KHRUSHCHEV OPPOSITION Flashcards
23 . CULTURAL OPPOSITION
The harsh censorship of the Stalinist years had largely ended the Russian tradition of criticism through the medium of literature and the arts . However, under Khrushchev, with the return of greater intellectual and artistic freedom, there emerged a new group of cultural dissidents’ who used the arts to convey political messages.
Such dissidents were primarily committed to
greater democracy, human rights and the rights of the nationalities. Sometimes their protest also stemmed from religious feeling or expressed grievances against the violation of artistic freedom. Theirs was not an outright physical opposition but it was worrying to the authorities, nevertheless.
23 . CULTURAL OPPOSITION
Some writers sought to evade Soviet censorship by publishing their work abroad. This was known as tamizdat. It was hoped that the substance of such works would be relayed back to Soviet citizens through foreign broadcasts. The publication of Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago overseas would be one such example.
Others used samizdat,
duplicating material by hand or by typewriter using carbon paper, or possibly by finding printers prepared to run a press illegally at night. Copies would then be circulated by personal contact.
However, such activity was high risk and brought the danger of imprisonment and the labour camps.
23 . CULTURAL OPPOSITION
Poetry
On 29 June 1958, a monument to Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930), a satirical poet who had criticised the Stalinist system, was unveiled in Moscow.
The event was marked by impromptu public poetry readings. This sparked a series of regular readings known as the ‘Mayak’ (lighthouse) in Mayakovsky Square. These became very popular and were attended by students and members of the intelligentsia. However, in 1961,
some of the regular attenders were arrested for subversive political activity. The action cost Vladimir Bukovsky, a biology student, his university place and drove him to become a fully committed dissident, while Eduard Kuznetsov, who was accused of publishing samizdat and charged with ‘anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda, was to spend seven years in prison.
23 . CULTURAL OPPOSITION
MAGAZINES
A number of ‘dissident’ magazines were also established. Ginzburg, the editor and publisher of a Moscow samizdat poetry magazine called Syntaxis, was arrested in 1960. He was sent to labour camps on three separate occasions, between 1961 and 1969, for exposing human rights abuses and demanding reforms. He also tried to smuggle writings abroad in order to increase external pressure on the USSR. Other dissident publications included Boomerang, edited by Osipov from 1960 and Phoenix, edited by Galanskov from 1961.
The authorities took steps to restrict this spread of unwarranted material in 1961, when
130,000 people were identified as leading a
anti social, parasitic way of life: These were intellectuals whose writings were considered hostile to the regime, and who were prevented from obtaining employment by the State. Some avoided imprisonment by taking unskilled jobs such as street sweepers, which still gave them time to pursue their writing, but others were sent to labour camps or mental hospitals.
Further campaigns followed. In 1963, Joseph Brodsky, who became a Nobel laureate in 1987, was charged with ‘social parasitism’ and sentenced to five years exile in Archangel.
23 . CULTURAL OPPOSITION
MUSIC
Music also produced its cultural dissidents and, just as writers used samizdat to self-publish, so musicians made illegal recordings known as Magnitizat - on reel-to-reel tape recorders. Tapes were passed between friends, allowing forbidden musical styles and song lyrics to spread quickly in the ‘underground’ Jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, soul music and Western pop were all disseminated in this way,
Kim was typical of the musicians who reacted to political events in their song writing. He associated with the
dissident movement in Moscow and wrote a song cycle called ‘Moscow kitchens’ which told how subversive thought was passed around in free discussions in the capital’s kitchens.
23 . CULTURAL OPPOSITION
Soviet ‘nonconformist art’ which broke free from the shackles of Soviet realism also brought dissident painters. The limitations to the ‘thaw’ which had marked the coming of Khrushchev became apparent in 1962, when Khrushchev attended the
Manezh Art Exhibition at which several nonconformist artists were exhibiting. He engaged in an argument about the function of art in society but this only had the effect of encouraging the dissident painters to pursue their art in private, challenging official artistic reality.
23 . CULTURAL OPPOSITION
Unlike the dissident writers, however, the artists were largely able to escape persecution. Most managed some ‘legal’ work and it would seem that the authorities of the period found their activities less potentially damaging to the regime.
