Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev Никита Сергеевич Хрущёв
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
In office September 7, 1953 – October 14, 1964
Preceded by	Joseph Stalin
Succeeded by	Leonid Brezhnev
Premier of the Soviet Union
In office March 27, 1958 – October 14, 1964
Preceded by	Nikolai Bulganin
Succeeded by	Alexey Kosygin
Born	April 17, 1894(1894-04-17) Kalinovka, Russian Empire
Died	September 11, 1971 (aged 77) Moscow, Russian SFSR, USSR
Nationality	Russian
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Spouse	Yefrosinia Khrushcheva (desc. The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( First Secretary in 1953-1966 was the title synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union after Events 1251 BC - A Solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes Greece. Year 1953 ( MCMLIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill seven miles from Hastings, the forces Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Premier of the Soviet Union is the commonly used English term for the offices of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (Председатель Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - In England on Senlac Hill seven miles from Hastings, the forces Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин Nikolaj Aleksandrovič Bulganin; – February 24 1975 Alexey Nikolayevich Kosygin (Алексе́й Никола́евич Косы́гин Aleksej Nikolajevič Kosygin; February 20 1904 - December Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Kalinovka (Кали́новка is a village ( selo) in Khomutovsky District of Kursk Oblast, Russia. The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Russian people (Русские— Russkie) are an East Slavic Ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries ) Marusia Khrushcheva (div. ) Nina Khrushcheva

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв (help·info), Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchyov; IPA: [nʲɪˈkʲitə sʲɪˈrgʲejɪvʲɪtɕ xruˈɕːof], in English, ['kruʃtʃɛv], ['krustʃɛv], ['krustʃof] or [krus'tʃof], occasionally ['kruʃof]) (April 17 [O.S. April 5] 1894 – September 11, 1971)^[1] served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, following the death of Joseph Stalin, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Events 69 - After the First Battle of Bedriacum, Vitellius becomes Roman Emperor. Old Style (or OS) and New Style (or NS) are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( First Secretary in 1953-1966 was the title synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union after Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Premier of the Soviet Union is the commonly used English term for the offices of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (Председатель Khrushchev was responsible for the De-Stalinization of the USSR, as well as several liberal reforms ranging from agriculture to foreign policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev.

Early years

Krushchev was born in Kalinovka. Kalinovka (Кали́новка is a village ( selo) in Khomutovsky District of Kursk Oblast, Russia. His father was the peasant Sergey Nikanorovich Khrushchev (who died in 1938 of tuberculosis); his mother was Aksiniya Ivanovna Khrushcheva. He had a sister two years his junior, Irina. In 1908, his family moved to Yuzovka. Donetsk (Донецьк translit Donets’k; Доне́цк translit Later, since he spent much time working in Ukraine, Khrushchev gave the impression of being Ukrainian. Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. He supported this image by wearing Ukrainian national shirts.

He trained and worked as a joiner in various factories and mines. Khrushchev became involved in trade union activities in World War I and, after the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, he fought in the Red Army. A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists ( Большевик Большевист (singular, derived from bolshe, "more" were a faction See also Russian Revolution (1905 The Russian Revolution of 1916 refers to a series of popular revolutions in Russia, and the events surrounding them The Red Army ( Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия R aboche- K rest'yanskaya K rasnaya A rmiya He became a Party member in 1918 and worked at various management and Party positions in Donbass and Kiev. Donets Basin, also known as Donbas or Donbass (Донецький басейн usually abbreviated to Донбас translit Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the

May Day Parade, Moscow, 1937. Left to right Khrushchev, G. Dimitrov, Stalin, V. M. Molotov and Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan. Georgi Dimitrov Mikhaylov (Георги Димитров Михайлов also known as Georgi Mikhaylovich Dimitrov (Георгий Михайлович Димитров Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. Anastas Hovhannesi Mikoyan ( Armenian: Անաստաս Հովհաննէսի Միկոյան ( - October 21 1978 was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and

In 1931, the government transferred Khrushchev to Moscow. He became the 1st Secretary of the Moscow City Committee (Moscow Gorkom) of VKP(b) in 1935. The Moscow city secretaryship was a traditional proving ground for rising stars in the party (cf Boris Yeltsin) and Khrushchev apparently impressed with his leadership of the Moscow Metro works. Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin () (1 February 1931 23 April 2007 was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999 The Moscow Metro (Московское метро which spans almost the entire Russian capital, is the world's second most heavily used Rapid-transit In 1938, he became the 1st Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, one of the most senior regional party positions. The Communist Party (Bolshevik of Ukraine (Комуністична Партія (більшовиків України Komunistychna Partiya (bilshovykiv Ukrayiny, Khrushchev became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in Moscow in 1934 and the Politburo in 1939. Politburo, short for Political Bureau, Russian Politicheskoye Buro, is the executive organization for a number of Political parties, most notably ^[2]

Great Patriotic War

Main article: Great Patriotic War

Khrushchev (left) at the military council of Stalingrad Front. The term Great Patriotic War (Великая Отечественная война Velikaya Otechestvennaya Vojna) is used in Russia and some other The Southern Front was a Front - a roughly Army group sized formation - of the Soviet Army during the Second World War.

