THE KHRUSHCHEV ERA

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

22nd 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. 1964

But reforms set stage for Gorbachev & perestroika

5-story “Khrushchevka”