Khrushchev (1953-64)

Nikita Khrushchev 1953-64

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Collective leadership after Stalin’s death

• 1953 appointed Communist Party secretary
• 1958 appointed Prime Minister
• Believed Soviet rule should be based more on consent than terror
• Khrushchev increasingly became dominant figure of party
• Marked by 1956 ‘Secret Speech’ at Communist Party Congress
• Put forward policies
• Peaceful coexistence with West
• Increase production of consumer goods and light industry
• Criticised Stalin’s extreme methods
• Blamed all mistakes on Stalin
• Denounced ‘Cult of Personality’
• Condemned excess terror used to force conformity of public
• Did not criticise Communist Party, only Stalin
• Marked beginnings of De-Stalinization
• Reasons for De-Stalinization
• Gain support from West
• Distance self from Stalin’s brutality
• To bring drastic economic changes through ‘reform communism;
• Lost support of Communist China who believed was opening up to West and denouncing Communism

De-Stalinization

• By 1958 8 million political prisoners had been released from Gulags
• Those killed under Stalin were declared innocent
• Reduced powers of Secret Police
• Stalingrad was renamed Volgograd and statues removed
• Removed Stalin’s body from Lenin’s Red Square mausoleum and buried in pit filled with concrete
• Reduced censorship and allowed production of works critical of Stalin’s reign
• Less central planning of industry
• Allowed freedom of movement abroad
• Freedoms allowed spread of opposition both internal and external

Removal of internal opposition

• Criticism of admired Stalin caused internal party opposition
• Molotov, Kaganovitch and Malenkov won decision from Praesidium to abolish position of First Secretary and therefore remove Khrushchev’s power in party
• Khrushchev’s appointed members in Central Committee easily overturned decision
• Khrushchev had opposition removed from Praesidium  - similar to Stalin removing opposition to maintain power - However, refrained from using terror

Removal of external opposition

• Demands from nations under Soviet rule for independence
• Poland strikes – allowed freeing of anti-Stalin Gomulka and promotion to Polish president
• Supported Yugoslavia’s Independent Communist Government
• Anti-Soviet demonstration in Hungary during Liberal Communist reign
• Khrushchev used excessive force by sending army and tanks to crush rebellion
• Destalinisation did not mean reduction of USSR’s protection through allowing freedom of strategic satellite states
• Demolished more Orthodox Churches – also Jewish and Muslim places of worship

Industrial reforms

• Removal of FYP to be replaced by emphasis on consumer goods – clothes, bikes, watches
• High targets at start similar to FYP
• Did not achieve targets only in few areas such as motorbikes
• Called for growth of chemical industries to provide fertilisers for agriculture

Administrative reform

• Inefficient local ministries closed
• Replaced by Sovnarkhozy – regional economic councils running local economy separately
• Khrushchev able to remove opposition
• Created further bureaucracy and complexities to system
• No one knew who was in charge and created anarchy
• Housing shortage was addressed through house building – 50 million re-housed by 1965
• Increase in real wages, welfare spending and reduction of working hours to 7 gave many better existence than ever before
• Technological advances – Space program 1^st man and satellite in space
• However, took funding away from domestic policies and left many living in poverty

Agricultural reform

• Khrushchev believed he was an agricultural expert having worked as a young man on land
• Blamed failure of agriculture on high taxes for collective farms and low prices received for goods
• He increased prices for goods, cancelled debts to government and cut taxes
• Encouraged growth of grain to feed livestock and leave spare grain
• However, maize unsuitable for climate and many crops failed

Virgin Land Scheme

• Proposed large areas of unused land should be cultivated using mass labour and army conscripts
• Army used to control workers and force acceptance of scheme
• By 1956, 35.9 hectares of virgin land cultivated and crop output increased
• Intensive farming, unsuitable soil and crops and poor weather conditions resulted in declining output after 1958
• Poor planning and still lack of transport system led to many crops rotting after failure to be transported
• Had to purchase large amounts of grain from USA to stave of famine in 1963
• Left Russia humiliated as Khrushchev had promised Virgin Land Scheme would make Russia superior grain producers to America

Why he fell from power

• Disastrous agricultural policies
• Consumer goods sacrificed for arms and space race – split nations loyalty
• Russia left pauperised by excessive spending
• Arrogant and failed to listen to others or learn from previous governments mistakes – Virgin land scheme attempted under tsars
• Almost made ‘Cold war turn Hot’ after Cuban missile crisis
• Forced to remove Russian nuclear weapons appearing weak compared to USA
• Decline in relations with China over denunciation of Stalin
• Contradictory policies
• Originally stated peaceful coexistence
• Later fuelled Cold War with nuclear arms

Propaganda

• Used by Khrushchev to spread ideology
• Photos taken of industrialised agriculture shown around world
• Used to heighten own position as well as spread communism
• Publications denouncing Stalin allowed – showing separate from Stalin and to encourage foreign relations with West