Khrushchev 1953-64

Question 1

What was the disparity in pay between a collective farmer and a factory worker in 1954?

Answer 1

Factory workers earned 6x as much as collective farmers

Question 2

Who were the five contenders to replace Stalin?

Answer 2

Khrushchev (Party Secretary), Malenkov (Prime Minister), Beria (Minister of the Interior and Head of Secret Police), Molotov (Foreign Minister), Voroshilov (Head of State)

Question 3

What were Beria’s reforms in his attempt to replace Stalin?

Answer 3

Release of 1 million prisoners, reversal of Russification, talk about ending of Gulags

Question 4

What happened to Beria in 1953?

Answer 4

Accused of crimes by Khrushchev and Malenkov, arrested by Zhukov as treasonous and enemy of the people, executed after a secret trial

Question 5

How did Khrushchev outmanoeuvre Malenkov to secure power?

Answer 5

Malenkov moved first on agricultural reforms, however 1953 saw a poor harvest and therefore Khrushchev started the Virgin Lands scheme which gave him momentum and party support

Question 6

What were Khrushchev’s motives in denouncing Stalin in the secret speech?

Answer 6

Morale conscience, liberate party from repression, starting debate himself could avoid more radical and implicating discussions, his rivals were more involved in terror than he was

Question 7

Why was Destalinisation a risky policy?

Answer 7

Stalin had such a strong cult of personality by 1953 that the regime could be destabilised by attacking him

Question 8

What information about Stalin’s terror did Khrushchev find out in 1955?

Answer 8

Between 1935-40 1,900,000 were arrested and 700,000 shot for ‘anti-Soviet activity’ yet it was all completely fabricated

Question 9

What were the features of Khrushchev’s secret speech?

Answer 9

Attacked Stalin’s cult of personality, read Lenin’s testament criticising Stalin, criticised Stalin’s involvement in deaths of party members (e.g. Trotsky, Bukharin, Kirov), criticised NKVD, criticised 1941 wartime disasters

Question 10

What did Khrushchev leave out of the secret speech?

Answer 10

No ideological criticisms of Marxism-Leninism, no criticism of Stalin pre-1934 (collectivisation/industrialisation), ignores suffering of non-party members (kulaks, order 00447)

Question 11

How many people ended up hearing the secret speech?

Answer 11

20-25 million

Question 12

What effects did the secret speech have on prisoners?

Answer 12

In the 3 years pre-speech only 7,000 political prisoners were rehabilitated compared to 600,000 in the year that followed

Question 13

What impacts did the secret speech have?

Answer 13

Stalin began to be condemned and sometimes referred to as ‘enemy of the people’, instability in eastern european communist nations, supposedly long-term caused a crisis of confidence in Communist Party

Question 14

What was the Anti-Party group?

Answer 14

A group of ministers intent on ousting Khrushchev after the secret speech - Malenkov, Molotov, Kaganovich and Voroshilov

Question 15

What happened to the Anti-Party group after they were defeated?

Answer 15

Given menial jobs in remote areas

Question 16

How did Khrushchev defeat the anti-party group despite being outvoted?

Answer 16

Support from Zhukov (head of army), KGB and unanimous Central Committee support

Question 17

Why did Khrushchev remove Zhukov from his role as head of the army?

Answer 17

Introduced military reform without consulting the party, seen as arrogant, wanted to develop purely professional army

Question 18

What further Destalinisation action was taken after the 22nd Party Congress in 1961?

Answer 18

Stalin’s body removed from Lenin mausoleum, places named after Stalin renamed (Stalingrad became Volgograd), monuments of Stalin destroyed, Khrushchev proposed memorial to Stalin’s victims be built in Moscow

Question 19

What was Khrushchev’s assessment on the state of Soviet agriculture in 1953?

Answer 19

Productivity was too low, livestock compared very poorly with 1928 and 1916, farmers incomes too low because state procurement prices were too low, high taxes on private plots discouraged production

Question 20

What was the Virgin Lands campaign?

Answer 20

Huge operation to settle and cultivate new farmland in Kazakhstan, the Urals and Siberia - 300,000 Komsomol were sent to cultivate 36 million acres

Question 21

Was the Virgin Lands scheme a success?

Answer 21

Initially yes, as in 1956 Russia had its largest ever harvest at that point with 125 million tons of grain produced and half of this coming from new regions. However by 1963 harvest was disastrous and worst for years

Question 22

Why was Khrushchev’s heavy promotion of corn misguided?

