The Duo Of Khrushchev And Gorbachev
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The Duo of Khrushchev and Gorbachev
The Stalinist regime of communist Russia may be considered the countrys most defining moment. Russia turned into a strict country full of fear and full of failure. After the death of Lenin, Joseph Stalin did not waste anytime in basically turning the country upside down. With his reforms in agriculture by collectivized farming, the industry through the creation of more capital, and the party members through his purges, Stalin knew what he was doing and where he was taking the Soviet Union. However, through the failures of his ideas, and the overall fear of Stalin himself, the Soviet Union was doomed to begin with. With the death of Stalin in 1953, a country turned upside down must be corrected or would end in peril. The Soviet Union immediately saw the beginnings of anti-Stalin reform policies in order to revive the country. Through the origins of liberal ideas in Nikita Khrushchevs leadership, Russia continued to undo the great misfortune and struggle that Stalin had imposed on the country. In Mikhail Gorbachevs term as party leader, we see a new wave of reform that steps away from the Stalinist principles of the original Soviet Union. Ultimately through another disarray of unsuccessful reforms, the dismantlement of the Soviet Union was inevitable. In 1991, Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Republics were finally able to take control of the government and cease the existence of the USSR. Stalins control of Russia in the 20th century may have had a big deal with creating the image of the Soviet Union, however it is the evolution of anti-Stalin reformation and de-Stalinization processes led by Khrushchev and Gorbachev that ultimately shaped Russia into the republic we see it today.
The origin of these anti-Stalin ideas were initiated due to the repeated failures of Stalins programs. Collectivized farming was a disaster due to its inefficiency and of course to famine. The country of Russia was living in a state of fear, because “if you were not with them, you were against them.” The purges of Stalin did not hesitate to remove anyone who opposed his leadership and the communist party. Labor camps were also unsuccessful and were the cause of death for thousands of Russians across the country. With the way things were going in Russia, things needed to change. With Stalins death in 1953, the politburo chose a man by the name of Nikita Khrushchev as their party leader. Khrushchev was a new person and a safe choice for the party. Being an agriculturally inclined official, Khrushchev immediately went to work and began his reform that would undo the work of Stalin.
Khrushchev first took a plan of attack on agriculture. He sought to lower taxes and higher prices for peasants as well as use unused land, “Virgin Lands,” in order to increase their produce. Although Khrushchevs reforms affection “only the very small sector of the household plots” these changes “produced rapid and dramatic economic results (Medvedev 35).” With these farming changes laid down, the rest of the anti-Stalin reforms were on their way and it would only be a matter of time until finally Russia will cease to be communist. Another important reform from the way things were dealt with housing. During Stalins reign, housing was a major crisis. Russia underwent thousands of people would start cramming into Moscow because that was where the industrial work was. Khrushchev wanted to reach the everyday ordinary citizen and he could not do that through simply economics, politics, and agriculture. He wanted to better change the horrible living conditions for his people. In order to increase housing expansion, Khrushchev “ordered that new methods of prefabrication are used (Medvedev 44).” Khrushchev did not only help the housing conditions but as well as the road highways to raise the low standard of living. Khrushchev was always looking towards the west in order to help his country. By understanding the American agriculture and economy, he sought to build a strong Russian economy himself. With his increased admiration, Khrushchev improved relations with America and in time finally end the cold war that Stalin had started. However, along with the economy and the ordinary citizen, the biggest problem that Stalin had created was during the great purges. Stalin indicted and murdered thousands of Russians that would dare defy his power. With Stalins death and the arrest of Lavrenti Beria, the chief of state security during Stalins time, Russians all over the country filed appeals to the Politburo in order to free their loved ones from labor camps. Khrushchev understood the terror that Stalin had done, and wanted to explain what went wrong. In order to accomplish what he wanted to do, he made a “Secret Speech” that was very vague but did get the job done. Now that the Stalins mistakes were out in the open, correcting them would only be a matter of time.
As we will see with Mikhail Gorbachev later on in this paper, Khrushchev inevitably had his own faults as well. His reforms away from Stalinist policies were not always taken in easily. Khrushchev helped better Russian agriculture, industries, and as well as the army by rehabilitating purged officers that Stalin deemed as traitors. With all this positive outcomes, there was a backlash that would ultimately destroy Khrushchev as their party leader. By decentralizing both agriculture and industry, Moscow bureaucrats cringed in their seats. Slowly they were losing their power and also their prestige. Along with the confusion in the chain of command, the communist party began to split. No one knew who was to control the police and Khrushchev added new democratic ideals while reforming his party. These ideals wanted to get new party members in, while the older party members relied on patronage to move up in the party just like during the Stalin