The Soviet Union Since The Fall Of Khrushchev

This book presents a new picture of the politics, economics and process of government in the Soviet Union under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev. Based in large part on original research in recently declassified archive collections, the book examines the full complexity of government, including formal and informal political relationships; economic reforms and nationality relations in the national republics of the USSR; the treatment of political dissent; economic progress through technological innovation; relations with the Eastern bloc; corruption and deceit in the economy; and the reform of the railways and construction sectors. The book re-evaluates the Khrushchev era as one which represented a significant departure from the Stalin years, introducing a number of policy changes that only came to fruition later, whilst still suffering from many of the limitations imposed by the Stalinist system. Unlike many other studies which consider the subject from the perspective of the Cold War and superpower relations, this book provides an overview of the internal development of the Soviet Union in this period, locating it in the broader context of Soviet history. This is the companion volume to the Jeremy Smith and Melanie Ilic’s previous edited collection, Soviet State and Society under Nikita Khrushchev (Routledge, 2009).

Thanks to Soviet secrecy, little was known about former premier Khrushchev during his career or after his ousting. Since the collapse of the USSR, archives have been declassified, allowing access to his memoirs and those of witnesses.

Kenez envisions that revolution as a crisis of authority that posed the question, "Who shall govern Russia?" This question was resolved with the creation of the Soviet Union.

Foreign and domestic policies of the USSR under the leadership of Brezhnev and Kosygin are discussed. It is concluded that Soviet policy abroad--both with regard to the contest with the West and the problems of Soviet leadership within the communist world--seems to present the new regime with challenges no less exacting than those faced by Khrushchev. It is also believed that in at least one respect, notably in Southeast Asia, the new regime finds itself in a position a good deal more critical than at the time it assumed power in Moscow.

Khrushchev: A Political Life traces the rise and fall of the late Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Drawing on newly available archival materials and a wealth of recently published Russian and Ukrainian sources, this standard biography provides much new information on Khrushchev's life and career. Khrushchev's ultimate failure to realise his vision of the Soviet future is linked to the unrealistic optimism of that vision as well as to the contradictions inherent in Khrushchev's views and policies.