THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA

DE-STALINIZATION  Effects of “Secret Speech”  Could no longer hold political prisoners  Uproar in international communist community  Reverberations in Party “anti-party” group

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA DE-STALINIZATION  22 nd Party Congress  Khrushchev broadened attack to include colleagues  Removal of Stalin’s body from mausoleum

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA CULTURAL “THAW”  Greater freedom of expression for artists & intellectuals  Some correction of historical falsification  Some opening of society  But retained censorship & control; socialist realism Ilya Ehrenburg, The Thaw

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA ECONOMIC POLICIES  Agricultural Reforms  Abolished “Machine Tractor Stations”  Tried to consolidate farms into large kolkhozes  Raised prices on food products, lowered taxes

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA ECONOMIC POLICIES  Agricultural Reforms  “Virgin Lands Program”  Emphasized growing of corn  Increased investment in fertilizer & machinery

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA ECONOMIC POLICIES  Industrial Reforms  Biggest problem = overcentralization  Eliminated central economic ministries replaced with SOVNARKHOZY

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA FOREIGN POLICY  Adopted policy of “PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE”  But continued expansion of Soviet influence

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA FOREIGN POLICY  Problems in Eastern Europe  De-Stalinization led to revolt in Poland & Hungary  Forced to build Berlin Wall to stop mass exodus to West Soviet invasion of Hungary, 1956

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA FOREIGN POLICY  Problems with China  Mao wanted military aid against Taiwan  Also wanted nukes  Khrushchev refuses – led to Sino-Soviet split

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA FOREIGN POLICY  Problems over Cuba  1959: Fidel Castro stages communist take-over  1961: U.S. tried failed coup: Bay of Pigs  Khrushchev tries to put nukes in Cuba  Kennedy blockades Soviet ships, Khrushchev forced to back down

THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA DECLINE AND FALL  The Three “Cs”: Corn, China, Cuba  Denounced for “hair-brained schemes, half-baked conclusions, bragging & bluster”  Deposed Oct  But reforms set stage for Gorbachev & perestroika 5-story “Khrushchevka”