?Khrushchev?s Rule Was Characterised By Foolish And Hare-brained Schemes, Brezhnev?s Offered Nothing Essay, Research Paper
?Khrushchev?s rule was characterised by foolish and
hare-brained schemes, Brezhnev?s offered nothing but stagnation.? Analyse the
domestic history of the USSR in the period 1953-1980 in the light of this
assertion.In 1953 the ruthless and powerful ruler of the USSR Josef
Stalin died thus ending a period of Russian history which saw the world?s first
communist state grow from a country crippled by civil war to one of the world?s
two superpowers. As with Lenin before him Stalin left no clear successor and it
wasn?t until 1956 that Nikita Khrushchev became the first notable leader of the
party (after Malenkov and Bulganin). Leonid Brezhnev then followed him as
leader. The rule of Khrushchev has been described, as being characterised by
hare-brained and foolish policies and the rule of Brezhnev has been described
as a time of stagnation. This essay will evaluate each of the leaders? domestic
policies and attempt to conclude whether these assertions are correct. One of Khrushchev?s first domestic policies once he had come
to power was the process of de-Stalinisation. This involved dismantling the
system that Stalin had created, and ending his reign of terror. It also tied in
with a number of his other domestic polices including harbouring the growth of
consumerism, and aiming to overtake the USA in consumerism. It all began in 1956 at the Twentieth Party Congress where
Khrushchev denounced Stalin in a bitter attack on his polices and his rule of
the USSR. The policy of de-Stalinisation involved releasing and pardoning tens
of thousands of the gulag inmates across the USSR, and turning the USSR away
from the ways of Stalin. This also involved talking of peaceful co-existence
with the west and re-patching a relationship with the Yugoslavian leader Tito
who Stalin had attempted to undermine in previous years. Khrushchev also changed the focus of the five-year plans
away from heavy industry, which Stalin had kept them focused on since their
creation, to consumer goods in an attempt to raise the standard of living within
the USSR. Khrushchev even boasted on a trip to the USA that the USSR would
overtake them within a few years. The policy of de-Stalinisation was a good idea on
Khrushchev?s part as the Soviet people had come to hate Stalin due to his reign
of terror and therefore changing that part of the country was a good move. It
was however unwise of Khrushchev to believe that he could completely remove
everything which Stalin had setup and had had influence over. The assertion
claims that Khrushchev?s rule was characterised by foolish hare-brained
schemes. This policy was neither hare-brained nor foolish in its implementation
but it was foolish in its belief that everything could be changed and that
people would forget Stalin?s regime. Again changing the focus of the five-year plans away from
heavy industry was a good idea yet had some problems. The five-year plans had
been shown to be flawed. They were inefficient and due to a lack of incentives
or punishments on the completion or failure of the five-year plan respectively,
the population were not compelled to meet the targets set. Khrushchev?s most ambitious policy was that of the Virgin
Lands, which he first implemented before he came to power in 1954. At the time
of Khrushchev?s rule it had been generally admitted that Stalin?s policy of
collectivisation was a failure and therefore Khrushchev being of a peasantry
background decided to change agricultural policy. He ended centralised
decision-making changing it to a local level. The Virgin Lands policy involved
using previously unfarmed or virgin areas of land for agriculture. Khrushchev
hoped to exploit these areas for agriculture. Some examples of virgin areas of
land included Siberia and Kazakhstan. Volunteers, primarily komosot or young communists were sent
along with 120,000 tractors to farm these areas. There were a number of problems with the Virgin Lands policy
which included a lack of enthusiasm within the groups of komosot, a lack of local knowledge, a lack of storage facilities
for crops produced and finally and most importantly the land chosen was
unsuitable for farming. These problems led to the failure of the Virgin Lands
policy and to a severe food shortage within the USSR. Their problem was so bad
Khrushchev was forced to import grain from the USSR?s arch enemy in the cold
war, the USA. This was a major humiliation for the USSR, which lost a lot of
prestige due to this failure. Overall the Virgin Lands scheme was a hare-brained idea on
Khrushchev?s part. The idea of being able to grow crops in areas not suitable
for doing so was absurd and therefore led to one of the most humiliating
incidents to occur
Khrushchev was removed from his position and it was one of those involved with
his sacking, Leonid Brezhnev, that became the new party leader. Brezhnev was
more like Stalin than Khrushchev and therefore slowed down the policy of
de-Stalinisation, which had been begun by Khrushchev. Brezhnev took time to consolidate his control of the Soviet
leadership only gaining supreme power in 1977 after being made head of state.