During the Great Patriotic War (i. The term Great Patriotic War (Великая Отечественная война Velikaya Otechestvennaya Vojna) is used in Russia and some other e. , the Eastern Front of World War II), Khrushchev served as a political commissar (zampolit) with the equivalent rank of Lieutenant General. The Eastern Front of World War II (die Ostfront 1941-1945, der Rußlandfeldzug 1941-1945 (Russian campaign or der Ostfeldzug 1941-1945 (Eastern Campaign World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including A political commissar, or politruk, is an officer appointed by a government to oversee a unit of the military Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in Armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines Lieutenant General is a Military rank used in many countries The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the

In the months following the German invasion, in 1941, Khrushchev, as a local party leader, coordinated the defense of Ukraine but was dismissed and recalled to Moscow after surrendering Kiev. Operation Barbarossa ( Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the Codename for Nazi Germany 's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II Later, he was a political commissar at the Battle of Stalingrad and was the senior political officer in the south of the Soviet Union throughout the wartime period — at Kursk, entering Kiev on liberation, and in the suppression of the Bandera nationalists of the Ukrainian Nationalist Organisation, who had earlier allied with the Nazis before fighting them in Western Ukraine. A political commissar, or politruk, is an officer appointed by a government to oversee a unit of the military The Battle of Stalingrad is a commonly used name in English sources for several large operations by Germany and its allies and Soviet forces conducted with the History KurskOld2jpg|thumb|200px|Pre-1917 view of Kursk]] Archaeology indicates that the site of Kursk was settled in the fifth or fourth century B Kiev, also known as Kyiv ( Ukrainian:, Kyiv, ˈkɪjiw Russian:, Kiyev; see also Cities' alternative names) is the Stepan Andriyovych Bandera (Степан Андрійович Бандера ( January 1 1909 &ndash October 15 1959) was a Ukrainian Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists or OUN (Організація Українських Націоналістів Orhanizatsiya Ukrayins’kykh Natsionalistiv Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Galicia (Галичина ( Halychyna) Galicja is a historical region in East Central Europe, currently divided between Poland and Ukraine,

Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev during the Great Patriotic War

In the years leading up to 1953, Khrushchev carried out Stalin's orders with uncritical obedience, earning the nickname "the Butcher of the Ukraine" in the late 1940s. The term Great Patriotic War (Великая Отечественная война Velikaya Otechestvennaya Vojna) is used in Russia and some other ^[3]

Rise to power

After Joseph Stalin's death on March 5, 1953 there was a power struggle between different factions within the party. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a Initially Lavrenty Beria controlled much of the political realm by merging the Ministry of Internal Affairs and State security. Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria; Russian: Лаврентий Павлович Fearing that Beria would eventually kill them, Georgy Malenkov, Lazar Kaganovich, Vyacheslav Molotov, Nikolai Bulganin and others united under Khrushchev to denounce Beria and remove him from power. Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Гео́ргий Максимилиа́нович Маленко́в Georgij Maksimilianovič Malenkov; January 8, Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин Nikolaj Aleksandrovič Bulganin; – February 24 1975 With Beria imprisoned awaiting execution (which followed in December), Malenkov was the heir apparent. Khrushchev was not nearly as powerful as he would eventually become even after his promotion. Becoming party leader on September 7 of that year, and eventually rising above his rivals, Khrushchev's leadership marked a crucial transition for the Soviet Union. Events 1251 BC - A Solar eclipse on this date might mark the birth of legendary Heracles at Thebes Greece. He pursued a course of reform and shocked delegates to the 20th Party Congress on 25 February 1956 by making his famous Secret Speech denouncing the "cult of personality" that surrounded Stalin, though he himself played no small part in cultivating it, and accusing Stalin of crimes committed during the Great Purges. The 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held during February 14 26 1956. Events 138 - The Emperor Hadrian adopts Antoninus Pius, effectively making him his successor Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. On the Personality Cult and its Consequences (О культе личности и его последствиях commonly known as the Secret Speech or the A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses Mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise Great Purge (Большая чистка transliterated Bolshaya chistka) was a series of campaigns of Political repression and Persecution This effectively alienated Khrushchev from the more conservative elements of the Party, but he managed to defeat what he termed the Anti-Party Group after they failed in a bid to oust him from the party leadership in 1957. The Anti-Party Group was an epithet used by Nikita Khrushchev to describe Stalinist members of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the

