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Following Stalin's death in 1953, Georgy Malenkov succeeded him as the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union... for all of one week, after which power was split between Malenkov as premier and Khrushchev as chairman of the Communist Party, setting the stage for a classic power struggle. Despite this, most predicted that the ultimate winner of this struggle probably wouldn't be Khrushchev ''or'' Malenkov, but rather Lavrentiy Beria, the leader of the country's secret police, whose support Malenkov was relying on to stay in power. Khrushchev persuaded Malenkov -- probably not untruthfully, in fairness -- that Beria would pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on him sooner or later, and they and a gang of co-conspirators plotted to have Beria arrested and executed on charges of treason. However, this really proved a no-win situation for Malenkov, as the loss of his main ally essentially removed his grip on power, allowing Khrushchev to gradually steal authority away from him over the next year, before forcing Malenkov to resign altogether in early 1955.

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Following Stalin's death in 1953, Georgy Malenkov succeeded him as the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union... for all of one week, after which power was split between Malenkov as premier and Khrushchev as chairman of the Communist Party, setting the stage for a classic power struggle. Despite this, most predicted that the ultimate winner of this struggle probably wouldn't be Khrushchev ''or'' Malenkov, but rather Lavrentiy Beria, the leader of the country's secret police, SecretPolice, whose support Malenkov was relying on to stay in power. Khrushchev persuaded Malenkov -- probably not untruthfully, in fairness -- that Beria would pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on him sooner or later, and they and a gang of co-conspirators plotted to have Beria arrested and executed on charges of treason. However, this really proved a no-win situation for Malenkov, as the loss of his main ally essentially removed his grip on power, allowing Khrushchev to gradually steal authority away from him over the next year, before forcing Malenkov to resign altogether in early 1955.



Outside the Soviet Union, the reviews were not good from all those commies who had idealized Stalin, with China's UsefulNotes/MaoZedong denouncing the speech and Khrushchev's de-stalinization initiatives as "revisionist" and a deviation from ideological orthodoxy. Khrushchev also supported a policy of "peaceful coexistence", which was based on the radical notion that blowing up the world would be bad. In the paranoid climate of the Cold War, that sounded like capitulation to China, Albania, and North Korea. Soon, the Sino-Soviet split developed. On the other hand, it allowed Soviet-Yugoslav relations to recover after the Tito-Stalin split (after Khrushchev, ever the happy SentimentalDrunk, got hammered with the rest of the Soviet delegation at a summit in Belgrade and plied Tito and his aides with drink and pleas to "drink up and let bygones be bygones").

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Outside the Soviet Union, the reviews were not good from all those commies who had idealized Stalin, with China's UsefulNotes/MaoZedong denouncing the speech and Khrushchev's de-stalinization initiatives as "revisionist" and a deviation from ideological orthodoxy. Khrushchev also supported a policy of "peaceful coexistence", which was based on the radical notion that blowing up the world would be bad. In the paranoid climate of the Cold War, that sounded like capitulation to War, the leaders of China, Albania, and North Korea.Korea thought that sounded like capitulation. Soon, the Sino-Soviet split developed. On the other hand, it allowed Soviet-Yugoslav relations to recover after the Tito-Stalin split (after Khrushchev, ever the happy SentimentalDrunk, got hammered with the rest of the Soviet delegation at a summit in Belgrade and plied Tito and his aides with drink and pleas to "drink up and let bygones be bygones").
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Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. This is a function of his biography; he is the ''only'' Soviet leader who was ever an actual proletarian worker under capitalism,[[note]]Lenin and Stalin were both intellectuals, though Stalin was sufficiently bohemian that his pre-revolution career involved a lot of "revolutionary" bank robbery; Brezhnev was a worker, but ''after'' the revolution; Andropov's biography is famously murky but definitely doesn't involve any kind of factory work; Chernenko was career military; and Gorbachev was a university whizkid and Party career man.[[/note]] and this almost certainly informed his worldview. He was too young to be a true "Old Bolshevik", but he was one of hundreds of thousands of young peasants from Southwestern Russia who flocked to the Donbas (the very same region contested between Russia and Ukraine as of 2023), the heart of the industrialization program of the late Russian Empire, for better wages in the mines and mills. At the start of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he was a skilled metal worker in Yuzovka (modern Donetsk), and also active in the labor movement (encouraged by his father, himself a union leader in the metals trades) and the nascent Communist Party. So it's perhaps inevitable, or at least no surprise, that he was a true believer in communism. By contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.

