Khrushchev

• Communist Government under Khrushchev

  • Leadership Struggle.
  • Early Government Reforms.
  • De-Stalinisation.
  • Decentralisation.
  • Democratisation.
  • Fall of Khrushchev.
• Leadership Struggle in Government under Khrushchev

  • Khrushchev = Secretary of the Central Committee, powerbase was the CPSU, known as the 'apparatchik's apparatchik'.
  • Beria = Head of MVD, implemented Stalin's terror.
  • Malenkov = replaced Stalin as Premier, powerbase was the Soviet State.
• Early Government Reforms under Khrushchev

  • Beria's Reforms; 4620 Communists rehabilitated; GULAG population decreased to 1.6 million in 1956; Republic Reforms made it mandatory for leaders to speak native language and for news to be in Russian and the native language.
  • Personnel changes; replaced 44% of Central Committee; replaced 1/2 of regional Party Secretaries.
  • Anti-Bureaucracy Campaign; Central Soviet Ministries cut from 55 to 25; Central Government industry dropped to 44%; power devolved to Republics to weaken Malenkov's powerbase.
• De-Stalinisation under Khrushchev

  • Ending Terror; In June 1956 over 26,000 political prisoners released; by 1961 1/2 of those executed by Stalin were rehabilitated.
  • The Secret Speech; No direct criticism of Stalin as this risked undermining the foundations of the USSR; Khrushchev reveals the scale of terror under Stalin; criticised the Cult of Stalin and his errors such as the Red Army Purge.
• Decentralisation under Khrushchev

  • Devolved power to 105 newly-created economic councils.
  • 1962 Party Reforms split the CPSU in 1/2 between industry and agriculture.
  • Moved the Ministry of Agriculture away from Moscow so it could be 'closer to the fields'.
• Democratisation under Khrushchev

  • 22nd Party Congress saw fixed 10 year terms for Central Committee Members.
  • Party membership increased to 11 million in 1964 with 60% of members being industrial workers.
  • Fixed terms for senior officials meant that from 1957-1961 over 2/3 of regional party secretaries were replaced.
• The Fall of Khrushchev

  • Khrushchev backtracks; editors of the magazine 'Questions of History' were disciplined for revealing Stalin's terror; Special Commission to suppress anti-Communist activities created and led by Brezhnev; in his New Years Eve speech, Khrushchev calls all communists 'Stalinists'.
  • Khrushchev's foreign policy criticised as dangerous.
  • Khrushchev retires peacefully in 1964 after being forced to step down by the Central Committee.