Malenkov, Georgi Maksimilianovich

Malenkov, Georgi Maksimilianovich

(gāôr`gē mäksĭmĭlyä`nəvĭch məlyĭnkôf`), 1902–88, Soviet Communist leader. He rose to prominence through the party secretariat and was a trusted aide of Joseph StalinStalin, Joseph Vissarionovich
, 1879–1953, Soviet Communist leader and head of the USSR from the death of V. I. Lenin (1924) until his own death, b. Gori, Georgia.
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. In 1946, he became a full member of the politburo and a deputy premier. He succeeded Stalin as premier in Mar., 1953, and was also very briefly first secretary of the Communist party. However, Nikita KhrushchevKhrushchev, Nikita Sergeyevich
, 1894–1971, Soviet Communist leader, premier of the USSR (1958–64), and first secretary of the Communist party of the Soviet Union (1953–64).
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 replaced him as party head. Malenkov's premiership was marked by a conciliatory foreign policy and by the curtailment of the power of the secret police. In Feb., 1955, he was forced to resign, assuming blame for the failure of the government's agricultural policy; he was succeeded by Nikolai BulganinBulganin, Nikolai Aleksandrovich
, 1895–1975, Soviet military and political leader. He held posts in industrial management, was mayor of Moscow (1931–37) and chairman of the state bank (1937–41), and served on a military council in World War II.
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, whom Khrushchev supported for the post. In 1957, Malenkov was removed from all important posts for his role in the "antiparty faction" opposing Khrushchev. He was expelled from the party in 1961.