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Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. This is a function of his biography; he is the ''only'' Soviet leader who was ever an actual proletarian worker under capitalism,[[note]]Lenin and Stalin were both intellectuals, though Stalin was sufficiently bohemian that his pre-revolution career involved a lot of "revolutionary" bank robbery; Malenkov trained as an engineer and spent most of his career as a party apparatchik; Brezhnev was a worker, but ''after'' the revolution; Andropov's biography is famously murky but definitely doesn't involve any kind of factory work; Chernenko was career military; and Gorbachev was a university whizkid and Party career man.[[/note]] and this almost certainly informed his worldview. He was too young to be a true "Old Bolshevik", but he was one of hundreds of thousands of young peasants from Southwestern Russia who flocked to the Donbas (the very same region contested between Russia and Ukraine as of 2023), the heart of the industrialization program of the late Russian Empire, for better wages in the mines and mills. At the start of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he was a skilled metal worker in Yuzovka (modern Donetsk), and also active in the labor movement (encouraged by his father, himself a union leader in the metals trades) and the nascent Communist Party. So it's perhaps inevitable, or at least no surprise, that he was a true believer in communism. By contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.
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Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. This is a function of his biography; he is the ''only'' Soviet leader who was ever an actual proletarian worker under capitalism,[[note]]Lenin and Stalin were both intellectuals, though Stalin was sufficiently bohemian that his pre-revolution career involved a lot of "revolutionary" bank robbery; Brezhnev was a worker, but ''after'' the revolution; Andropov's biography is famously murky but definitely doesn't involve any kind of factory work; Chernenko was career military; and Gorbachev was a university whizkid and Party career man.[[/note]] and this almost certainly informed his worldview. He was too young to be a true "Old Bolshevik", but he was one of hundreds of thousands of young peasants from Southwestern Russia who flocked to the Donbass (the very same region contested between Russia and Ukraine as of 2023), the heart of the industrialization program of the late Russian Empire, for better wages in the mines and mills. At the start of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he was a skilled metal worker in Yuzovka (modern Donetsk), and also active in the labor movement (encouraged by his father, himself a union leader in the metals trades) and the nascent Communist Party. So it's perhaps inevitable, or at least no surprise, that he was a true believer in communism. By contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.

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Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. This is a function of his biography; he is the ''only'' Soviet leader who was ever an actual proletarian worker under capitalism,[[note]]Lenin and Stalin were both intellectuals, though Stalin was sufficiently bohemian that his pre-revolution career involved a lot of "revolutionary" bank robbery; Brezhnev was a worker, but ''after'' the revolution; Andropov's biography is famously murky but definitely doesn't involve any kind of factory work; Chernenko was career military; and Gorbachev was a university whizkid and Party career man.[[/note]] and this almost certainly informed his worldview. He was too young to be a true "Old Bolshevik", but he was one of hundreds of thousands of young peasants from Southwestern Russia who flocked to the Donbass Donbas (the very same region contested between Russia and Ukraine as of 2023), the heart of the industrialization program of the late Russian Empire, for better wages in the mines and mills. At the start of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he was a skilled metal worker in Yuzovka (modern Donetsk), and also active in the labor movement (encouraged by his father, himself a union leader in the metals trades) and the nascent Communist Party. So it's perhaps inevitable, or at least no surprise, that he was a true believer in communism. By contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.

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In Russia, he is remembered for his domestic work, particularly his (failed) efforts to improve Soviet agriculture by introducing corn to the USSR, and the Khruschyovkas, low-quality, very cookie-cutter style apartment buildings that were supposed to be a temporary measure to alleviate the housing shortage (they were partially successful in this) until "communism is achieved in 20 years or so". Obviously, this never happened, and many people still live in such buildings today. Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. In contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.

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In Russia, he is remembered for his domestic work, particularly his (failed) efforts to improve Soviet agriculture by introducing corn to the USSR, and the Khruschyovkas, low-quality, very cookie-cutter style apartment buildings that were supposed to be a temporary measure to alleviate the housing shortage (they were partially successful in this) until "communism is achieved in 20 years or so". Obviously, this never happened, and many people still live in such buildings today.

Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. In This is a function of his biography; he is the ''only'' Soviet leader who was ever an actual proletarian worker under capitalism,[[note]]Lenin and Stalin were both intellectuals, though Stalin was sufficiently bohemian that his pre-revolution career involved a lot of "revolutionary" bank robbery; Brezhnev was a worker, but ''after'' the revolution; Andropov's biography is famously murky but definitely doesn't involve any kind of factory work; Chernenko was career military; and Gorbachev was a university whizkid and Party career man.[[/note]] and this almost certainly informed his worldview. He was too young to be a true "Old Bolshevik", but he was one of hundreds of thousands of young peasants from Southwestern Russia who flocked to the Donbass (the very same region contested between Russia and Ukraine as of 2023), the heart of the industrialization program of the late Russian Empire, for better wages in the mines and mills. At the start of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, he was a skilled metal worker in Yuzovka (modern Donetsk), and also active in the labor movement (encouraged by his father, himself a union leader in the metals trades) and the nascent Communist Party. So it's perhaps inevitable, or at least no surprise, that he was a true believer in communism. By contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.

