CURRENT INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN - 1957/07/05

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: Current/Central Intelligence Bulletin Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 03189015
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 20, 2019
• Publication Date: July 5, 1957

Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015 C
or/Ft/ i7A TOISECIZET
CURRENT
INTELLIGENCE
BULLETIN
5 July 1957
Copy Not 6
NO
� rs
NEXT IV'
HR 70-2
DATE 4.01-. Fi7 V�F.WEIR;
3.5(c)
3.3(h)(2)
OFFICE OF CURRENT INTELLIGENCE
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
This document contains classified information affecting
the national security of the United States within the
meaning of the espionage laws, US Code Title 18, Sections
793, 794, and 798. The law prohibits its transmission
or the revelation of its contents in any manner to an un-
authorized person, as well as its use in any manner
prejudicial to the safety or interest of the United States
or for the benefit of any foreign government to the detri-
ment of the United States.
TOP
1
ET z
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Aft
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
TM' ZA_,IttET
CONTENTS
. ELEVATION OF MARSHAL ZHUKOV
2. WORLD REACTION TO THE SOVIET PURGES
(page 4).
(page 3).
3. FOLLOWERS OF FORMER THAI PREMIER PRIDI REPORTED
IN BURMA (page 9).
4. LIBERAL PARTY PLAN TO AMEN]) KOREAN CONSTITU-
TION REJECTED BY RHEE (page 10).
ANNEX--Conclusions of the Watch Report of the Intelligence
Advisory Committee
(page 11).
5 July 57
Current :Intelligence Bulletin Page 2
TOP SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
CONFIDENTIAL
1. ELEVATION OF MARSHAL ZHUKOV
Reference:
Marshal Georgi Zhukov's promotion to
full membership in the Soviet party
presidium strengthens the influence of
the military and of Zhukov personally.
Zhukov's present standing attests to his
support for the economic, political and diplomatic objectives
identified with Khrushchev and his victorious faction and in-
dicates that he threw his weight into the scales against the
ousted presidium members.
Curtailment of the political police and the
growing interdependence of political and military strategy have
together resulted in greater military participation in policy-
making over the four years since Stalin's death. Also, the new,
enlarged presidium is clearly intended to appear as a more
broadly-based political body. The elevation of Zhukov, who
has been ranking candidate member is, in part, in keeping with
this spirit. An additional consideration undoubtedly was Zhu-
kov's immense personal popularity, his high professional pres-
tige, and his apparent amicable working relationship with Khru-
shchev and Bulganin.
Unlike many of the other new members of
the presidium, Zhukov does not owe his rise to purely political
patronage and, on his record, he is not likely to be merely a
lihrushchey rubber stamp.
5 July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 3
"eaNFMENTI-A-
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
CONFIDENTIAL
2. WORLD REACTION TO THE SOVIET PURGES (Information
as of 2100 EDT, 4 July 57)
Communist leaders and their newspapers
on both sides of the iron curtain have commented on the shake-
up in the Soviet party presidium with a swiftness that suggests
that they may have been briefed beforehand. Sino-Soviet bloc
press reaction ranged from genuine enthusiasm in Poland and
optimism in Yugoslavia to approving clich�in East Germany.
Communist Chinese papers reprinted TASS texts without com-
ment. Initial reactions of officials and newspapers in the free
world indicate wide agreement that Khrushchev is consolidat-
ing his personal power. The opinion was expressed that the
shake-up would lead to a renewed effort by the USSR to sell its
policy of conciliation to the non-Communist world.
Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia
The Satellite reaction to the Moscow an-
nouncement was instantaneous. With the exception of Albania,
all Satellite papers now have published reports on the CPSU
central committee meeting and its resolution.
The Rumanian party announced a personnel
shuffle of its own. Party first secretary Gheorghiu-Dej may
have interpreted the Soviet moves as tacit permission to reform
his "collective leadership" too. He fired the leading "Stalinist"
member of the politburo, Party Secretary Iosif Chisinevschi,
and also dismissed from the politburo Miron Constantinescu who
retained his post as minister of education. The two men prob-
ably have been dragging their feet on implementing DO% policies
which have been in line with the decisions of the 20th Soviet Party
Congress,
In Czechoslovakia, where the party's central
committee was reported to be preparing an "emergency meeting"
for late Friday night, all papers carried the text of the resolution
and many reprinted Pravda's 3 June editorial on "Leninist Unity."
The home service on 4 July included the resolution in a morning
broadcast usually reserved for Rude Pravo's political commentary.
