What can you

infer from this

painting?
Artist: Boris Artzybasheff, 1899 - 16 Jul 1965

Sitter: Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, 17 Apr 1894 - Sep

1971 Exhibition

Label: Time magazine named Nikita Khrushchev, first

secretary of the Soviet Communist Party, as its Man of the
Year for 1957. It was a banner year for the Soviet leader: in
October, the Soviets had launched Sputnik, the first manmade
satellite to orbit the earth. Several weeks later, following a
failed U.S. rocket launch, a second Sputnik circled the globe.
Khrushchev also announced an intercontinental ballistic
missile program, made credible by the successful space
launchings, and bragged about higher production levels in
agriculture and industry. Diplomatically, Khrushchev
succeeded in achieving warmer ties with China, building a
stronger network of allies in the Middle East, and halting the
growing disaffection of the Eastern European nations. Russian
born artist Boris Artzybasheff, who fled his homeland in 1917,
depicted the Soviet leader wearing a self-satisfied expression
and a Kremlin-shaped crown, and playing with his new
Sputnik toy.
 Leonid Brezhnev
In 1956, he was re-
(1906-82) trained as
elected to the CC and in
an engineer. His
1957 the Presidium. In
career flourished
1960 he became
under Stalin. In 1952,
Chairman of the
he became a member
Presidium. Brezhnev led
of the CC, although he
the group that forced
lost this post on
Khrushchev from power,
Stalin’s death.
and became First
Nevertheless, he
Secretary of the CP in
supported
1964. After a brief
Khrushchev, helped to
‘collective leadership’
carry out the Virgin
with Aleksey Kosygin,
Lands Scheme and
Brezhnev emerged as the
loyally worked against
next leader, 1964-82.
the Anti-Party Group.

Why did Khrushchev fall

from power?
 Learning Outcomes
• SOME COULD: ASSESS the A*
significance of factors contributing A
to Khrushchev’s fall from power.
• MOST SHOULD: EXPLAIN why B
Khrushchev fell from power.
• ALL MUST: DESCRIBE the removal C
of Nikita Khrushchev.
 DESCRIBE the removal of
C Nikita Khrushchev.

• In April 1964, Leonid Brezhnev gave Khrushchev’s seventieth birthday speech and
loudly praised him for all his devotion and various achievements. There was even
a special ceremony in the Kremlin, when Khrushchev was presented with various
honours including the ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’ gold medal.
• However, just a few months later, he was ousted in a coup orchestrated by
Brezhnev, Nikolai Podgorny and Mikhail Suslov.
• Khrushchev was on holiday in Georgia in October 1964. Here, he received an
urgent telephone call from Brezhnev summoning him to an emergency meeting of
the Presidium. He initially ignored this, but, sensing opposition, returned to
Moscow on 13 October.
• He was taken straight to a meeting of the Presidium where several of his former
supporters voiced their criticisms of him. At first, Khrushchev tried to interrupt,
but he seemed genuinely surprised by the degree of hostility towards him.
• He refused to resign, but he was denied access to the media, which might have
enabled him to whip up popular support to resist his attackers. Two of his
supporters – the editor of Pravda and the head of the state radio – were ‘out of
Moscow’.
 DESCRIBE the removal of
C Nikita Khrushchev.

• The following day, a resignation paper was presented to Khrushchev and he had little option
but to sign. He sat for a time in silence and then left.
• He was not present on day three, when Suslov stood up to read a damning list of his
shortcomings, and resolutions by which Brezhnev became First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin
became Premier.
• A public announcement was made that Khrushchev had resigned through ‘advanced age
and ill health’. This was partly to appease the international community.
• Within the USSR, Izvestia (edited by Khrushchev’s son-in-law) was suppressed on the day
the resignation was announced, so only Pravda and the radio announced his retirement.
• Only weeks later, however, Pravda denounced Khrushchev for his ‘hare-brained schemes,
half-baked conclusions, hasty decisions, unrealistic actions, bragging, phrase-mongering and
bossiness’.
• Khrushchev was granted a personal pension and lived in obscurity outside Moscow writing
his memoirs, which were published in Europe and the USA in 1970. He died in 1971, aged
77. When he died there was a four-line announcement in Pravda, without comment and no
obituary. He received no state funeral, there were no official speeches at his burial and
none of his successors or former colleagues attended. It was made very difficult for anyone
except his family to get to the cemetery. His ashes were not interred in the Kremlin.
• Alec Nove: ‘Silence. An undeserved epitaph for this most talkative of Soviet leaders’.
 Learning Outcomes
• SOME COULD: ASSESS the A*
significance of factors contributing A
to Khrushchev’s fall from power.
• MOST SHOULD: EXPLAIN why B
Khrushchev fell from power.
• ALL MUST: DESCRIBE the removal C
of Nikita Khrushchev.
 EXPLAIN why Khrushchev
B fell from power.

