Reform, Stability and Stagnation, 1953 - 1985 (Krushchev and Brezhnev)

Question 1

Years and aims of Krushchev

Answer 1

Nikita Khrushchev
General Secretary: 1953 - 1964
Reformer: attempted to rejuvenate the CP
Hoped to improve lives of Russians and remove the ‘Terror’

Question 2

Years and aims of Brezhnev

Answer 2

Leonid Brezhnev
General Secretary: 1964 - 1982
Conservative: keep things the same
Restore stability by undoing reforms and defending the status-quo

Question 3

Secret Speech of 1956 criticised Stalin for: (5)

Answer 3

Abandoned the revolution by making himself dictator
Robbed the CP of its rightful role in leading the USSR
Creating policies such as the Red Terror
Becoming a mass-murderer for ordering the deaths of hundreds of thousands
Khrushchev revealed Lenin’s Testament, which had urged the CP to get rid of Stalin

Question 4

De-Stalinisation

5

Answer 4

No more annual celebration of his birthday
Ending of terror regime: NKVD brought under control
Labour camps removed from NKVD control
Between 1953-60, 2 million prisoners released
CP members & government officials no longer arrested for failing to meet targets

Question 5

Democratisation

5

Answer 5

Increased CP membership: from 7m in 1954 to 11m in 1964 (60% peasants)
Established fixed-terms for senior positions, This ensured no one could gain too much power: 2/3rds of Politburo members replaced between 1957-61
Final major reforms announced at Twenty Second Party Congress in 1961
Started by accusing Stalin of having murdered Kirov
Then announced split in the CP: one half in charge of agriculture, the other half in charge of industry

Question 6

Restoration B5

Answer 6

Centralisation: gave decision-making back to central ministers and away from local soviets
Reunited the CP: ended the party split between industry and agriculture
Abolished tenure limits: removed the limit on CP members’ time in a particular job
‘Subjectivism’: emphasis on collective decision making in Politburo
‘Brezhnev’s Constitution’: published a new Soviet constitution in 1977, reconfirming the Party’s control over the State

Question 7

Oligarchy

Answer 7

Rule by a small elite who govern a country or an organisation in their own interests
Under Brezhnev, Russia often referred to as an ‘oligarchy

Question 8

Nepotism

Answer 8

Under Brezhnev, Party relied on promoting from within – often friends or family
Brezhnev ensured promotion of his old colleagues from Ukraine

Question 9

Political Stagnation

Answer 9

Average age of Politburo member in 1919 was 39; by 1982 it was 70!
Due to illness, Politburo meetings reduced from several hours to 40 minutes!
Gerontocracy