Khrushchev depth study

What control did Stalin have over the Party?

• Lost all freedoms

• Answered directly to him

• Organ to put Stalin’s policies in place

What change did Khrushchev want to make to the government?

Move away from highly centralised government

What was Khrushchev successful with (government)?

• Made Communist Party more accountable to the people

• Reformed bureaucracy to appear less corrupt and more effective in dealing with population’s needs

• Did his best to improve relations with the West

• Efficacy of capitalism debatable

What were Khrushchev’s failures (govt)?

• Stuck with Stalin’s centralised planning of the economy

  • Contradiction between political and economic policies

Opposition to Khrushchev

• Both peasants and workers

• Peasant unrest in response to agricultural policies - dealt with by force

Reasons for Khrushchev’s downfall

• Failure of agricultural policies

• Loss of prestige over the Cuban Missile Crisis

• Deteriorating relations with China

• Decentralisation of the government

• Defence cuts

• Worried about more radical reform under K

Situation left by Stalin

• Agriculture left in a bad state

• Industry was geared towards meeting demands of war

Reforms poorly thought out

• Reforms like Virgin Lands badly planned

• Soviet bureaucracy too complicated to implement his reforms quickly

• Failed to realise changes threatened Party members

• Reforms not radical enough to cope with challenges left by Stalin’s regime

Reforms were considerable achievements

• Grain production in Virgin Lands only fell significantly in 1963

• Made rapid radical changes to industrial infrastructure

• Had to prioritise political issues

Virgin Lands was a failure

• Grain production increased initially but tailed off quickly

• Due to poor land quality

• Lack of fertilisers

• Famine

Virgin Lands was a success

• Grain production only fell significantly in 1963

• Mostly due to poor weather

Changes to industry

• Focused on light industry

  • Consumer goods

• Raised living standards

• 1 washing machine per 1000 people in 1955

• Increased to 77/1000 by 1966

Response to political issues

• Ended gulags

• Put NKVD under state control

Were Khrushchev’s economic and social reforms a failure?

• No

• Improved lives a large amount in a relatively short period of time

Successes in dealing with Cold War issues

• ‘Peaceful coexistence’ policy

• Signing of Austria State Treaty (May 1955)

• Gained support of Communist Party after treatment of Hungarian Uprising

• Berlin Wall seen as success by Communist Party members

• Cuban Missile Crisis

Failures in dealing with Cold War issues

• Cold War policies seen as too risky

• Peaceful coexistence seen as betrayal of Communist ideals

• Hungarian Uprising result of de-Stalinisation

• Berlin Wall seen as oppressive

• Cuban Missile Crisis

Peaceful coexistence

• Took initiative in making a safe and peaceful world

• Austrian State Treaty - willing to cooperate with West

• Seen as betrayal of communism, especially by China

• Led to K withdrawing needed military aid

Hungarian Uprising success

• Satellite states demanded more freedom after thawing of Cold War

• Hungarian uprising ruthlessly suppressed

• Gained support from Communist Party

• Gained support from other socialist states

  • Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, China, Tito in Yugoslavia

• West failed to intervene

  • Propaganda victory for K

Hungarian Uprising failures

• Weakened Communist support in Eastern Europe

• Reduced likeliness of spread of communism

• Suppression seen as ‘poor advertisement’ of communism

• Reverted back to Stalinist tactics

• Set back de Stalinisation and prospect of liberal reform

Berlin Wall success

• Seen as success by Communist members

• Prevented embarrassment to other Communist leaders

• Solution to Brain Drain

• Stance prevented West from gaining full control of Germany

Berlin Wall failure

• Oppressive - too quick to revert to repression

• Worsened relations with West

Cuban Missile Crisis success

• Kennedy backed down

• Hotline installed between Moscow and Washington

• Strengthened ‘peaceful coexistence’ stance

Cuban Missile Crisis failure

• K almost started a nuclear war

• Withdrawing missiles was a main reason for his demise

• Seen as backing down

Was Khrushchev effective in dealing with the Cold War?

• Tried to instill peace

• Erratic and inconsistent

Minorities, satellite states and Asia failures

• Resolved conflict with Yugoslavia through appeasement

• Hungarian Uprising

• Berlin Wall

• De-Stalinisation worsened relations with China

Minorities, satellite states and Asia successes

• Hungarian Uprising

• Berlin Wall

• Didn’t give in to China

Yugoslavia failure

• Allowing Tito autonomy peacefully encouraged other Eastern European countries to follow

• Contributed to final collapse of communism in 1991

China failure

• De Stalinisation worsened relations

• Mao claimed China upheld Marxism-Leninism more than USSR

• Led to divide in communist movement

• Peaceful coexistence also seen as betrayal of ideals

China success

• Mao failed to manipulate USSR

• K prepared to stand against him

• Denied military support in 1958 against Taiwan and USA