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Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв, April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the guy who emerged as the ultimate successor to UsefulNotes/JosefStalin as supreme leader of the USSR, following the short-lived leadership of UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov. In the USSR he was remembered as that ''utter and incompetent idiot'' [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets who destroyed the Red Army]] and was ''obsessed'' with missiles, practicing an ''absolutely idiotic'' brand of nuclear-blackmail/brinkmanship that nearly killed several hundred million people. In the West, he is remembered as a hotheaded buffoon who pounded his shoe on a table at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations. Whether the shoe-related incident really happened is a matter of some debate, but it has become a symbol of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar anyway. In Russia, he is remembered for his domestic work, particularly his (failed) efforts to improve Soviet agriculture by introducing corn to the USSR, and the Khruschyovkas, low-quality, very cookie-cutter style apartment buildings that were supposed to be a temporary measure to alleviate the housing shortage (they were partially successful in this) until "communism is achieved in 20 years or so". Obviously, this never happened, and many people still live in such buildings today. Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. In contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.

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Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв, April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the guy who emerged as the ultimate successor to UsefulNotes/JosefStalin as supreme leader of the USSR, following the short-lived leadership of UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov. In the USSR he was remembered as that ''utter and incompetent idiot'' [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets who destroyed the Red Army]] and was ''obsessed'' with missiles, practicing an ''absolutely idiotic'' brand of nuclear-blackmail/brinkmanship that nearly killed several hundred million people. In the West, he is remembered as a hotheaded buffoon who pounded his shoe on a table at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations. Whether the shoe-related incident really happened is a matter of some debate, but it has become a symbol of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar anyway. anyway.

In Russia, he is remembered for his domestic work, particularly his (failed) efforts to improve Soviet agriculture by introducing corn to the USSR, and the Khruschyovkas, low-quality, very cookie-cutter style apartment buildings that were supposed to be a temporary measure to alleviate the housing shortage (they were partially successful in this) until "communism is achieved in 20 years or so". Obviously, this never happened, and many people still live in such buildings today. Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. In contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.
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* Music/{{Sting}}'s 1985 song [[Music/TheDreamOfTheBlueTurtles "Russians"]], a plea against nuclear war, namechecks Khrushchev and quotes his infamous "we will bury you" remark, with Sting stating that he doesn't "subscribe to this point of view."
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* He's name-checked in the song [[Music/{{Queen}} "Killer Queen"]]

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* He's name-checked Music/{{Queen|Band}} name-check him in the song [[Music/{{Queen}} [[Music/SheerHeartAttack "Killer Queen"]]
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Following Stalin's death in 1953, Georgy Malenkov succeeded him as the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union... for all of one week, after which power was split between Malenkov as premier and Khrushchev as chairman of the Communist Party. Khrushchev soon began amassing power, with Malenkov being left increasingly as a figurehead. Had Malenkov and Khrushchev been able to work together well they would probably have made for a formidable team, thanks to the former's administrative skills and more even temperament; however, Malenkov was hell-bent on staying true to Stalin's legacy, while Khrushchev was just as hell-bent on moving away from it, leading to a power struggle that saw Malenkov deposed as leader (albeit kept on in a mostly ceremonial role as an advisor) early in 1955.

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Following Stalin's death in 1953, Georgy Malenkov succeeded him as the undisputed ruler of the Soviet Union... for all of one week, after which power was split between Malenkov as premier and Khrushchev as chairman of the Communist Party. Party, setting the stage for a classic power struggle. Despite this, most predicted that the ultimate winner of this struggle probably wouldn't be Khrushchev soon began amassing power, with Malenkov being left increasingly as a figurehead. Had Malenkov and Khrushchev been able to work together well they would probably have made for a formidable team, thanks to ''or'' Malenkov, but rather Lavrentiy Beria, the former's administrative skills and more even temperament; however, leader of the country's secret police, whose support Malenkov was hell-bent relying on staying true to Stalin's legacy, while stay in power. Khrushchev was just persuaded Malenkov -- probably not untruthfully, in fairness -- that Beria would pull a YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on him sooner or later, and they and a gang of co-conspirators plotted to have Beria arrested and executed on charges of treason. However, this really proved a no-win situation for Malenkov, as hell-bent the loss of his main ally essentially removed his grip on moving power, allowing Khrushchev to gradually steal authority away from it, leading to a power struggle that saw him over the next year, before forcing Malenkov deposed as leader (albeit kept on to resign altogether in a mostly ceremonial role as an advisor) early in 1955.

