1. Why did Khrushchev become leader after Stalin?

There were several contenders for leadership of the USSR, Nikita Khrushchev, Malenkov, Bulganin and Beria.

Several factors helped Khrushchev secure his position as leader of the Party:

• Khrushchev was a Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party which was an important power base. Between 1953 and 1956, over half of the secretaries of the republic and regional party committees were replaced; the new members all owed their positions to Khrushchev
• Because Beria was seen as a threat to many in the party, the party and the army moved against him. He was arrested and shot
• In debates on the future direction of the country, Khrushchev's ideas gained the most credibility; his policy of planting the 'virgin lands' of Kazakhstan and western Siberia seemed to be successful due to good harvests in 1954 and 1955
• Malenkov's promise of a 'New course' that would bring with it an increased supply of cheap consumer goods failed to materialise and many attacked him for moving away from the priority of focusing on heavy industry. In Feb 1955, he was removed from office and replaced by Bulganin
• Khrushchev strengthened his position after the 1956 'secret' speech
• Khrushchev survived a challenge by Bulganin in 1957

2. What was the significance of the Secret Speech?

Task One

ATL: Thinking skills

Task Two

ATL: Thinking skills

Task Three

ATL: Thinking and research skills

3. How successful were Khrushchev's domestic policies?

Starter activity: What does Khrushchev mean by the quote below?

The quote above highlights the fact that the standard of living in the USSR was well behind that of the capitalist world. Once in power Khrushchev embarked on a policy sometimes called 'Reform Communism'.

Political reform: decentralisation

Following the denunciation of Stalin in 1956, Khrushchev planned two major changes to the Soviet system of government. One was the democratisation of he Communist Party. From 1954 to 1964 the Party membership increased from 6.9 million to 11 million. Most of the new members were listed as workers and peasants. As part of the way to increase 'democracy' within the CPSU, Khrushchev revived 'comrades' courts', led by ordinary party members, which dealt with minor offences.

Khrushchev also began the decentralisation of control which involved transferring power from the Soviet central government to the fiftenn republics of the USSR. It also involved giving power to regional councils for economic development (see below).

Both of these policies aimed at undermining the remnants of Stalinism and improving the standard of the Soviet people but were widely resented by the higher Communist Party members.

Agricultural reform

It was clear that the collectivization policies were not working in terms of producing sufficient yields; in 1953, Khrushchev informed the Central Committee that yields were lower than they had been under the last Tsar. Coming from peasant origins, Khrushchev took a special interest in agriculture; he met with peasants and encouraged local initiatives.

Specifically:

• State authorities began to pay higher prices to peasants for their grain to encourage production
• Taxes on farming products and on private plots were reduced
• Experts were sent from Moscow to work with the peasants
• Machine Tractor Stations (MTS) were closed down and instead used as repair workshops
• Tractors were sold to the peasants
• Many collectives were merged into larger State farms. These ensured that government had more direct control giving the State farms themselves more freedom of action
• Workers on State farms received a fixed wage and also social benefits. Peasant incomes rose at a faster rate than other sectors of the population
• Peasants no longer had to make compulsory deliveries of produce to the State from their private plots

As a result, between 1952 and 1958, profits of farmers doubled.

However the policy most associated with Khrushchev was the Virgin lands Scheme launched in 1954. The aim of this policy was to exploit hitherto unused areas of the Soviet Union such as Kazakhstan and southern Siberia. Initially, thousands of volunteer Party and Komsomol members traveled to these outlying areas to work on large state farms (sovkhozes)

Initially the scheme was successful with grain production increasing by at least 50 per cent by 1958. However, from 1958 the Virgin Lands scheme proved a failure. Why was this?

• Khrushchev's plan was unrealistic in its aims; much of the land was unprofitable to cultivate
• The scheme was badly planned; enthusiasm for the project meant that much was undertaken too quickly with inadequate planning
• After the first year, the top soil became arid and subject to wind erosion which created dust bowls
• Insufficient fertilisers were provided to replenish the soil
• Insufficient thought was given to the living and working conditions of volunteers who went out to the the Virgin Lands; many became disillusioned and returned home

Industry

As with agriculture, Khrushchev brought new initiatives. There were no fundamental changes, but Khrushchev again offered incentives and wished to move from total reliance on heavy industry to putting more prominence on light engineering and chemicals.

He also wished to move away from central planning and put more emphasis on decisions being made at a local level. Existing economic ministries in Moscow were abolished and replaced by 105 regional ministries corresponding to existing administrative regions.

Central planning remained: a 5-Year plan begun in 1956 was abandoned as being too optimistic and was replaced in 1959 with a Seven-year Plan which set out goals for consumer goods, plastics, chemicals and light industry. It also emphasized the need for regional development. In order to solve the chronic housing shortage, factories were to produce sections of prefabricated buildings that would lead to the construction of some 15 million new flats.

Although there were some impressive gains, not all of the Plan’s targets were met and it suffered from many of the same problems as previous Five Year Plans such as misallocation of resources and fear of innovation. The amount of houses doubled but many were of poor quality. Khrushchev’s administrative reforms also caused problems and confusion. In addition, he lacked support from the bureaucracy who disliked the decentralization policies which reduced their powers.

Social policy

Khrushchev introduced substantial changes in labour policy. He narrowed the pay gap between rich and poor, and he decriminalised absenteeism from work. He also introduced a rapid housing construction programme (see above) and in education he abolished university tuition fees allowing the children of ordinary workers to receive higher education.

Task One

ATL: Thinking skills

Clearly Khrushchev needs to be given credit for recognising the need for reform and was brave enough to attempt reform. The failures were partly due to the issues inherent in the Stalinist system as well as a lack of enthusiasm for change by many party members, bureaucrats and managers.  Khrushchev was trying to reform a system without destroying its basic rationale which was to prove an impossible task and would not be attempted again until Gorbachev. However, he also bears responsibility for failure to plan effectively. As historian David Filtzer writes,'he pushed through his policies bureaucratically and often with little foresight or planning'.

Task One

ATL: Thinking skills

4. To what extent did he carry out his policy of 'peaceful co-existence' with the West?

Students need to know the foreign relations of the Soviet Union during this period. This is covered under the Cold War section for Paper Two here: 1.1 Theme 1 - Rivalry, Mistrust and Accord (ATL) and 3. Theme 3 - Cold War Crises (ATL) . In addition, the CNN Cold War video below covers Khrushchev's actions with regard to Poland and Hungary which also impacted on his relations with the West. (Two more videos on the Hungarian uprising can be found on the video page for this section: 8. The Soviet Union and Russia: Videos and activities )

Task One

ATL: Thinking skills

This is a summary exercise for students to bring together the key aspects of Khrushchev's foreign policy.

Task Two

ATL: Research and self-management skills

5. Why was Khrushchev removed from office?

On 14 October 1964 the Central Committee of the CPSU 'freed' Khrushchev from his position as Prime Minister of the USSR and General Secretary of the CPSU. The public reason given was that of 'deteriorating health' but in reality there was dissatisfaction with his policies and his one-man style of  government.

Task One

ATL: Thinking skills

Task Two

ATL: Thinking and social skills