Krushchev

Krushchev

Rise to Power
1. Stalin had not nominated a successor
  1. meant that when he died (1953), the leading members of the politburo decided to rule collectively
    1. was not to last long
2. 1st phase of power struggle (1953-55)
  1. Malenkov
    1. leading head of both the government and party
    2. closely associated with Stalin
    3. seen as Russia's future leader
    4. favourable factors
      1. execution of Beria
        fear Beria was too powerful and would become the next Stalin
        executed in 1953 after being deemed as capitalist agent
        meant threat to Malenkov's power position removed
    5. unfavourable factors
      1. Krushchev
        appointed 1st secretary
        same amount of power Stalin had during his power struggle
      2. policy differences
        various debates b/w Malenkov and CC
        Five year plans and what to focus on
        what to do about low agricultural output
        how to approach west
    6. opposed by Krushchev
      1. lost support of CC in 1954
      2. 1955 - replaced by Bulganin as PM (nominee of Krushchev)
      3. emerged as most powerful leader
      4. had much support
        the army
        Ukrainian communist party
        majority of followers in Politburo
3. 2nd phase of power struggle 1957
  1. Anti-Krushchev majority formed by 1957
    1. included Malenkov
    2. nearly overthrown
    3. why they opposed K
      1. his style of leadership
      2. his eco. policies
      3. the speed and nature of destalinisation
      4. the pursuit of peaceful co-existance
  2. 1957 politburo demanded K resigned - refused
    1. able to maintain in office due to CC supporters
      1. why?
        60% of members were supporters appointed by him to official roles
        making genuine effort to solve problems
        CC did not trust anti-K group
      2. members such as Malenkov were ousted from party
        marked new tolerance as in Stalin's era, they would have been executed
  3. by 1958, K was in full control of party
Domestic Policies
1. Aims - return to Marxism and establish communism
  1. Raise living standards
    1. raise food production
    2. switch focus to consumer goods
  2. decentralise government power and economy
  3. Destalinisation
    1. dismantle Stalin's reforms without causing collapse of USSR
    2. improve efficiency of Russian eco
    3. strengthen K's position
2. Successes
  1. Destalinisation
    1. 1956 - secret speech
      1. denounces Stalin for what he did
        purges
        great terror
        his conduct of ww2
      2. attempt to dismantle stalin's dictartorship
    2. downgrading of secret police and new laws
      1. abolished special courts
        in future criminal investigations carried out
      2. no longer criminal to quit job
3. Failures
  1. virgin land schemes
    1. attempt to raise grain production
      1. initially successful
        1956 production triple to that in 1953
    2. Krushchev discouraged use of crop cycle and fallow land for quick results
      1. failed to provide fertilisers too
      2. fertility of land decreased
        1960 half of farm land ruined
    3. many volunteers lost enthusiasm
    4. Climate in Kazakhstan and Sibieria not suitable for farming
  2. failure to produce maize
    1. after trip to US, K. decided Russia would also produce corn
      1. Ukraine fields turned into maize fields
    2. huge failure
      1. Ukraine climate too damp for maize to thrive
      2. 1962 food process raised = food crisis in Ukraine
  3. eco. policies
    1. 1957 - attempts to reduce central control over eco
      1. set up regional eco councils (Sovnarkhozy)
        hard to organise eco without central control
    2. failure to correct inbalances
    3. high military spending and high spending on space programs
Foreign policies
1. Aims
  1. peaceful co-existence with west
  2. prevent nuclear war
2. success
  1. 1963 Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty
    1. US, UK and USSR agreement to not testing any more atomic bombs
3. failures
  1. 1960 American spy plane shot down over USSR
    1. US denied spy plane and claimed it was a weather plane
      1. However American pilot survived and confessed
    2. relation b/w west and USSR seriously declined
      1. 1961 Berlin Wall built

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	Created by hanalou about 10 years ago