14. Ilizarov, Tainaia zhizn’ Stalin, pp. 112–113, 118–119.
15. Cited in Lars T. Lih, Oleg V. Naumov, and Oleg Khlevniuk, eds., Stalin’s Letters to Molotov, 1925–1936 (New Haven, 1995), p. 91.
16. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 69, ll. 53–54.
17. Cited in Lih, Naumov, and Khlevniuk, Stalin’s Letters to Molotov, p. 113.
18. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 69, l. 67ob.
19. Ibid., l. 68.
20. From Valedinsky’s memoirs; cited in Istochnik, no. 2 (1998): 68.
21. Cited in Lih, Naumov, and Khlevniuk, Stalin’s Letters to Molotov, p. 138.
22. Cited in Istochnik, no. 2 (1998): 69.
23. Ibid., p. 69; Ilizarov, Tainaia zhizn’ Stalin, pp. 112–113.
24. Cited in Lih, Naumov, and Khlevniuk, Stalin’s Letters to Molotov, p. 175.
25. Iu. G. Murin, comp., Iosif Stalin v ob"iatiiakh sem’i. Iz lichnogo arkhiva (Moscow, 1993), p. 32.
26. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 728, l. 29.
27. Cited in Murin, Iosif Stalin v ob"iatiiakh sem’i, p. 37.
28. I. V. Stalin, Works, vol. 13 (Moscow, 1954), p. 136. Translation slightly revised.
29. Cited in O. V. Khlevniuk et al., comps., Stalin i Kaganovich. Perepiska. 1931–1936 (Moscow, 2001), p. 180.
30. S. V. Deviatov et al., Garazh osobogo naznacheniia. 1921–2011 (Moscow, 2011), p. 157.
31. Letters from Stalin to Yenukidze, dated 16 August and 13 September 1933; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 728, ll. 38, 40.
32. Letter dated 7 September 1933; cited in A. V. Kvashonkin et al., comps., Bol’shevistskoe rukovodstvo. Perepiska. 1912–1927 (Moscow, 1996), p. 254.
33. From the diary of Maria Svanidze; cited in Murin, Iosif Stalin v ob"iatiiakh sem’i, p. 158.
34. Letter to A. I. Ugarov, dated 16 August 1934; cited in A. Kirilina, Neizvestnyi Kirov (St. Petersburg and Moscow, 2001), p. 141.
35. From the diary of Maria Svanidze; cited in Murin, Iosif Stalin v ob"iatiiakh sem’i, p. 183.
36. From the memoirs of Dr. Valedinsky; cited in Istochnik, no. 2 (1998): 70.
37. Ibid., p. 70.
38. RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 377, l. 60.
39. Stalin left Moscow on 9 October 1945 and returned 17 December; O. V. Khlevniuk et al., comps., Politbiuro TsK VKP(b) i Sovet Ministrov SSSR. 1945–1953 (Moscow, 2002), p. 398.
40. Ibid.
41. Deviatov et al., Garazh osobogo naznacheniia, p. 201.
42. Descriptions of Stalin’s lifestyle at his southern dachas can be found in the memoirs of the Georgian party boss Akaky Mgeladze, a young protégé of Stalin who enjoyed his particular favor; A. I. Mgeladze, Stalin. Kakim ia ego znal, (n.p., 2001).
43. Stalin’s medical records; RGASPI, f. 558, op. 11, d. 1483, ll. 1–101; Ilizarov, Tainaia zhizn’ Stalina, pp. 126, 129.
44. M. Dzhilas [Milovan Djilas], Litso totalitarizma (Moscow, 1992), p. 60.
45. Cited in Istoricheskii arkhiv, no. 3 (1997): 117.
46. Mgeladze, Stalin, p. 125.
47. Cited in E. Khodzha [Enver Hoxha], So Stalinym. Vospominaniia (Tirana, 1984), p. 137.
48. Alliluyeva, Twenty Letters, p. 22.
49. Ibid., pp. 206–207.
50. Miasnikov, Ia lechil Stalina, p. 302.
51. Alliluyeva, Twenty Letters, p. 207.
52. Miasnikov, Ia lechil Stalina, pp. 304–305.
53. Transcript of a conversation in March 1978 published in F. Chuev, Sto sorok besed s Molotovym (Moscow, 1991), p. 324.
