Khrushchev's De-Stalinisation

Question 1

5 points

How was Stalin’s legacy changing before Khrushchev gave his secret speech?

Answer 1

• Political atmosphere began to relax.
• Labour camp prisoners began to be released. First 1 million who were given amnesty on Stalin’s death (mainly non-political prisoners), then 2 million political prisoners were released.
• However millions of people didn’t return from the camps, and those who did recieved no apology.
• Novels critical of Stalinism were published, e.g. The Thaw by Ehrenburg.
• To publically denounce Stalin or his works was still unthinkable in 1956.

Question 2

What was in Khrushchev’s secret speech?

Answer 2

• It described what Lenin had said about Stalin in his political testament, and then blamed Stalin for not making Russia ready to for the German attack in 1941.
• Then went on to list Stalin’s crimes against the party, including mass arrests and trials, paranoia, show trials.
• Claimed that the party had onlt recently found out about this to absolve current leadership of responsibility.
• Portrayed party as the victims.

Question 3

3 points

Why did Khrushchev give the secret speech?

Answer 3

• Defensive reasons - if he did not draw a line under Stalin’s regime someone else would launch the attack and Khrushchev may have been tarnished as one of Stalin’s supporters.
• Ideological reasons - He could have been personally shocked by Stalin’s actions, and could have thought that honesty was the only way to restore people’s faith in the party.
• To undermine his rivals - Due to the criticism K faced after giving the speech, Molotov, Kaganovitch and Malenkov made a decision to abolish the post of first secretary. K’s appointments in the party came to his defense and argued that only the Central Committee could abolish the position. When the Central Committee met, the decision was overturned.