After the end of the war, complex and controversial processes of change began in the country's top leadership. May 24, 1945 I. Stalin spoke at the reception of the generals of the Soviet Army with the recognition of the special role of the Russian people in the victory over the enemy. However, in parallel with this, the leader grew suspicion and distrust of those who won the war - the population of the country and the top leadership of the army. The Soviet system stood the test in a grand battle for independence. From this it was concluded that it was necessary to continue the policy, the implementation of which began in the prewar period.

Despite the fact that already on September 5, 1945, the radio and press of the USSR reported the abolition of the State Defense Committee, all power remained in the hands of the same persons. The meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, held on December 29, kept intact the existing political hierarchy. It was decided to approve the proposal made by L. Beria about his resignation from the post of Commissar of Internal Affairs "due to overloading with other central work" and about the appointment of S. N. Kruglov to this post. At the same time it was proposed to make regular meetings of the Politburo. However, it was not possible to restore the former role of this body. The reluctance of the ruling elite to change anything in the governance system was based on the euphoria generated by the USSR’s victory in the war, our country's recognition as one of the three great powers, which, according to Stalin, confirmed the correctness of the chosen path.

The first post-war Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b), which met in March 1946, led to a series of changes in the highest organs of power. Stalin, speaking at a meeting on March 14, proposed replacing M. I. Kalinin as chairman of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet (Kalinin was elected chairman of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee back in 1919). The leader’s argument was that “he began to see very poorly, he could not even write — he didn’t see. It hinders him terribly. Ambassadors who come, refrain from talking, and he doesn’t see the person himself.” At the same time, Stalin recommended keeping Kalinin as one of the members of the Presidium. But he proposed that N. M. Shwer-nik should be appointed chairman of the USSR Supreme Soviet, noting that he was "fit, healthy, sees good." Kalinin’s inability to fulfill his duties was evident long ago. Members of the Yugoslav delegation, who visited Moscow in April 1945 and participated in a ceremonial dinner in the Catherine Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace, noted that old Kalinin had difficulty finding a glass, dishes, bread, because he was almost blind and had to help in everything. Despite this, they did not rush to replace it. Moreover, Stalin regularly proclaimed toasts in honor of "our president" Kalinin. "All-Union elder" lived a few months and died in June 1946.

At the March 1946 Plenum, the question of ministers was also raised. Speaking, Stalin noted that the combination of the People's Commissar or the Commissioner in general "reflects the period of the unsettled system, the period of the civil war, the period of revolutionary break." They were underlined that this time had already passed, and there are still a lot of commissioners, their "damn death. The people are confused. God knows who is superior. There are commissars around, and here the minister will understand." After that, the session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR accepted the resignation of the former government without discussion and approved the composition of the new one, which was henceforth called the Council of Ministers, and not the Council of People's Commissars. Stalin became the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, and V. M. Molotov, L. P. Beria, A. A. Andreev, A. I. Mikoyan, A. N. Kosygin, N. A. Voznesensky, K. became his deputies. E. Voroshilov and L. M. Kaganovich.

At the end of March 1946, responsibilities were distributed among the deputy heads of government. Beria, in addition to the position of the atomic project manager, was assigned to monitor the work of the ministries of internal affairs, state security and state control. Such enormous powers made him essentially the second person in the state, making it possible to officially control the activities of the entire apparatus of power in the country, sometimes deciding the fate of not only ordinary citizens, but also those who ran with him on the same hierarchy.

A. A. Kuznetsov, who was in 1938-1945, was at the key party post. the second second is the review of the Leningrad Regional Committee and the City Committee of the CPSU (b), and in 1945-1946. - first secretary. To him, the management of the personnel department of the Central Committee of the CPSU (B.) And work in the field of the distribution of party, Soviet and economic leaders decided.

It was possible to restore its pre-war role to A. A. Zhdanov, who was "returned" to the leadership of the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the CPSU (B.) And to control the activities of party and Soviet organizations in the field of propaganda and agitation (print, publishing, film, radio, TASS, art, oral Propaganda and agitation).

One of the essential moments of the inner party, top power struggle in the top leadership of the country was the political conflict that developed from the end of 1945 around the issue of the export of German industry to the USSR. Malenkov headed a committee specially created for this purpose. According to Zhdanov and Voznesensky, this policy led to monstrous waste of funds. Stalin sent Mikoyan to Germany in order to deal with the question on the spot. He returned with an extremely unfavorable report, the essence of which was the need to abandon the policy of dismantling industry in favor of creating mixed firms capable of organizing production in Germany for the Soviet Union. Stalin supported Zhdanov in this matter, and for some time Malenkov was out of work. However, as early as 1948 he quickly regained his position in the party hierarchy, once again becoming the secretary of the Central Committee who headed the Organizing Bureau.

In the last years of his life, Stalin promoted N. S. Khrushchev, who in 1949 received the posts of first secretary of the Moscow regional committee of the party and secretary of the Central Committee, on the hierarchy. At the XIX Party Congress held in October 1952, it was Khrushchev, as well as Malenkov, who gave the main reports. Stalin himself limited himself to a brief 7-minute speech. At the congress, a decision was made to rename the CPSU (b) to the CPSU. It was announced that the dual name of the party "communist" - "Bolshevik" was formed as a result of the struggle with the Mensheviks. But since the Menshevik party in the USSR had long since left the stage, the double name of the party lost its meaning. The composition of the Central Committee of the CPSU, elected by the congress, was doubled and now numbered 238 people. The litbureau was replaced by a more cumbersome Presidium of the Central Committee, which now has 36 members. By all these measures, Stalin sought to weaken the positions of his associates. covered by the struggle for power. The next stage of this struggle was a series of fabricated "deeds" of various kinds of "pests".