Khrushchev and East - West relations

• Collective leadership - Beria

  • Aftermath of Stalin's death it was inclear to the West who was in charge of Soviet foreign policy
  • Within Soviet Politburo (Main gov group in a communist country, which makes all important decisions)
  • Soviet Politburo, Laventii Beria, long - serving head of the secret police
  • Offered the west a proposal for a reunified, neutral Germany
• Collective leadership - Beria

  • Death of Stalin in 1953, left associates of politburo
  • Provided opportunity for his successors to try a different approach to dealing with the West
• Collective leadership - Beria

  • His motives may of been to distance himself from Stalin's policies or to merely impress his colleagues in his politburo
  • Failed. Beria's association with the less pleasant aspects of Stalin's policies was too much for the other members of politburo and he got arrested within months
• Collective leadership - Beria

  • Accused of being a British agent, he was later executed
  • An opportunity to end the divsion of Germany and therefore lost
• 1955 May - Austrian state treaty; Federal Republic of Germany is admitted to NATO
• 1955 July - Geneva summit
• 1955 Feb - Khrushchev's Secret speech is delivered
• 1956 June - Oct - Polish uprising
• 1956 Oct - Nov - Hungarian uprising
• 1959 Sept - Khrushchev and Camp David talks
• 1960 May - Paris summit
• 1960 June - Kennedy and Khrushchev meet in Vienna
• Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (1894 - 1971) = Denounced Stalin's crimes in 1956, having previously been a Stalinisr hard liner

  Appeared to swing between an attitude of cooperation and one of aggression

  Decision to place nuclear missiles on Cuba in 1962
• Malenkov's 'New Course'

  Removal of Beria, Soviet foreign policy fell into the control of Georgi Malenkov who, with Khrushchev and Bulganin, formed a collective leadership

  • Malenkov was able and intelligent. Recognised limitations of hard line approach of confrontation towards the West
• Malenkov's 'New Course'

  • Decided to embark on 'New Course'
  • Believed war between capitalism and communism was no longer inevitable
  • Therefore resources could be directed away from arms and heavy industry and towards consumer goods and raising living standards in the USSR
• Malenkov's 'New Course'

  • Malenkov's 'New Course'was criticised by Khrushchev during his struggle for power
  • Yet after Malenkov was removed from position of prime minister in 1955
  • Khrushchev was to adopt and develop the 'New Course'
• Peaceful coexistence

  • Policy put forward by Khrushchev in late 1950s
  • Capitalism and communism should accept the existence of the other
  • Rather than use force to destroy each other
  • Believed capitalism would collapse eventually due to its own Weaknesses
  • Danger of nuclear devastation was not worth the risk
• Khrushchev and Peaceful coexistence

  • Building on the 'New course', Khrushchev articulated a new approach towards the west which became known as peaceful coexistence
  • Malenkov had used the term in 1952 but under Khrushchev it was a fully formed policy
• Khrushchev and peaceful coexistence

  • Khrushchev accepted the Marxist belief that the downfall of capitalism was inevitable
  • The class struggle would continue, but by different means
  • With nucleare war too dangerous, the two systems would have to accept the existence of each other in short term
• Khrushchev and peaceful coexistence

  • Khrushchev developed this between 1955 and 1957
  • Established firmly as leader of the Soviet Union in June 1957
• Rise in Khrushchev

  • Khrushchev became the dominant personality
  • Son of a peasant farmer, worked as a farm labourer and a machine in a coaline before going to technical college
  • The joining the communist party
• Rise in Khrushchev

  • Malenkov resigned in 1955 after disagreeing with Khrushchev about industrial policies
  • Khrushchev's position further strengthened by a speech delivered at the 20th communist party congress 1956 strongly criticizing various aspects of Stalin's policies
• Rise in Khrushchev

  Speech where he strongly criticises Stalin's policies:

  • Condemned Stalin for encouraging the cult of his own personality instead of allowing the party to rule
  • Details about Stalin's purges in the 1930s and criticised his conduct of the war
  • Claimed that socialisation could be achieved in ways other than those insisted on by Stalin
  • Peaceful coexistence could be achieved in ways other than those insisted on by Stalin
• Rise in Khrushchev

  • Not quite supreme yet
  • Molotov and Malenkov believed his speech was too drastic and would encourage unrest
  • Tried to focus him out of office
  • As party secretary, Khrushchev like Stalin quietly filling key positions with his own supporters
  • Compulsory retired (June 1957)
  • Khrushchev was fully responsible for all Russian policy until 1964
• Rise in Khrushchev

  Mainly responsible for the introduction of some new, more radical policies

  • End of Stalin's system of terror
  • Attempt to develop better relations with non - communist states - co existence instead of conflict
• Rise in Khrushchev

  Mainly responsible for the introduction of some new, more radical policies:

