Khruschev's Reforms And De-Stalinisation

Question 1

Upon Stalin’s death, who were the three main contenders for power?

Answer 1

Malenkov, Beria and Khrushchev

Question 2

When did Stalin die?

Answer 2

1953

Question 3

What position did Malenkov hold?

Answer 3

Premier of the Soviet Union

Question 4

What was Beria’s position in the UUSR?

Answer 4

Head of the MVD

Question 5

What was the MVD?

Answer 5

The Soviet political police

Question 6

What was Khrushchev’s position upon Stalin’s death?

Answer 6

Secretary of the Central Committee

Question 7

What did Beria think about the Gulag system?

Answer 7

He thought it was inefficient and difficult to manage on account of the several uprisings in the late 1940s.

Question 8

What reforms did Beria bring to the MVD in March 1953?

Answer 8

Amnesty for non-political prisoners serving short sentences.

Question 9

To whom did Beria extend amnesty to in April 1953?

Answer 9

Counter Revolutionaries

Question 10

What did Beria set up in May 1953?

Answer 10

A party commission which investigated past executions. It rehabilitated 4620 Communists who had been executed on forced confessions.

Question 11

How much did the Gulag population drop by during Beria’s reforms?

Answer 11

2.4 million in 1953 to 1.6 million in 1956.

Question 12

What two changes did Beria make to make republican governments more representative of their country?

Answer 12

~All officials had to be able to speak the language of their republic

~All publications had to be made available in all languages of the republics.

Question 13

Why were his rivals wary of Beria?

Answer 13

They feared he could use the MVD and secret police to terrorise and execute them.

Question 14

Who plotted against Beria?

Answer 14

Khrushchev and Malenkov.

Question 15

What happened to Beria in June 1953?

Answer 15

He was accused of being a British spy by Khrushchev in a Presidium meeting. He was arrested, put on trial and executed.

Question 16

Who were the leaders of the USSR between mid-1953 and 1954?

Answer 16

Khrushchev and Malenkov as a duumvirate.

Question 17

What proportion of the regional party secretaries did Khrushchev replace between 1953 and 1956?

Answer 17

Half

Question 18

What percentage of the Central Committee did Khrushchev replace between 1953 and 1956?

Answer 18

44%

Question 19

Why did Khrushchev replace so many people between 1953 and 1956?

Answer 19

He secured his position by filling the top levels of the Party with people loyal to him and who would back his reforms.

Question 20

How did Khrushchev cut bureaucracy?

Answer 20

~He devolved power from the Soviet government to the republican governments

~In mid-1954 he cut the amount of Central Soviet ministries from 55 to 25

Question 21

Who replaced Malenkov as premier? When?

Answer 21

Nikolai Bulganin - a close ally of Khrushchev - in February 1955.

Question 22

What happened in the early stages of De-Stalinisation?

Answer 22

~Plans to turn Stalin’s dacha into a museum were scratched

~The Stalin prizes were cancelled

~Celebrations of Stalin’s birthday were scrapped

Question 23

What was the aim of De-Stalinisation?

Answer 23

To dismantle Stalin’s cult of personality

Question 24

When was the Secret Speech?

Answer 24

25 February, 1956

Question 25

How long was the secret speech?

Answer 25

Four hours

Question 26

What was the contents of the Secret Speech?

Answer 26

~Khrushchev accused Stalin of robbing power from the Party

~The scale of Stalin’s crimes was revealed

Question 27

What didn’t Khrushchev attack during the Secret Speech?

Answer 27

Stalin’s move to industrialise and collectivise - he insisted that the the foundations of the Soviet system were not the problem.

Question 28

When was the Secret Speech officially published in Russia?

Answer 28

Not until 1989

Question 29

What did Khrushchev and Malenkov set up in May 1954?

Answer 29

A special commission investigating the cases of political prisoners sent to the Gulag.

Question 30

What proportion of those who had been executed by Stalin had been rehabilitated by 1961?

Answer 30

Half

Question 31

How did Hungary respond to the de-Stalinisation?

Answer 31

It started its own process of de-Stalinisation, with students and artists initiating a revolution and elected a new prime minister.

Question 32

Why did Khrushchev end up crushing Hungary’s attempt at de-Stalinisation?

Answer 32

Their new prime minister severed its military alliance with the Soviet Union.

Question 33

What happened at Moscow State University in 1957?

Answer 33

The students protested for multi-party democracy.

Question 34

Why was de-Stalinisation criticised within the Party?

Answer 34

~Stalinists thought it was destabilising the government

~Moderates thought the reforms were coming too quickly

Question 35

How did Khrushchev respond to the critics of de-Stalinisation?

Answer 35

~The Central Committee issued a revised Secret Speech

~The magazine Questions of History was disciplined for writing about Stalin’s Terror

~A special committee, headed by Brezhnev, was established to suppress anti-communist activity

~Khrushchev was forced to say that all communists were also Stalinists

Question 36

When did the Central Committee reissue the Secret Speech?

Answer 36

June 1957

Question 37

When was Questions of History disciplined?

Answer 37

October 1957

Question 38

When did Khrushchev say that all communists are stalinists?

Answer 38

New Year’s Eve, 1957

Question 39

How much did Party membership grow by between 1954 and 1964?

Answer 39

It went from 6.9 million to 11 million.

Question 40

What reform did Khrushchev introduce to senior communists in 1957?

Answer 40

He put fixed terms on their positions so that they were regularly replaced.

Question 41

How did Khrushchev decentralise the Party in 1957?

Answer 41

He abolished some of the ministries that oversaw the economy and devolved their powers to 105 new economic councils.

Question 42

Why did Khrushchev decentralise the Party in his own words?

Answer 42

To make the ministry of agriculture “closer to the fields.”

Question 43

Why did Khrushchev’s decentralisation spark criticism within the Party?

Answer 43

Communist officials were demoted, lost their jobs or forced to leave Moscow.

Question 44

Who were the Anti Party Group?

Answer 44

A group in the Presidium lead by Malenkov who used their majority to vote to replace Khrushchev.

Question 45

When did the Anti-Party Group rebel?

Answer 45

June 1957

Question 46

How did Khrushchev avoid the Anti-Party Group’s rebellion?

Answer 46

He said the decision should be out to the Central Committee where the majority were Khrushchev supporters.

Question 47

How did Khrushchev consolidate his power following the Anti-Party Group’s rebellion?

Answer 47

~He sacked his opponents

~In March 1958 he took over the position of Prime Minister

Question 48

For what two reasons was the Anti Party Group’d rebellion significant?

Answer 48

~It demonstrated that senior communists were no longer willing to use terror against each other

~It recognised that the power of the party leader depended on the Central Committee

Question 49

What happened at the Twenty Second Party Congress of 1961?

Answer 49

~Khrushchev accused Stalin of being involved in Kirov’s murder

~The Congress voted to remove Stalin’s body from public display in the Red Square

~A 16-year limit on the terms of Central Committee members

Question 50

What reforms did Khrushchev bring to the Party structure in 1962?

Answer 50

The whole party was split into Agricultural and Industrial Bureaux

Question 51

When did the Presidium begin planning Khrushchev final downfall?

Answer 51

June 1964

Question 52

What happened to Khrushchev in October 1964?

Answer 52

Khrushchev was called into a meeting and criticised for mishandling the economy and foreign policy as well as creating his own cult of personality. Consequently Khrushchev resigned and told the press he was ill. The Party gave him a pension ams he lived under guard.