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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/imageswsj_1.jpg]]



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->''"We will bury you."''
-->-- '''Nikita Khrushchev'''[[note]]Somewhat LostInTranslation. He merely meant that the U.S.S.R. would outlast the U.S. and thus be around to help dig its grave, not necessarily that they would deal the actual killing blow. Not that either actually happened, obviously.[[/note]]

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[[quoteright:264:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kshoe_3241.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:264:"I told you American imperialists to [[{{Pun}} shoo]]!"[[note]]Yes, the picture is faked. If the shoe-banging incident really happened, it was never captured on film.[[/note]]]]
->''"We will bury you."''
-->-- '''Nikita Khrushchev'''[[note]]Somewhat LostInTranslation. He merely meant that the U.S.S.R. would outlast the U.S. and thus be around to help dig its grave, not necessarily that they would deal the actual killing blow. Not that either actually happened, obviously.[[/note]]

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[[quoteright:264:https://static.[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kshoe_3241.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:264:"I told you American imperialists to [[{{Pun}} shoo]]!"[[note]]Yes, the picture is faked. If the shoe-banging incident really happened, it was never captured on film.[[/note]]]]
->''"We will bury you."''
-->-- '''Nikita Khrushchev'''[[note]]Somewhat LostInTranslation. He merely meant that the U.S.S.R. would outlast the U.S. and thus be around to help dig its grave, not necessarily that they would deal the actual killing blow. Not that either actually happened, obviously.[[/note]]
org/pmwiki/pub/images/imageswsj_1.jpg]]
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Corrected spelling


Khruschev's time in office is sometimes known as the Khruschew Thaw because political repression and censorship were ''somewhat'' relaxed (compared to Stalin's time). Many political prisoners were released from the gulags. A certain number of foreign tourists were allowed to visit the USSR, and Khruschew himself visited the United States in 1959. Furthermore, Soviet citizens were allowed to see how people live in the West, which led to an increased focus on producing consumer goods in the USSR; the people who were more immersed to the imported goods and forming their own tastes became the ''stilyagi''. There was also a certain degree of liberalization in the arts (Khruschev personally authorized the publication of ''Literature/OneDayInTheLifeOfIvanDenisovich''), though Khrushev rolled back some of the reforms once he began seeing works he didn't like. Another important aspect of the Khruschev Thaw is the abolition of the ''troikas'', special tribunals operated by security agencies that often ignored procedures and laws. Far fewer dissidents were put on trial; now the methods used to silence them included expulsion from the Party, loss of their job, or forced hospitalization.

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Khruschev's time in office is sometimes known as the Khruschew Khruschev Thaw because political repression and censorship were ''somewhat'' relaxed (compared to Stalin's time). Many political prisoners were released from the gulags. A certain number of foreign tourists were allowed to visit the USSR, and Khruschew Khruschev himself visited the United States in 1959. Furthermore, Soviet citizens were allowed to see how people live in the West, which led to an increased focus on producing consumer goods in the USSR; the people who were more immersed to the imported goods and forming their own tastes became the ''stilyagi''. There was also a certain degree of liberalization in the arts (Khruschev personally authorized the publication of ''Literature/OneDayInTheLifeOfIvanDenisovich''), though Khrushev rolled back some of the reforms once he began seeing works he didn't like. Another important aspect of the Khruschev Thaw is the abolition of the ''troikas'', special tribunals operated by security agencies that often ignored procedures and laws. Far fewer dissidents were put on trial; now the methods used to silence them included expulsion from the Party, loss of their job, or forced hospitalization.
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Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв, April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the guy who led the Soviet Union after UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, after a brief detour via [[UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov some other guy]]. In the USSR he was remembered as that ''utter and incompetent idiot'' [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets who destroyed the Red Army]] and was ''obsessed'' with missiles, practicing an ''absolutely idiotic'' brand of nuclear-blackmail/brinkmanship that nearly killed several hundred million people. In the West, he is remembered as a hotheaded buffoon who pounded his shoe on a table at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations. Whether the shoe-related incident really happened is a matter of some debate, but it has become a symbol of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar anyway. In Russia, he is remembered for his domestic work, particularly his (failed) efforts to improve Soviet agriculture by introducing corn to the USSR, and the Khruschyovkas, low-quality, very cookie-cutter style apartment buildings that were supposed to be a temporary measure to alleviate the housing shortage (they were partially successful in this) until "communism is achieved in 20 years or so". Obviously, this never happened, and many people still live in such buildings today. Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. In contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.

