Khruschev Era and De-Stalinization Johnny Dengler and Karl Hottmann

Background 1917- Khruschev joined the Bolsheviks and fought for the Red Army After the war he received Marxist training at a technical college. 1939- He became a full member of the Politburo (chief executive body of the Communist Party) He was extremely loyal to Stalin during this time and during WWII he helped organize defense in Ukraine and helped relocate heavy industry into the interior of Russia. 1953- Stalin died and Khruschev tried to become the leader. Khruschev became the first secretary of the Communist Party 1955- Khruschev had the real power in the Soviet Union, instead of Malenkov.

De-Stalinization Symbolic start- Physicians who were charged with conspiring to murder high ranking officials were released and the frame-up was exposed. Secret police power was taken Inmates in concentration camps were released. “New Course” empasized production of consumer goods and got rid of forced delivery from peasants. Stalin was not mentioned in public

De-Stalinization Many of Stalin’s policies and principles were criticized. 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Khruschev’s “secret speech” explained to delegates the many miscarriages of justice and victimzation of comrades by Stalin. Exposed Stalin’s faults during WWII. Didn’t mention Stalin’s non-communist victims

Hungary and Poland Speech and De-Stalinization could lead to more change than Khruschev was willing to permit. June-October 1956- Riots in Poland forced Khruschev to agree to change in the Polish Communist leadership. Full forced revolt against communist party and Soviets in Hungary. Hungary sought to become a neutral nation Soviet military intervened and thousands of Hungarians were killed or fled. After the revolution, other Soviet leaders sought to remove Khruschev from office.

Cuban Missile Crisis US military was proving to be much stronger than Soviets Khruschev needed a way to balance the military power US invaded Cuba in 1961, so Khruschev and Castro came up with a plan to solve both of their problems. In the Spring of 1962, the Soviet placed medium and intermediate range missiles in Cuba. In mid-October, the US discovered the missiles. The two nations were on the brink of a nuclear war. Khrushcev agreed to remove missiles and US promised not to invade Cuba and removed missiles from Turkey.

End of Khruschev Era After the missile crisis, Khruschev was vulnerable. Khruschev’s new reforms caused confusion and gave him less support. He brought on more De-Stalinization at the end of his rule, renaming public places named aft Stalin such as Stalingrad. In the fall of 1964, his closest aids plotted against him October 1964- Khruschev was taken out of power.

Discussion Questions Was Khrushcev an overall good or bad leader? Did his mistakes outweigh his De-Stalinzation efforts in the nation?

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