Summary
Highlights
Nikita Khrushchev was born on April 15, 1894, in Kalinovka, Russia, to a poor peasant family. His father worked various temporary jobs before settling as a miner in Yuzovka (modern-day Donetsk). In 1908, the family moved to Yuzovka, a rapidly industrializing city. Despite a challenging upbringing, Khrushchev's mother and teacher had high hopes for his intellectual abilities. He became an apprentice fitter at 15 and began engaging with radical newspapers, becoming politically active and eventually joining the Bolshevik party in 1918.
Khrushchev joined the Red Army in 1919 during the Russian Civil War, serving as a political commissar. After the war and the formation of the USSR in 1922, he became assistant director of political affairs at the Rutchenkovo mine, working to restore coal production. He sought further education at the miners' technical college and rose through the party ranks, becoming a local party boss and delegate to the 14th Communist Party Congress, where he supported Stalin. Under the patronage of Lazar Kaganovich, he secured various posts in Ukraine before moving to Moscow to study at the Industrial Academy in 1928.
While at the Industrial Academy, Khrushchev prioritized political duties, leading purges of students. He became deputy to Kaganovich in 1932, effectively running Moscow. His significant achievement was overseeing the Moscow Metro's construction, earning him the Order of Lenin. He became head of the Moscow party by 1935 and was a fervent supporter of Stalin's purges, approving arrests and executions, including close associates. In 1938, he became First Secretary of the Ukrainian Central Committee and a Politburo member in 1939. He continued purges in Ukraine, notably sending thousands to their deaths, though he also introduced agricultural reforms that boosted production.
During World War II, Khrushchev served as chief political commissar on various fronts, acting as a link between Stalin and generals. He was involved in military disasters like the fall of Kiev and the Kharkov offensive but later played a crucial role in maintaining morale during the Battle of Stalingrad. Promoted to Lieutenant General, he returned to lead the party in Ukraine, overseeing reconstruction and suppressing Ukrainian nationalist movements. He faced challenges with a severe famine in 1946 but recovered his standing by 1949, returning to Moscow to join Stalin's inner circle.
After Stalin's death in March 1953, a power struggle ensued among senior leaders. Though initially aligning with Malenkov and Beria, Khrushchev strategically plotted Beria's removal, culminating in his arrest and execution in June 1953. In September, Khrushchev became First Secretary of the Central Committee, effectively succeeding Stalin as party leader. He gradually consolidated power by challenging Malenkov's agricultural policies and publicly denouncing him. By 1955, Malenkov was demoted, and Khrushchev orchestrated the removal of his opponents, including Malenkov, Molotov, and Kaganovich, from the Presidium during the Anti-Party Group incident in 1957.
In February 1956, Khrushchev delivered his 'secret speech' at the Twentieth Party Congress, a scathing denunciation of Stalin's crimes, purges, and leadership during the war. This initiated a campaign of destalinization, leading to the release of political prisoners and the removal of Stalin's symbols. The speech had global repercussions, prompting unrest in Eastern Europe, notably the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, which Khrushchev brutally suppressed. Having cemented his leadership, Khrushchev assumed the role of Premier in 1958, combining party and government chief positions, similar to Stalin.
Khrushchev focused on agriculture, advocating for mass corn cultivation to boost production, and addressed the housing crisis with rapid, if low-quality, apartment building construction in Moscow. In foreign policy, he sought to reduce Cold War tensions with the West, engaging in diplomatic visits. However, his relationship with Mao Zedong deteriorated due to his criticisms of Stalin and perceived threats to Chinese sovereignty. He, along with Eisenhower, developed the doctrine of mutually assured destruction to prevent nuclear war. Despite efforts to reduce tensions, he threatened war over Berlin in 1958, using the crisis to secure an invitation to the US.
Khrushchev's historic visit to the United States in September 1959 was marked by a mix of diplomatic efforts and theatrical moments, including his 'kitchen debate' with Nixon and his disappointment over a cancelled Disneyland visit. He met with President Eisenhower at Camp David to discuss Berlin, agreeing to a four-party conference. However, the shooting down of an American U-2 spy plane over Soviet territory in May 1960 derailed these efforts. Khrushchev exposed the US espionage, leading to the collapse of the planned summit and Eisenhower's visit, further worsening US-Soviet relations. His impulsiveness also led to a significant deterioration of relations with China.
Khrushchev continued to face challenges with Berlin and East Germany, particularly after East Germans defected to the West through Berlin in increasing numbers. After a tense meeting with newly elected US President John F. Kennedy, during which he felt Kennedy was inexperienced, Khrushchev endorsed the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961 to stop the flow of refugees, a move accepted by Kennedy. In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted after US spy planes discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba. This led to a tense standoff where Khrushchev eventually agreed to withdraw missiles in exchange for a US pledge not to invade Cuba and a secret agreement to remove US missiles from Turkey, narrowly averting nuclear war.
Despite managing the Cuban Missile Crisis, Khrushchev's authority at home weakened. His agricultural policies faltered, and a disastrous 1963 grain harvest forced the USSR to buy grain from the West, a humiliation for him. His erratic behavior and reforms alienated party colleagues, who, led by Leonid Brezhnev, began plotting against him. In October 1964, while on holiday, Khrushchev was summoned back to Moscow and removed from power. He spent his retirement writing his memoirs, which were later smuggled out of the Soviet Union and published. Khrushchev died on September 11, 1971, and was given a private funeral, ending the life of a leader marked by contradictions and significant historical impact.