De-Stalinisation
What De-Stalinisation means in History A-Level, as defined for AQA, Pearson Edexcel.
Definitions of De-Stalinisation
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Reference: AQA
Ending mass terror and the cult of personality within the USSR, launched by the Secret Speech, while the Communist Party retained an absolute monopoly on political power.
A move away from Stalin's terror, launched in the 1956 Secret Speech, which denounced his cult of personality and purges.
The cause supported by reformers within the Communist Party, which hardliners opposed out of fear of losing control.
Process that aimed to legitimise Khrushchev's leadership and revive party norms, while preserving one-party rule.
The 1956 Secret Speech condemned Stalin's crimes, and this process removed his cult from public life.
Topics that use De-Stalinisation
- 1H Tsarist and Communist Russia, 1855–1964 – The Stalinist dictatorship and reaction, 1941–1964 (A-level only) (AQA A-Level)
- 2T The Crisis of Communism: The USSR and the Soviet Empire, 1953–2000 (A-level only) – De-Stalinisation, 1953–1964 (AQA A-Level)
- Communist government in the USSR, 1917–85 (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
- Paper 3, Option 38.1: The making of modern Russia, 1855–1991 - 4 Khrushchev and attempts to reform the Soviet system, 1956–61 (Pearson Edexcel A-Level)
Related terms
- Anti-party group
- Decentralisation
- Power vacuum
- Secret Speech
- Agricultural policy and food security
- Centralisation of power
- Collective leadership
- Cult of personality
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