The death of Stalin was an emotional and chaotic time for those living in the Soviet Union. Stalin’s true “cult of personality” showed itself when tens of thousands of Soviet citizens travelled to Moscow in order to see and pay respects to Stalin’s body. Soviet citizens wept in the streets and left roses and wreaths for the deceased dictator. After Stalin’s the party had to decide what their next actions were going to be. Post-Stalin leadership was very nervous of Soviet people and did not want Stalin’s death to send them into mass hysteria. There was a radical shift away from what the party wanted, to what the people wanted. The party feared that if they did not ultimately do what the people wanted, the people would revolt and destroy the
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The limitations of discussion, personal autonomy, and political criticism were opened up like they had never been before in the USSR. Those who were wrongly imprisoned in the Soviet Gulag labour camps were rehabilitated and reintegrated into Soviet society. The Criminal Code of 1958 helped establish people’s courts and limited the powers of the KGB. The people’s courts protected the people from being unfairly judged by the KGB. They practiced simple law and enforced communist morality. The KGB was no longer allowed to be both judge and punisher, only the courts would be allowed to issue sentences on Soviet citizens. These courts required hard evidence and had to actually have a trial. Khrushchev enacted a volunteer police force to enforce the law and also encourage better morality; they often had to arrest many drunks due to rampant alcoholism in the Soviet Union. The KGB still had large amounts of power and frequently violated the law, doing massive spy operations on Soviets and practiced putting pressure on court decisions. There was more “freedom” to speak as a Soviet citizen, but the USSR was still very much a surveillance state and one could still be punished for speaking too harshly against the party or …show more content…
This was an extremely risky move for the Soviet leadership. Intellectuals and party members became gradually more bold in their criticisms of the communist government. Dissidents in the republics were getting more intense and the want for autonomy was great.Khrushchev believed that nationalities would not become a real obstacle to the USSR, and that eventually the various people who made up the Soviet Union would grow closer culturally until nationalities no longer existed. This, in the near future, would prove to be a detrimental flaw in soviet leadership ideology.Protests took place in Poland and Hungary over the news of Stalin’s atrocities to the USSR. The Polish revolt was resolved after their displays of non-violence in their protesting. The party leadership could not ignore the popular opinion of the people in Poland. The Polish uprising and with the usurpation of their current regime and Poland came under the control of Gomulka. The same , however,could not be said for the Hungarian protests. In Hungary, the revolt was violent and the protesters were armed. There was an uncontrollable explosion of public revolt and was suppressed violently by Khrushchev with tanks and troops. By doing this, Khrushchev sets the precedent of military invasion of the republics if they are losing control or swaying their governments away from communist ideology. This completely changes
The limitations of discussion, personal autonomy, and political criticism were opened up like they had never been before in the USSR. Those who were wrongly imprisoned in the Soviet Gulag labour camps were rehabilitated and reintegrated into Soviet society. The Criminal Code of 1958 helped establish people’s courts and limited the powers of the KGB. The people’s courts protected the people from being unfairly judged by the KGB. They practiced simple law and enforced communist morality. The KGB was no longer allowed to be both judge and punisher, only the courts would be allowed to issue sentences on Soviet citizens. These courts required hard evidence and had to actually have a trial. Khrushchev enacted a volunteer police force to enforce the law and also encourage better morality; they often had to arrest many drunks due to rampant alcoholism in the Soviet Union. The KGB still had large amounts of power and frequently violated the law, doing massive spy operations on Soviets and practiced putting pressure on court decisions. There was more “freedom” to speak as a Soviet citizen, but the USSR was still very much a surveillance state and one could still be punished for speaking too harshly against the party or …show more content…
This was an extremely risky move for the Soviet leadership. Intellectuals and party members became gradually more bold in their criticisms of the communist government. Dissidents in the republics were getting more intense and the want for autonomy was great.Khrushchev believed that nationalities would not become a real obstacle to the USSR, and that eventually the various people who made up the Soviet Union would grow closer culturally until nationalities no longer existed. This, in the near future, would prove to be a detrimental flaw in soviet leadership ideology.Protests took place in Poland and Hungary over the news of Stalin’s atrocities to the USSR. The Polish revolt was resolved after their displays of non-violence in their protesting. The party leadership could not ignore the popular opinion of the people in Poland. The Polish uprising and with the usurpation of their current regime and Poland came under the control of Gomulka. The same , however,could not be said for the Hungarian protests. In Hungary, the revolt was violent and the protesters were armed. There was an uncontrollable explosion of public revolt and was suppressed violently by Khrushchev with tanks and troops. By doing this, Khrushchev sets the precedent of military invasion of the republics if they are losing control or swaying their governments away from communist ideology. This completely changes