Struggle for Power, 1953-56

Stalin had been such an immense figure as leader of the Soviet Union, and after his death many competed to replace him.

Praesidium of the Central Committee

The Council of Ministers, the Supreme Soviet and the Central Committee met after Stalin's death.

They decided to reduce the size of Stalin's Praesidium of the Central Committee to ten members.

Of this group, the main rivals for power were Malenkov, Beria and Khrushchev.

Malenkov was made Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

In this role he was the head of the government

Beria had power over the police and security system as Minister of Internal Affairs.

Nikita Khrushchev

He was Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party

Khrushchev seems to have held the least power immediately after Stalin's death.

He was not made a minister

This ended up being to his advantage

The party base had much more power than the formal government positions.

There were so many changes to government positions between 1953 and 1956, that Khrushchev was left an influential figure.

Many newcomers owed him their position.

Removing opposition

Beria was involved in the fabrication of the so-called doctors' plot.

Beria was also unpopular with the army after his role in army purges.

He was tried in secret and shot alongside six aides.

Khrushchev cements Power

Khrushchev began to push for a new farming policy to exploit "virgin lands" in Kazakhstan and Siberia

There were also good harvests in 1954 and 1955, which made his idea even more popular.

Malenkov stood down as head of government

He was replaced by Bulganin, an ally of Khrushchev.

Khrushchev was also the leader of the committee which organised Stalin's funeral.

He used this position to begin manipulating Stalin's legacy.

The Secret Speech

24 February 1956: Khrushchev's main attempt to distance himself from Stalin was through the speech he gave at the Twentieth Party Congress.

The speech was 20,000 words long.

Khrushchev accused Stalin of abusing his power, including through his brutality and the cult of personality.

He used Lenin's testament to show that the founder of the USSR had not wanted to be leader.

Khrushchev's positioning

Khrushchev did not criticise everything

He focused on Stalin's crimes after 1934

He was not arguing for a complete liberalisation.

The reaction to the speech was profound.

There were riots in the gulags.

The subsequent release of political prisoners also led to the renaming of Stalingrad as Volgograd.

Stalin's body was removed from the mausoleum where Lenin lay.