The Challenges Of Nikita Khrushchev And The Cold War

Serving as one the most controversial leaders of the Soviet Union during its relatively short existence, Nikita Sergeyevich Khruschev proved to be a leader capable of transforming a nation. Through his many alterations to the systems by which the Soviets lived, he managed to increase the standard of living and productivity of this Communist State. Described as a man of enormous energy and drive, he was shrewd, tough, earthy, sociable and talkative, and he confidently took colossal gambles in both foreign and domestic policies. From his "Secret Speech" and the following De-Stalinization of the Union, to the friendly relations with other countries of the world, his goal to remodel the Soviet Union into an

Ultimately, Stalin propaganda was unavoidable. “Every shop window displayed his bust… Towns and cities, rivers and canals, schools and hospitals, mountains and lakes, were named after him… Films, plays, poems, stories and novels celebrated every detail of his life” (Life under Stalin’s rule). Marxism and Leninism ideologies endorsed the Communist propaganda that was plastered across all of Russia.

One of the main things Reagan was known for his is stance on communist and his commitment to end the Cold War. Reagan was not afraid of the Soviet Union like his Carter or Ford who served as President before him. He told the Secretary of Defense to order whatever is needed and not to worry about the budget. He wanted to be in a position of strength, that way he believed he would be able to negotiate with them; he had a saying of “To build up to build down” http://millercenter.org/president/biography/reagan-domestic-affairs. Reagan did not want there to be an arms race, however if there were to be one he was determined not to loose. The CIA confirmed that the Soviet Union’s economy could not support an arms race against the US. In Reagan’s mind, winning the Cold War meant having the Soviet Union cease to exist.

Stalin originally had admirable goals for the USSR, and his reasons for industrializing it showed this. Russia was behind the times compared to everyone else, and Stalin wanted to modernize them in order to better the life of Russians. He had several goals for the result of industrialization: to make Russia more independant, to raise the standard of living, to make communism popular, and to make Russia a strong and dominant country. Russia had been devastated by WW1 and the Civil War, leaving its economy

Along the course of American history, this nation has seen many conflicts in its brief timeline. However, as the alliance between America and the USSR dissolved after the second World War, the relationship between both superpowers began to fluctuate as they competed to spread their varying ideologies. This unique time period became known as the Cold War, a conflict unique as it was not fought with normal methods of warfare. In fact, it was not fought with weapons at all. To fully understand this unconventional war, it is important to understand the background to the hostile relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is also important to study its methods of warfare and the conflicts that arose. The Cold War began as a

World history is an extremely important subject that all students around the world should learn about. World history is simply a branch of knowledge that welcomes all humanity. It is essential to learn because it symbolizes the question of who we are, prepares us to live in the alluring world and ensures cultural literacy. One of the most fascinating events known in history includes the Cold War. This essay will explore the fierce, overpowering, and chaotic Cold War describing its purpose, summary and analysis of events, and how it came to a complete end.

When the term “Cold War” was popularised to refer to post-war tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union, interpreting the course and origins of the conflict became a source of heated controversy among historians. In particular, who was responsible for the breakdown of Soviet-U.S. relations after the Second World War? During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union were allied against the Axis powers. However, in the years that followed the end of World War II, the alliance became uneasy, and signs of strain began to show. Historians have disagreed as to whether the conflict between the two superpowers was inevitable or may have been avoided. Further, what exactly the Cold War was and the sources of conflict. While there remains great diversity of opinion regarding these questions, it is commonplace to refer to three broad “schools” of thought regarding the origins and end of the Cold War: “orthodox” explanations, “revisionism”, and “post-revisionism”.

The following primary source analysis is from Nikita Khrushchev’s speech delivered to the 20th congress of the Communist party of the USSR in Moscow on February 25 1956. In the speech Khrushchev heavily criticized the role played by the deceased Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and in particular the great purge of the communist parties at the end of the 1930s. He accused Stalin of constructing a leadership personality cult and still claiming to follow the beliefs of the communist party. Khrushchev’s primary objective was to turn back the communist party to follow Leninist communist ideals instead of the former Stalinist ideals, and to also gain further control of the communist party against other competitors.

During the 1970s, the Cold War had quieted down for a bit and there were even negotiations of peace talks. That all changed when the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan in favor of the communist side while the USA were aiding the anti-communist side. Eventually America pulled out of Afghanistan and went home, but the tension that was there continued through the 1980 Olympic Games. The Soviet Union dominated in the sport of hockey for several years and won gold medals multiple times, but what satisfied them the most was beating team USA every time they faced. The USSR wanted to show their dominance and their pride every time they faced USA. That’s why the miracle on ice game was more than just an underdog story, it was the second Cold War. “The Olympics are hardly apolitical. Nothing is apolitical in this world. The Olympics are the last thing,” Mansbach said. “So in a sense, the hockey match was a Cold War, literally and figuratively.” Draped in the irony of the Cold War playing out on actual ice, the U.S. pulled off the improbable upset and continued on to beat Finland in the gold medal game. “It enhances the reputation of the administration, even though it had nothing to do with it. Simply, citizens bathed in the glow [of the win] that somehow capitalism, Americans [and] the free world had won some type of significant, symbolic victory,” Mansbach said.

However the NKVD’s purges led to many educated people being arrested, resulting in lowering the quality of produce and not meeting the targets of the 5 year plans. This would have made many ordinary Russians angry because Stalin had promised them that their hard work would result in meeting the targets and helping Russia become a stronger country.

The cold war was from 1947- 1991. During that time, the world was on the brink of a nuclear war, where the whole human population was in mere seconds of extinction. The cold war was called the cold war because it was an indirect war, not physical(hot) but non physica(cold). It was a war of two types of governments. Socialism and Capitalism. It was a dreaded time for both countries, and their people. There is evidence that the USSR started it, but there are many advocates for that now. So, it is up to our dear reader to decide for himself/herself who was really to be pointed to.

Nikita Khrushchev rose to power after the death of Stalin. He was a leader who desperately worked for reform yet his reforms hardly ever accomplished their goals. He was a man who praised Stalin while he was alive but when Stalin died Khrushchev was the first to publicly denounce him. Khrushchev came to power in 1953 and stayed in power until 1964, when he was forced to resign.

Negotiations between US and USSR were tense with either side trying to gain the upper hand, Kennedy later confessed that Khrushchev ‘beat the hell out of me’)

Joseph Stalin’s three decade long dictatorship rule that ended in 1953, left a lasting, yet damaging imprint on the Soviet Union in political, economic and social terms. “Under his inspiration Russia has modernised her society and educated her masses…Stalin found Russia working with a wooden plough and left her equipped with nuclear power” (Jamieson, 1971). Although his policies of collectivisation and industrialisation placed the nation as a leading superpower on the global stage and significantly ahead of its economic position during the Romanov rule, this was not without huge sacrifices. Devastating living and working standards for the proletariat, widespread famine, the Purges, and labour camps had crippling impacts on Russia’s social

This gave them an ultimatum: side with Khrushchev or be condemned along with Stalin - Truly wished to change the coarse of the development of the Soviet Union The events that followed · Throughout the 1950's, Khrushchev's policy of Desalinization continued, with many new policies constructed that greatly deviated from the past Stalinist approach. · The SU's approach to agriculture was completely different then under Stalin, putting collectivization on the backburner and implementing an entirely new agricultural policy, the Virgin land schemes. Under this, previously