Dwight Eisenhower, Nikita Khrushchev and their wives in 1959

In 1958, Khrushchev replaced Bulganin as prime minister and established himself as the undisputed leader of both state and party. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general He became Premier of the Soviet Union on March 27, 1958. Premier of the Soviet Union is the commonly used English term for the offices of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (Председатель Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Khrushchev promoted reform of the Soviet system and began to place an emphasis on the production of consumer goods rather than on heavy industry.

He sought to lower the burden of defense spending on the Soviet economy by placing a new emphasis on rocket based defense. The Soviet lead in this technology was emphasized by the success of Sputnik 1 and subsequently Yuri Gagarin's Vostok flight. Sputnik 1 ( "Спутник-1", "Satellite-1" ПС-1 ( PS-1, i However, real Soviet missile forces remained small and the price that Khrushchev paid inside the Soviet system — hostility from the armed forces — was a major contribution to his eventual removal from office. ^[4]

At the same time the fear of Soviet missile forces was real enough in the West — prompting then United States of America Senator John F. Kennedy to attack then United States of America Vice-President Richard Nixon over the missile gap in the 1960 U.S. presidential election and culminating in the stand off of the Cuban missile crisis. John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29 1917&ndashNovember 22 1963 often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of Missile Gap is a 2006 Science fiction Novella originally published in the anthology "One Million AD" by British author The United States presidential election of 1960 marked the end of Dwight D The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba during the Cold War.

Domestically, Khrushchev did not seek to roll back the collectivization of agriculture. Collectivization in the Soviet Union was a policy pursued under Stalin, between 1928 and 1940(much later for areas further away from capital to consolidate individual Instead he promoted the Virgin Lands Campaign program, saying the Soviet Union could meet and surpass Western agricultural production through the application of modern techniques and the use of new crops. The Virgin Lands Campaign was an initiative by Nikita Khrushchev to open up vast tracts of unseeded (virgin The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings Initial successes here rapidly turned sour.

In 1959, during Richard Nixon's visit to the Soviet Union, Khrushchev took part in what later became known as the Kitchen Debate. The Kitchen Debate was an impromptu debate (through interpreters between then U Khrushchev reciprocated the visit that September, spending thirteen days in the United States. On his visit Khrushchev had two requests: to visit Disneyland and to meet John Wayne, Hollywood's top box-office draw. Due to the Cold War tension and security concerns, he was famously denied an excursion to Disneyland. Disneyland, marketed as the happiest place on Earth, is an American Theme park in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt

On his California visit, the Soviet leader got a show of American consumerism and the American way of life. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The American way of life is an expression that refers to the " Life style " of people living in the United States of America. This marked the first time a Soviet leader set foot on U. S. soil. But he was annoyed that the main event of his first day was a lunch with 300 movie stars and other celebrities and a visit to the set of the movie Can-Can at 20th Century Fox in Los Angeles, rather than an inspection of an aerospace plant. Can-Can is a 1960 Musical film made by Suffolk-Cummings productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West

After Khrushchev left the studio, gawkers pasted tomatoes on his limo as the doubly offended leader and his 30-car, heavily guarded caravan made its way through city streets. Local authorities would later report that a bomb was planted in a tree along the route and that a man who said he was deer hunting was arrested on suspicion of carrying concealed weapons just moments before Khrushchev's motorcade passed by a Los Angeles street.

Khrushchev declared himself offended by the chilly reception.

The Kremlin boss' new attitude towards the West as a rival instead of as an evil entity alienated Mao Zedong's People's Republic of China. View01jpg|thumb|right|250px|Remains of the Kolomna Kremlin]] Kremlin (Кремль Kreml) is the Russian word for "fortress" "citadel" or "castle" Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led Talk People's Republic of China) PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ARTICLE GUIDELINES The Soviet Union and the PRC, too, would later be involved in a similar "cold war" triggered by the Sino-Soviet Split in 1960. The Sino-Soviet split was a gradual divergence of diplomatic ties between the People's Republic of China (PRC and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR

In 1961, Khrushchev approved plans proposed by East German leader Walter Ulbricht to build the Berlin Wall, thereby reinforcing the Cold War division of Germany and Europe as a whole. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state Walter Ulbricht ( June 30, 1893 &ndash August 1, 1973) was a German Communist politician The Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer was a physical barrier separating West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic (GDR ( East Germany) including Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe.

