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Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1956 to 1964. He made important steps for the Soviet Union, such as de-Stalinization, but also made near-disastrous mistakes, such as sending troops to Hungary and attempting to equip Cuba with nuclear missiles. His leadership was both successful and cruel, and his ideas for peace with the West and a more flexible communist regime were eventually discarded. Mikhail Gorbachev saw Khrushchev as an important leader and his approach towards easing restrictions on citizens and easing tension with Western governments extremely important.
Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) is best remembered as the leader of the Soviet Union from 1956 to 1964. His leadership was at times highly successful, and at other times significantly cruel. Most Soviet historians consider Khrushchev a forerunner of leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev who would ultimately end the Cold War through his actions. A balanced view of Khrushchev shows that he made some important steps for the Soviet Union and some near-disastrous mistakes.
Khrushchev was a Ukrainian by birth and joined the Communist Party in 1918. Although he had little formal education, he soon became one of Stalin’s friends, and he certainly fulfilled Stalin’s wishes when he was First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine in 1938. He participated fully in the Stalin’s purge of Communist Party members who were not fully dedicated to the cause of Communism. His ruthless execution of many people during Stalin’s purges earned Khrushchev the nickname “The Butcher of the Ukraine”.
It was therefore interesting that after WWII and especially after Stalin’s death in 1953, Khrushchev was openly critical of Stalin’s policies, including the purges. Instead, he has sought to provide a government that is less oppressive to his own people and more open to peace with Western Europe and the United States. His de-Stalinization program, which began when he became the leader of the Soviet Union in 1956, accomplished, at least temporarily, several things:
Easier and more peaceful relationship with the West
Reduction of the power of the secret police
Release of thousands of political prisoners
Encouragement of the arts, especially literature
Improving the economy and living standards of most people
At the same time Khrushchev advanced these goals and achieved them, he also easily kept his nickname, “the Butcher”. When Hungary rebelled against USSR control in 1956, he sent 500,000 soldiers to put down the revolution. Huge numbers of Hungarian citizens, especially young teenagers, were jailed and thousands were executed for rebellion.
Khrushchev, while attempting a peaceful relationship especially with the United States and also touring the United States in 1959 with President Eisenhower, continued to advance the cause of communism by reaching out to third world countries that Stalin had mostly ignored during his rule . Khrushchev’s first fairly friendly relationship with the United States suffered a crisis when in 1960 an American spy plane was shot down while flying over the Soviet Union.
Tensions with the United States escalated and culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when Khrushchev attempted to equip Cuba with several nuclear missiles. This act nearly caused a nuclear World War III that many feared at the time was inevitable. Partly due to what the Soviets viewed as Khrushchev’s failure in the Cuban Missile Crisis, and also due to his advanced age, he was removed from power in 1964.
Khrushchev spent the last years of his life under surveillance and after his death was treated as a “non-person” by the Soviet government. His ideas for peace with the West and a more flexible communist regime were discarded in favor of hard-line policies. Until Gorbachev became premier in 1985, Khrushchev’s more liberal approach to communism was not discussed. However, dissenters in the Communist Party were inclined to look nostalgically on Khrushchev’s improvements, which would be dismantled by the subsequent leadership.
Gorbachev saw Khrushchev as an important leader and his approach, particularly towards easing restrictions on citizens and easing tension with Western governments, extremely important. Through Gorbachev, the communist regime would end up in the Soviet Union. Khrushchev, if his earlier ideas had been followed, might have ended the regime earlier, but the leaders who followed him reinstated many of Stalin’s policies.
Khrushchev’s leadership can be erratic, interesting, inspired and cruel. While he made major changes in the Soviet Union, and especially in Soviet foreign affairs, he eventually caused an increase in tension between the United States and the USSR through his participation in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
