Political and Social Political and Social Reforms of KhrushchevReforms of Khrushchev

POLITICAL REFORMS: How POLITICAL REFORMS: How Party officials were purgedParty officials were purgedThe attempted coup of

Khrushchev was in part due to the rise in his powers at the expense of the plotters, but also the rash promises of overtaking Western production of meat, milk and butter in 3-4 years – a move they considered dangerously adventurous.

Malenkov was made manager of an electric power station in Central Asia and Molotov was made ambassador to Mongolia. De-Stalinisation had meant that these men were not executed or purged from the Party, but simply demoted.

Malenkov

Molotov

Control of political perksControl of political perksKhrushchev did away with secret envelopes

that were cash bonuses given to leading officials and chauffeurs for the heads of ministry departments.

These reforms were popular amongst intellectuals and the public, but caused resentment amongst bureaucrats.

Khrushchev further undermined his support in 1961 introducing so-called Rule 25, which limited the number of years Party officials could stay in office (and thereby enjoy the privileges these offices brought). For example, quarter of CC and Presidium members had to be new each election. Some say this was to reduce complacency but Donald Filtzer (1993) Khrushchev did this to control local Party officials (in the same way Stalin moved officials around).

Legal reformsLegal reformsKhrushchev’s de-Stalinisation

had championed need for “socialist legality” – more fairness in the legal system.

These legal reforms intended to protect ordinary citizens and public officials. New criminal code 1958 meant secret police could no longer conduct trials, convictions now required evidence and witnesses, confessions not sufficient to condemn a victim, imprisonment for many offences reduced – this overturned the who basis of trials and convictions that existed under Stalin.

Labour camps

Legal reforms continuedLegal reforms continued “Comrade courts” were set up

to deal with minor offences at local level and could fine, sack or sentence people to corrective labour. However, these courts were often subject to bribery and blackmail at local level.

Dissidents and others who considered a threat to Communist power were still repressed.

Other reforms included the law on “parasitism”, which punished people for being out of work and resulted for some in being exiled for 5 years. This was often used to harass dissidents.

Khrushchev also reintroduced the death penalty for serious economic crimes.

Secret policeSecret police There was also restructuring of

the secret police. The MVD was restructured into the KGB.

Many of the old heads of the secret police were also purged following the Twentieth Party Congress. This was to provide confidence in the public, especially political prisoners who had been released from labour camps after their arrested under the old MVD.

However, Filtzer argues that Khrushchev was a notoriously bad judge of character and many of the new KGB turned out to have questionable honesty and ability.

Furthermore, the secret police still functioned as an agency to suppress and control the population.

Corrective Labour Camps and Colonies:

GULAG

ConclusionConclusionOverall, control through terror

had been replaced by more subtle forms of repressions, including:◦Loss of Party membership◦Denial of promotion◦Being fired from one’s job

SOCIAL REFORM: WorkersSOCIAL REFORM: Workers Social reforms included:

◦ Improved social security benefits◦ Raised level of pensions◦ Rise in wages

Collective farms became state farms. Collective farms were independent and their workers were not state employees. This meant they relied on their collective for their income, which was often very little. However, state farm members were state employees and enjoyed a number of benefits as a result, including, regular wage, annual holiday and sickness benefits.

Ultimately, Khrushchev managed to raise the general living standards of millions of rural and their families.

HousingHousingKhrushchev introduced

a massive campaign of housing construction to remedy the chronic shortage.

However, these new buildings were of poor quality and badly built – they were coined “Khrushchev's slums”. Yet, even so, these houses did make a major contribution towards reversing the years of Stalinist neglect.

Old Soviet housing

EducationEducation Khrushchev abolished school and

college fees. He also pressed heads of higher education to accept larger numbers of working class children.

Emphasis was placed on evening courses, so that people with full time jobs could study for a degree.

Overall, the share of working-class students in higher education rose.

However, Khrushchev faced opposition from the privileged who saw these reforms as a threat to their own children’s access to higher education. Moreover, heads of educational establishments complained that emphasising working class recruitment lowered standards. As a result, nearly all of Khrushchev’s reforms were reversed once he was ousted.

Soviet classroom

TaskTaskDescribe the ousting of Khrushchev on

p.70. Then create a table for why

Khrushchev was ousted, including:◦Personality and style◦Domestic policies◦Foreign policies (Read through and add

some extra information from p.77-78 for “Foreign policies”. You don’t need to go into too much detail as we will look at this again.)

Once you have finished, complete the “Activity” on p.72.