Khruschev's Reforms And De-Stalinisation Flashcards
Upon Stalin’s death, who were the three main contenders for power?
Malenkov, Beria and Khrushchev
When did Stalin die?
1953
What position did Malenkov hold?
Premier of the Soviet Union
What was Beria’s position in the UUSR?
Head of the MVD
What was the MVD?
The Soviet political police
What was Khrushchev’s position upon Stalin’s death?
Secretary of the Central Committee
What did Beria think about the Gulag system?
He thought it was inefficient and difficult to manage on account of the several uprisings in the late 1940s.
What reforms did Beria bring to the MVD in March 1953?
Amnesty for non-political prisoners serving short sentences.
To whom did Beria extend amnesty to in April 1953?
Counter Revolutionaries
What did Beria set up in May 1953?
A party commission which investigated past executions. It rehabilitated 4620 Communists who had been executed on forced confessions.
How much did the Gulag population drop by during Beria’s reforms?
2.4 million in 1953 to 1.6 million in 1956.
What two changes did Beria make to make republican governments more representative of their country?
~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.
Why were his rivals wary of Beria?
They feared he could use the MVD and secret police to terrorise and execute them.
Who plotted against Beria?
Khrushchev and Malenkov.
What happened to Beria in June 1953?
He was accused of being a British spy by Khrushchev in a Presidium meeting. He was arrested, put on trial and executed.
Who were the leaders of the USSR between mid-1953 and 1954?
Khrushchev and Malenkov as a duumvirate.
What proportion of the regional party secretaries did Khrushchev replace between 1953 and 1956?
Half
What percentage of the Central Committee did Khrushchev replace between 1953 and 1956?
44%
Why did Khrushchev replace so many people between 1953 and 1956?
He secured his position by filling the top levels of the Party with people loyal to him and who would back his reforms.
How did Khrushchev cut bureaucracy?
~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
Who replaced Malenkov as premier? When?
Nikolai Bulganin - a close ally of Khrushchev - in February 1955.
What happened in the early stages of De-Stalinisation?
~Plans to turn Stalin’s dacha into a museum were scratched
~The Stalin prizes were cancelled
~Celebrations of Stalin’s birthday were scrapped
What was the aim of De-Stalinisation?
To dismantle Stalin’s cult of personality
When was the Secret Speech?
25 February, 1956
How long was the secret speech?
Four hours
What was the contents of the Secret Speech?
~Khrushchev accused Stalin of robbing power from the Party
~The scale of Stalin’s crimes was revealed
What didn’t Khrushchev attack during the Secret Speech?
Stalin’s move to industrialise and collectivise - he insisted that the the foundations of the Soviet system were not the problem.
When was the Secret Speech officially published in Russia?
Not until 1989
What did Khrushchev and Malenkov set up in May 1954?
A special commission investigating the cases of political prisoners sent to the Gulag.
What proportion of those who had been executed by Stalin had been rehabilitated by 1961?
Half
How did Hungary respond to the de-Stalinisation?
It started its own process of de-Stalinisation, with students and artists initiating a revolution and elected a new prime minister.
Why did Khrushchev end up crushing Hungary’s attempt at de-Stalinisation?
Their new prime minister severed its military alliance with the Soviet Union.
What happened at Moscow State University in 1957?
The students protested for multi-party democracy.
Why was de-Stalinisation criticised within the Party?
~Stalinists thought it was destabilising the government
~Moderates thought the reforms were coming too quickly
How did Khrushchev respond to the critics of de-Stalinisation?
~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
When did the Central Committee reissue the Secret Speech?
June 1957
When was Questions of History disciplined?
October 1957
When did Khrushchev say that all communists are stalinists?
New Year’s Eve, 1957
How much did Party membership grow by between 1954 and 1964?
It went from 6.9 million to 11 million.
What reform did Khrushchev introduce to senior communists in 1957?
He put fixed terms on their positions so that they were regularly replaced.
How did Khrushchev decentralise the Party in 1957?
He abolished some of the ministries that oversaw the economy and devolved their powers to 105 new economic councils.
Why did Khrushchev decentralise the Party in his own words?
To make the ministry of agriculture “closer to the fields.”
Why did Khrushchev’s decentralisation spark criticism within the Party?
Communist officials were demoted, lost their jobs or forced to leave Moscow.
Who were the Anti Party Group?
A group in the Presidium lead by Malenkov who used their majority to vote to replace Khrushchev.
When did the Anti-Party Group rebel?
June 1957
How did Khrushchev avoid the Anti-Party Group’s rebellion?
He said the decision should be out to the Central Committee where the majority were Khrushchev supporters.
How did Khrushchev consolidate his power following the Anti-Party Group’s rebellion?
~He sacked his opponents
~In March 1958 he took over the position of Prime Minister
For what two reasons was the Anti Party Group’d rebellion significant?
~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
What happened at the Twenty Second Party Congress of 1961?
~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
What reforms did Khrushchev bring to the Party structure in 1962?
The whole party was split into Agricultural and Industrial Bureaux
When did the Presidium begin planning Khrushchev final downfall?
June 1964
What happened to Khrushchev in October 1964?
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.