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Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв, April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the guy who led emerged as the Soviet Union after UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, after a brief detour via [[UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov some other guy]].ultimate successor to UsefulNotes/JosefStalin as supreme leader of the USSR, following the short-lived leadership of UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov. In the USSR he was remembered as that ''utter and incompetent idiot'' [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets who destroyed the Red Army]] and was ''obsessed'' with missiles, practicing an ''absolutely idiotic'' brand of nuclear-blackmail/brinkmanship that nearly killed several hundred million people. In the West, he is remembered as a hotheaded buffoon who pounded his shoe on a table at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations. Whether the shoe-related incident really happened is a matter of some debate, but it has become a symbol of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar anyway. In Russia, he is remembered for his domestic work, particularly his (failed) efforts to improve Soviet agriculture by introducing corn to the USSR, and the Khruschyovkas, low-quality, very cookie-cutter style apartment buildings that were supposed to be a temporary measure to alleviate the housing shortage (they were partially successful in this) until "communism is achieved in 20 years or so". Obviously, this never happened, and many people still live in such buildings today. Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. In contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.
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Interestingly enough for someone remembered for his failed brand of Nuclear Brinkmanship, personal accounts note him having a particular hatred and fear of war. Although both Khrushchev and Brezhnev, his then-right-hand man, served as Commissars to Red Army military units and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo were physically present around Stalingrad during the eponymous 1942-3 campaign]], neither was actually 'at the front' due to their rank. As the Commissar of the Stalingrad Front at that time Khrushchev was responsible for the morale of the 100,000+ combat and 200,000+ logistics troops serving under General Vasily Chuikov, so his role mostly consisted of paperwork and interviews with high-ranking officers and commissars. That said, both saw their share of unpleasantness in the course of visiting hospitals and attacks by German ground-attack aircraft, [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight which caused many of said visits and interviews to be conducted with additional blood and viscera]]. This, and probably a sense of lingering guilt about the horribly botched Kharkov offensive operation of summer 1942 (launched by Stalin on Khrushchev's recommendations against professional military advice), caused Khrushchev to become an alcoholic by 1943.

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Interestingly enough for someone remembered for his failed brand of Nuclear Brinkmanship, nuclear brinkmanship, personal accounts note him having a particular hatred and fear of war. Although both Khrushchev and Brezhnev, his then-right-hand man, served as Commissars to Red Army military units and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo were physically present around Stalingrad during the eponymous 1942-3 campaign]], neither was actually 'at the front' due to their rank. As the Commissar of the Stalingrad Front at that time Khrushchev was responsible for the morale of the 100,000+ combat and 200,000+ logistics troops serving under General Vasily Chuikov, so his role mostly consisted of paperwork and interviews with high-ranking officers and commissars. That said, both saw their share of unpleasantness in the course of visiting hospitals and attacks by German ground-attack aircraft, [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight which caused many of said visits and interviews to be conducted with additional blood and viscera]]. This, and probably a sense of lingering guilt about the horribly botched Kharkov offensive operation of summer 1942 (launched by Stalin on Khrushchev's recommendations against professional military advice), caused Khrushchev to become an alcoholic by 1943.
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[[AC:Fan Works]]
* Khrushchev makes a small appearance in ''Fanfic/TheFightWeChose'' during a meeting with the Soviet Communist Party; the main topic being about the ''Literature/{{Gate}}'' that opened up in the USA during the 60s. He is portrayed as a more reasonable voice against the war hawks of the USSR, citing that trying to forcibly take the Gate would only provoke a useless war with the United States for very little gain and advises to simply bide their time.
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Other notable events of his time in power include the launching of ''Sputnik'' and UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin's orbit around the Earth. On a less positive note, he crushed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 -- his first instinct had actually been to try using economic pressures to make the new government play nice to the Soviets, but UsefulNotes/YuriAndropov, the Soviet ambassador to Hungary and future head of the KGB, strong-armed Khrushchev into putting down the revolution by force -- and oversaw the construction of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall. A similar disaster was averted in Poland, where, after some violently suppressed workers' strikes and tense negotiations, a relatively moderate faction of the Communist Party led by Władysław Gomułka came to power in 1956, having convinced Khrushchev that Soviet-Polish relations would not be altered, and that a reformist approach would in fact strengthen communist doctrine in the country (this event is sometimes known as the Polish October). And yes, Khrushchev is partly to blame for the Crimean crisis in Ukraine. Although he was an ethnic Russian, he grew up near the Ukrainian border, his dad frequently took jobs in eastern Ukraine, and he eventually moved there himself and married a Ukrainian woman; as a result, Khrushchev [[ImmigrantPatriotism identified strongly with Ukraine in general and the Donbas in particular]], and [[PatrioticFervor he found it prudent to give away Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic]] in 1953. Finally, it should be noted that, although his efforts to improve the Soviet agriculture mostly failed[[note]]mainly because he attempted to introduce corn to so-called "Virgin Lands" which were unsuited for corn-based agriculture. This caused several tons of topsoil to just erode, making them even MORE unsuited for farming[[/note]], the improved relations with the West allowed the USSR to import grain and finally put a stop to the famines that plagued it since The Russian Civil War and the later collectivisation of agriculture in 1929 (and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI wartime Tsarist Russia]] before that, what with [[HeroicRROD the over-mobilization and goods-shortage crises]]).

