Servant of the People in Kyiv

On December 18, large-scale mass rallies broke out simultaneously in Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. The rallies were led by organizations such as "Sajudis" and "People's Front" founded by major intellectuals in the three countries. Their demands were the same, all demanding that the Soviet Union abandon its unified reform and relax its control over the "reforms" of the three Baltic countries. In other words, the three countries demanded independent reforms adapted to local conditions.

Compared with Georgia's demand for independence, the demands of the three Baltic countries were so attractive that Gorbachev, who learned the news, could not get angry at all.

On December 19, Azerbaijan and Armenia once again clashed fiercely over the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Gorbachev was very troubled by this most difficult issue and could not think of how to mediate it for a while.

……

At the end of 1988, Gorbachev suddenly felt that the Soviet Union's reform policy seemed to have lost its popularity among the Soviet people overnight.

From the Baltic Sea to the Caspian Sea, seven of the fifteen Soviet republics have already experienced problems of varying degrees. Some are ethnic, some political, and some economic.

After Ukraine, one small country after another started to stir up trouble.

This made Gorbachev very upset, and he even wanted to send out troops to occupy all small countries and implement martial law in order to suppress various problems.

However, reason made him give up this terrible idea.

In fact, not everyone can stir up trouble. At any time, strength is the only capital to fight for rights and status.

In the office of the Soviet State Security Committee, there was a survey form on the development of national forces in each republic, and the Soviet national leaders were well aware of the situation.

In August 1988, led by Haniyev, major intellectuals from Ukraine's literary, artistic, educational and academic circles jointly established the officially recognized "Rukh (Ukrainian People's Movement)".

In October 1988, the "Sajudis", or "Movement for Reform", was established at the initiative of well-known intellectuals in Lithuania's literary, artistic and educational circles.

On November 12, 1988, the Central Committee of the Lithuanian Party took the lead in proposing the demand of "striving for more sovereignty and economic independence" and proposed "(in the future) to formulate the Soviet Constitution based on the basic laws of each republic." The proposal received positive responses from Estonia and Latvia.

On November 16, 1988, Estonia adopted the Declaration of Sovereignty of Estonia, declaring that "within the Republic of Estonia, the laws of the highest authorities and institutions of Estonia shall prevail."

Obviously, this was a test by the three Baltic countries on the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The CPSU immediately responded to Estonia's self-assertion.

On November 26, the Union Council of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR declared Estonia's move to control the republic's state assets invalid.

However, Gorbachev, who already had the idea of ​​total Westernization and relaxed reforms, did not oppose the three Baltic countries' proposal to obtain a more independent status and freer rights. He just did not agree with it at the time, but he did not criticize or punish them either. It seemed that he tacitly allowed them to make some small moves, but they must not cross the line.

While the three Baltic countries were constantly making small moves, Haniyev was already leading the first stage of the people's movement in Kiev. At that time, Haniyev was also stimulated by the three Baltic countries and knew that the time to overthrow the Soviet Union had come, so he couldn't wait to launch the "Ukrainian People's Movement."

Compared with Georgia and Ukraine, although the three Baltic countries are small in size, their governments and people are basically united in their support for Gorbachev's reforms and are seeking opportunities to break away from Soviet control in the name of fully implementing reforms.

Therefore, the three Baltic states became the first independent Soviet republics.

Although the Lithuanian "Sayukis" movement was born later than the Ukrainian "Rukh", its political significance is stronger.

Therefore, for the three Baltic countries with precise goals, the success of the Ukrainian people's movement in December gave them great encouragement.

On December 18, large-scale mass rallies broke out simultaneously in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. The rallies were organized and led by major intellectuals from the three countries. Their demands were for the Soviet Union to abandon its control over the "reforms" of the three Baltic countries, and the three countries demanded independent reforms based on local conditions.

Chapter 226 The Old Secretary's Concern

The Communist Parties and Soviet Committees of the three Baltic countries did not suppress or close down the large-scale mass rallies in their capitals, but condoned them because the demands of these intellectuals also represented the ideas of the governments of the three countries.

