In March 1953, the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, passed away. This event marked the beginning of the destruction of the system known as the Stalinist regime. Soon, the country, in dire need of change, received a new leader. One of the leaders of the party, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, became him. The system of reforms carried out by the new head of state, as well as the period of his rule, were called the "Khrushchev thaw".
A successful attempt to break the totalitarian system
Nikita Khrushchev made the first large-scale attempt to deliberately destroy the totalitarian system that had entangled the Soviet Union for decades. Khrushchev's reforms, which lasted until 1964, brought qualitative changes to the political and social life of the USSR. The domestic and foreign policy of the proletarian state changed, and an end was put to violations of the law, arbitrariness and mass repressions.
Joseph Stalin succeeded in creating a system of "barracks socialism" in a short period of time by historical standards, which basically contradicted the theoretical views of the classics of Marxism and the fundamental interests of the people. During the reign of Stalin, the party and state bureaucracy stood guard over his regime. Meanwhile, the ideological machine was working to its fullest, forcing the people frightened by the repressions to believe that the country is confidently marching towards a brighter future.
Dissatisfaction with the existing system was shown not only by the lower classes, but also by representatives of the party nomenklatura. The death of the leader allowed one of the party workers, Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, to come forward. He was considered a political nugget with sufficient personal courage and leadership abilities.
Political straightforwardness, spontaneity of character, developed intuition - all this allowed Khrushchev to defeat political opponents, to gain a high post and the confidence of the people.
Khrushchev's Thaw: A Fresh Wind of Change
In September 1953, Khrushchev became the head of the CPSU, becoming the First Secretary of the Party Central Committee. He was faced with the task of correctly assessing the current situation and outlining ways of solving the many problems accumulated in the country. The new leader saw most of the troubles of socialism in the consequences of the personality cult of Stalin, who, according to Khrushchev, committed not only political mistakes, but also committed obvious lawlessness. That is why all of Khrushchev's reforms were permeated by one thought: how to cleanse the country of Stalinism.
Khrushchev's main actions were in line with these tasks. He destroyed the repressive apparatus, condemned the personality cult of Joseph Stalin at the 20th Party Congress, and then came up with many innovative ideas for those times. He made an attempt to improve the state system, sharply limit the privileges of the administrative apparatus, and make Soviet society more open. Under Khrushchev's leadership, the working people of the country set out to develop virgin lands and massively built new housing.
It was not without excesses: what are the attacks of Khrushchev on artists and writers or his attempts to make corn the "queen" of Soviet fields.
Modern researchers believe that many of Khrushchev's reforms and actions were contradictory and not entirely consistent. But no one today denies that the “Khrushchev thaw” dealt a fatal blow to the ideology of totalitarianism, putting an end to lawlessness. The years of Khrushchev's rule were the time when the foundations of democratic reforms were emerging, when a new galaxy of people called the "sixties" was formed. It was during the “thaw” that Soviet citizens learned to discuss social and political issues that worried everyone without fear.