Answer 22

Valuable crop in Ukraine, where Khrushchev was from, however barely ripens elsewhere

Question 23

How much maize was planted under Khrushchev and how much of this was harvested ripe?

Answer 23

85 million acres planted, only 1/6 of this was harvested ripe

Question 24

What were the main aims of Khrushchev’s Seven Year Plan (1959-65)?

Answer 24

Rapid expansion of chemical industry, investment in oil/natural gas, focus on investment east of the Urals

Question 25

What were the successes of Khrushchev’s Seven Year plan?

Answer 25

Industrial progress was impressive and there was a major increase in consumer goods

Question 26

What were the failures of Khrushchev’s seven year plan and what were the reasons behind this?

Answer 26

Soaring expenses in space and missile program led to dropping growth rates - 1963 and 1964 were the lowest in peacetime since planning began

Question 27

How much did cereal production increase between 1952-64?

Answer 27

82 million tons produced in 1952 compared to 132 million in 1964

Question 28

What successes did the space programme have under Khrushchev?

Answer 28

First ICBM test and satellite in space in 1957, Yuri Gagarin first man in space in 1961

Question 29

What social hierarchy improvements were seen under Khrushchev?

Answer 29

Differences in social classes reduced, wage differentials smaller, differences between town and countryside being reduced

Question 30

What items began to enter Soviet homes for the first time under Khrushchev?

Answer 30

TVs, fridges and washing machines

Question 31

How much did meat consumption increase between 1958-65?

Answer 31

55%

Question 32

What were Khrushchev’s main priorities once he secured leadership?

Answer 32

“The good of the people” - Consumerism, better housing and greater freedom to move jobs

Question 33

What positive social laws were passed under Khrushchev?

Answer 33

In 1956 minimum wage rose, major expansion of the pension scheme for elderly, disabled and sick, seven hour day introduced in 1960, holiday pay introduced, laws against absenteeism and changing jobs w/o permission repealed

Question 34

What housing changes did Khrushchev make?

Answer 34

Cheap housing built, allowed families who once lived in one room in a communal apartment to have privacy and their own place

Question 35

How many people moved into new apartments between 1956-65?

Answer 35

108 million

Question 36

How much did higher education numbers rise between 1953-64?

Answer 36

Increased by 3x

Question 37

What educational reforms did Khrushchev pass?

Answer 37

Fees for secondary and tertiary education scrapped, leaving age raised from 14 to 15

Question 38

What was Khrushchev’s attitude to religion?

Answer 38

Fiercely atheist - Stalin had become tolerant of church post-war however Khrushchev increased anti-religious propaganda and taxes on religious activity while closing churches and monasteries

Question 39

What proportion of Christian churches and monasteries in the USSR were closed between 1959-64?

Answer 39

3/4

Question 40

What was Khrushchev’s attitude to the arts?

Answer 40

Partial thaw in policy in comparison to Stalin - works that denounced Stalin were acceptable, however works that denounced the party of the present Soviet way of life were off limits

Question 41

What happened at Novocherkassk?

Answer 41

Uprising began in working-class Ukranian town after prices of butter and meat increased - troops came in opening fire which killed 28 and wounded 80

Question 42

How many Soviet citizens partook in mass disorders, disturbances, protest meetings and strikes between 1953-64?

Answer 42

500,000

Question 43

What were the main reasons behind Khrushchev’s downfall?

Answer 43

Seen as arrogant and unpredictable, poor harvest in 1963, Cuban Missile Crisis seen as embarrassment, reorganisations and personnel reshuffles unpopular with officials impacted

Question 44

How poor was the harvest of 1963?

Answer 44

107 million tons of grain produced in comparison to target of 170-180 million, had to buy in grain from the West which was major embarrassment in Khrushchev’s ‘area of expertise’

Question 45

What happened in the Cuban Missile Crisis?

Answer 45

In retaliation to US missiles in Turkey, USSR set up missiles in Cuba - this was blockaded by US and both sides agreed to withdraw missiles, however US withdrawals were secret so USSR/Khrushchev looked weak

Question 46

What reasons did Khrushchev’s Presidium members give for demanding his dismissal?

Answer 46

“explosiveness”, “acting unilaterally/ignoring Presidium”, “cult of Khrushchev”, “rudeness of which Lenin had once accused Stalin”, agricultural failures and “juggling the fate of the world” in Cuba

Question 47

How much did the gulag population decrease between 1953-60?

Answer 47

From 2,500,000 to 600,000