de-Stalinization
Sign in to saveDe-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension of Nikita Khrushchev to power, and his 1956 secret speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", which denounced Stalin's cult of personality and the Stalinist political system.
Article
18 sectionsContents
- Terminology issues
- "Silent de-Stalinization"
- Khrushchev's "Secret Speech"
- Motivation
- Reactions
- Changes
- Prisons
- Renaming of places and buildings
- Removal of monuments
- Relocation of Stalin's body
- Foreign policy changes after Stalin
- Extent of de-Stalinization
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- Documentary collections
- Secondary literature
- External links
De-Stalinization () comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension of Nikita Khrushchev to power, and his 1956 secret speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences", which denounced Stalin's cult of personality and the Stalinist political system.
Monuments to Stalin were removed, his name was removed from places, buildings, and the state anthem, and his body was removed from the Lenin Mausoleum (known as the Lenin and Stalin Mausoleum from 1953 to 1961) and buried. These reforms were started by the collective leadership which succeeded him after his death on 5 March 1953, comprising Georgi Malenkov, Premier of the Soviet Union; Lavrentiy Beria, head of the Ministry of the Interior; and Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).