Nikita Khrushchev became first secretary, (second in command) of the Moscow Communist Party in 1935 under Joseph Stalin.

In 1939, became a full

member of the Politburo.

Became Premier of the

Soviet Union in 1958. Khrushchev

Born in Kalinovka to an illiterate family in 1894.

Father worked as a farmer and a coal miner.

Family was unable to survive as farmers and moved to an industrial center in Ukraine in 1908.

Nikita began working in a factory.

At age 18, Khrushchev joined a group of workers who organized a strike for better working conditions.

Nikita continued his activism by helping organize strikes through 1916.

In 1917, Khrushchev joins Bolshevik forces during the Russian Civil War, and served as a political commissar. Russian Civil War Map-

Picture 2

Received training from the

Industrial Academy in Moscow,

and upon graduation, was

appointed a political post in

Ukraine.

After Stalin (right) won power

over Leon Trotsky and Nikolai

Bukharin, Khrushchev eventually

rose to first secretary of the

Communist Party in 1935.

Became a full member of the

Politburo in 1939.

Rise to power corresponded with

the Great Terror in Russia.

Joseph Stalin-Picture 3

In 1941, Khrushchev sent to head the Communist

Party in Ukraine.

After the Nazis were driven out of Ukraine in 1944,

Khrushchev was responsible for restoring agricultural

production, establishing order, and punishing traitors.

He returned to Moscow in 1949.

Stalin died in 1953. Khrushchev and

Nikolai Bulganin (right) won power over

Stalin’s successor Georgi Malenkov and

secret police chief Lavrenti Beria. Bulganin

became premier in 1955, but Khrushchev

was in charge of the Communist Party.

In 1956, Khrushchev gave his Secret

Speech to the 20th Party Congress,

attacking Stalin’s dictatorship and crimes

against the people. De-Stalinization .

Ordered an invasion on Budapest to

destroy 1956 Hungarian Revolution. App.

2500 civilians were killed and 13000 were

wounded. Nikolai Bulganin-Picture 4

Khrushchev was promoted to Premier of the Soviet Union when Nikolai Bulganin resigned from office in 1958. Khrushchev was Premier from 1958-1964.

Advocated many reforms with agriculture, industry, and administrative office.

Reform advocacy contributed to an upsurge of independence movements in Eastern Europe.

Believed in peaceful-coexistence with

the West, but still boasted about the

Soviet’s destructive power.

Khrushchev initiated the Soviet Space

Program that launched Sputnik,

giving the Soviet Union a head start in

the space race.

Also negotiated with John F. Kennedy

for a joint moon program, which

ended when Kennedy was

assassinated in 1963.

Khrushchev and Kennedy-Picture 5

Approved the construction

of the Berlin Wall in 1961,

further damaging relations

with the West.

Began the deployment of

nuclear weapons into Cuba,

leading to the Cuban

Missile Crisis of 1962.

Building the Berlin Wall-Picture 6

Soviet Launch Site in San Cristobal, Cuba

Reforms, agricultural stagnation, and erratic political policies had alienated him from many powerful Soviet political groups.

On October 15, 1964, Khrushchev was ousted

out of the Premiership by Leonid Brezhnev.

In 1966, Khrushchev was dropped from the Communist Party’s Central Committee.

Became one of Stalin’s top advisors as First Secretary of the Communist Party.

Policy of De-Stalinization drastically changed politics in the Soviet Union, such as independence movements in Soviet satellite nations and an end to the prominent role forced-labor played in the economy.

Became Premier of the Soviet Union in 1958. Believed in peaceful-coexistence with the West.Well-known for his liberalization policies and reforms.

Played a major role in many crises between the West

and Russia. (Berlin Wall, Cuban Crisis.)Khrushchev died on September 11, 1971.