The three Baltic countries have always been the three rebellious sons of the "Soviet Mother". They had no chance before, but now Gorbachev's reforms have given them hope of separation. Naturally, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia are unwilling to give up the opportunity to fight for it.

In the original history, a few months later, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia would organize a peaceful demonstration called "Baltic Way", with more than 200 million people from the three countries participating. The organizers were the political organizations established by the intellectuals of the three countries during the reform.

Because the success of the people's movement in Ukraine gave greater confidence to the nationalists and intellectuals in the three Caucasus countries and the three Baltic countries, they all launched mass incidents in mid-December that had never occurred in history, or in other words, mass incidents that should have occurred next year in history broke out in December of this year.

The problems of the three Baltic countries and the three Caucasian countries are somewhat distant for Ukraine. After learning about them, Haniyev only praised them with a few words of praise, such as "the building is about to collapse and the wall is pushed down by everyone", and then he put his energy into the organizational construction of the "Ukrainian People's Movement".

On December 20, all traces of the Ukrainian people's movement seemed to have disappeared. Even Kiev and Yalta, where the turmoil was the most serious, had completely returned to their previous production and life. Only the graffiti on the walls on the street corners still told of what had happened a few days ago.

Less than a week after Sherbitsky returned to Kiev, with the cooperation of conservative officials, he regained the scattered power in his own hands. Dozens of ministerial-level cadres who had been dismissed by Gulenko were also reused, and the cadres promoted and reused by Gulenko were all liquidated.

Either the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB discovered that they and their families had huge corruption problems, or they were found to have committed serious counter-revolutionary acts. In short, since the 17th, the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the KGB have not stopped and have been constantly stuffing people into the newly vacated prisons.

Gulenko, who had lost power and was waiting for accountability from the Party Central Committee, had already been placed under house arrest by Sherbitsky's men. Although Sherbitsky hated Gulenko to the core, Gulenko was still the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. If he wanted to deal with him or remove him, he had to go through the Politburo of the Soviet Central Committee, so Sherbitsky could only wait.

After December 16, Shcherbitsky and Haniyev were so busy that they didn't see each other for a week.

One is busy adjusting Ukraine's leadership team and liquidating the Gulenko faction, while the other is busy organizing the "reborn from the ashes" "Ukrainian People's Movement". These are all their respective political foundations, and they have no choice but to pay attention.

It was not until ten days later, on the afternoon of the 26th, that Haniyev, who was reviewing the content of a new issue of the newspaper at the People's Daily, suddenly saw an acquaintance from the Ministry of Internal Affairs coming over.

After shaking hands with Haniyev, the reinstated First Minister Novikov said, "The old man is going to Moscow for a Politburo meeting. He and his wife heard that your son was born a few days ago and have been wanting to visit. The old man will be leaving for the airport in half an hour and will stop by your house to see the child. Please put down everything you are doing and come home with me to wait for the reception."

Haniyev felt warm at the thought and hurriedly told Makar to follow up, while he himself followed Novikov away.

It was already 5:20 p.m. when they returned home. Since it was winter, it got dark early. Haniyev turned on the lights as soon as he, Novikov and others entered the house.

At this time, his mother and father were at home. Seeing their nervous and excited expressions, Haniyev knew that they had already known that Sherbitsky was coming to visit.

Haniyev told Novikov and others to do as they pleased, and he went upstairs to see his wife and son.

Sherbitsky's visit to the Hanyev family is a big event for the Hanyev family and also for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

So when Novikov went to pick up Haniyev, many officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs had already arrived at Haniyev's house in advance to notify and conduct routine inspections. Hundreds of Ministry of Internal Affairs soldiers also occupied the nearby buildings and street corners in advance to ensure the absolute safety of Secretary Sherbitsky.

Paul had just finished his feeding and was soundly asleep in his crib. When Tatyana learned that the Shcherbitskys were coming, she smiled and said, "You know what, I really do miss the old lady. I didn't notice when Paul was born, but it seems the old lady even sent some money and supplements as gifts. I've always said I'd find a chance to thank them."

Haniyev smiled and nodded. "The old man and the old lady are naturally very careful in what they do. I'm leading the charge, so how could they not be considerate of their subordinates?"

