the Bear's paw strikes, no-one will remain to nurse the hope that their gold can rule the world. Our healthy, socially strong young idea, the idea of Lenin and Stalin, will be the victor! ... When we roar they sit tight on their tails! I am told that there were Tsars who watered their horses in the Oder. Well, the time will come when we will water Soviet horses in the Thames! Dismissal and arrest On 4 May 1946, Merkulov was removed from his post as head of what was now the renamed Ministry of State Security. This was a setback for Beria, who lost control of the police apparatus to a younger rival, Viktor Abakumov, while Merkulov was unemployed for over a year. On 25 April 1947, he was appointed head of the main directorate for Soviet property abroad. On 27 October 1950, he was appointed Minister of State Control, replacing Lev Mekhlis. In July 1953, after Beria was arrested, Merkulov was summoned by Nikita Khrushchev, the new head of the communist party, and ordered to write a report on his links with Beria. He wrote a long letter denouncing Beria as an ambitious schemer, but claiming that despite having known him for 30 years, Merkulov had only now realised that he was a criminal. Khrushchev wrote later: "I admit that I held him in high regard and considered him a good party member. He was unquestionably a cultured person" - but considered his report to be "absolutely worthless. It was more like a piece of fiction ... To my deep regret, since I had trusted him, Merkulov turned out to be deeply implicated in some of Beria's crimes." Merkulov was tried in secret, with Beria and six others in December 1953. Pravda reported on 14 December that he had been found guilty of "many years of joint criminal activity" with Beria, "fulfilling many of Beria's criminal missions", treason, terrorism, and "participating in a counter-revolutionary, treacherous, conspiratorial group", for which he was sentenced to death, and shot. References Further reading Nation, R. C. (2018). Black Earth, Red Star: A History of Soviet Security Policy, 1917-1991. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. 1895 births 1953 deaths NKVD officers People from Zaqatala District People from Tiflis Governorate Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members People's commissars and ministers of the Soviet Union First convocation members of the Soviet