Khrushchev and Yuri Gagarin

Khrushchev's personality

Khrushchev was regarded by his political enemies in the Soviet Union as boorish. He had a reputation for interrupting speakers to insult them. The Politburo accused him once of 'hare-brained scheming' — referring to his erratic policies. He regularly humiliated the Soviet nomenklatura, or ruling elite, with his gaffes. The nomenklatura were a small elite subset of the general population in the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries who held various key administrative positions He once branded Mao, who was at odds with Khrushchev ever since the denunciation of Stalin at the 1956 Congress, an "old galosh", which was translated as "old boot". In Mandarin, the word "boot" is used to describe a prostitute or immoral woman. The Soviet leader also famously condemned his Bulgarian counterpart. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian

Khrushchev's blunders were partially the result of his limited formal education. Although intelligent, as even his political enemies admitted after he had defeated them, and certainly cunning, he lacked knowledge and understanding of the world outside of his direct experience and often proved easy to manipulate by hucksters who knew how to appeal to his vanity and prejudices. For example, he was a supporter of Trofim Lysenko even after the Stalin years and became convinced that the Soviet Union's agricultural crises could be solved through the planting of maize on the same scale as the United States, failing to realize that the differences in climate and soil made this inadvisable. Trofim Denisovich Lysenko (Трофи́м Дени́сович Лысе́нко ( September 29, 1898 &ndash November 20, 1976) was an agronomist Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica

Khrushchev and Harold Macmillan in Moscow in 1959

Khrushchev repeatedly disrupted the proceedings in the United Nations General Assembly in September-October 1960 by pounding his fists on the desk and shouting in Russian. (Maurice Harold Macmillan 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 &ndash 29 December 1986 was a British Conservative Politician The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages On 29 September 1960, Khrushchev twice interrupted a speech by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan. Events 522 BC - Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumâta securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. (Maurice Harold Macmillan 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC (10 February 1894 &ndash 29 December 1986 was a British Conservative Politician The unflappable Macmillan famously commented over his shoulder to Frederick Boland, the Assembly President (Ireland), that if Mr Khrushchev wished to continue, he would like a translation. Frederick Henry Boland ( January 16, 1904 - December 4, 1985) was the first Irish ambassador to Britain and to the ^[5][6]

The notorious shoe-banging incident occurred during a debate, on October 11, over a Russian resolution decrying colonialism. The Nikita Khrushchev shoe-banging incident happened during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York on 12 October Infuriated by a statement of the Filipino delegate Lorenzo Sumulong which charged the Soviets with employing a double standard, Khrushchev accused Mr. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Lorenzo Sumulong ( September 5, 1905 – October 21, 1997) was a Filipino Delegate to the United Nations. Sumulong of being "a jerk, a stooge and a lackey of imperialism". Later Mr. Khrushchev appeared to have pulled off his right shoe, brandished it at the Philippine delegate on the other side of the hall and banging the shoe on his desk. However, this was actually a pre-planned incident. Krushchev had brought an extra shoe to make a point.

On another occasion, Khrushchev said in reference to capitalism, "Мы вас похороним!" (My vas pokhoronim!), translated to "We will bury you". Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev famously used an expression generally translated into English as "We will bury you!" ("Мы вас похороним!" This phrase, ambiguous both in the English language and in the Russian language, was interpreted in several ways. Later, he would refer back to the comment and state, "I once got in trouble for saying, 'We will bury you'. Of course, we will not bury you with a shovel. Your own working class will bury you".

May Day Parade 1957. Left to right Zhukov, Khrushchev, Bulganin, Kaganovich, Malenkov, Molotov and Anastas Mikoyan

Ouster

Krushchev's private photo

Khrushchev's policies alienated significant sections of the Communist party leadership. Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин Nikolaj Aleksandrovič Bulganin; – February 24 1975 Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Гео́ргий Максимилиа́нович Маленко́в Georgij Maksimilianovič Malenkov; January 8, Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. Anastas Hovhannesi Mikoyan ( Armenian: Անաստաս Հովհաննէսի Միկոյան ( - October 21 1978 was an Armenian Old Bolshevik and Although Khruschev abandoned the physical repression of Stalin, he made frequent changes in party structures and personnel in his efforts to improve economic efficiency - especially in agriculture. Many leading cadres feared for their jobs. Similarly he alienated many in the army by directing investment to missile forces and seeking to release more manpower for economically productive tasks.

