Andrei Zhdanov

"The new electoral system gives us a powerful tool to improve the work of the entire Soviet system, in order to eliminate bureaucratic phenomena, shortcomings and deformations in Soviet organizations. And these shortcomings are, as you know, very real. Our Party organizations must be prepared for the election campaign. In the elections, they must deal with hostile propaganda and hostile candidates."

"The only conflict that is possible in Soviet culture is the conflict between good and best."

"Marshall Plan Aid was rejected by the Soviet Union as a form of economic imperialism. This aid certainly represented a demonstration of American strength that could serve to create links. This rejection created a new boundary line: between the areas that received such aid and those that did not. The Soviets, meanwhile, alongside establishing and monitoring Communist governments in individual states, moved to consolidate their bloc and to advance its interests. One step was the creation, in September 1947, of the Cominform, the Communist Information Bureau, a recrudescence of the Comintern, which brought together European Communist parties under Soviet guidance. The existence of ‘two camps’ was announced by Andrei Zhdanov, Stalin’s key ideological adviser, who chaired the first meeting."