NEW LEADERS

1. NEW LEADERS • Politburo announces that they would rule country together • Three men emerged as most powerful individuals on Politburo • George Malenkov • General Secretary of CP and prime minister • Laurentii Beria • Head of the KGB • V. Molotov • Politburo member since 1926 and foreign minister Malenkov Molotov Beria

2. EVOLUTION OF LEADERSHIP • On March 15, 1953 Malenkov resigns as General Secretary • Replaced by Nikita Khrushchev • In summer of 1953, Beria is arrested and shot • In February 1955, Malenkov resigns as prime minister • Replaced by Nicholas Bulganin • By early 1955, control of Soviet Union had evolved into the hands of two men • Khrushchev (head of CP) • Bulganin (head of government) • Molotov only a peripheral factor • Zhukov brought back as Minister of Defense Khrushchev and Bulganin

3. KHRUSHCHEV’S ANTI-STALIN SPEECH • At 20th Party Congress in February 1956, Khrushchev publicly denounced Stalin as cruel, irrational, and bloodthirsty tyrant who destroyed the lives of many innocent people • Blamed Stalin for defeats in early years of WWII • Decades of virtual Stalin worship reversed in one speech • Reason appears to have been related to internal power struggle that was still going on • Was aimed at “Old Stalinists: like Malenkov and Molotov who were more guilty by association with Stalin than relatively newer leaders

4. KHRUSHCHEV SUPREME • Khrushchev removes five “Old Stalinists” from Politburo and all government jobs • Including Malenkov and Molotov • Increased number of seats on Politburo and added new men he could trust • Including Leonid Breshnev • Forced Bulganin to resign as prime minister and replaced him himself • Khrushchev now had control of party and government at age 64

5. VIRGIN LAND PROGRAM • Plan to bring vast uncultivated areas in Urals, Siberia, and Central Asia into production • Called for plowing 32 million acres of virgin land in 1954 and 74 million acres in 1955 • Land was to be organized into collective farms devoted solely to the production of grain

6. CORN PROGRAM • Cultivation of 69 million acres of corn as animal feed in order to increase livestock production • Sent agricultural delegation to U.S. and invited American experts to Russia in order to learn “the secret of corn” • American experts criticized collective farms and led to changes • Cash bonuses to farm workers • Tax exemption for farms • Compulsory delivery quotas abolished • Farmers given some say in planning production

7. BIG PROBLEMS • Combination of dust storms, late frosts, cold summer, and heavy rains made 1960 harvest extraordinarily bad • Khrushchev admitted to serious shortages in grain and livestock and blamed it on outmoded administrative structures, incompetent officials, and pilfering on collective farms • Initiated new reforms and promised that every citizen would have the food they needed by 1980 • Harvest failures continued and Khrushchev lost support within the CP • Kept on promising that things would improve but they never did • Despite fact that 350 million acres of new land had been put into cultivation

8. BIRTH OF THE “SPACE RACE” • Achievements in space technology were impressive • Sputnik I launched in October 1957 • Sputnik II (with dog on board) launched in November 1957 • Major Yuri Gagarin orbits earth in Vostok I on April 12, 1961 • 17 orbits for Vostok II in 1961 • 64 orbits for Vostok III in 1962 • 82 orbits for Vostok IV in 1963 • Ignites “Space Race” with U.S.

9. INDUSTRY • Made some progress in increasing consumer products • G.U.M. department store opened in Moscow in 1957 • But tried to do too much too fast • Military spending and space program consumed too many financial resources to adequately fund other industries • Sixth Five-Year Plan (1956-1960) had to be abandoned in two years when it became clear it would fail • Unobtainable goals based on Khrushchev’s obsession with catching up with the U.S. • Khrushchev tied his prestige to economic development and lost support when his programs failed

10. KHRUSHCHEV’S FOREIGN POLICY • Soviet foreign policy under Khrushchev had three key aspects • Economic, military, and political penetration of key countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa • Pushing U.S. into defensive position through threat of nuclear war • Establishing Soviet Union as firm leader of international communism • Setbacks in all these areas hurt Khrushchev’s reputation and support

11. INDONESIA • In 1958, Soviet Union and Indonesia expanded contacts • Khrushchev visited President Sukharno in 1960 • Provided 250 million dollars in loans, sophisticated military equipment, trained Indonesian economic and military specialists • Constructed roads, factories, and a nuclear reactor • In response to aid, Sukharno adopted increasingly hostile stance towards U.S. and began to favor Indonesian CP • CIA organizes overthrow of Sukharno in 1964 and installed pro-American government • Thousands murdered in process Sukharno