The latter contributed to his humiliation over Cuba, where his faith in missiles led him to site them in Cuba and then risk a global nuclear conflagration. Here Khruschev alienated both hardliners - who saw the Soviet retreat as a victory for the west - and doves - who saw the whole thing as adventurism played for high stakes.

His enemies learned the lessons from Khruschev's defeat of the neo-Stalinist 'Anti-Party Group' - where Khruschev had successfully appealed to the central committee over the politbureau's head. To remove their leader his enemies would have to secure the widest support in the upper echelon's of the party, not simply amongst the very inner core.

Khrushchev's downfall came as a result of a conspiracy among the Party bosses, irritated by his erratic policies and cantankerous behavior, which was seen by the Party as an embarrassment on the international stage. The Communist Party accused Khrushchev of making political mistakes, such as mishandling the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the cold war with China^[7] and disorganizing the Soviet economy, especially in the agricultural sector. The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba during the Cold War. ^[8][9]

The conspirators, led by Leonid Brezhnev, Aleksandr Shelepin and the KGB chief Vladimir Semichastny, struck in October 1964, when Khrushchev was on vacation in Pitsunda, Abkhazia, Georgia. Alexander Nikolayevich Shelepin (Александр Николаевич Шелепин 18 August 1918, Voronezh - October 24, 1994 Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastny (Russian Владимир Ефимович Семичастный January 15, 1924 &ndash January 12, 2001 Pitsunda (ҵҵунда Georgian: ბიჭვინთა - Bichvinta Пицунда) is a Resort town in Gagra district of the Abkhazia (Аҧсны Apsny აფხაზეთი Apkhazeti or Abkhazeti Абха́зия Abhazia) is a De facto Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between They called a special meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee and, when Khrushchev arrived on 13 October, voted to remove him from his positions in the Party and in the Soviet government. The Presidium or Præsidium (from Latin praesidium meaning protection or defense so plural presidia or praesidia is the name for the Executive committee The Central Committee, abbreviated in Russian as ЦК, "Tse-ka" was the highest body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU Events 54 - Nero ascends to the Roman throne 409 - Vandals and Alans crossed the Pyrenees A special meeting of the Central Committee was hastily convened the next day and approved the decisions of the Presidium without debate. The Presidium or Præsidium (from Latin praesidium meaning protection or defense so plural presidia or praesidia is the name for the Executive committee On 15 October 1964, the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet accepted Khrushchev's resignation as the Premier of the Soviet Union. Events 533 - Byzantine General Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. The Supreme Soviet of the USSR (Верхо́вный Сове́т СССР Verkhóvnyj Sovét SSSR) was the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union in Premier of the Soviet Union is the commonly used English term for the offices of Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (Председатель ^[10]

Life in retirement

Unlike Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov or Lazar Kaganovich, who were removed from Party and forced to live as ordinary citizens, Khruschev remained a member of the Central Committee until 1966 and party member until his death. Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Гео́ргий Максимилиа́нович Маленко́в Georgij Maksimilianovič Malenkov; January 8, Molotov redirects here For other uses see Molotov (disambiguation. Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. He received a special pension and was allowed to live in state-owned residence. He also received a security detail. He, however, remained under KGB close watch (who also used this security detail comprising of their officers) until his death^[11]. KGB ( Transliteration of "КГБ" is the Russian abbreviation of Committee for State Security ( Komityet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosty

Initially he lived as in house arrest, but later resumed more active social life (particularly with the members of Moscow intelligentsia), but never publicly commented policy of his successors, focused on writing his memories, which, despite KGB watch, were smuggled to the West. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of For the coffee shop company often called Intelligentsia for short see Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea. ^[12][13]

He died of a heart attack at a hospital near his home in Moscow on 11 September 1971 and is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, having been denied a state funeral and interment in the Kremlin wall. Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. Novodevichy Cemetery (Новоде́вичье кла́дбище Novodevichye kladbishche is the most famous cemetery in Moscow, Russia, situated next to the The Kremlin Wall Necropolis (Некрополь у Кремлёвской стены is a part of the Kremlin Wall in Moscow overlooking the Red Square

