De-Stalinization
After the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, many changes were made and Russia was in the process of a political reform. It seemingly began right after his death. There were there two major periods where Stalin's legacy was debated the most and how to change Russia with De-Stalinization. One was from 1953-1964 and another major period was from 1985-1991. During the first period, it was Nikita Khrushchev's term as the "first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union." Mikhail Gorbachev was the head of the party before the USSR's collapse in the Cold War era in 1985-1991.
Nikita Khrushchev
De-Stalinization Under KhrushchevChanges to what Joseph Stalin had constructed began right after his death and were drastic. One of the first things Nikita Khrushchev did was end the mass retaliations and release the prison camp inmates from the labor camps. In April of 1953, the Kremlin doctors who were accused of operating and planning against Russia's top leadership were freed. Prison camps were greatly reduced in size and regime became somewhat milder. Several hundred thousands of political prisoners were released from 1954 through 1956. Although so many prisoners were released from camps, not all of the Soviet Society agreed with it. This created a difficult return for the prisoners to return to their normal lives. A huge part of De-Stalinization under Khrushchev was the removal of Stalin's images and words from the press, art, and school textbooks. This caused a great deal of confusion and disorientation to the Soviet citizens during this era. In February 1956, a huge event in De-Stalinization occurred with Nikita Khrushchev delivering his "secret speech" before the "dead silent delegates of the Twentieth Party Congress In Moscow. In the speech, Khrushchev went after and attacked the late Stalin for creating a worship of him in his country, creating mass terror against innocent people of his country, and for committing serious mistakes with the state leadership. With the speech, he also put a decisive seal of approval on the dismantling of the Stalin Cult and on the release and rehabilitation of camp prisoners.
In 1961, De-Stalinization received a powerful boost when Khrushchev continued to attack on Stalin and his past terror. Places named after Stalin were renamed and all of his monuments and statues except for his birthplace in Gori were destroyed. The Twenty-Second Congress also took his mummified body out of the Lenin Mausoleum and moved it into a more basic grave near the Kremlin Wall. From 1961-1964, thousands of people sent written memoirs and remembrances of the Stalin terror to the Central Committee. Only a few of the many were published like Alexander Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (1962). These texts that were actually published greatly and powerfully influenced the people's thoughts about their country's past, present, and future.
De-Stalinization AFTER Khrushchev
In October 1964, Nikita Khrushchev was removed from power and although it slowly put an end to his open criticizing of Stalin's past, publications talking about the terror didn't stop immediately. People soon began to fear a coming of a "re-stalinization" but the terror never came back. Leonid Brezhnev, after coming into power of the head of the party in 1964 (to 1982), held up the debate about Stalin because he sensed that there could be explosive consequences. In the late 80's, Mikhail Gorbachev launched his reforms and changes and greatly revived the discussions about Stalin and Stalinism. This debate about Stalin ultimately led to and was a major factor in the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Overall, De-Stalinization was the term that described the complex and important changes and developments that the Soviet society went through from 1953 to 1991.
Mikhail Gorbachev
Taking Down a Giant-Sized Statue of Joseph Stalin
External Links
Bibliography
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I didn't know that there were two major periods after Stalin's death where his legacy was under debate. I think it was helpful how after mentioning that Nikita Khrushchev was the head of the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union at that time you go more into depth about it in the next paragraph. I found it interesting how right after the death of Stalin that major changes were made right away. Such changes were the end to the labor camps and prisons. In response to the release of political prisoners, some soviets did not agree with the decision and they made it hard for the prisoners. I found the second video very educational because it showed the feelings of the people after the death.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting how quickly Russia began the De-stalinization process. Nikita Khrushchev seems like someone who should be given more credit for her real ease of camp inmates at the labor camps. However, it is sad that even after being real eased prisoners still had to deal with a lot of hate from people who believed they should still be locked up. Still it was very brave of Nikita Khrushchev to attack Stalin so abruptly after his death while people were still worshipping him. I think the most powerful thing he did was move Stalins body. After Khrushchev i find it amazing that people were still in fear of re-stalinization. Luckily that never happened!
ReplyDeleteI think its crazy how much Stalin impacted the Soviet Union. I also found it interesting how quickly Khrushchev denounced Stalin. I bet the public had no idea what to do when they heard about this because they had seen Stalin as a god. The first minute of the video is incredible because it shows you what they thought of Stalin and how they didn't know if they could survive without him. Another thing that intrigues me is how the Stalin debate was a factor in the demise of the Soviet Union.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is filled with information Its crazy to think that right after Stalin died, they started the period of De-Stalinization. Once Stalin died, the Russians worked to undo the mess that Stalin created such as releasing the people from the labor camps and changing the books from pro Stalin to a more accurate story. Both of your videos are very informational and your pictures help visualize what happened like taking down of the huge Stalin statue. De-Stalinization must have been really tough because people sometimes worshipped him in a way and also towns and even the city of Stalingrad were named after him. It is hard to undo all of the horror that Stalin created in Russia. Nice blog overall and its filled with great information.
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting and weird that when Stalin was in power most people obeyed and worshiped him, but when he died the people did anything they could to forget about Stalin and his ideas. I was surprised by the mixed reactions of the people to desalinization. It was shocking to me that many people did not support the release of the prisoners. However, the thing that intrigued me most was that some people felt so much regret for their involvement in the past that they could not feel joy for the future. Another thing I found interesting was the fact that Khrushchev thought that he could keep the contents of his speech a secret to the Soviet society. Your blog was visually interesting and I liked the first picture depicted Stalin being removed by a bulldozer.
ReplyDeleteNice blog Jack, it kept me interested the whole time. I learned a lot from this. I did not know much at all about this topic at all until I read this. Its crazy how powerful Stalin was and the effects after he was gone. The video helped me learn and the other links were great.
ReplyDeleteI found it surprising that there were mixed feelings about De-Stalinization and ending the terror that he caused. It is interesting that even after Nikita Khrushchev spoke against Stalin and what he did that some people would still be against things like releasing prisoners from the labor camps and undoing some of what Stalin did. I didn't know that De-Stalinization began right after the death of Stalin and that Nikita Khrushchev who was obviously against Stalin was able to rise to power right after him. It's interesting how quickly changes were made in Russia and that Nikita Khrushchev was able to start De-Stalinization so soon after his death. It's amazing how Stalin had so much of an impact on Russia and the views of the public.
ReplyDelete