  • Attempt to strengthen the Soviet economy by de - centralising and streamlining agriculture, industry and bureaucracy in order to improve the standard of living of the Soviet people
  • His seven year plan introduced in 1959 one of his most ambitious innovations
  • Thaw in the cultural life of the USSR
• Rise in Khrushchev

  • Pursued all these policies with determination and enthusiasm and achieved some successes
  • Industrial parts of the seven year plan
  • Some of his policies were unsuccessful. His agricultural reforms were disappointing, while his more relaxed attitude towards the Soviet satelite states caused
  • Problems in Poland and Hungary where in 1956 there was a popular uprising against the communist government
• Rise in Khrushchev

  • Thaw in Soviet relations with the West, the USSR came to brink of nuclear war with the USA in 1962 over the Cuban Missile crisis
  • Bitter rift developed between the USSR was the world's other major communist state, China
  • Khrushchev's colleague drop him as a leader in October 1964 and he was forced to retire into private life
• Khrushchev's clear foreign policy imperatives:

  • Soviet Union remain unchallenged leaders of the socialist community and both within Eastern Europe
  • in face of growing competition with China and its leader Mao Zedong
  • Firm grip must be maintained over Eastern Bloc satelite states
• Khrushchev's clear foreign policy imperatives:

  • Germany prevented from rearming and becoming a future threat to the Soviet Union
  • USSR must continue to expand its nuclear capability and stay firmly implanted in the nuclear arms race between East and West
  • Spending on military security including Soviet conventional forces in Eastern Europe has to be reduced
  • International tension has to be defused and care taken to not unnecessarily provoke the USA
• Khrushchev's clear foreign policy imperatives:

  International tensions has to be defused and care taken to not unnescessarily provoke the USA

  Final point underpins the aims of the Soviet Union under Khrushchev. Post - Stalinist Soviet leadership proposed to meet and counter the growing power of the USA through a policy of peaceful coexistence
• Khrushchev's clear foreign policy imperatives:

  • Stalinist aggression had led to an escalation of expenses and government debt at a time when Khrushchev wanted to concentrate Soviet resources on domestic developments
  • Genuine desire for the export of revolution
  • Understood better then Americans counterparts, the potential risks of nuclear war
• Khrushchev's clear foreign policy imperatives:

  • Adopted peaceful coexistence
  • Involved engaging the USA in diplomacy to diffuse tensions where possible
  • Prevent direct confrontations
  • Cooperation was seen intially over the future of Austria
• Poland: June - October 1956

  • Upon the unexpected death of in 1956 of Boleslaw Beirut, Polish communist leader
  • Khrushchev nominated his successor, Edward Ochab to implement de Stalinisation in Poland
  • After the secret speech many Poles started to demand more political freedom and national sovereignty
  • 28th June 1956, workers went on strike and in protest at wage cuts and poor working conditions
• Poland: June - October 1956

  • October 1956 discretied Wladyslaw Gomulka was elected as first secretary of the Polish United Workers' party
  • (the Polish Communist Party)
  • Khrushchev met with Gomulka and threatened military intervention if Gomulka refused to cooperate
  • Gomulka could be appointed First secretary if he agreed not to carry out reforms that might threaten local communist rule or the unity of the Soviet Bloc
• Poland: June - October 1956

  • Poland would remain a member of the Warsaw Pact
  • Soviet troops were already stationed in Poland and were available to move in Warsaw however they were not needed
  • Force was not used because support shown from Beijing towards the Polish Communist Party
• Poland: June - October 1956 - Impacts

  • Many poles suspected Gomulka because (in their opinion) he had a preserved a Polish path to socialism rather than conforming to Soviet views
  • How their satelite states should behave
  • Gomulka skilfully balanced the need for Polish security with the presence of Soviet troops in Poland
  • In order to place Moscow, USSR would protect Poland from any revenge from West Germany
• Poland: June - October 1956 - Impacts

  • Polish uprising showed that Moscow would allow its satelites a reasure of national independence if the regimes were led by trustworthy men
  • Khrushchev's instinct had been to use force once Gomulka, a nationalist leader had taken control of their Polish Communist party
  • Force was not used because China supported the Polish Communist party
  • Wasn't apart of the increasing role being played in international communism by China
• Hungary: October - November 1956

  • 22 October, students in Budapest demonstrated and listed 16 demands
  • Included the appointment of Imre Nagy as Prime Minister, withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary, freedom of speech and a free press
  • multi party elections
  • Next day escalated an armed revolt as the demonstrations were fired on by the Hungarian Secret police
• Hungary: October - November 1956

  • Events moved quickly as workers' groups joined the students and seized power from communist local authorities
  • 24th October, Nagy was appointed Prime Minister, put with a Soviet delegation, led by Anastas Mikoyan in order to convince the USSR that military intervention was not necessary