Key political actions

Khrushchev and Castro, 1960

Khrushchev in Yugoslavia, 1963

• In his Secret Speech, Khrushchev denounced Stalin for his personality cult and his regime for "violation of Leninist norms of legality", marking the onset of the Khrushchev Thaw. Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born August 13 1926 is a Cuban revolutionary leader who was prime minister of Cuba from December 1959 to December 1976 and then president until See also Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian On the Personality Cult and its Consequences (О культе личности и его последствиях commonly known as the Secret Speech or the A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses Mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise Khrushchev's Thaw or the Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s when repression and Censorship in the Soviet Union
• Dissolved the Cominform organization and reconciled with Josip Broz Tito, which ended the Informbiro period in the history of Yugoslavia. Cominform ( Com munist Inform ation Bureau) is the common name for what was officially referred to as the Information Bureau of the Communist Informbiro (also the Informbiro period or the Time of the Informbiro) was a period ( 1948 - 1955) in the history of Yugoslavia characterized The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian:
• Established the Warsaw Pact in 1955 in response to the formation of NATO. The Warsaw Pact (see Nomenclature) was an organization of Communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. The North Atlantic Treaty
• Ordered the 1956 Soviet military intervention in Hungary (see Hungarian Revolution of 1956). Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 ( Hungarian: 1956-os forradalom) was a spontaneous nationwide Revolt against the Stalinist government of
• Ceded Crimea from the Russian SFSR to the Ukrainian SSR in 1955. Crimea (kraɪˈmiːə or the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Крим Автономна Республіка Крим Avtonomna Respublika Krym; Крым The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or the Ukrainian SSR was one of the 15 constituent republics that made up the Former Soviet Union from its
• Provided support for Egypt against the West during the 1956 Suez Crisis. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, (أزمة السويس - العدوان الثلاثي Crise du canal de Suez מבצע קדש Kadesh
• Promoted the doctrine of "Peaceful co-existence" in the foreign policy, accompanied by the slogan "To catch up and overtake the West" in internal policy. Peaceful coexistence was a theory developed during the Cold War among Soviet -influenced Communist states that they could peacefully coexist with capitalist
• Triggered the Sino-Soviet Split through talks with the U. The Sino-Soviet split was a gradual divergence of diplomatic ties between the People's Republic of China (PRC and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR S. and a refusal to support the Chinese nuclear program.
• Initiated the Soviet space program that launched Sputnik I and Yuri Gagarin, getting a head start in the space race. The Soviet space program consisted of initiatives within the Soviet Union by competing design groups Sputnik 1 ( "Спутник-1", "Satellite-1" ПС-1 ( PS-1, i The Space Race was a competition of space exploration between the Soviet Union and the United States, which lasted roughly from 1957 to 1975 Participated in negotiations with U. S. President John F. Kennedy for a joint moon program, negotiations that ended when Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29 1917&ndashNovember 22 1963 often referred to by his initials JFK, was the thirty-fifth President of
• Canceled a summit meeting over the Gary Powers U-2 incident. Francis Gary Powers ( August 17, 1929 &ndash August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose CIA U-2 spy plane The 1960 U-2 incident occurred during the Cold War on May 1, 1960 when an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over
• Met with U. S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower at Camp David, Maryland in September 1959. Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general The Naval Support Facility Thurmont, popularly known as Camp David, is the rustic 125-acre (0 He was the first Soviet leader to visit the United States in a diplomatic capacity.
• Initiated the deployment of nuclear missiles in Cuba, which led to the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. The Republic of Cuba (ˈkjuːbə or) consists of the island of Cuba (the largest and second-most populous island of the Greater Antilles) Isla de la The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation between the United States, the Soviet Union, and Cuba during the Cold War.
• Approved East Germany's construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, after the West did not agree to his proposal to incorporate West Berlin into a neutral, demilitarized "free city. The German Democratic Republic ( GDR; Deutsche Demokratische Republik DDR; commonly known in English as East Germany) was a Socialist state The Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer was a physical barrier separating West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic (GDR ( East Germany) including West Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990 "

Key economic actions

• Second wave of the reclamation of virgin and abandoned lands (see Virgin Lands Campaign). Land reclamation is either of two distinct practices One involves creating new land from sea- or riverbeds the other refers to restoring an area to a more natural state (such as after The Virgin Lands Campaign was an initiative by Nikita Khrushchev to open up vast tracts of unseeded (virgin
• Introduction of sovnarkhozes, (Councils of People's Economy), regional organizations, in an attempt to combat the centralization and departmentalism of the ministries
• Reorganization of agriculture, with preference given to sovkhozes (state farms), including conversion of kolkhozes into sovkhozes, introduction of maize (earning him the sobriquet kukuruznik, "the maize enthusiast"). Sovnarkhoz, (Совнархоз Совет Народного Хозяйства Sovet Narodnogo Hozyaistva, "Council of National Economy" usually translated as A sovkhoz ( Russian language: Совхоз, Советское хозяйство, Sovetskoye khozyaystvo, "soviet Farm " A kolkhoz () plural kolkhozy, was a form of Collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state Farms ( Sovkhoz, Maize (ˈmeɪz ( Zea mays L. ssp mays) known as corn in some countries is a cereal grain domesticated in Mesoamerica A sobriquet is a Nickname or a fancy name usually a familiar name given by others as distinct from a Pseudonym assumed as a disguise but a nickname which is familiar
• Coping with housing crisis by quickly building millions of apartments according to simplified floor plans, dubbed khrushchovkas. A floor plan ( floorplan) in Architecture and Building engineering is a Diagram, usually to scale, of the relationships between rooms Khrushchovka (хрущёвка is a type of low-cost panelled or brick three to five-storied Apartment building which was introduced in Nikita Khrushchev's
• Created a minimum wage in 1956.
• Redenomination of the ruble 10:1 in 1961. The ruble or rouble (рубль see below for other Soviet languages) was the currency of the Soviet Union.