A few cultural figures expressed their opposition to the Soviet regime by
seizing the opportunities, provided by Khrushchev’s more open relationship with the West, to defect. One of the best known of these was the ballet-dancer Nureyev who had becoming a leading dancer with the Kirov Ballet when, on an overseas tour in 1961, he defected in Paris.
OPPOSITION FROM WITHIN THE PARTY - HARDLINERS AND REFORMERS
Not all members of the Communist Party were content with the way the USSR was led under Khrushchev. His rise to power saw a struggle between those who believed in liberal reform, such as Bulganin, and hardline conservative pro-Stalinists such as Molotov, Malenkov and Kaganovich.
Although Khrushchev succeeded in establishing Bulganin and himself in the top jobs in February 1955, the hardliners could not forgive his attack on Stalin in 1956 and
tried to oust him in 1957. This opposition group fought Khrushchev less because of his policies and reorganisation than out of a desire to restore Stalinism. The reformers, on the other hand, spoke in his favour through fear of a return to the old regime and police rule.
OPPOSITION FROM WITHIN THE PARTY - HARDLINERS AND REFORMERS
Khrushchev survived by appealing to the wider Central Committee over the vote against him in the Presidium and the expulsion of the ‘anti-Party group from the Presidium was a victory for the reformers over the hardliners.
It was not until Khrushchev had dismissed
Zhukov and thus put the Red Army in its place, however, that total victory was achieved.
TREATMENT OF POLITICAL OPPOSITION
The treatment of political opposition was less harsh than in Stalin’s day.
At the top, politicians were demoted, but generally not shot.
Molotov, Malenkov, Kaganovich
Molotov became ambassador to Mongolia; Malenkov became director of an HEP station in Kazakhstan; and Kaganovich was made director of the Sverdlovsk cement works.
TREATMENT OF POLITICAL OPPOSITION
At a lower level, as well as an improvement in treatment, the political prison population was reduced. By 1955, a quarter of a million appeals from political prisoners had been considered by the Soviet Procuracy, but only 4% had been released. However, within a few months in 1956,
eight to nine million former or present political prisoners were rehabilitated. In total, around two million returned from the gulags and prison colonies, and another two million from special settlements between 1953 and 1960. By 1957 only two per cent of the Soviet prison population were political prisoners.
TREATMENT OF POLITICAL OPPOSITION
However, combined with his de-Stalinisation speech, Khrushchev’s more lenient treatment of political opponents bred further dissent. While the cultural dissidents and intelligentsia saw this as an opportunity to discuss and debate issues such as multi-party elections and full human rights and freedoms, the hardliners and loyalists were vocal in their opposition. These were most marked in Georgia, Stalin’s birthplace, where there were violent nationalist demonstrations in Tblisi, 4-10 March 1956.
Outright opposition among ordinary Soviet citizens was minimal.
Having been conditioned by the Stalinist Terror, most ordinary people remained silent. However, this is not to say that there was no dissent.
KHRUSHCHEV’S FALL FROM POWER
In April 1964, Brezhnev gave Khrushchev’s seventieth birthday speech and loudly praised him for all his devotion and various achievements. There was even a special ceremony in the Kremlin, when Khrushchev was presented with various honours including the ‘Hero of the Soviet Union gold medal. However, just a few months later,
he was ousted in a coup orchestrated by Brezhnev, Podgorny and Suslov.
KHRUSHCHEV’S FALL FROM POWER
Khrushchev was on holiday in Georgia in october 1964. Here, he received an urgent telephone call from Brezhnev summoning him to an emergency meeting of the Presidium. He initially ignored this, but, sensing opposition, returned to Moscow on 13 October.
He was taken straight to a meeting of the Presidium where several of his former supporters voiced their criticisms of him. At first, Khrushchev tried to interrupt, but he seemed genuinely surprised by the degree of hostility towards him. He
refused to resign, but he was denied access to the media, which might have enabled him to whip up popular support to resist his attackers. (Two of his supporters - the editor of Pravda and the head of the state radio - were out of Moscow.)
KHRUSHCHEV’S FALL FROM POWER
The following day, a resignation paper was presented to Khrushchev and he had little option but to sign. He sat for a time in silence and then left. He was not present on day three, when Suslov
stood up to read a damning list of his shortcomings, and resolutions were passed by which Brezhnev became First Secretary and Kosygin became Premier.
