Political Theme Khrushchev

Disciple of Lenin

Execution of Beria 1953

- Beria's reforms had significantly weakened the MVD.

- However, his rivals still feared that he would use the secret police to terrorise and execute them.

- Therefore Khrushchev and Malenkov organised a plot to arrest and execute Beria.

- At a meeting of the Presidium in June 1953, Khrushchev accused Beria of handing Soviet secrets to the British government.

- Beria was arrested, tried and executed.

- Malenkov accused Beria, at his trial, of using the MVD against the Party.

- The trial and execution of Beria was another way of restricting the power of the MVD and restoring the power of the Party.

- Beria's arrest removed one of the main contenders for power.

KGB

- Secret police

De- Stalinisation

- Khrushchev and Malenkov were united in the desire to end important aspects of Stalin's rule.

- Both men wanted to "humanise Communism".

- They wanted to end terror and enhance the lives of Soviet citizens by improving living standards.

- Equally both men were Leninists and rejected cults of personality that had grown around Stalin.

- The process of ending the "cult of personality" and the widespread use of terror started immediately after Stalin's death.

- The first steps towards ending the cult of Stalin were small.

- Plans to turn Stalin's dacha into a museum celebrating his life were scrapped.

- Additionally, the annual Stalin prizes were cancelled and, for the first time since the 1930s, there were no official celebrations of Stalin's birthday.

Ending political terror

- Another important part of de-Stalinisation was further steps into dealing with terror.

- In May 1954, Khrushchev and Malenkov set up a special commission to review the cases of political prisoners who had been sent to the Gulags.

- In the first year, progress was slow and only 4620 of the 113,739 prisoners were released.

- Following the Secret Speech the process escalated.

- In June 1956, 51,439 prisoners were released.

- The cases of political prisoners who had been executed were also reviewed.

- By 1961, half of those who had been executed by Stalin had been rehabilitated.

Secret Speech 1956

- The first wave of de-Stalinisation focused on ending the cult of Stalin.

- He wanted to go further and formally criticise Stalin. But doing so was a big risk as Stalin was widely respected as a founder of the Soviet system - criticising Stalin risked undermining the authority of the Soviet Union and Communism.

- Many feared that criticism of Stalin would reflect badly on them as they had helped implement Stalin's policies.

- Delivered at 20th Party Congress of 1956 - the first since Stalin's death.

Khrushchev spoke for 4 hours criticising Stalin's rule.

- He focused on the cult of personality. Argued that Stalin had abandoned collective leadership and made himself a dictator.

- Khrushchev argued Stalin had placed himself above the Party and robbed the Party of its leading role.

- Stalin made serious mistakes, such as purging the Red Army right after WW2, all because he had no wisdom of the Party.

- He claimed that Stalin committed enormous crimes. Especially during the terror when he ordered the death of hundreds of thousands. Khrushchev revealed the scale of the terror, which Stalin had concealed from the Party, as well as also quoting the criticism of Stalin in Lenin's Testament.

- Khrushchev did not criticise Stalin's policy of industrialisation and collectivisation, or any aspect of communist ideology.

- Khrushchev also argued that the foundations of the Soviet system were strong.

- Stalin was widely loved and respected in the Party and therefore many of the delegates were shocked

- Some were so shocked they suffered heart attacks during his speech.

- Others apparently took their own lives after learning the true scale of Stalin's crimes.

Speech was kept secret.

However, printed copies were sent to senior Communists across the USSR and Eastern Europe.

Hungarian Revolution 1956

- When Hungary (a communist satellite controlled by the

Soviet Union) tried to break away from Soviet control, the Soviet Union sent in the army

and repressed (ended) the rebellion.

Democratisation

- Democratisation was designed to increase the participation of workers in the government. However it did not involve elections.

- Rather, Khrushchev introduced two measures: Allowed expansion of Party membership. It grew from 6.9 million in 1954 to 11 million in 1964.This made it more democratic as a greater proportion of its members.60% by 1964 were workers of peasants. He introduced fixed terms for senior Communists to ensure that they were replaced regularly. As a result, ⅔ of regional Secretaries and the Presidium were replaced between 1957 and 1961.

Ended Stalin's system of personal rule

- Party gained a new authority

- Khruschev had to work with other senior party figures

Decentralisation

- In order to decentralise the Party, he abolished some of the central ministries that oversaw the economy and devolved power to 105 newly created economic councils.

- Moved the Ministry of Agriculture away from Moscow to make it closer to the fields.

- Khrushchev's reforms meant that many Communist officials were demoted, lost their jobs, or were forced to move away from Moscow. Consequently, there was renewed criticism of Khrushchev within the Party.

Increased regional power - 105 councils

Survived Anti-Party group

- Persuaded the presidium to ask for Khruschev's resignation

- Manipulated the situation so the issue was sent to Central Committee who had appointed him

Division of party into industry/agriculture

- One half of the party focused on agriculture and other on industry

- Went all the way to the top, even the Central Committee

- Hoped that would boost economic growth

Replaced Stalin's supporters with own in Central Committee

Virgin Lands' Scheme 1954

- Large areas of unused land should be farmed using large labour force

- By 1956, 35.9 million hectares of virgin land had been put to use and harvests were good in 1956

- Unsuccessful as the land was unused for a reason - remote areas not suitable for farming

Rejected cult of personality

- True Leninist so he rejected having a cult of personality

- Shift the focus from Stalin and instead to the achievements of the Communist party

Movement of Stalin's body from public display

- Removed it from the mausoleum in the middle of the night and buried it, as well as scrapping plans to make his holiday home into a Stalin museum

Fixed terms for senior communists

- Created fixed terms

- Made sure senior communists were replaced regularly

- Two thirds of regional secretaries and presidium replaced between 1957 and 1961

Allowed to retire

- Khrushchev allowed to retire with a pension

- With a car and other luxuries instead of being shot or publicly humiliated

Cultural liberalisation