Khrushchev and the thaw

Series: World history from 1917 to the present Unit II - Revolution in Russia part 7

Duration: 20

Year Published: 1970

Creator: Time-Life

Format: 16mm

Color: B&W

Sound: sound

Description: In March 1953, Stalin died, concluding a brutal reign of terror in the Soviet Union. By the end of 1954, Nikita Khrushchev, son of illiterate peasants, emerged as the country's most powerful figure. This documentary portrait outlines the various projects undertaken in Khrushchev's de-Stalinization program. Intent on raising food production, Khrushchev mandated the use of innovative agricultural techniques and instituted a vast plan to cultivate the nation's great plains. Eager to close the gap with the western industrialized nations, the Russian leader also promoted technical education with particular stress on science, engineering and Language study, health care and the wider availabilty of products in the country's shops. In 1961, the Soviet Union, a keen player in the Space Race, surprised the West by launching Sputnik I. Though Khrushchev permitted a measure of cultural freedom, unheard of during the Stalinist era, the government still maintained control over television, radio and newspapers; western artforms, especially music, were denigrated. While Note worthy for its overtures to the West and relaxation of power over the Soviet satellite countries, Khrushchev's rule was also marked by serious international incidents: the revolution in Hungary, tensions with China and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Khrushchev fell from power in 1964 inculcating in the Russian people a new experience of freedom and greater expectations for the future.