• Use your own substantial

knowledge, plus additional
research, to complete this
diagram. (Textbook 32-33)
• This will explain the six
primary factors behind the
coup ousting Khrushchev
from power.

https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/nikita-s
ergeyevich-khrushchev
Was accused of:
- ‘One-man style’ of ruling.
- Meddling in matters in
which he lacked expertise.
- Failing to take advice.
- Creating his own
‘personality cult’.
- Nepotism – particularly
advancing his son-in-law.
- Embarrassing and
flamboyant behaviour (e.g.
banging the table with a
shoe at a 1960 meeting of
the UN General Assembly).
- Granting autonomy to
local Party leaders and
regional economic
councils upset central
Party members who lost
control.
- Regional Party secretaries
were offended by the way
their responsibilities were
divided up and
Khrushchev’s demand
that a quarter of the CC
be renewed at every
election threatened their
influence.
Failure of the Virgin
Lands Scheme and the
shortfall in food
supplies (thus forcing
the import of grain
from the USA and
Canada) were seen as
Khrushchev’s personal
responsibility,
particularly since he
had set himself up as
an agricultural expert.
Decision to promote
production of
consumer goods
offended those who
thought he was giving
inadequate attention to
heavy goods.
- Offended military by
wanting to reduce
expenditure on
conventional
weapons and
concentrate on
nuclear arms.
- Khrushchev’s
dealings abroad were
criticised.
There was widespread
disapproval of
Khrushchev’s handling
of the Cuban Missile
Crisis and he was
personally blamed for
the USSR’s poor
relations with
communist China.
 Learning Outcomes
• SOME COULD: ASSESS the A*
significance of factors contributing A
to Khrushchev’s fall from power.
• MOST SHOULD: EXPLAIN why B
Khrushchev fell from power.
• ALL MUST: DESCRIBE the removal C
of Nikita Khrushchev.
 A* ASSESS the significance of
factors contributing to
A Khrushchev’s fall from
power.

Task 1: which was the most significant cause of

Khrushchev’s fall from power? Discuss & explain.
Khrushchev had alienated and annoyed many of the administrators
and Party officials who had been directly affected by his reforms: civil
servants sent to the country, agricultural experts hauled over the coals
Task 2: How many
and subjected to a torrent of contradictory changes, the armed services
with a vested interest in a rich flow of military expenditure, the Party
different types of
traditionalists for whom the priority of heavy industry in any Soviet
investment programme was sacred. At a more profound level there
‘opponents’ to
were the basic diehards who questioned Khrushchevism as a whole –
the idea of a halfway house in the retreat from Stalinism. He was Khrushchev can you
concerned to emphasise the return of Party control over policy and
administration, but at the same time was not prepared to articulate a identify here? Why
genuinely collective policy from the bottom up. His insistence on
rational and effective working seemed to be in flat contradiction to his does Nettl say
own tendency to interfere in everything and make decisions off the top
of his head. He became something of an anachronism in the post- Khrushchev fell from
Stalin Soviet Union; what was wanted now was the benefits of
Khrushchevism without Khrushchev. power?
Adapted from John P. Nettl, The Soviet Achievement, 1967
 Learning Outcomes
• SOME COULD: ASSESS the A*
significance of factors contributing A
to Khrushchev’s fall from power.
• MOST SHOULD: EXPLAIN why B
Khrushchev fell from power.
• ALL MUST: DESCRIBE the removal C
of Nikita Khrushchev.
Exam Marking Task:

