H - Khrushchev

Question 1

What was Stalin’s legacy?

Answer 1

• cult of personality & centralised role of the leader
• Socialism in One Country
• Command economy - Heavy Industry prioritised
• Impact of the Great Terror
• Party-State based government (Soviets initiated Great Turn) -> Politburo as the embodiment of the Bolshevik one-party state

Question 2

What were Khrushchev’s personnel changes?

Answer 2

replaced Stalin’s supporters with his own - 44% of the central committee, secured his position within the party

Question 3

What was Khrushchev’s anti-bureaucracy campaign?

Answer 3

devolved power from the Soviet government to republican governments
-> as well as cutting the number of Central Soviet ministries from 55 to 25, so the proportion of Soviet industry controlled by central government dropped

Question 4

How did Khrushchev revitalise the party?

Answer 4

• erode the power of the state
• reassertion of the Politburo’s leading role -> regular sessions of the Central Committee
• end of terror -> reduced reliance
• downgraded the MGB to the KGB
• securing party supremacy over the military apparatus

Question 5

How did Khrushchev return to Leninism?

Answer 5

• revived Central Committee membership
• party doubled in size
• subordination of state to party

Question 6

Why was the Secret Speech significant?

Answer 6

criticised the cult of personality, contained a long list of Stalin’s crimes and terror, criticised his focus on the state over the party
led to a thaw

Question 7

Change in politics?

Answer 7

• legal reforms introduced to make law more settled and predictable to avoid terror
• socialist legality: led to an end of arbitrary arrests
• resumed regular meetings of the Politburo and Central Committee

Question 8

Continuity in politics?

Answer 8

• terror was replaced by a more subtle form of repression: loss of party membership, denial of promotion or being fired
• re-vitalisation of party was to consolidate his own power?