It was originally established to protect the interests of the people affected by the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and to call for the complete closure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. However, as Haniyev's thinking on the nation and his political propositions matured, Rukh (Ukrainian People's Movement) has transformed into a political organization that promotes Ukrainian nationalism and monitors the Soviet Communist Party's rule..."

"The popular movement in Kiev represents the voice of the Soviet people who have been suppressed for 80 years..."

"US President Reagan advised Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev: The Soviet Union truly wants reform and should respect the people's choice!"

……

Western media reports on the Kiev people's movement appeared everywhere in Europe and Asia, and even the Khitans in the Far East gave concise and objective reports on it.

Compared with Khitan's reports, the reports from European countries and the United States had obvious political tendencies. They elevated Haniyev and the Ukrainian people's movement to a very great level, and even described Haniyev, Drak, Makar and others as pioneers of the Soviet people and defenders of the truth who were not afraid of power.

The Soviet authorities remained silent on the people's movement in Kiev and did not report it at all.

But after all, the people's movement in Kiev involved too many people. Almost everyone in Ukraine knew about it, and many people in Russia, Belarus and other countries also knew about it or were learning about it.

The truth and rumors mixed together and continued to ferment and spread among the Soviet people. Although not everyone believed that Haniyev and others were right, the outbreak of the Kiev People's Movement had unknowingly eroded the prestige of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

This phenomenon was particularly prominent in the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, because the political propaganda of Haniyev and the Ukrainian People's Movement mainly involved the interests of Ukraine and mainly spread the Ukrainian national historical view, which was very destructive to Ukrainians.

Because there are many Russians in eastern Ukraine, the spread of Ukrainian national historical perspectives is not rapid. Currently, it is only spread in some large cities. However, the situation is very different in the west where Ukrainians are the majority.

It should be noted that western Ukraine is the cradle of the Ukrainian nationalism. The completeness and political correctness of the "Ukrainian national historical view" established by Haniyev are irresistible to the current Ukrainians. What's more, Haniyev also helped the Ukrainian people find the greatest common divisor of Ukrainian national independence.

Therefore, before December, western Ukraine had already begun to rapidly spread the content of "History of the Development of the Ukrainian Nation" and part of the "People's Daily". After the outbreak of the Kyiv People's Movement in December, the states and cities in western Ukraine rapidly developed peripheral members of "Rukh", and Haniyev's supporters and admirers also increased exponentially.

Even though the Soviet Union and Ukraine wanted to suppress the news, the concern and imitation of the people's movement were growing in various states and cities in Ukraine.

Ukraine, which experienced the Chernobyl incident, is different from other republics. On May 1, 1986, Ukraine had demonstrations and rallies in major cities across the country. At that time, it was a mass incident organized by Haniyev in collaboration with Reuters and Western forces. Haniyev turned the crisis into safety and turned a disaster into a blessing by relying on this tactic of attacking Wei to save Zhao.

Haniyev knew better than anyone that the Soviet authorities were very afraid of negative reports from the Western media and would make appropriate compromises after Western public opinion took shape.