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Other notable events of his time in power include the launching of ''Sputnik'' and UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin's orbit around the Earth. On a less positive note, he crushed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 -- his first instinct had actually been to try using economic pressures to make the new government play nice to the Soviets, but UsefulNotes/YuriAndropov, the Soviet ambassador to Hungary and future head of the KGB, strong-armed Khrushchev into putting down the revolution by force force, as he would later do to [[UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev Khrushchev's successor]] over the course of similar crises -- and oversaw the construction of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall. A similar disaster was averted in Poland, where, after some violently suppressed workers' strikes and tense negotiations, a relatively moderate faction of the Communist Party led by Władysław Gomułka came to power in 1956, having convinced Khrushchev that Soviet-Polish relations would not be altered, and that a reformist approach would in fact strengthen communist doctrine in the country (this event is sometimes known as the Polish October). And yes, Khrushchev is partly to blame for the Crimean crisis in Ukraine. Although he was an ethnic Russian, he grew up near the Ukrainian border, his dad frequently took jobs in eastern Ukraine, and he eventually moved there himself and married a Ukrainian woman; as a result, Khrushchev [[ImmigrantPatriotism identified strongly with Ukraine in general and the Donbas in particular]], and [[PatrioticFervor he found it prudent to give away Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic]] in 1953. Finally, it should be noted that, although his efforts to improve the Soviet agriculture mostly failed[[note]]mainly because he attempted to introduce corn to so-called "Virgin Lands" which were unsuited for corn-based agriculture. This caused several tons of topsoil to just erode, making them even MORE unsuited for farming[[/note]], the improved relations with the West allowed the USSR to import grain and finally put a stop to the famines that plagued it since The Russian Civil War and the later collectivisation of agriculture in 1929 (and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI wartime Tsarist Russia]] before that, what with [[HeroicRROD the over-mobilization and goods-shortage crises]]).
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In [[InsaneTrollLogic a classic piece of Khrushchev-ian logic]] Khrushchev later came to believe that [[AdultFear his familiarity with war's horrors]] meant that he could prove more able to stomach the possibility of a war than someone who had not experienced them (and therefore was even more scared of war) - namely the US President in 1962, UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy (who had 'only' served in the Navy). This proved not to be the case, as Khrushchev's harsher experiences seem to have inspired more fear than did Kennedy's.

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In [[InsaneTrollLogic a classic piece of Khrushchev-ian logic]] Khrushchev later came to believe that [[AdultFear his familiarity with war's horrors]] horrors meant that he could prove more able to stomach the possibility of a war than someone who had not experienced them (and therefore was even more scared of war) - namely the US President in 1962, UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy (who had 'only' served in the Navy). This proved not to be the case, as Khrushchev's harsher experiences seem to have inspired more fear than did Kennedy's.
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Other notable events of his time in power include the launching of ''Sputnik'' and UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin's orbit around the Earth. On a less positive note, he crushed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 -- his first instinct had actually been to try using economic pressures to make the new government play nice to the Soviets, but UsefulNotes/YuriAndropov, the Soviet ambassador to Hungary and future head of the KGB, strong-armed Khrushchev into putting down the revolution by force -- and oversaw the construction of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall. And yes, he is partly to blame for the Crimean crisis in Ukraine. Although he was an ethnic Russian, he grew up near the Ukrainian border, his dad frequently took jobs in eastern Ukraine, and he eventually moved there himself and married a Ukrainian woman; as a result, Khrushchev [[ImmigrantPatriotism identified strongly with Ukraine in general and the Donbas in particular]], and [[PatrioticFervor he found it prudent to give away Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic]] in 1953. Finally, it should be noted that, although his efforts to improve the Soviet agriculture mostly failed[[note]]mainly because he attempted to introduce corn to so-called "Virgin Lands" which were unsuited for corn-based agriculture. This caused several tons of topsoil to just erode, making them even MORE unsuited for farming[[/note]], the improved relations with the West allowed the USSR to import grain and finally put a stop to the famines that plagued it since The Russian Civil War and the later collectivisation of agriculture in 1929 (and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI wartime Tsarist Russia]] before that, what with [[HeroicRROD the over-mobilization and goods-shortage crises]]).