Brezhnev believed that Khrushchev had made too many changes of personnel during
his time as the party leader. This led to him not wanting to gain ultimate
power through the removal of people, then replacing them with people loyal to
him. He decided that he would gain his support by promoting his allies when the
position became vacant, usually via the death of the predecessor. The major job
Brezhnev had to make sure he had an ally at the head of was the KGB and he
secured this by appointing Yuri Andropov, quite early into his rule. (Who
happened to become the next leader of the USSR after Brezhnev.) Brezhnev?s unwillingness to promote quickly led to an
overall age increase. Within the politburo between 1960 and 1978 the average
age of members rose by ten years. This policy did lead to a stagnation of the
USSR, as there were no new ideas being circulated through the politburo, as the
personnel were not being replaced. Brezhnev also was unwilling, like Khrushchev before him, to
adapt or change the five-year plans. So the lack of incentives being offered to
workers and managers succeeded in keeping productivity levels low. The average
Soviet worker during his rule was half as productive as the average American
worker. This low productivity level led to the failure to complete the Ninth
five-year plans targets between 1971 and 1975 in certain areas, notably
agriculture and industry, although the production of consumer goods did
increase. This failure did lead to an increased stagnation of the Soviet Union
particularly its economy throughout the 1970?s and the 1980?s, even though
there were a number of huge industrial projects including the opening of gas and
oil fields in Siberia during the 1970?s. Brezhnev, again like Khrushchev before him, realised that
the USSR?s agriculture needed a major overhaul. This was especially necessary
after the failure of Khrushchev?s Virgin Lands policy to produce any extra food.
Brezhnev decided to allow increased ownership of private land to the peasants.
This meant that they could have their own plot of land and they could grow
their own food. The requirement of this policy was that any excess grown by the
peasants would be bought by the state. This policy led to peasants growing only
enough food to support themselves leading to Brezhnev having to again buy grain
from the USA. This was because the peasants chose to not sell any excess food
to the state but to use it for blat a
bartering system which operated across the whole of the Soviet Union. This
policy did not lead to the stagnation of Soviet agriculture it merely succeeded
in continuing the stagnation that had started under Khrushchev?s rule. The communist system was very rigid and allowed very few
opportunities for individual expression of one?s belief or thoughts. This lack
of expression led to a slow development of the economic and social structure,
as people were not allowed to put across their ideas and thoughts. This also
had some social consequences including a massive increase in alcoholism rates
then giving the USSR the highest rate in the world. This was along with one of
the highest rates of divorce and abortion in the world. This problem although
not created under the Brezhnev rule, was not solved and probably did worsen
throughout his rule and led to the increased stagnation of the Soviet Union. Overall it can be concluded that the assertion that
Khrushchev?s rule was filled with hare-brained schemes and that Brezhnev?s rule
was a period of stagnation is partially correct. Khrushchev?s rule was
characterised by a number of different policies most of which failed. These
however were not hare-brained or foolish when they were implemented, with the
exception of the Virgin Lands policy they were just not successful. However the
assertion about Brezhnev?s rule is correct, there was stagnation in the USSR
during his rule in the three main areas of the country the economy, the
agriculture and the social wellbeing of the people. This meant that by 1980 the
USSR had failed to prove that communism was better than capitalism and was a
weak country with an unproductive economy. It wasn?t until the appointment of
Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 that the USSR began a whole scale restructuring of
the Soviet system.
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