Khrushchev ’ s plan both expanded the reforms that Malenkov began and proposed that 13 million hectares ( 130, 000 km2 ) of previously uncultivated land be plowed and cultivated by 1956.

Malenkov was in charge of keeping records on the members of the Soviet communist party-two million files were made under his supervision during the next ten years.

Malenkov was forced to resign, in February 1955, after he came under attack for abuse of power and his close connection to Beria ( who was executed as a traitor in December 1953 ).

Mikoyan remained in the government after Stalin's death, in the post of Minister of Trade, under Malenkov.

Beria and Malenkov together with Abakumov organized massive executions of their rivals in the Leningrad Affair where all leaders of Leningrad and Zhdanov's allies were killed, and thousands more were locked up in Gulag labour camps upon Stalin's approval.

For two more years, Malenkov remained a regular member of the Politburo's successor, the Presidium.

A power struggle between Malenkov and Khrushchev began, and on 14 March Malenkov was forced to resign from the Secretariat.

Malenkov's resignation made Khrushchev the senior member within the Secretariat, and made him powerful enough to set the agenda of the Presidium meetings alongside Malenkov.

Khrushchev was able to consolidate his powers within the party machine after Malenkov's resignation, but Malenkov remained the de facto leading figure of the Party.

The three formed a short-lived Troika, which lasted until Khrushchev and Malenkov betrayed Beria.

Khrushchev and Malenkov, who had begun receiving information which stated that the MVD bad begun spying on party officials, started to act in the spring of 1953.

Beria was defeated at the next Presidium plenums by a majority against him, and not long after, Khrushchev and Malenkov started to plan Beria's fall from power.

However, Khrushchev and Malenkov were able to gather enough support for Beria's ouster, but only when a rumour of a potential coup led by Beria began to take hold within the party leadership.

Afraid of the power Beria held, Khrushchev and Malenkov were prepared for a potential civil war.

With new acquired powers, Khrushchev was able to appoint associates to the leadership in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Armenia and Moldavia ( modern Moldova ), while Malenkov, in contrast, was able to appoint an associate to leadership only in Moscow.

During the height of the Malenkov – Khrushchev struggle, Khrushchev actively fought for improvements in Soviet agriculture and the strengthening of the role of the Central Committee.

At the Central Committee plenum of 25 January 1955, Khrushchev accused Malenkov of ideological deviations at the same level as former, anti-Stalinist Bukharin and Alexey Rykov of the 1920s.

Malenkov spoke twice to the plenum, but it failed to alter his position, and on 8 March 1955 he was forced to resign from his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers ; he was succeeded by Nikolai Bulganin, a protege of Khrushchev dating back to the 1930s.

During the first half of 1957, Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov, and Lazar Kaganovich worked to quietly build support to dismiss Khrushchev.

On the early morning hours of 1 March 1953, after an all-night dinner and a movie Stalin arrived at his Kuntsevo residence some 15 km west of Moscow centre with interior minister Lavrentiy Beria and future premiers Georgy Malenkov, Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev where he retired to his bedroom to sleep.

Stalin's death on 5 March 1953 prompted major changes in the Soviet leadership and in March 1953, Voroshilov was approved as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet ( i. e., the head of state ) with Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Communist Party and Georgy Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union.

Voroshilov, Malenkov, and Khrushchev brought about 26 June 1953 arrest of Lavrenty Beria after Stalin's death.

Khrushchev opposed the alliance between Beria and Malenkov, but he was initially unable to challenge them.

Within days of the events in Germany, Khrushchev persuaded the other leaders to support a Party coup against Beria ; Beria's principal ally Malenkov abandoned him.

** Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke after an all-night dinner with Soviet Union interior minister Lavrenty Beria and future premiers Georgi Malenkov, Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev.

Both Molotov and Mikoyan were falling out of favour rapidly, with Stalin telling Beria, Khrushchev, Malenkov and Nikolai Bulganin that he did not want to see Molotov and Mikoyan around anymore.

Similarly, after the death of Stalin in 1953 and the ensuing power vacuum, Communist Party leader Nikita Khrushchev used his alliance with Dmitry Shepilov, Pravdas editor-in-chief, to gain the upper hand in his struggle with Prime Minister Georgy Malenkov.

After Stalin died in March 1953, he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( CPSU ) and Georgi Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union.

This event also illustrated the new nature of Soviet politics — the most decisive attack on the Stalinists was delivered by defense minister Georgy Zhukov, and the implied threat to the plotters was clear ; however, none of the " anti − party group " were killed or even arrested, and Khrushchev disposed of them quite cleverly: Georgy Malenkov was sent to manage a power station in Kazakhstan, and Vyacheslav Molotov, one of the most die-hard Stalinists, was made ambassador to Mongolia and later the Soviet representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

His close ally Malenkov was the new Prime Minister and initially the most powerful man in the post-Stalin leadership.

Vasily Stalin asked the new Soviet leaders, Nikita Khrushchev and Georgi Malenkov, for clemency but he was considered a dangerous person and he was judged in a behind-closed-doors trial and was not allowed legal representation.

The official explanation for his resignation was " to grant the request of Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers G. M. Malenkov to be released from the duties of the Party Central Committee ".

Malenkov, while losing his secretaryship, was still Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and remained so until 1955.

Malenkov was assured an identical policy in government institutions ; the most notable change being the appointment of Mikhail Pervukhin, Ivan Tevosian and Maksim Saburov to the Deputy Chairmanship of the Council of Ministers.

By August 1954 Malenkov's role as de facto head of government was over ; Nikolai Bulganin began signing Council of Ministers decrees ( a right beholden to the Chairman ) and the Presidium gave in to Khrushchev's wishes to replace Malenkov.

Malenkov was called of revisionism because of his wishes to prioritise light industry over heavy industry.

At the same time, Malenkov was accused of being involved in the Leningrad Affair which led to the deaths of innocent party officials.

He was briefly a part of the ruling " troika " with Georgy Malenkov and Vyacheslav Molotov.

This was the beginning of Beria's alliance with Malenkov, which later became of central importance.

Sebag-Montefiore does not dispute the possibility of an assassination by poison masterminded by Beria, whose hatred for Stalin was palpable by this point, but also notes that Beria never made mention of poison or confessed to using it, even during his later interrogations, and was never alone with Stalin during the period prior to his stroke ( he always went with Malenkov to defer suspicion ).

When Beria finally realized what was happening and plaintively appealed to Malenkov to speak for him, his old friend and crony silently hung his head and refused to meet his gaze.

A Troika was established immediately after Stalin's death, consisting of Malenkov, Beria, and Molotov, but ended when Malenkov and Molotov deceived Beria.

* 13 March – 26 June 1953: After the death of Joseph Stalin power was shared between Lavrenty Beria, Georgy Malenkov, and Vyacheslav Molotov.