to:

Other notable events of his time in power include the launching of ''Sputnik'' and UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin's orbit around the Earth. On a less positive note, he crushed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 -- his first instinct had actually been to try using economic pressures to make the new government play nice to the Soviets, but UsefulNotes/YuriAndropov, the Soviet ambassador to Hungary and future head of the KGB, strong-armed Khrushchev into putting down the revolution by force -- and oversaw the construction of the UsefulNotes/BerlinWall. A similar disaster was averted in Poland, where, after some violently suppressed workers' strikes and tense negotiations, a relatively moderate faction of the Communist Party led by Władysław Gomułka came to power in 1956, having convinced Khrushchev that Soviet-Polish relations would not be altered, and that a reformist approach would in fact strengthen communist doctrine in the country (this event is sometimes known as the Polish October). And yes, he Khrushchev is partly to blame for the Crimean crisis in Ukraine. Although he was an ethnic Russian, he grew up near the Ukrainian border, his dad frequently took jobs in eastern Ukraine, and he eventually moved there himself and married a Ukrainian woman; as a result, Khrushchev [[ImmigrantPatriotism identified strongly with Ukraine in general and the Donbas in particular]], and [[PatrioticFervor he found it prudent to give away Crimea to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic]] in 1953. Finally, it should be noted that, although his efforts to improve the Soviet agriculture mostly failed[[note]]mainly because he attempted to introduce corn to so-called "Virgin Lands" which were unsuited for corn-based agriculture. This caused several tons of topsoil to just erode, making them even MORE unsuited for farming[[/note]], the improved relations with the West allowed the USSR to import grain and finally put a stop to the famines that plagued it since The Russian Civil War and the later collectivisation of agriculture in 1929 (and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI wartime Tsarist Russia]] before that, what with [[HeroicRROD the over-mobilization and goods-shortage crises]]).
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Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв, April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the guy who led the Soviet Union after UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, after a brief detour via [[UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov some other guy]]. In the USSR he was remembered as that ''utter and incompetent idiot'' [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets who destroyed the Red Army]] and was ''obsessed'' with missiles, practicing an ''absolutely idiotic'' brand of nuclear-blackmail/brinkmanship that nearly killed several hundred million people. In the West, he is remembered as a hotheaded buffoon who pounded his shoe on a table at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations. Whether the shoe-related incident really happened is a matter of some debate, but it has become a symbol of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar anyway. In Russia, he is remembered for his domestic work, particularly his (failed) efforts to improve Soviet agriculture by introducing corn to the USSR, and the Khruschyovkas, low-quality, very cookie-cutter style apartment buildings that were supposed to be a temporary measure to alleviate the housing shortage (they were partially successful in this) until "communism is achieved in 20 years or so". Obviously, this never happened, and many people still live in such buildings today.

Interestingly enough for someone remembered for his failed brand of Nuclear Brinkmanship, personal accounts note him having a particular hatred and fear of war. Although both Khrushchev and his right-hand man, later Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, served as Commissars to Red Army military units and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo were physically present around Stalingrad during the eponymous 1942-3 campaign]], neither was actually 'at the front' due to their rank. As the Commissar of the Stalingrad Front at that time Khrushchev was responsible for the morale of the 100,000+ combat and 200,000+ logistics troops serving under General Vasily Chuikov, so his role mostly consisted of paperwork and interviews with high-ranking officers and commissars. That said, both saw their share of unpleasantness in the course of visiting hospitals and attacks by German ground-attack aircraft, [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight which caused many of said visits and interviews to be conducted with additional blood and viscera]]. This, and probably a sense of lingering guilt about the horribly botched Kharkov offensive operation of summer 1942 (launched by Stalin on Khrushchev's recommendations against professional military advice), caused Khrushchev to become an alcoholic by 1943.

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Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв, April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the guy who led the Soviet Union after UsefulNotes/JosefStalin, after a brief detour via [[UsefulNotes/GeorgyMalenkov some other guy]]. In the USSR he was remembered as that ''utter and incompetent idiot'' [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets who destroyed the Red Army]] and was ''obsessed'' with missiles, practicing an ''absolutely idiotic'' brand of nuclear-blackmail/brinkmanship that nearly killed several hundred million people. In the West, he is remembered as a hotheaded buffoon who pounded his shoe on a table at the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations. Whether the shoe-related incident really happened is a matter of some debate, but it has become a symbol of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar anyway. In Russia, he is remembered for his domestic work, particularly his (failed) efforts to improve Soviet agriculture by introducing corn to the USSR, and the Khruschyovkas, low-quality, very cookie-cutter style apartment buildings that were supposed to be a temporary measure to alleviate the housing shortage (they were partially successful in this) until "communism is achieved in 20 years or so". Obviously, this never happened, and many people still live in such buildings today.

