ñAfter Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, his successor Nikita Khrushchev denounced his errors and crimes.ñ
The death of Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) was followed in July 1953 by the execution of his secret police chief, Lavrenti Pavlovitch Beria (1899-1953). Stalin's successors established a new organization responsible for internal security, the KGB (which stands for State Security Committee in Russian). Whereas Beria's secret police had maintained a reign of terror over everyone in the Soviet Union, including Communist Party members, the KGB had restricted powers and was not allowed to persecute party members.
The most powerful man in the Soviet Union after Stalin's death was the secretary-general of the Communist Party, Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971). In 1958 Khrushchev also became head of the Soviet government, replacing Nikola∩ Bulganin (1895-1975). Under Khrushchev there was a thaw in Soviet political life after the terror of Stalin's rule. Many political prisoners were released, after spending years in the camps of the "Gulag" (forced labour camps). The return of these deportees and prisoners had a profound effect on Soviet society. Censorship was relaxed and literature became the main way to criticize the Soviet regime and bureaucracy. The novel ºThe Thawº by Ilia Ehrenbourg (1891-1957) sparked off this movement.
At the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), which began on 14 February 1956, Khrushchev openly broke with the Stalinist past. While emphasizing the need to consolidate the "world socialist system", he proclaimed the validity of peaceful coexistence with capitalist countries. In a speech delivered behind closed doors at the end of the congress, Khrushchev denounced Stalin's errors and crimes, blaming him for a "cult of personality" that had distorted socialism. Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin was only partial and avoided any criticism of Soviet Communism as such. Still, it marked a significant change at a time when Stalin was still revered as a great leader. Khrushchev's speech ended the cult of Stalin inside the Soviet Union.
~Soviet foreign policy~
Khrushchev wanted to present the Soviet Union in a new light abroad. During a visit to the Yugoslav capital, Belgrade, in 1955, he renewed the links between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia that had been broken off when the Yugoslav Communist leader, Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980), asserted his independence from Stalin in 1948. In May 1955, as a reaction to the entry of West Germany into NATO (the American-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization), the Soviet Union created the Warsaw Pact, a military alliance with its East European satellite states. The Soviet military presence in Eastern Europe was legalized by this treaty.
