Khrushchev Flashcards
Which five men were in the collective leadership that took over after Stalin’s death?
Malenkov, Beria, Molotov, Vorishilov and Khrushchev
How was Beria removed from power?
Accused of crimes and Zhukov rushed in and arrested him. executed after 6 months, Dec 1953
How did K outmanoeuvre Malenkov?
Made him take blame for poor harvest in 1953
When did Khrushchev launch his Virgin Lands campaign in Kazakhstan and Siberia?
1954
When did Khrushchev make his speech at the 20th Party Congress?
1956
Give three motives of Khrushchev for de-Stalinisation
Moral conscience; liberate Party officials; avoid radical debate about Stalin; build support for his ideas of reform and Leninist renewal
What was the title of Khrushchev’s secret speech?
‘On the Personality cult and its consequences’
How many political prisoners were released in the ten months after the secret speech?
617,000
Give 2 examples of how K’s speech destabilised Eastern Europe
Strike led to change of govt in Poland; 1956 Hungarian uprising
How many casualties when K crushed the Hungarian uprising
20,000
what was the anti-party group?
Molotov, Kaganovich and Voroshilov opposed K’s secret speech. June 1957 Khrushchev outvoted 7 to 4 but he flew in members of the Central Committee and the Anti-Party group were condemned for factionalism.
what happened to Zhukov in 1957?
Dismissed from the Presidium and the Central Committee for introducing military reforms without consulting the Party
How did Khrushchev attack Stalin at the 22nd Party Congress in 1961?
new info about purges
Give four actions that Khrushchev took after the 22nd Party Congress
Stalin’s mummified body removed from Lenin’s Mausoleum
places named after Stalin renamed
monuments of Stalin destroyed
K proposed a memorial to Stalin’s victims in Moscow
What did K’s analysis of agriculture in 1953 reveal?
Low productivity; low numbers of livestock; biological yield used to hide reality of harvests; farmers’ incomes low; high taxes on private plots discouraged production
where did the virgin lands campaign focus on?
uncultivated land in Kazakhstan, the urals and siberia
how many komsomol volunteers were used to help the virgin lands campaign
300,000
what proportion of the 85M acres of maize were harvested ripe?
1/6
when were MTS stations abolished
1958
Why did Khrushchev’s restriction of private plot size put pressure on peasants
pressure to sell their cows to the kolkhoz
when was the 7YP introduced
1959
why did K want the chemicals industry to expand?
provide more fertiliser for agriculture
give 2 problem with K’s industrial policies
expense of space and missile programme
increased military expenditure
poor growth rates
Give three successes of K’s industrial policies
Increase in consumer goods; expansion of chemicals industry; space race increased prestige
When was the first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile?
Aug 1957
When did Yuri Gagarin become the first man in space?
1961
Give three ways that Khrushchev reorganised industry
Enterprises transferred from central to republican control; republican governments given control over factories; May 1957 regional economic councils set up
What was the New Party Programme of 1961?
The Communist Party was now a party of the whole people; more accountable to the membership with limits on terms served and rotation of offices; Communist Party the key institution in the march towards Communism; a Communist society to be almost complete by 1980 and real income to have increased by 250%
Give two examples of Khrushchev trying to help raise standards of living
1956 minimum wage; expansion of pension schem; 1960 7 hour day; repeal of labour laws against absenteeism
When did Khrushchev launch a programme to try to end housing shortages?
1957
Give examples of the new houses constructed between 1956 and 1965
cheap, pre-fabricated, 5 storeys high
how much did numbers in higher education increase
X3
Give three examples of K’s attack on religion
Revival of Lenin’s militant atheism; anti-religious propaganda; taxes on religious activities increased; churches and monasteries closed
Give two examples of novels censored
Boris Pasternak, Dr Zhivago and Vasily Grossman, Life and Fate
Where was there an uprising on 1 June 1962 and why?
Novocherkassk
Food prices rising sharply
what was samizdat?
Self-publishing. It became an underground press to spread political ideas.
Why was Khrushchev criticised for the Cuban Missile crisis?
brought russia to the brink of nuclear war
