1953-1964
Khrushchev’s Thaw was the most promising, open and relaxed period in Soviet history. Khrushchev broke the chain of Stalin’s terror and improved people’s living standards.
Romanian Leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (left) And Nikita Khrushchev At Bucharest’s Băneasa Airport in 1960 . Unknown Photographer
Agricultural reform
Khrushchev was a self-educated countryman. He started reforming the “agricultural sector”. “The Virgin Lands Campaign” was a great success. Peasants were encouraged to take up new farmlands in Central Asia. The overall area of harvested land indeed increased 50%.
Thaw
Khrushchev’s time is known as the Thaw, a more relaxed atmosphere for everyday life. It all began at the Twentieth Party Congress (1956). Khrushchev personally criticized Stalin for having been a tyrant and thereby ended Stalin’s Cult of Personality. Political prisoners were freed from the Gulag and Stalin’s victims rehabilitated.
Khrushchev’s popularity grew at home and abroad. The Soviet Union passed the USA many times in a space race, starring Yuri Gagarin. Very optimistic plans about the future were made that stated the Soviet Union would surpass the USA economically and reach communism in ten years.
China, Cuba and corn
Khrushchev failed in three categories: China, Cuba and corn. Differences of opinion arose with Mao Zedong, who accused Khrushchev of pro-Westernness. The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) leveled a decisive blow to Soviet prestige. His falsely calculated plan of revolutionizing Russian agriculture with an extensive corn growing campaign totally failed.
Khrushchev’s Thaw
1953-1964
Khrushchev’s Thaw was the most promising, open and relaxed period in Soviet history. Khrushchev broke the chain of Stalin’s terror and improved people’s living standards.
Romanian Leader Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej (left) And Nikita Khrushchev At Bucharest’s Băneasa Airport in 1960 . Unknown Photographer
Agricultural reform
Khrushchev was a self-educated countryman. He started reforming the “agricultural sector”. “The Virgin Lands Campaign” was a great success. Peasants were encouraged to take up new farmlands in Central Asia. The overall area of harvested land indeed increased 50%.
Thaw
Khrushchev’s time is known as the Thaw, a more relaxed atmosphere for everyday life. It all began at the Twentieth Party Congress (1956). Khrushchev personally criticized Stalin for having been a tyrant and thereby ended Stalin’s Cult of Personality. Political prisoners were freed from the Gulag and Stalin’s victims rehabilitated.
Khrushchev’s popularity grew at home and abroad. The Soviet Union passed the USA many times in a space race, starring Yuri Gagarin. Very optimistic plans about the future were made that stated the Soviet Union would surpass the USA economically and reach communism in ten years.
China, Cuba and corn
Khrushchev failed in three categories: China, Cuba and corn. Differences of opinion arose with Mao Zedong, who accused Khrushchev of pro-Westernness. The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) leveled a decisive blow to Soviet prestige. His falsely calculated plan of revolutionizing Russian agriculture with an extensive corn growing campaign totally failed.
Nikita Khrushchev