Legacy

Khrushchev's grave at the Novodevichy Cemetery as it was in 1973

On the positive side, he was admired for his efficiency and for maintaining an economy which, during the 1950s and 1960s, had growth rates higher than most Western countries, contrasted with the stagnation beginning with his successors. He is renowned for his liberalisation policies, whose results began with the widespread exoneration of political sentences. Rehabilitation (реабилитация in the context of Soviet or Russian topics is often a linguistic False cognate used to translate the Russian With Khrushchev's amnesty program, former political prisoners and their surviving relatives could now live a normal life without the infamous "wolf ticket".

Khrushchev placed more emphasis on the production of consumer goods and housing instead of heavy industry, precipitating a rapid rise in living standards.

The arts benefited from this environment of liberalisation, where works like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich created an attitude of dissent that would escalate during the subsequent Brezhnev-Kosygin era. Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn ( Алекса́ндр Иса́евич Солжени́цын) (December 11 1918 – August 3 2008 was a Russian Novelist One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Один день Ивана Денисовича Odin den' Ivana Denisovicha) is a novel written by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

His de-Stalinization had a huge impact on young Communists of the day. The Cold War ensued as the USSR and the United States struggled indirectly for influence around the world Khrushchev encouraged more liberal communist leaders to replace hard-line Stalinists throughout the Eastern bloc. Alexander Dubček, who became the leader of Czechoslovakia in January 1968, accelerated the process of liberalisation in his own country with his Prague Spring program. Alexander Dubček (November 27 1921 – November 7 1992 was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia (1968-1969 famous for his attempt to reform Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Prague Spring ( Czech: Pražské jaro, Slovak: Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during Mikhail Gorbachev, who became the Soviet Union's leader in 1985, was inspired by it and it became evident with his policies of glasnost and perestroika. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev ( Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov;; born 2 March 1931 in Privolnoye Stavropol Krai) is a Russian politician (Гла́сность)is literally defined as publicity and sometimes figuratively interpreted as "tipping a vase to let someone see into the vase but not the bottom of the vase" (Перестройка) is the Russian term (now used in English for the economic reforms introduced in June 1987 by the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev Khrushchev is sometimes known as "the last great reformer" among Soviet leaders before Gorbachev.

On the negative side, he was criticized for his ruthless crackdown of the 1956 revolution in Hungary, even though he and Zhukov were pushing against intervention until Hungary's declaration of withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 ( Hungarian: 1956-os forradalom) was a spontaneous nationwide Revolt against the Stalinist government of The Warsaw Pact (see Nomenclature) was an organization of Communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. He encouraged the East German authorities to set up the notorious Berlin Wall in August 1961, although this action halted East Germany's crippling "brain-drain". The Berlin Wall (Berliner Mauer was a physical barrier separating West Berlin from the German Democratic Republic (GDR ( East Germany) including He had very poor diplomatic skills, giving him the reputation of being a rude, uncivilized peasant in the West and as an irresponsible clown in his own country. He renewed persecutions against the Russian Orthodox Church, publicly promising to show the "last priest" on Soviet television. See also Eastern Orthodox Church Structure and organization The Slavic Orthodox Church is organized in a hierarchical structure A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Between 1960 and 1962, as many as 30 percent of churches were destroyed, with the number of monasteries falling by a quarter. ^[14]

Khrushchev's grave (as it looks now) was designed by Ernst Neizvestny in 1974

His administration, although efficient, was also known to be erratic since he disbanded a large number of Stalinist-era agencies. Ernst Iosifovich Neizvestny (Эрнст Иосифович Неизвестный (born on 9 April, 1925 in Sverdlovsk) is a famous Russian-Jewish He took a dangerous gamble in 1962 over Cuba, which took the Superpowers to the brink of a Third World War. A superpower is a State with a leading position in the international system and the ability to Influence events and project power on a worldwide scale Agriculture barely kept up with population growth, as bad harvests mixed with good ones, culminating in a disastrous harvest in 1963, due to weather. All this damaged his prestige after 1962 and was enough for the Central Committee, Khrushchev's critical base of support, to take action against him. His right-hand man, Leonid Brezhnev, led the bloodless coup.

