Government under Krushchev and Brezhnev Flashcards
How did Khrushchev emerge as a leader of Soviet Union?
Malenkov, Beria and Khrushchev opponents
- Khrushchev was party secretary and so was able to widen his support base and insert his supporters into positions on the Central Committee
- Led a plot against Beria and arrest and execution by the army in 1953.
What was Khrushchevs big change?
De-Stalinisation:
- Ending personal rule
- Ending the use of terror
- May 1953, 4,620 Communist prisoners were rehabilitated.
- between 1953 - 1956 replaced 44% of the central committee
Khrushchevs era = the Thaw began
What was the secret speech?
2 impacts
1956 - Criticised Stalin
Stalin had abandoned party government and established a dictatorship base on ‘cult of personality’
The impact of the Secret Speech Stalin was widely loved in the Party
- Demonstrations in favour of multiparty democracy at Moscow State University
What reforms did Krushchev introduce?
- Democratisation = allow workers and peasants to join communist party = membership grew from 6.9M 1951 to 11M in 1964
- Decentralisation = abolition of central ministries = Economic powers devolved to 105 newly created economic councils q
What was Krushchev reforms backlash like
- Many communist officials lost their jobs or were demoted
- there was criticism of Krushchev within the party creating the ‘Anti-party group’ 1957 which were attempting to oust Krushchev
What were Krushchev final reforms?
22nd party congress of Congress Oct 1961:
- Party divided in 2, one party supervised agriculture, other industry
- Central committee members had a fixed term of 16 years, hoped it would stop the party stagnating
What did Brezhnev restore?
Khrushchevs key reforms:
Reversed Decentralisation, establishing the all union ministries that Khrushchev abolished
Ended split between industrial and agricultural wings of the party
What did Brezhnev do to ensure party members security?
his policy of ‘stability of cadres’ discouraged demotions or changes in personnel within government
What did restoration lead to?
Political stagnation
What happened due to lack of change of government officials?
Gerontocracy = avg age of people in the Politburo rose from 58 in 1955 to 75 in 1982. Rule of old people
Few young people entered gov
What happened as a result of the Government ageing?
Less Effective
under Brezhnev there were limited opportunities for promotion
officials stuck in dead end jobs so no incentive for hard work
What rose as a result of Brezhnev in control
Corruption - sacking rare, career development extremely limited, couldn’t grow rich thru hard work and promotion used position to grow rich.
To sell luxury goods on black market - Brezhenvs daughter Galina able to get access to diamonds, 1 of her lovers smuggled millions of pounds worth of diamonds out of the USSR
Why was there a moral decline under Brezhnevs rule
Brezhnev believed that the job of Stalin,Lenin and Krushchev was done, they wanted to build socialism.
Brezhnev believed socialism had been achieved
What happened after the death of Brezhnev
