Under Khrushchev following Stalin's death, the Soviet Union underwent a period of de-Stalinization and attempted to promote a more moderate form of socialism. Khrushchev established the Warsaw Pact in response to NATO but also tried to give satellite states more autonomy. However, reformist movements in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia were met with force when they pushed boundaries or threatened Soviet control. The Soviet Union also competed more aggressively with the US globally while tensions escalated over Berlin, culminating in the construction of the Berlin Wall.

1. The Khrushchev Era

2. De-Stalinization
• at the Twentieth Communist Party Congress in
1956, Khrushchev announced a new direction
for the USSR:
• he denounced Stalin's iron-fisted, repressive
methods
• he reiterated Lenin's contention that there are
“many roads to socialism” – unlike Stalin,
Khrushchev would permit some political
diversity in the USSR
• he announced his intention to support
developing countries as a way to peacefully
promote the growth of socialism
• 3rd world competition!

3. The Warsaw Pact

4. The Warsaw Pact - 1955
• a military alliance between
the USSR and Satellite
States
• a response to NATO
• also, an attempt by the new
Soviet leader, Nikita
Khrushchev, to bring
the satellite states to the
table – a more moderate
approach
• this is part of de-
Stalinization

5. Attempts at Breaking
Soviet Domination

6. Attempts at Breaking Soviet Domination
• In the relaxed atmosphere of post-Stalinism, several
satellite states attempted to either gain their
independence from the USSR or at least operate in a
more independent manner.
• There are small examples in nearly every satellite state,
but the most significant are in Poland, Hungary, and
Czechoslovakia
• In nearly every case, these attempts were met with
uncompromising force

8. 1. Poland 1956
• Wladyslaw Gomulka – a
moderate communist
• Gomulka did not stray too far
from the Soviet model, but
tried to bring in some
reforms to allow Poles to
live more independently
• De-collectivization of
agriculture
• Lifted restrictions on the
Catholic Church

9. The Hungarian Revolution,
1956 • Stalinist Rakosi replaced by
Imre Nagy
• Nagy was initially like another
Gomulka…
• …But Nagy increased demands and
became anti-Soviet
• Announced he would be pulling
Hungary out of the Warsaw Pact
• Soviets send tanks – Khrushchev
may be a moderate, but his party
would never allow this

11. • Many Hungarians,
mostly young
people, prepare to
fight them
• Hungarian
Uprising
• 30,000 killed &
200,000 fled
• Nagy executed
• Where were the
Americans?? Why
didn’t they help little
Hungary??

12. Czechoslovakia 1968
The Prague Spring

13. • Alexander Dubcek
came into power in 1968
and began to establish
his program of
“socialism with a
human face”
• Freedom of press,
assembly, worship, right
to strike
• About to bring in free
elections when Soviets
put the brakes on

14. • Leonid Brezhnev (Leader 64 to
82) established the Brezhnev
Doctrine: it is the right and
duty of fraternal socialist
countries to intervene in each
other’s affairs when socialism is
threatened
• This is a way to justify to use of
tanks and troops to crush the
Prague Spring
• Dubcek was arrested
• Czechoslovakia lost its attempt at
humanizing communism, and
experienced a harsh Soviet
reality for the next 20 years

16. “Peaceful Co-Existence”
• this term comes from
Khrushchev’s 1956 speech in
which he announced that the
USSR was ready to peacefully
compete with the USA on a
global basis
• the word “peacefully” sounded
nice, but really this speech
signals the beginning of
aggressive competition for
clients – especially in the
Middle East

17. The New Berlin Crisis –
1959-60
• In 1959 Khrushchev proposed to the USA to make
Berlin a free city
• he suggested both Soviet and American troops
withdraw
• Americans suspected this was a ruse to initiate a
Soviet takeover of the entire city
• They were probably right

18. Summit Conference 1960
• talks broke down when Khrushchev walked out
• he was mad that the USA would not apologize for the
U2 incident
• the Americans had been flying their U2 spy-planes
over the USSR
• pilot Gary Powers was hit by a ground-to-air missile
(new technology), his plane crashed and he was
captured by the Soviets

19. The Berlin Wall
• in 1961 Khrushchev again pressured the Americans to
abandon Berlin
• The Soviets were embarrassed about the large number of
East Germans leaving to West Germany through Berlin
and its corridors to West Germany
• Most of these were skilled workers – the brain drain
• Kennedy increased American strength in Berlin
• Khrushchev answered back by building the Berlin Wall to
prevent this movement
• It began, simply, as a fence
• But became a concrete structure with armed “shoot to kill”
guards
• the wall became the central symbol of the Cold War