5 July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 4
CONFIDENTIAL
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
-C19iNFIDENT424117�
In Poland, the party newspaper, Trybuna
Ludu, hailed a return to the spirit of the 20th congress and
said that the deposed Stalinists "were closely associated with
an epoch...were under the yoke of old ideas. were advocates
of old, outworn and useless forms." The paper saw the CPSU's
action as a manifestation of "creative Marxism," the spirit
which motivates the Chinese and Polish parties. In a warning
to dissident hard-line elements in the Polish party, most likely
the Natolin group, Trvbuna Ludu said that there is no greater
internal danger to a Communist party than factions. The paper
said these factions should be eliminated and called the Soviet
move a "correct policy, a determined struggle against the fac-
tion and in defense of the the unity of the party." Warsaw re-
broadcast the resolution and accounts of the Moscow party organ-
ization meeting throughout the day.
The Bulgarian home service announced the
changes and reported Furtseva's address to the Moscow organ-
ization. Bulgarian papers carried the full text of Pravda's two
editorials.
In East Germany, where the party's central
committee was also called into special session, the domestic
audience heard a summary of the CPSU resolution and a state-
ment by the Socialist Unity (Communist) Party (SED) in which
Ulbricht and other party leaders accused the deposed leaders
of "engaging in a slanderous campaign against Comrade Khru-
shchev." The German leaders said that the new changes merely
implemented the decisions ot the 20th congress, and intimated
that there would be few repercussions in Germany where the
SED had consistently applied the lessons of the 20th congress.
The Hungarian press cautioned that the
Soviet moves do not foreshadow any relaxation of the campaign
against "revisionism"--a warning to party dissidents that the
regime's policies are not going to change. A hard-line Neps-
zabdsag editorial warned: "It may be possible that certain re-
visionist circles, or circles leaning toward revisionism, will
attempt to utilize the present resolution of the CPSU central
committee to justify and further their own revisionist leanings
and aspirations. It is obvious that the necessary firmness must
be displayed against all such manifestations of ideological trouble -
making." The Hungarian party endorsed the stand of the CPSU
5 July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 5
-6091VHDENT-htfr
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
-CONFIDENTIAL
in a resolution of its own which, it said, would aid "in com-
bating the mistakes of dogmatism or sectarian leanings or
methods which persist or are revived."
�
Yugoslav leaders professed surprise at
the Moscow announcement, but Foreign Minister Rankovic
commented on it during a speech at a local celebration. He
said that the decision of the CPSU "seemed to secure a firmer
realization of the line laid down at the 20th congress," and
suggested that the error of the deposed Soviet leaders was
their failure to "understand the essence of the relations among
socialist states." He accused them of attempting to obstruct
a rapprochementbetweenYugoslavia and the USSR, but said
that they had failed because of the resolute efforts of Khru-
shchev. He interpreted the changes as proof of the vitality of
Soviet society and prophesied that relations between the two
countries would improve as a result.
Communist China
Communist China has not yet originated any
comment on the purges but broadcast to home audiences the full
texts of the 3 July TASS dispatches on the central committee's
plenary session and on the resolution adopted by the plenum. Al-
though the Chinese often delay, sometimes for several weeks, in
commenting on major bloc developments, an early and favorable
comment seems likely in this instance since the Chinese have sup-
ported the general line of the 20th Party Congress which the purged
leaders are accused of opposing.
Free World
Western European newspapers and officials
widely accepted the analysis that Khrushchev, with army back-
ing, is consolidating his personal power. Former French pre-
mier Mollet stated that Khrushchev "is now sole leader in the
Soviet Union." A reported West German government staff study
labeled the shuffle "a command decision to return to one-man
dictatorship."
5 July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 6
CONFIDENTI-AL
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
CONFIDENTIAL
European commentators also dwelt upon
the possibility of a period of better diplomatic relations be-
tween East and West, with various sources suggesting a more
conciliatory Soviet line toward disarmament, and a big four
meeting on the Middle East. West German Socialist leader
Erich 011enhauer was quoted as saying that the changes in Mos-
cow might be interpreted as an affirmation on the part of the
Soviet leaders to continue talks with the West.
The European press reflects a feeling that
further changes may come. Former French premier Bidault
warned that there is "no reason why the West should contribute
naively to the strengthening of the shaken prestige of Russia's
present leaders," and Mollet remarked that the "battle between
the clans" has perhaps not ended. Mollet added that Communist
editors "would do well not to throw too much mud at the 'traitors'
on whom they may have to pour flattery tomorrow."