Many dissidents tended to view the Khrushchev era with nostalgia as his successors began discrediting or backtracking on his liberal reforms.

Personal life

Khrushchev married Yefrosinia Pisareva (1896–1921) in 1914. A year later their daughter Yulia (d. 1918) was born, and they had a son, Leonid, three days after the October Revolution. The October Revolution (Октябрьская революция Oktyabrskaya revolyutsiya) also known as the Soviet Revolution Yefrosinia died in 1921 of hunger, exhaustion, and typhus during the famine following the Russian Civil War. The Russian Civil War (1917–1923 was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed In 1922 Khrushchev married a girl of 17 named Marusia but, as she attended to her young daughter and neglected her stepchildren, Khrushchev's mother soon persuaded him to leave her. ^[15] His third wife was Nina Petrovna Kukharchuk (1900–1984), with whom he began living soon afterward (though the marriage was not officially registered until the late 1960s);^[15] besides Sergei, they had two daughters, Rada (born 1929) and Lena (1937–1972).

Khrushchev's eldest son Leonid died in 1943 during the Great Patriotic War. The Eastern Front of World War II (die Ostfront 1941-1945, der Rußlandfeldzug 1941-1945 (Russian campaign or der Ostfeldzug 1941-1945 (Eastern Campaign His younger son Sergei emigrated to the United States and is now an American citizen and a Professor at Brown University's Watson Institute for International Studies. Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev (In Russian: Серrей Никитич Хрущёв son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, now resides in the Brown University is a highly esteemed private University located in Providence, Rhode Island and is a member of the Ivy League. History The Watson Institute was founded in 1981 as the Center for Foreign Policy Development by Thomas J He often speaks to American audiences to share his memories of the "other" side of the Cold War. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, Nikita's grandson, Sergei's son

References

Further reading

Khrushchev in Hungary 1964 shortly before his ousting. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic

• William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004
• Aleksandr Fursenko and Timothy Naftali, Khrushchev's Cold War: The Inside Story of an American Adversary, New York: W. W. Norton, 2006.
• Schecter, Jerrold L, ed. and trans. , Khrushchev Remembers: The Glasnost Tapes, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990
• Talbott, Strobe, ed. Nelson Strobridge "Strobe" Talbott III (born April 25, 1946 in Dayton Ohio to Jo & Bud Talbott) is an American journalist , Khrushchev Remembers, 1970
• Khrushchev, Sergei N., Nikita Khrushchev and the Creation of a Superpower, Penn State Press, 2000. Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev (In Russian: Серrей Никитич Хрущёв son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, now resides in the
• Levy, Alan, Nazi Hunter: The Wiesenthal Files, Carroll and Graf, 2002
• Khrushchev, Sergei N., translated by William Taubman, Khrushchev on Khrushchev, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1990. Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev (In Russian: Серrей Никитич Хрущёв son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, now resides in the
• Rettie, John. "How Khrushchev Leaked his Secret Speech to the World", Hist Workshop J. 2006; 62: 187–193.
• Tompson, William J. Khrushchev: A Political Life. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995

External links

• Obituary, The New York Times, September 12, 1971, Khrushchev's Human Dimensions Brought Him to Power and to His Downfall
• The Case of Khrushchev's Shoe, by Nina Khrushcheva (Nikita's great-granddaughter), New Statesman, Oct. Dr Nina L Khrushcheva is a Russian American professor of media and culture in the graduate program of international affairs at The New School, a senior fellow of 2, 2000
• Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Photo) (Nikita's grandson), 2007
• Modern History Sourcebook: Nikita S. Khrushchev: The Secret Speech — On the Cult of Personality, 1956
• A "Stalinist" rebuttal of Khrushchev's "Secret Speech" from the CPUSA, 1956
• Serye volki (1993), Film chronicles the plot to expel Nikita Khrushchev from his post of CPSU Secretary General
• "Tumultuous, prolonged applause ending in ovation. All rise." Khrushchev's "Secret Report" and Poland
• Thaw in the Cold War: Eisenhower and Khrushchev at Gettysburg, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan

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