DESTALINIZATION!
By Ashlex O’Lashneill
Aka…
Alex and Ashley
Wot is it?
• The process begun by Nikita Khrushchev, following the death of former Russian dictator
Stalin in March 1953 to RID ALL STALIN INFLUENCES IN RUSSIA!!!
• Khrushchev was recognized for first discrediting Stalin and then reforming Soviet
Russia, leading to large numbers being released from imprisonment in Gulags, a
temporary thaw in the Cold War, a slight relaxation in censorship and an increase in
consumer goods (an era dubbed as ‘The Thaw’ or ‘Khrushchev’s Thaw’)
• This new direction was announced by Khrushchev at a speech to the Twentieth Party
Congress of the CPSU on February 25th 1956 entitled ‘On the Personality Cult and its
Consequences’ in which he attacked Stalin, his tyrannical rule and the crimes of that era
against the party.
• The speech was a calculated risk by Khrushchev, who had been prominent in Stalin’s
later government, that he could attack and undermine Stalin, allowing non-Stalinist
policies to be introduced, without flawing his reputation. As everyone high up in
Russia’s ruling party also owed their positions to Stalin, there was no one who could
attack Khrushchev without sharing the same guilt.
• There was disappointment, especially in the West, that Destalinization did not lead to
greater liberalization in Russia and it finished with Khrushchev’s removal from power in
1964.
Ideological Differences
Stalin
Khrushchev:
Ruled with fear and tyranny.
Had no problem eliminating
people who did not support
him.
Very demanding of his
country.
Globally, had a high influence.
Spread communism forcefully.
 Did not exercise dictatorship
as Stalin had.
 Tried to raise the Soviet
standard of living and tried to
greatly expand his country's
space program.
 Planned to rebuild
international alliances.
 Believed a leader should rule
with persuasion, explanation
and patience with his people.
Mutual Suspicion and Fear
• Khrushchev tried to eliminate fear and suspicion in Russia that was
inflicted by Stalin through Destalinization!
• Khrushchev and the other leaders of Russia decided to start with a clean
slate to rule Russia with.
• Khrushchev was unlike Stalin and trusted (or tried to) many
members of the parliament.
• This led to his downfall, as many of them were actually opposed
to his leadership!
• And later voted him out of office.
Spheres of Influence
• Destalinization mainly affected Russia
• However, international relations with Russia were starting to change
as Khrushchev stepped into power, and Russia was no longer under
the dictatorial rule of Stalin
Alliances and Diplomacy
• Almost immediately after Stalin
died, the collective leadership began
altering the conduct of Soviet
foreign policy to permit better
relations with the West and new
approaches to the nonaligned
countries.
• Regarding the developing nations,
Khrushchev tried to win the
goodwill of their national leaders,
instead of following the established
Soviet policy of shunning the
governments while supporting local
communist parties.
• In 1955, to ease tensions between
East and West, Khrushchev
recognized permanent neutrality for
Austria. Meeting President Dwight
D. Eisenhower in Geneva later that
year, Khrushchev confirmed a Soviet
commitment to "peaceful
coexistence" with capitalism.
• Soviet influence over the
international alignments of India
and Egypt, as well as of other Third
World countries, began in the
middle of the 1950s. Cuba's entry
into the socialist camp in 1961 was
a coup for the Soviet Union.
Cold War policies
• Containment, Brinkmanship, Peaceful Coexistence
• Increased tension with the Soviet Union caused by the Cold War were
greatly reduced when Stalin died and Khrushchev took his place as
Russian leader.
• Problem with communist expansion was slightly quelled as
destalinization became the primary goal in Russia.
• Khrushchev worked to regain allies and make Russia seem new and
improved!
• Khrushchev strived to relieve brinkmanship caused by Stalin expanding
the communist empire.
As stated before : A meeting with President Dwight D.
Eisenhower in Geneva later in 1955 confirmed a Soviet
commitment to "peaceful coexistence" with capitalism.
Role of the UN or the Non-Aligned
Movement in the Cold War
• Khrushchev spoke to the UN
regarding the goals of the USSR
during his secret speech.
o It allowed them to see the
motives of Russia.
Role and Significance of Khrushchev
After the reign of Stalin, there was a collective
leadership that governed Russia.
• Nikita Khrushchev
• became the significant leader of
Russia, his most famous attribute is
that of his ‘Secret Speech’ when he
denounced Stalin.
• This speech was important to the
Russian citizens as he stated
“It is here that Stalin showed in a
whole series of cases his intolerance,
his brutality, and his abuse of
power ... he often chose the path of
repression and physical annihilation,
not only against actual enemies, but
also against individuals who had not
committed any crimes against the
party or the Soviet Government.”
• Khrushchev was a more lenient
leader compared to Stalin, as he
enforced new policies that
appealed to the people of Russia,
such as his attempt to lessen the
harshness of the Gulag labour
system and he renamed cities and
monuments that were named after
Stalin.
• With Khrushchev as the leader of
Russia this impacted millions of
lives as he stressed the importance
of the people, not the importance
of Communism or the Government.
Role of the arms race, nuclear
proliferation and limitation
• The satellite countries, which included Georgia and other eastern
European countries, were able to form their own government after
their encounter with Russian Communism.
• Khrushchev boasted about Soviet missile forces.
• The resources were diverted to the military sector so Russia could
maintain the Superpower Status and maintain competitiveness in
the arms race.
• There was proliferation in Russia during Destalinization as there
was a growth in the building of machinery and of nuclear missiles.
The limitation found throughout this time would be that the
government had no choice when it came to dictating to the people,
for Khrushchev was the ultimate decider when it came to making
new laws and he wanted to look out for his people and not for the
government and for the spreading of his view.
Social/cultural/economic impacts
• Socially, destalinization
allowed the people an
improved standard of living
and a greater intellectual
freedom was allowed.
• People were given the ability
to have freedom, as they
were not forced to follow the
ideas and views of the new
government.
• There was a peaceful
coexistence between the
government and the people.
• Economically, resources
shifted from heavy industry
and the military toward
consumer goods and
agriculture; also known as the
Centralized Economic
Planning.
• The state encouraged
peasants to grow more on
their private plots, increased
payments for crops grown on
collective farms, and invested
more heavily in agriculture.
Superpower relations
• The arms race created tension between all of the superpowers as the
raced to produce the largest amount of arms.
• Created a space race as well, this led to Russia creating the first spaceship
and they sent the first man to the moon.
• Russia split their aid of economical aid to China which caused war to
break out along the Soviet-China border at the time.
• Each country became wary of each other, as scientific procedures grew
and new experiments were being created to help create the most
powerful country.
• The satellite began to produce more evidence that showed the arms race
occurring.