4. The Secret Speech

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we think about the speech delivered by Khrushchev at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, focusing in particular on his criticism of three aspects of Stalin's rule: (i) his (undeserved) cult of personality; (ii) his instrumental role in the Terror; and (iii) his conduct in war.

Course

In this course, Dr Miriam Dobson (University of Sheffield) explores Russia under the rule of Nikita Khrushchev, 1953-64. In the first module, we think about the usefulness of the concept of 'Khrushchev's Thaw' in describing the political climate in Russia in this period, as well as tracing Khrushchev's extraordinary journey to become supreme leader of the Soviet Union in 1953. After that, we focus on events in the period 1945-53 to understand the kinds of problems that Soviet Russia was facing when Khrushchev came to power. In the final three modules, we focus on three of Khrushchev's most important reforms: (1) his changes to the prison-camp system that led to the release of millions of prisoners (both political and otherwise); (2) his criticism of the excesses of Stalinism (and of Stalin himself) in his so-called 'Secret Speech' of February 1956; and (3) his extensive building-programme that creating new housing for millions of ordinary Russians.

Lecturer

Dr Miriam Dobson is Senior Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Sheffield. Her research interests lie in the history of the Soviet Union, with a particular emphasis on the social and cultural history of post-war Russia. Her first book explored popular responses to the reforms of the Khrushchev era, in particular the massive exodus of prisoners from the Gulag. Khrushchev's Cold Summer: Gulag Returnees, Crime, and the Fate of Reform After Stalinexamined the impact of these returnees on communities and, more broadly, Soviet attempts to come to terms with the traumatic legacies of Stalin's terror.