12. THE CONGO • Khrushchev gives support to Patrice Lumumba (leftist prime minister) • Use him as wedge to establish Soviet influence in Congo • Plan backfires • Lumumba is fired and Soviet ambassador expelled by anti-communist elements • Lumumba puts together army and starts civil war • UN intervenes to prevent Lumumba from seizing control of country • Lumumba eventually killed and Khrushchev then makes ass of himself and backs down before threats by U.S. Patrice Lumumba

13. U-2 INCIDENT • Khrushchev and President Eisenhower of U.S. schedule summit meeting for May 1960 • On May 1, 1960, Soviets shoot down U-2 spy plane over Soviet Union • Pilot Francis Gary Powers publicly admits he had been on spy mission shortly after Eisenhower claimed he was not • Summit meeting cancelled Francis Gary Powers and U-2 plane

14. KHRUSHCHEV AND KENNEDY • New president of U.S., John F. Kennedy, and Khrushchev hold summit meeting in June 1961 • Nothing really accomplished • Khrushchev gets impression that Kennedy was to young and inexperienced to be an effective leader and that he would back down if faced with a crisis

15. THE BERLIN WALL • Soviets build concrete wall between East and West Berlin • To prevent East Germans from escaping to west • U.S. unable to come up with firm policy to deal with Soviets over Berlin • Encouraged Khrushchev to push harder • In September 1961, he announces that Soviet Union will resume atmospheric atomic tests • Clearly meant as threat to U.S. • Rest of world begins to question Khrushchev’s sanity

16. CASTRO • Fidel Castro overthrew Batista regime in Cuba in 1959 • Castro’s regime became increasingly radical and relationship with U.S. deteriorated • Khrushchev took advantage of situation and began to implant influence in Cuba • Visited country • Arranged trade agreement • Arranged $100 million loan • Agreed to equip Cuban army with Soviet weapons • Promised to aid Cuba if attacked by U.S. Get a Room!

17. FATEFUL DECISION • U.S becomes increasingly hostile to Cuba • Cuts of diplomatic and economic relations • Sponsors invasion of island by anti-Castro exiles in 1961 • Raul Castro and Che Guevera visit Moscow in 1962 • Trip results in agreement to sent Soviet military technicians and nuclear missiles to Cuba • Reasons? • To defend Cuba from another American attack • Bargaining chip to get U.S. to remove its missiles from Turkey • Inexpensive way to reduce U.S. superiority in nuclear weapons • Khrushchev believed Kennedy would only ineffectively protest at UN and he could therefore demonstrate American weakness Che Guevera Raul Castro

18. CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS, OCTOBER 1962 • U.S. discovers missile bases before they are completed and demands their removal • Places naval blockade around Cuba • World on brink of nuclear war • Khrushchev backs down and agrees to dismantle bases after a week of extreme tension

19. RAMIFICATIONS • Most statesmen had formerly believed that Khrushchev was not as afraid of nuclear war as American leaders • Cuban missile crisis shattered this myth • Began gradual improvement in Soviet-American relations • Khrushchev looked like a fool • Had bullied U.S. with threat of nuclear war for years but when push came to shove, he backed down • Prestige suffered a terrible blow from which it never recovered

20. COMMUNIST CHINA • Chinese communists, led by Mao Zedong, gained control of China in 1949 • Strains with Soviet Union right from start • Until June 1960, strains were impersonal and ideological • Over inevitability of war with West, the issue of peaceful coexistence, and leadership of communist world

21. DETERIORATION OF RELATIONS • Khrushchev levels bitter criticism of China in June 1960 • Accused Mao of Stalinist behavior, called him “ultra-leftist,” “ultra-dogmatist,” and a “left-revisionist” • Claimed Mao was ignorant of modern warfare and for being unrealistic • Mao accuses Khrushchev of “smear campaign,” of trying to undermine Chinese prestige, and of secretly supporting American imperialism • Things go downhill from there • Soviet technicians withdrawn from China in late 1960 • China wins Albania over as satellite state

22. UNITY OF COMMUNIST WORLD DESTROYED • Dispute erupts over ownership to Amur Basin • Insults escalate • China works to block Soviet influence in Africa and to repair relations with formerly hostile countries such as France • Soviet Union works to win allegiance of as many communist countries as possible • Unity of communist world destroyed and Khrushchev was held responsible

23. FALL OF KHRUSHCHEV • Combination of factors ultimately brought Khrushchev down: • Unresolved agricultural problems • Unsuccessful economic policies • Major foreign policy failures • His own erratic and flamboyant personality • Announcement made on October 15, 1964 that Khrushchev would retire because of “advanced age” • Replaced by Leonid Breshnev as General Secretary and Alexi Kosygin as prime minister • Khrushchev died in 1971 Brezhnev Kosygin