In March of 1953, Joseph Stalin died under suspicious circumstances, ending his quarter-century-long reign over the Soviet Union. With his death, the party machine he established gradually crumbled as various personalities tried to consolidate power. The eventual victor was Nikita … Continue reading →
Tag Archive for succession
Khrushchev and the Twentieth Party Congress
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The death of Joseph Stalin in 1953 proved to be a pivotal time for the Soviet Union. The loss of a leader who had wielded so much executive and coercive power over the previous three decades, and whose “cult of personality” had made him a hero and a legend in the eyes of the common […]