did communist party rule change after death of Stalin Flashcards
what happened after Stalin died
members of the presidium (politburo) formed a collective leadership of Beria, Malenkov and Khrushchev
Beria was executed in 1953 after fear of his power
Khrushchev became first secretary of the communist party and used his position to put his allies in the presidium
central committee was then given more power over the party and govt
by 1956, half of the members were removed and replaced with Khrushchev’s supporters so he became the sole leader
what happened at the 20th party congress
Khrushchev’s secret speech criticising Stalin for developing a cult of personality, acting as a tyrant, using too much terror and making economic mistakes
what did Khrushchev implement
de-Stalinisation
what did de-Stalinisation include
regular meetings of the presidium an central committee
moving of power to local and regional levels e.g. decentralisation
party and government no longer faced prison for not meeting targets
secret police under control of party and lost control of labour camps
two million prisoners released between 1953 and 1960
what did Khrushchev not reform during de-Stalinisation
excessive corruption or criticism of government could still lead to exile
surveillance of secret police still continued so people still lived in fear.
What was the crisis of 1957
decentralisation upset part members as they lost power, Malenkov and Molotov tried to persuade presidium to force Khrushchev to leave
Khrushchev smartly referred issue to central committee (full of his supporters) and move was denied
Malenkov and Molotov demoted
Khrushchev ‘party reforms 1961
removed Stalin’s body from Red square
purge of local party members
party officials could only serve a term of 3 years to encourage new ideas and prevent stagnation (ironic)
Fall of Khrushchev
overthrown in 1964 due to political and economic failures (virgin land scheme) and persuaded to resign peacefully, Khrushchev remarked this as his greatest reform as under Stalin he would’ve been shot.
what did Brezhnev do when he came to power
reversed some of destalinisation
limit on time of term on party officials ended
membership rose 6.9 mill in 1953 to 17 mill by 1980 (over doubled)
decisions made collectively instead of one person through politburo
what other reforms did Brezhnev introduce
constitution of 1977 gave citizen’s right to criticise incompetent party officials
USSR became more cautious and conservative so more politically stable
Brezhnev had less personal power stating he was number 1 among equals making him a popular but ineffective leader as he delegated tasks.
similarities with Khrushchev
party still more important than state
officials still appointed by state
kept some of destalinisation
same amount of lessened widespread terror
failures of Brezhnev’s reforms
Soviet union became Oligarchy and were keen to prevent change in order to keep power stopping innovation and corruption and nepotism increased
by 1980 system old and ineffective as party made of old men 1984 7/11 politburo were over 70 (majority)
STAGNATION
Did the organisation of the party led to collapse
yes was a cause, as became oligarch leading to USSR leadership being old and out of date and without terror if party couldn’t supply citizens with rewards it would lead to non-conformity
