In Search of Victory part-8

 1st September 1969,

Dear Diary,

                    I, Nikita Khrushchev, Premier of the Soviet Union, feel tired about my life. The Communist system has given me unbridled power but it has also left me extremely suspicious as I have to survive a lot of conspiracies from my fellow party members. In fact recently in 1964, Leonid Brezhnev tried to remove me from office. Luckily I got the information beforehand and declared martial law and placed him and his co-conspirators under arrest.

    I remember the days when I first assumed office as the first secretary after a power struggle had erupted after Stalin's death between me, Malenkov, Molotov and Beria. I immediately began to consolidate my position as head of state and in my first speech at the central committee, I decried the legacy of Stalin and sought for rapid political, industrial and agricultural reform. I realized that Stalin's policies had become outdated and therefore sought to change the structure of my country because the ideology of Communism must evolve with changing times for it to be successful. That's one thing I credit the capitalists.

    I also realized the futility of waging nuclear war with the Americans as a nuclear war will end in the total destruction of both the countries. I, therefore, sought to negotiate through diplomatic means with President Kennedy during the Cuban missile crisis. I believe that worked wonders as the threat of nuclear war from either party reduced considerably. But that does not mean that I trust the Americans completely. Their actions in Europe prove otherwise. Already a non-communist regime has been elected in Hungary while guerilla warfare is still raging in Poland. Pro-democracy protests have occurred in East Germany and Czechoslovakia while a newly formed guerrilla outfit has started waging war in Tito's Yugoslavia. Therefore I have increased support to Cuba and other communist regimes and guerrilla outfits in the Caribbean and Latin America as well as the Peronists in Argentina. I believe that it is best to combat the enemy in their own neighbourhood.

    I also have increased contact with India our only tangible ally in Asia in a bid to combat the rising power of capitalism in Asia. In fact, the capitalists have secured a foothold in Asia so strong that they are crushing any opposition to them. Their actions in Vietnam and Tibet are proof of that. To up the ante in Asia we must liberate Vietnam! Already we have started to again begin the programme of training the Vietnamese guerilla which was first conceived by Stalin. We hope to ensure the fall of the Vietnamese emperor and establish communism in the country. Long live the Soviet Union!