Kremlinology

Source: Collection of the National Gallery of Art <https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.218317.html>

This photo shows senior Soviet leaders reviewing Moscow’s May Day Parade (May 1, 1950)
from the viewing platform on the walls of the Kremlin. Pictured (from left to right) are Marshal
Nikolai A. Bulganin, Josef Stalin, Georgi Malenkov, Lavrenti Beria, A. I. Mikoyan, and V. M.
Molotov.

According to the caption of this photo, Western observers wondered why Molotov (at the time
the Soviet Deputy Premier) was four places away from Stalin in this picture whereas the
previous November (as the celebration of the Great October Revolution) he had stood next to
Stalin. Did this mean that Molotov was falling out of favour with Stalin? Was he about to be
purged? Did this signal a change in Soviet policy? In the absence of more definitive
information, this was often the only “evidence” analysts had to go on!

Overhead 1