DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500730241-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 8, 2003
• Sequence Number: 241
• Publication Date: November 11, 1998
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORAAATION FROM 25X1
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCA5Y5
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENT~O~fI~ENT~
COUNTP,Y USSR
SUBJECT DCIVIESTIC DIITICUI,TIE.S
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE '
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
TNII POCYr[MI COnTA1M6 IN/ORYATtOr Af-[CTIM? TNl M/ITIOIIAI D[I[rll
0I tNl YMIiID 1TATlr ^ITMIr TNl YCAMIND 01 if flOMAlt ACT !O
Y. /. C., It AND lT, At A^/MDlO. ITl TI ANf r17110M On Trr'rfYllAT10r
Of ITf CO MT[rri In AMT rArntn TO AX YMAYTMOlITiO /ln,On I/ -00?
NI11710 rT LAII. r^-rOOY CTION 0I Tnll fOnr Il II10rl lITtD.
CP17 Report No. 11 -USSR
20 September 1951
Shortcomings
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Agriculture.... ..............,..e............r...?... 2
Ideology.......z,..~ ..............................,... .. 6
Kaza~Sh SSR~p.~a.????..??rs?.?.?....,,?..,?.?.o,.?.?.? 6
I
Ukrainian SSR? ........................... ........ 6:
. ~.
"The Ukraine Accuses9....?,......,,.....................'~
aberratiox3s, particularly i~ t,11e Ukraine.
the other hand, an unusual low of letters to Stalin stresses collective arm
successes in a number of ar~as. There is continued radio discussion of ideological
.~
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Much of the emphasis is regional broadcasts is on the conferences of peace partisans
now being held in a number of Republics. The output on Tax~k Day is small, in
volume >~nd familiar :in con-t nt. There is practically no mention of Inter) ational
Cooperatives Day which this year coincides vrith Tank Day, 9 September. Considerable
regional editorial attention is still focused on agricultural ahortcoming~ while, on
CLASSIFICp-TION CCNFTDENTLIG
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SUPPLEMENT
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The principal article on the occasion is vrritten by Marshal of the Armored Forces
Bogdanov (9 Sept.) who, likeiPRAVDA of the same date, assigns the Soviet tank forces
a major role in defeating the ener~{y in the last war. Unlike PRAVDA, Bogdanov traces
the origin of the tang: and asserts. that the first "chain tread" vehicle, the prototype
of the modern tank, was designed,~built and developed ir_ Russia. It is relevant to
point out, he declares, thatithe first tank in the world was built and successfully
passed the test. in Russia in May 115. In ~:ngland--where an attempt is still being
made to dispute the question of the priority of tank building--the first model was
tested in late 1915 and early 191~i.
Reviewir~ Soviet tank operations in the last war, Bogdanov says that Soviet tankmen
advanced crith Lreat skill in!the e~eserts, mountains and taigas of '~,anchuria--where
they routed the best Japanese troops--and on the road from Stalingrad to Berlin. The
leading; principle of tank action,credited to Stalin, is the camouflaged use of tanks
and their concentration in the direction of the main blow. Another testimony of the
performance of Soviet men and armor in the late war according to thA article, is the
fact that 250, C~00 tanlQnen were avrarded orders and medals and 1,11,2 were invested vrith
the tii;l.e of "hero of the Soviet Vnion." The only allusion to present Soviet tank
strength is contained in the~iobservation that "on (this) ;,ank troops day the Soviet
people are also marking the 'outstanding merits of tank builders" and that '!the high
tempos of work in our tank industry have been secured."
PRAVDA observes that the occlasionlis being celebrated against the background of
"historic victories" of the Sovicr people in peaceful and creative labor, on the one
hand, and "new successes in military and political training" on the other. The
editorial recalls the outstandingtank battles of World War II and lavishes familiar
praise on Stalin's military genius and the quality of Soviet armor: everyone admits
that the Soviet Army was equipped with the "world's best" fighting vehicles.
KAZAKHSTANSKAYA PRAVDA, the only Republican paper devoting an editorial to Tank Day,
gives a conventional recitalof Soviet tank performance during the last war with
some passages almost a verbatim repeat of the PRAVDA version mentioned above. There
is implicit reference to Soviet military strength which is familiarly linked with
the cease of peace:
The Soviet Army stands as a ~hreat to any powers laying claim to world
domination... The Sovie.i~ people know that the stronger the USSR, the
more considerable its role in international affairs and the more
hopeful the cause of puce. (9 September)
Col. Tretyakov recalls the d2sadvantageous position of the Soviet Army at the outbreak
of the last war, and the heavy defensive battles it had to fight in the initial
phase. He also recalls the unwillingness of the West to see Germany defeated as
that would have prevented "the weakening of our country through war." The Soviet
victory is said to have beenlachigved despite Anglo-American's treacherous policy
which encouraged the German High Command to concentrate the "main bulk of their
forces" against the Soviet troopsl.
Mention of Tank Day is also (made a few scattered dispatches from the Ukraine and
Georgia where, as in other region]. sources, peace partisan activities dominate the
news.
A~ricultuse: Agricultural shortcomings are primarily related to idle machinezy and
slow tempos but also cover slvariety of statute infractions ranging from illegal
allocation of communal lands~ifor personal use (Kamenets-Podolsk Oblast) to cattle
pilferage (Kirghiz SSR). The inc~eaeing number of letters to Stalin, on the other
hand, point to some measure ' 2 sal cess achieved in scattered oblasts.
Stock breeding, according to PRAVDA (7 September), is still the Achilles heel of
Soviet agriculture, and the blamehas now been shifted to the higher echelons of
Party leadership. Thus the Central Committee of the Kirghiz Party and the Kirghiz
SSR Council of Ministers aretaken to task for not uncoverin; in time and putting
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a stop to "the practice of pilfering publicly-owned cattle." A blanket charge is
also leveled at all the Party organizations of the Republic for their failure to
train qualified stock breeders and'Ipesticularly for not permitting "much movement
from post to post.'' Official censure is also extended to the USSR Ministry of
Agriculture-which must assume "no small part of the blame"--for the chaotic fodder
situation revealedlin anumber. of areas. Unsatisfactory fodder preparations are
said to have been carried out in the Kazakh SSR, while in the Tambov, Astrakh