Just as the two were chatting, Vladimir's voice came from downstairs: "Victor, Tatiana, hurry up and carry Paul down, Secretary Sherbitsky is here!"

Haniyev carefully picked up little Paul and took Tatiana downstairs.

At this time, Siderov, who worked at the Antonov Design Bureau in the western suburbs, and Victoria, who was studying at school, were taken home by the Ministry of Internal Affairs police. The living room and dining room on the first floor became spotless, tidy and tidy.

Haniyev nodded gratefully to Novikov. After all, letting Sherbitsky get to know him would be of great benefit to the future of Sidlov and Victoria.

Looking at his slightly reserved family members, Haniyev laughed and said, "Don't be nervous, Secretary Sherbitsky is a very kind and gentle old man."

Everyone smiled slightly. Before Vladimir and the others could say anything, Novikov, who was carrying a communication device, raised his eyebrows and said in a deep voice, "They're here."

A few seconds later, the door opened and the Shcherbitskys walked in with smiles on their faces.

Haniyev and Vladimir hurried forward to greet them.

Because this visit was Sherbitsky's visit to the Haniyev family, and there were also police from the Ministry of Internal Affairs participating, Sherbitsky's status was different from when he was in the sanatorium, and it seemed very formal.

After asking the old man to sit down, Haniyev smiled and introduced his father, mother, brothers and sisters to the old secretary. Mrs. Sherbitsky had already taken Tatyana and her son to the room to talk.

Sherbitsky chatted with them one by one cordially, asking about their work, life and study, and said that if they had any problems that needed help, they could directly talk to his secretary. After all, Haniyev has been very busy recently, and he plans to give him more responsibilities in the future. As the first person in charge of the party and organization in Ukraine, he must take good care of Comrade Victor's logistical life, ensure that he has no worries, and has no mental burden in his future work.

Shcherbitsky's secretary tactfully stepped forward and left his phone number.

In fact, given the relationship between Haniyev and Sherbitsky, there is no need to find a secretary even if there is something going on at home. However, Sherbitsky came this time to show his attention and care for Haniyev, and also to express an attitude in the Ukrainian central government.

After chatting for a few words, the old lady came over holding Paul, and Tatiana followed closely.

"Old man, look at little Paul, he's so cute..."

Shcherbitsky laughed, stood up and said, "Let me hug you."

As he spoke, Sherbitsky took the cradle of little Paul from his wife's hands and lowered his head to play with the child.

Little Paul had slept enough and eaten enough in advance, so he behaved very well. Not only did he not cry, but he also responded to Sherbitsky's teasing from time to time.

Sherbitsky was already in a very happy mood, and after teasing Paul for a while, his face was even more smiling.

After handing the child to Tatyana, Shcherbitsky looked at Haniyev and said, "I'm going to fly to Moscow tonight to attend a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee. This is the first time I've been invited to a Central Committee meeting since 1986. This meeting will discuss the treatment of Gulenko. When I return after the meeting at the end of the month, everything should be clear. Then I'll give you more responsibilities..."

Sherbitsky's words were not very straightforward, but most of the people present were smart people. People from the Haniyev family naturally knew that what Sherbitsky meant was that at this Politburo meeting, the Soviet authorities would dismiss Gurenko and reappoint Sherbitsky as the First Secretary of Ukraine. At that time, as the person who made the greatest contribution to Sherbitsky's comeback, Haniyev would naturally be entrusted with the important task.

Haniyev naturally understood what the old man meant and nodded with a smile: "Okay, everything will wait for your triumphant return. I wish you a safe journey."

After seeing off the Sherbitskys, the Haniyev family cheered so loudly that it seemed as if it could lift the house up.

Sidlov said excitedly, "Secretary Sherbitsky asked about my work unit and said he would contact the secretary and director of my design bureau and ask them to look after me. Is I about to be promoted?"

Vladimir also laughed and patted his belly. He felt that judging from Sherbitsky's attitude towards his family just now, coupled with Victor's contribution and the old lady's concern for Tatiana and her son, there was no need to worry about his youngest son's career, and he should also have hope of getting a real job at the department level before he retired.

