The Personality Cult and its Consequences (Russian: О культе личности и его последствиях), commonly known as the Secret Speech or the Khrushchev Report, was a report to the 20th Party Congress on February 25 1956 by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. In the speech, Khrushchev criticized actions taken by the regime of Joseph Stalin, particularly the purges of the military and the upper Party echelons, and the development of Stalin's personality cult...
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The Personality Cult and its Consequences (Russian: О культе личности и его последствиях), commonly known as the Secret Speech or the Khrushchev Report, was a report to the 20th Party Congress on February 25 1956 by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. In the speech, Khrushchev criticized actions taken by the regime of Joseph Stalin, particularly the purges of the military and the upper Party echelons, and the development of Stalin's personality cult, while maintaining support for the ideals of Communism by invoking Vladimir Lenin.
The speech was a milestone in the Khrushchev Thaw. It was also a sign of an intense power struggle within the Soviet leadership in which Khrushchev made an effort to discredit those who had survived the long rule of Stalin, notably Lavrentiy Beria. Superficially, the speech was an attempt to draw the Communist Party of the Soviet Union closer to Leninism. Khrushchev's aim, however, was primarily to garner public support for the arrest and execution of Beria...
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