Unit one -Khruhchev Flashcards
(12 cards)
The aims de-stalinisation
Khrushchev and Malenkov wanted to ‘humanise’communism:
- end the use of terror
- improve living standards
- enrich soviet culture with new novels, plays and art forms
they were both leninists
* rejected ‘cult of personality’
* shift histrocial focus to the achievments of the soviet party and people
the process of de-stalinisation
- plans to turn stalins dacha into a museam were scrapped
- annual stalin prizes were cancelled
- for the first time since 1930s there were no official celebrations of stalins b-day
- newspapers (which used to be full of qoutes from stalins works) now qouted Marx and Lenin
problems of destalinisation
Hungary began destalinisation
- students + artists seized the oppertunity, intitiated a revolution and elected a new PM
- after the new gov ended its military alliance with the ussr khurshchev ordered soviet troops to crush the revolution
unrest in the ussr
- leaked info about stalins crimes cuased some to question the legitimacy of the party
- students demonstrated in favour of multi party democracy in moscow state uni 1957, they were supressed by communist authorities
Secret speech
12th party congress of 1956 (the 1st congress since stalins death
- Khrushchev criticised the cult of personality and some actions such as the purging the red army prior to ww2 or taking power from the party
- didnt criticise stalins policy of collectivisation or industrilisation
- qouted cirticism of stalin in lenins last testament (which was secret until then)
anti-bureaucracy
reforms meant to weaken the state (Malenkovs powerbase)
mid 1954 -
* khrushchev cut the # of central soviet ministries from 55 to 25.
* The amount of economic power exercised by the republics increased
* the proprtion of soviet industry controlled by central gov dropped from 68% to 44%
Malenkov lost premiership in 1955, Bulganin the new premier was one of khurshchevs key allies
ending terror
ending legacy of terror
- may 1954 Khrushchev + Malenkov set up a special commission to review cases of political prisoners who had been sent to the gulags.
- Following the secret speech, in june 1956 51,439 prisoners (including 26,155 political prisoners) were released
- by 1961 half of those exectued by Stalin has been rehabilitated
democratisation
increased proportionality
- allowed an expansion of party memberhsip (6.9 mil in 1954 - 11 mil in 1964). More demcratic becuase 60% of its members were peasants by 1964
fixed terms
- introduced fixed terms for senior communists to ensure regular replacmnets. 2/3of regoinal secretaries and the presidium replaced between 1957 and 1961
decentralisation
in order to decentralise:
- abolished some of the central ministries that oversaw the economy and devolved power to 105 newly created economic councils
- moved the ministry of agriculture away from Moscow to make it ‘closer to the fields’
the anti-party group
June 1957 a majority of the presidium led by Malenkov voted to replace Khrushchev:
- K argued the descion to replace him could only be made by the central commitee (his powerbase)
- Khurshchev consolidsted him power in 1958 by adding the position of PM to his existing offices
1957 coup aftermath
there was significant evolution to the soviet gov for two reasons:
- it demonstrated senior communists wiuld no longer use political terror against each other
- recognised the powers of the party leader depended on the support of the central committe
final reforms
the 22nd party congress 1961
- accused Stalin of bein involved in Kirovs murder, congress voted to remove Stalins body from Public display
- k introduced fixed terms for all jobs within the party, including a fixed 16 year term for central committe members
*
aftermath of final reforms
1962 party reforsm split the psrty in two
- one hald of the party was in charge of agriculture, the otherin charge of industry
- included the central committee which were dvided into agricultural/industrial bureaus
