Differences Between Stalin And Khrushchev

Edmund Liu
Jesse O’Dell
Russian 90BW
From Stalin to Khrushchev: A Transition from Terror to Reform
Soviet society under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev presents a stark contrast to the oppressed and fearful society controlled by Joseph Stalin. While Stalin’s government preferred the use of strong-arming, brutal punishments, and an atmosphere of fear, Khrushchev sought a relaxation of draconian social policies and censorship laws. This shift from the totalitarian style of Stalin, coined De-Stalinization, was necessary. Khrushchev’s ushered in an era De-Stalinization, marked by a liberalization of culture and greater freedoms for Soviet citizens and improved living standards for Soviet citizens. However, botched policies and his empowerment

Under Khrushchev, sweeping reforms were introduced to provide the elite’s security of wealth and status and shift rule from Stalin’s cult of personality to the party apparatus. Disgraced party members and losers of party power struggles were merely stationed at mundane, though honorable positions throughout the Union, retaining pensions and the status and privileges of high office (Hosking 346). The security police, now the KGB, was staffed by party members, not career policemen. The organization was under the jurisdiction of the party’s central control, no longer under Stalin and his inner circle. This meant the secret police were accountable to the party and would abide to standards of legality (Hosking 333). In addition, rehabilitation of labor camp inmates was introduced; though many were posthumous, those acquitted as victims of “legal distortions” were allowed to return to their homelands, and many citizens called for re-examination of the charges ledged against their jailed relatives (Hosking 332). This may have been in reaction to the growing unrest afflicting labor camps throughout the Union. Many inmates demanded better working and living conditions, and party officials realized that labor camps, once extremely profitable and productive due to cheap labor, now presented a sizable threat. Organized inmates could wrestle control of the camps from security due to their numbers and experience in partisan warfare (Hosking 332). Work into rehabilitations exposed the extent to which current party officials, who also served under Stalin, participated in these “legal distortions.” In an effort to save face and protect the status and careers of party officials, Khrushchev delivered his “Secret Speech,” denouncing Stalin’s cult of personality, his gross interpretations of party principles, and a grave lack of legality, making sure to omit his and his colleagues’ roles (Hosking