Press and radio in Britain, France and Ar-
gentina speculated that the action may be part of a Soviet effort
to counter the movement of Communist China toward ideological
leadership of the Communist world. The London Times on 4 July
editorialized that "one immediate and highly important effect
will be that Moscow, by getting rid of the old guard and the ossi-
fiers, will try to regain the doctrinal authority in the Communist
world which more and more was being taken over by Peiping."
The British and French Communist parties
reacted quickly with authoritative statements on 4 July. A res-
olution of the French central committee expressed "total agree-
ment" and said that the factional activity merited "denunciation
and the most severe disciplinary action." The London Daily
Worker editorialized that the USSR was "making it clear to all
the world that there will be no return to the wrong methods of
the past."
Two Asian heads of state--Prime Minister
Nehru and Premier Kishi--commented cautiously on the mean-
ing of the purges. Nehru, who is in London for the Common-
wealth Conference, viewed the shifts as part of a historical
process in which the Russian revolution was returning to rela-
tive normality. He said such a return is "in a healthy direction"
5 July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 7
-CONFIDENTIAL
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
CONFIDENTIAL
since "the more normality we have the more normal relations
tend to become." Kishi observed that "the newcomers" have
established themselves in Moscow at the expense of the Stalin-
ists and that as a result, East-West tensions might be lessened
"to a certain extent."
5 July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 8
-CONFIDENTIAL
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Eemg---
3. FOLLOWERS OF FORMER THAI PREMIER PRIDI
REPORTED IN BURMA
six supporters of former
Thai premier Pridi are in Burma as
guests of the Chinese Communist em-
bassy. Among them is Sanguan Tularak,
the former Thai ambassador to Nationalist China, who re-
mained in China after the Communist conquest of the main-
land.
Comment
It seems unlikely that the Burmese gov-
ernment would have permitted these in-
dividuals to come to Rangoon without prior consultation with
the Thai government. The Thai exiles may therefore be in
Rangoon to negotiate with Thai government agents the condi-
tions under which Pridi might return to Bangkok from his long
exile in Communist China.
5July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 9
SECRET
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
CONFIDENTIAL
LIBERAL PARTY PLAN TO AMEND KOREAN
CONSTITUTION REJECTED BY RHEE
President Rhee has "flatly refused"
his party's proposed constitutional
amendment which would remove oppo-
sition Vice President Chang Myon from
the line of presidential succession and
establish a modified parliamentary system of government,
according to Ambassador Dowling. Rhee on 3 July explained
to a delegation of Liberal assemblymen, including party lead-
er Yi Ki-pung, that the proposed amendment would impinge
on his authority as chief of state.
Ambassador Dowling notes that Liberal
Party leaders are less certain than Rhee that he will survive
the remaining three years of his term, and predicts that they
will continue to press Rhee to accept the amendment The am-
bassador believes, however, that any amendment Rhee may
eventually accept would hardly contain sufficient concessions
to counter opposition and public reaction to Changes elimination
as a threat to the Liberal Party.
Comment The opposition Democratic assemblymen
as well as the Liberals would like to see
a more parliamentary-type government established. Despite
earlier reports that the Democrats would fight to preserve
Chang's position, Chang reportedly is amenable to abolishing
the vice presidency and placing executive power in a premier's
office.
Agreement between Liberal and Democratic
assemblymen on the main outlines of the proposed amendment
would seem to reduce the probability of an early crisis on this
issue.
5July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 10
-CONFIDEAT-Thifr
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015
-TO-P-SEC-it-Ef
ANNEX
Watch Report 361, 3 July 1957
of the
Intelligence Advisory Committee
Conclusions on Indications of Hostilities
On the basis of findings by its Watch Committee, the Intel-
ligence Advisory Committee concludes that:
A. No Sino-Soviet bloc country intends to initiate hostilities
against the continental US or its possessions in the imme-
diate future.
B. No Sino-Soviet bloc country intends to initiate hostilities
against US forces abroad, US allies or areas peripheral
to the Orbit in the immediate future.
C. Early deliberate initiation of hostilities by Israel or the
Arab states is not probable. Although tensions continue
between the Arab states and Israel and among certain Arab
states themselves, these are not likely to lead to serious
conflict in the immediate future.
5 July 57
Current Intelligence Bulletin Page 11
k j
Approved for Release: 2401942/10 C03189015
ed f17.(r Release: 2019/12/10 CO3189015
/
/
/
0
/
/
14
/
TOP CRET
Approved for Release: 2019/12/10 C03189015