today. Finally, by many historians, he is viewed as the last Soviet leader to be a true believer in the cause of communism and who actively attempted to work towards the future promised by the ideology. In contrast, his eventual successor, UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev, more or less immediately abandoned any idea of building communism by a specific deadline, declaring that the status quo of "developed socialism" would be good enough, and aligned the Soviet Union's raison d'être from a vision of a brighter future to instead be firmly mired in the past; namely that the USSR had triumphed over Nazi Germany and that as such it were their destiny to vanguard against Nazism ever rising in the world again.

Interestingly enough for someone remembered for his failed brand of Nuclear Brinkmanship, personal accounts note him having a particular hatred and fear of war. Although both Khrushchev and his right-hand man, later Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev, his then-right-hand man, served as Commissars to Red Army military units and [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarTwo were physically present around Stalingrad during the eponymous 1942-3 campaign]], neither was actually 'at the front' due to their rank. As the Commissar of the Stalingrad Front at that time Khrushchev was responsible for the morale of the 100,000+ combat and 200,000+ logistics troops serving under General Vasily Chuikov, so his role mostly consisted of paperwork and interviews with high-ranking officers and commissars. That said, both saw their share of unpleasantness in the course of visiting hospitals and attacks by German ground-attack aircraft, [[UnusuallyUninterestingSight which caused many of said visits and interviews to be conducted with additional blood and viscera]]. This, and probably a sense of lingering guilt about the horribly botched Kharkov offensive operation of summer 1942 (launched by Stalin on Khrushchev's recommendations against professional military advice), caused Khrushchev to become an alcoholic by 1943.
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-->-- '''Nikita Khrushchev'''[[note]]Somewhat LostInTranslation. He merely meant that the U.S.S.R. would outlast the U.S. and thus be around to help dig its grave, not neccisarily that they would deal the actual killing blow. [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp Not that either actually happened, obviously]].[[/note]]

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-->-- '''Nikita Khrushchev'''[[note]]Somewhat LostInTranslation. He merely meant that the U.S.S.R. would outlast the U.S. and thus be around to help dig its grave, not neccisarily necessarily that they would deal the actual killing blow. [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp Not that either actually happened, obviously]].obviously.[[/note]]
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The bravest thing Khrushchev did was give his "Secret Speech" to the 20th Party Congress on the 25th of March 1956. In it he denounced Stalin's elevation of himself to godhood, his tyranny, his pettiness, and his incompetence before the entire leadership of the Soviet Union. He had a script, but he got so emotional he couldn't stick to it.[[note]]"He was a coward. He panicked! ''[[SuddenlyShouting NOT ONCE DURING THE WHOLE WAR DID HE DARE GO TO THE FRONT]]''"[[/note]] Even the original transcript, as read out to people by their managers, is said to have reduced some to tears. Of course, Khrushchev sidestepped the issue of his own complicity in Stalin's policies, let alone that of his audience which included Mikoyan and Molotov. Yes, ''[[ThoseWackyNazis that]]'' [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Molotov]]. Molotov and Malenkov would try to mount a coup against Khrushchev the following year in an attempt to restore Stalinism, but it failed and resulted in both being ReassignedToAntarctica (more specifically, Molotov ended up as Ambassador to Mongolia, while Malenkov got the even more humiliating job of managing a hydroelectric plant in Kazakhstan).

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The bravest thing Khrushchev did was give his "Secret Speech" to the 20th Party Congress on the 25th of March 1956. In it he denounced Stalin's elevation of himself to godhood, his tyranny, his pettiness, and his incompetence before the entire leadership of the Soviet Union. He had a script, but he got so emotional he couldn't stick to it.[[note]]"He was a coward. He panicked! ''[[SuddenlyShouting NOT ONCE DURING THE WHOLE WAR DID HE DARE GO TO THE FRONT]]''"[[/note]] Even the original transcript, as read out to people by their managers, is said to have reduced some to tears. Of course, Khrushchev sidestepped the issue of his own complicity in Stalin's policies, let alone that of his audience which included Mikoyan and Molotov. Yes, ''[[ThoseWackyNazis that]]'' [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII Molotov]].''that'' Molotov. Molotov and Malenkov would try to mount a coup against Khrushchev the following year in an attempt to restore Stalinism, but it failed and resulted in both being ReassignedToAntarctica (more specifically, Molotov ended up as Ambassador to Mongolia, while Malenkov got the even more humiliating job of managing a hydroelectric plant in Kazakhstan).

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