Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (English pronunciation: /nɪˈkiːtə sɜrˈɡeɪ.əvɪtʃ ˈkrʊʃ.tʃɛv/) (April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) led the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the...
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Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (English pronunciation: /nɪˈkiːtə sɜrˈɡeɪ.əvɪtʃ ˈkrʊʃ.tʃɛv/) (April 15, 1894 – September 11, 1971) led the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the world's early space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev.
Khrushchev was born in the Russian village of Kalinovka in 1894. He was employed as a metalworker in his youth, and during the Russian Civil War was a political commissar. With the help of Lazar Kaganovich, he worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. He supported Stalin's purges, and approved thousands of arrests. In 1939, Stalin sent him to govern...
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