However, what made Vladimir happiest was not the future of himself and his youngest son, but Sherbitsky's words about "adding more responsibilities" to Victor.

"Victor, the old secretary wants to give you more responsibilities. What position do you think he will assign you?"

Haniyev chuckled and said, "I don't know. Everything will be arranged by the organization."

Sidlov laughed and said, "Being a governor is a sure thing. Maybe he can even become the first secretary of the provincial party committee..."

"Ha ha……"

Chapter 227 The dust has settled

On the morning of December 27, 1988, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU was held in a conference room in the Kremlin.

Sherbitsky, who had been away from the Great Hall of the People for two and a half years, also appeared on the rostrum for the first time. This phenomenon, combined with his sudden appearance in Kiev a few days ago and handling the Ukrainian people's movement on behalf of the Central Committee of the CPSU, led foreign media to speculate that Sherbitsky had returned to the central power stage of the CPSU.

This Politburo meeting mainly discussed the work of political system reform. Gorbachev personally presided over the meeting and delivered an important speech.

Gorbachev pointed out at the meeting: "We have entered a very important stage in implementing the line, initiatives, and new thinking. Comrades, I believe that our direction of action is correct...

Our proactive approach has unnerved conservatives in American politics, leaving them anxious, worried, and even fearful. This isn't just the Americans; Margaret Thatcher felt the same way. Their rhetoric is simply an attempt to lower expectations, sow doubt, and hinder the process of destroying the foundations of the Cold War.

Our reforms are successful, but there are always some episodes in the process of success..."

Gorbachev's speech was a self-affirmation of the reforms he had implemented, including economic reforms, political system reforms, and diplomatic reforms.

Among the fifteen Politburo members who attended the meeting, only two central government cadres, Chairman of the Council of Ministers Ryzhkov and Shcherbitsky, were conservatives. The remaining thirteen were mostly supporters of Gorbachev, and there were also a few neutrals in their seventies. Therefore, after Gorbachev's speech, the members in the meeting hall all echoed the General Secretary's speech. Gorbachev's close confidants such as Shevardnadze, Slyunikov, Yakovlev, and Medvedev continued to boast about the achievements and success of the reform.

Although the highest-power leaders of the vast red empire were just a dozen people in a small office, the tradition of the CPSU was that one person had the final say. The general secretary was the one who made the real decisions, and the Politburo members could not resist the general secretary.

In the past, because the conservatives were more powerful, Sherbitsky had wanted to compete with Gorbachev, but now that he had just fallen and was reinstated, he had promised Gorbachev that he would cooperate with his work.

Therefore, Sherbitsky was very satisfied with his comeback. He knew that the conservatives were doomed and the reformers were unstoppable, so he had already listened to Hanyev's opinions and suggestions and decided to only try to manage Ukraine well and guard his own piece of land, trying to prevent Ukraine from being affected too much by the negative impact of reforms and to preserve some seeds for the great Soviet Union.

Therefore, at the Politburo meeting on the first day, Sherbitsky basically said nothing and did not refute the reformists' self-promotion and arrangements for political reform.

The first day of the meeting ended quickly and the opinions and suggestions on political system reform were passed at the meeting.

At the Politburo meeting the next day, the opinions on how to deal with Gulenko proposed by Sherbitsky were passed, and Gulenko was removed from his positions as alternate member of the Politburo and First Secretary of Ukraine, and Sherbitsky was appointed as First Secretary of Ukraine.

After the Politburo meeting ended on the 28th, Sherbitsky stayed in Moscow for another two days and flew back to Kiev at noon on the 30th.

Soviet television broadcasts gave brief coverage of the Politburo meetings over the past two days, also providing a brief summary of the meeting content.

On the evening of the 28th, all the people in the Soviet Union knew that Sherbitsky had been replaced as the First Secretary of Ukraine. The Ukrainians had already expected this, and many people in Kiev were so happy that they did not sleep all night.

The Haniyev family was very happy after watching the news reports confirming the Politburo's handling of Gulenko and the appointment of Sherbitsky. They knew that after Sherbitsky's return, it would be Victor's time to rise.

