Exam (elaborations)
To what extent Khruschev was committed to Peaceful Co-existence
History ESSAY 20/25 L5
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In the years 1955-1961, Khrushchev was genuinely committed to peaceful co-existence.’ Assess the validity of this view
E. Mc.
Khrushchev was a firm believer that the USSR could win the Cold War, promising at the
22nd Congress of the Communist Party in Moscow in October 1961 that “in twenty years we
will build mainly a communist society”. Khrushchev realised that the easiest way to propel
the spread Communism worldwide was through peaceful means. However, as leader of the
USSR, maintaining Soviet security had to be his priority, ultimately leading to him at times
jeopardising the USSR’s good relations with the West.
After the death of the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin in March 1953 a collective Soviet
leadership emerged, comprising of Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lavrentiy Beria
and Nikita Khrushchev. Although it was Khrushchev that eventually emerged victorious
through demoting, denouncing and executing his opponents respectively it was widely
recognised by all of the competitors for Soviet leadership the necessity to improve relations
with the West. One of the first gestures made by Khrushchev was ‘The Secret Speech’ in
February 1956, which he gave to the 20th Party Congress in Moscow. Not only did he
denounce Stalin as a “wicked tyrant”, but he promised to put an end to Stalinism
throughout the entire Soviet sphere of influence, believing there could be many different
paths to socialism. ‘The Secret Speech’ marked a shift towards a more open Soviet society,
as it clearly gave reason for the process of de-Stalinisation across the Eastern bloc. As a
result of the speech Cominform was dissolved in April of the same year, meaning the USSR’s
satellites were no longer forced to conform to the Stalinist model of socialism. The
establishment of Cominform in September 1947 was a direct response to the USA’s
introduction of the Marshall Plan in June 1947, which provided $13.5 billion to sixteen
countries, consequently created two opposing alliances on either side of the iron curtain. By
dissolving Cominform Khrushchev aimed to make these divisions less defined in the hopes
that this would lead to better relations with the West. However, greater openness did not
just benefit the Soviet Union in terms of foreign policy but also in terms of domestic policy,
as Khrushchev enabled a greater freedom of speech than had previously been permitted by
Stalin. The Russian author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was allowed to publish his novel ‘One Day
in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’, where he used his own experiences from living in the Gulags
to greatly critique Soviet society, something that would have been immediately suppressed
before. Khrushchev also reconciled with the leader of Yugoslavia, Josip Tito, during his visit
to Belgrade in May 1955, where Khrushchev publicly blamed Stalin for the break in relations
in May 1948. A year later in June 1956 Khrushchev and Tito issued a communique in which
they agreed to polycentrism, therefore showing that Khrushchev was determined to reduce
hostilities with previous enemies through compromise in order to peacefully co-exist.
The heavy reliance on diplomacy as a means to settle any disputes between the
superpowers became greatly used during this period. The first major diplomatic success for
Khrushchev was with the Austrian State Treaty in May 1955. Similarly to Germany Austria
had been divided into four occupational zones - British, French, Soviet and American - and
was also viewed as a great issue of division between the Allies. As a result of Khrushchev’s
efforts, the occupying powers agreed to withdraw their troops from Austria and to declare it
a neutral state. Khrushchev’s ability to compromise was made clear, as in return for
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