1. Look at the Mark

scheme, suggested
content and Examiner
report carefully

2. Mark the script

3. Assign a level for the

answer

4. Give them a WWW and

an EBI.
Nikita Khrushchev, 1894-1971.
• Four lines in Pravda
and no obituary.
• Give Khrushchev an
obituary. Write a
balanced appraisal of
his achievements as
Soviet leader.
• This should be around
½ a page long and
could follow this
format:
– Achievements
– Struggles
– Overall judgement of
his rule
The return to stability under Brezhnev,
1964–82 Theme 1: Communist government in the USSR,
1917-85

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9o9A9h0ryw

• Khrushchev’s replacement as General Secretary was Leonid Brezhnev, a Party

man who was seen as a safe pair of hands. It was a sign of the Party reasserting
itself over the leadership. Initially Brezhnev was one of a group of leaders but,
as Khrushchev had done before him, Brezhnev moved to consolidate his hold on
power.

• Brezhnev was aware that Khrushchev had been removed because he had lost the
trust of his colleagues, so he was cautious to avoid making the same mistake.
Potential rivals within the Politburo (the presidium reverted to its old name in
1966) were sidelined: Nikolai Podgorny was given the largely ceremonial post of
Head of State; Alexander Shelepin was put to task on foreign affairs.

• It is easy to underestimate Brezhnev. He was at best mediocre, if not

talentless, as his rivals often claimed. However, he was not without charm; his a
able personality allowed him to get his way without causing conflict. Ultimately,
he was an ‘organisation’ man and his skills at placating competing Party leaders
were good enough to give the Politburo a sense of unity.
Brezhnev quickly reversed those aspects of de-Stalinisation that had upset the
Party as many of Khrushchev’s reforms were labelled ‘hare-brained schemes’ and
abolished.

• The division of the Party into agricultural and industrial sections was dropped.
• Limits on tenure of office were removed.
• The guiding principles were to be collective leadership and ‘ trust in cadres ’. The chief
result of these principles was that most Party officials, including those at the top,
were to enjoy long, unbroken tenures in their jobs. As the Party became the main
instrument of upward mobility, its membership grew from 6.9million in 1953 to 17
million by 1980. The Party could at least claim some success in widening mass
participation in politics.
• There would be no more ‘subjectivism’, that is, decisions would no longer be made by
the leader without consulting the Party. Brezhnev had emerged as ‘first among equals’
by 1966, but he constantly consulted his colleagues and used an inner core of the
Politburo to discuss important issues. He used his position as General Secretary to
ensure members of the Politburo got the ‘right’ information. This helped smooth out
divisions. Brezhnev was prepared to retain some of those who might be rivals: Kosygin
remained prime minister despite the fact that the two men hated each other.
• The Soviet Constitution of 1977 enshrined the right of citizens to criticise
incompetent and ineffective Party secretaries, but posts within both Party and
government were filled by appointment rather than genuine election. Article 6 of the
Constitution asserted the primacy of the Communist Party over the state. This,
according to the constitution, was ‘mature socialism’.
• These moves brought an end to the most radical elements of de-Stalinisation.
There was even a limited recognition of the centenary in 1979 of Stalin’s birth.
Yet there was no return to the widespread use of terror witnessed under
Stalin. Brezhnev preferred to ignore ‘the Stalin question’ in the name of
stability.

• The Twenty-Third Party Congress of 1966 involved so little discussion that it

was referred to as ‘the congress of silences’. The only change made was to
rename the presidium the Politburo and the First Secretary the General
Secretary. Rather than reverse de-Stalinisation wholesale, the approach
became more cautious and conservative.

• Brezhnev liked the trappings of power. He awarded himself numerous medals

for rather dubious achievements: the Lenin Peace Prize, the Lenin Prize for
Literature and so on. He also enjoyed some of the luxuries life at the top could
offer. He developed a taste for hunting and for collecting Western limousines.
His mother once commented, after he showed her his collection: ‘What will you
do if the Bolsheviks return to power?’

• Despite the symbols of power, Brezhnev exercised less personal power than
either Stalin or Khrushchev. He lacked the ability to deal with detail, often
leaving this to others. He preferred to trust Party comrades and let them get
on with their jobs. The resulting stability made Brezhnev a popular leader, but
it also led to stagnation.
Task 4:
Green Activity Box on page 37.