On the afternoon of December 30, Haniyev followed Nikolay and stood behind dozens of Ukrainian central leaders. Everyone was waiting at the Kiev airport for the return of Comrade Sherbitsky, the newly appointed First Secretary of Ukraine of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

Sherbitsky is now the first secretary of Ukraine. Gulenko has been removed from all his posts and will soon be investigated and held accountable. Ukraine has once again ushered in the Sherbitsky era.

More than ten minutes later, Sherbitsky's special plane arrived. After Sherbitsky got off the plane, two elementary school students wearing red scarves presented flowers to the first secretary to express their welcome to the old secretary's reinstatement.

Shcherbitsky was very happy and after a few polite words, he drove back to the Mariinsky Palace.

Haniyev's rank did not allow him to enter the Mariinsky Palace, but he was Sherbitsky's confidant and had always been treated with courtesy by the ministers, so he and Nikolay rode in the first car behind Sherbitsky's special car.

After returning to the Mariinsky Palace, Shcherbitsky conveyed the spirit of the Politburo meeting to the meeting of the central leaders and ministers who came to welcome him.

There were more than 80 participants in the meeting, the lowest-ranking of whom were Haniyev, deputy director of the Education Commission, and Nikolay, director of the General Office of the Central Committee. The others were all Ukrainian state, ministerial, vice-state, and state-level leaders.

Political acumen is a compulsory course for the leaders present. After the fall of the Gulenko faction, everyone already knew that Haniyev was Sherbitsky's right-hand man and the main figure in overthrowing Gulenko, so these leaders viewed Haniyev very cordially and even flatteringly.

No one would look down on Haniyev just because his position was lower than theirs.

At the meeting, Sherbitsky gave instructions and spoke without notes for more than three hours. In the end, even the young Haniyev could hardly sit still, but Sherbitsky was still in high spirits and talked incessantly about his prospects for Ukraine's work to get back on track.

Returning as the First Secretary, Sherbitsky did not have many new ideas about how to govern Ukraine. In order to familiarize himself with the latest Ukrainian state and ministerial leaders and better grasp management, he ordered at the end of the meeting to hold an enlarged meeting of the Central Committee of the Party of Ukraine on January 1, 1989. At that time, all the central and ministerial leaders of Ukraine, the first secretaries of the states and the chairmen of the Soviets had to attend.

This was Sherbitsky's first official meeting with Ukrainian state and ministerial-level cadres since his return as First Secretary. The purpose was to familiarize himself more quickly with the leaders of various states and departments across the country, and to make timely adjustments to those who were unsatisfactory and to any positions.

Everyone knew that after this congress, Sherbitsky would be able to regain the power to make decisions and the supreme prestige in Ukraine that he had when he was the first secretary.

Chapter 228: Georgia Overestimates Its Capacity

Perhaps it is because the exaggerated plots of dramas and novels have given people too much imagination, making people always fantasize that political struggles and business wars will experience wonderful struggles and reversals, but in fact, most of the time business wars are always plain and unpretentious.

Political struggles are naturally more dangerous and cruel than business wars, but struggles always take a long time to occur, but they always end very quickly and unexpectedly. This is because politicians already have an overwhelming advantage when they decide to launch a general attack, or they have seized the opponent's fatal loopholes. Therefore, from ancient times to the present, from east to west, the result of political struggles is always a win-win situation, and the winner takes all. There are rarely any cases of a Jedi counterattack after the end.

Sherbitsky and Hanyev used Ukrainian intellectuals and students to launch a political campaign against Gulenko during the best period created by Gorbachev. Gulenko had an unstable foundation and was facing a major change that occurred once in a century. His fate was predictable.

So after the enlarged meeting of the Central Committee of the Ukrainian Party on January 1, 1989, Ukraine once again ushered in the era of Sherbitsky.

While Ukraine returned to calm and Sherbitsky was busy concentrating power, the "excitement" in the three Baltic countries and Georgia was getting more and more intense.

Gorbachev dealt with the mass incidents in the three Baltic countries in a conciliatory manner. Although he did not say it explicitly, he basically unified the three countries and said they did not have to fully implement the instructions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and could carry out reforms independently.