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Stalin’s Death & Why Khrushchev Turned to the West
As a graduate student of the political history of the 20th century, I have been reading extensively about the Cold War period.
Upon reading some of the literature, I stumbled on the many ways the USSR’s former General Secretary, Nikita Khrushchev (Secretary from 1953–64), wished to reconcile with the West after Stalin’s disastrous rule of terror.
Let me explain.
Stalin’s death on 5 March 1953, was a turning point in the Cold War, resulting in numerous demonstrations against Soviet hegemony in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and East Germany in the immediate aftermath of 1953.
Despite popular protest, the communist leadership in Czechoslovakia unveiled a significantly large statue of Stalin above the Vltava river, overlooking Prague’s Old Town in 1955, which provoked further demonstrations against the deceased ruler and what he represented in the region.
Other antagonistic movements originated in Poland and Hungary in the Fall of 1956 when Khrushchev revealed hesitance toward Stalin and his legacy in his “secret speech” made in February 1956.
Polish communists would reveal some of these ‘secrets’ to a wide audience in the coming weeks after Khrushchev’s speech.