Chapter 5. Stalin at War
1. The following descriptions of meetings in Stalin’s office on 21 and 22 June 1941 are based on G. K. Zhukov, Vospominaniia i razmyshleniia (Moscow, 2002), vol. 1, pp. 260–269; A. I. Mikoian, Tak bylo. Razmyshleniia o minuvshem (Moscow, 1999), p. 388; and A. A. Chernobaev, ed., Na prieme u Stalina. Tetradi (zhurnaly) zapisei lits, priniatykh I. V. Stalinym (1924–1953 gg.) (Moscow, 2008), pp. 337–338.
2. Semen Konstantinovich Timoshenko (1895–1970) was a commander of the First Cavalry Army during the Civil War, in which capacity he worked closely with Stalin. He went on to make a successful military career and, after the debacle in Finland, replaced Voroshilov as defense commissar and was elevated to marshal. However, during the war with Germany, Timoshenko did not prove to be particularly able and was forced into the background. After the war and until his retirement in 1960 he was given secondary posts commanding various military districts.
Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (1896–1974) made a military career after serving with the Red Army during the Civil War. He advanced rapidly through the ranks during the late 1930s, when purges among the officer corps created opportunities. Zhukov proved an able commander during military conflicts with Japan in 1939. Before the war with Germany he was appointed chief of the General Staff. The war proved to be his finest hour. He rose to be one of the Soviet Union’s leading marshals and served as deputy to the commander in chief (Stalin). When it was over, Zhukov fell into disfavor but enjoyed a brief return to prominence after Stalin’s death, serving as defense minister from 1955 to 1957. Khrushchev, however, was wary of the ambitious marshal and forced him into retirement. After Khrushchev was expelled as Soviet leader, Zhukov was allowed to publish his memoirs (the first edition of which came out in 1969). Although they were heavily censored, they remain an important source for historians of the Great Patriotic War (as the war with Germany is known in Russia). Recent editions of his memoirs restore materials excised by the censors, but we will never know to what extent Zhukov self-censored his original manuscript.
3. Zhukov, Vospominaniia i razmyshleniia, vol. 1, p. 260.
4. Ibid, p. 264
5. Cited in a speech written by Zhukov in May 1956 to be given at a Central Committee plenum that was to be devoted to the Cult of Personality but never took place; cited in Istochnik, no. 2 (1995): 147.
6. Chernobaev, Na prieme u Stalina, p. 337.
7. Cited in Zhukov, Vospominaniia i razmyshleniia, vol. 1, p. 265.
8. Cited in L. E. Reshin et al., comps., 1941 god (Moscow, 1998), vol. 2, p. 432.
9. Chernobaev, Na prieme u Stalina, p. 337.
Lev Zakharovich Mekhlis (1889–1953) was one of Stalin’s assistants in the 1920s, after which he held a number of senior posts and enjoyed Stalin’s wholehearted trust. After war with Germany broke out, Stalin put Mekhlis in charge of the political offices within the Red Army that were supposed to exercise political control over commanders. Mekhlis’s bungling at the front infuriated Stalin but did not undermine his trust in his faithful helper. Mekhlis went on to hold a number of senior posts on various fronts. After the war, he was put in charge of the Ministry of State Control. Poor health forced him into retirement. He died several weeks before Stalin and was buried at the foot of the Kremlin walls, alongside other Soviet leaders and heroes.
10. Cited in Zhukov, Vospominaniia i razmyshleniia, vol. 1, p. 265.
11. Reshin et al., 1941 god, p. 431.
12. For versions of Molotov’s speech, see Istoricheskii arkhiv, no. 2 (1995): 34–39.
13. John Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad (London, 2003), p. 177.