From the Conversation at Dinner Following the Holiday Demonstration, November 7, 1940

The conversation turned to the Civil War on the Southern Front. (The disagreements between Stalin and Trotsky.)

[G.M. Dimitrov -- Ed.] asked Iosif Vissarionovich by what criteria the selection of leading cadres had been carried out.

Iosif Vissarionovich: Trotsky relied on old officers, specialists, who often betrayed us. We, on the contrary, selected people loyal to the revolution, connected with the masses, predominantly non-commissioned officers from the lower ranks, although we clearly recognized the value of honest specialists.

Vladimir Ilyich was at first inclined to think that I took a dismissive attitude toward specialists. He summoned me to Moscow. Trotsky and Pyatakov tried to prove this and defended two specialists I had removed. Just at that moment a report arrived from the front that one of them had committed treason and the other had deserted. Ilyich, having read this telegram, exposed Trotsky and Pyatakov and recognized the correctness of our actions...

History has spoiled us. We achieved many successes comparatively easily. This has bred in many a complacency, a dangerous complacency. People do not want to learn, even though our conditions for learning are excellent. They think that since they are from the workers and peasants, since they have callused hands, they can do everything, that there is no need for them to go on learning and working on themselves. Meanwhile -- they are real dunces.

We have many honest, brave people, but they forget that courage alone is far from sufficient -- one must know, one must be able.

"Live a century, learn a century!"

...It is necessary to study constantly and to retrain every 2-3 years. But among us people do not like to study. They do not study the lessons of the war with Finland, the lessons of the war in Europe.

We defeated the Japanese at Khalkhin-Gol. But our aircraft proved inferior to the Japanese in speed and ceiling.

We are not prepared for the kind of war that is being waged between Germany and England.

It turned out that our aircraft can remain in the air for only 35 minutes, while the German and English aircraft can stay aloft for hours!

If our air forces, transport, etc., are not on a par with those of our enemies (and all capitalist states are our enemies, including those that disguise themselves as our friends!), they will devour us.

Only with equal material forces can we prevail, because we rely on the people, the people are with us.

But for this one must study, one must know, one must be able.

Meanwhile, no one from the military department sounded the alarm about the aircraft. Not one of you thought about this.

I summoned our designers and asked them: is it possible to make it so that our aircraft too remain in the air longer? They answered: it is possible, but no one ever gave us such an assignment! And now this deficiency is being corrected.

We now have the infantry being reorganized; the cavalry was always good; we must seriously take up aviation and air defense.

I am now occupied with this every day, receiving designers and other specialists.

But I alone am dealing with all these questions. Not one of you even thinks about it. I stand alone.

After all, I manage to study, to read, to keep up every day; why can you not do the same? You do not like to study, you live complacently. You are squandering Lenin's legacy.

(Kalinin: We need to think about the distribution of time; somehow there is not enough time!)

No, that is not the point! People are careless, they do not want to learn and retrain. They will hear me out and leave everything as it was. But I will show you, if I lose my patience. (You know how I can do it.) I will hit the fat ones so hard that everything will crack.

I drink to those Communists, to those Bolsheviks -- party members and non-party (non-party Bolsheviks are usually less complacent!) -- who understand that one must study and retrain.

Dimitrov G. Diary. (March 9, 1933 - February 6, 1949).
Sofia, 1997. Pp. 200-201.