Destalinization
By. Samantha Malinis
What is destalinization?
When Joseph Stalin died, March 5, 1953, Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev publicly denounced Stalin for jailing and killing loyal Soviet citizens. He made a policy called Destalinization which means to eliminate all memory of Joseph Stalin and his programs in the Soviet Union.
Who is Joseph Stalin?
Before Nikita Khrushchev, Stalin was the dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Stalin realised that Russia was far behind the west and they would have to modernise its economy very quickly if Russia was to survive. Which meant that if Russia wanted to survive the people, the workers, everybody had to work twice as hard. He forced rapid industrialization and the collectivization of agricultural land, resulting in millions dying from famine while others were sent to camps. Millions were killed in forced labor or starved during the ensuing famine. In estimates, the number of deaths for Stalin is from 2.5 million to 10 million which is way more than Hitler. Plus the total of murdered under Stalins reign, range from 10 million to 60 million which is a surprisingly a large amount.
Toppled statue of Stalin
People toppled down this statue to make them feel good because Stalin made their lives difficult and might of also killed one of your relatives. People toppling the statue down made them feel like there getting revenge on him.
Joseph Stalin
Nikita Khrushchev
How did the Russians feel about Stalin?
60% of Russians images Stalin as the cruel tyrant who murdered millions of people and the wise statesman who led the Soviet Union. Stalin is best remembered for his forced collectivization of farming, which led to famine and millions of deaths, and the Great Terror, during which thousands were executed and millions more sent to the Gulag for long terms of slave labor. A student Eugene "I think that Stalin's terror will be imprinted on people's minds for a long time." Even though I don't know a lot about my family and not sure if they were affected by Stalin but if I was affected by him and he killed one of my relatives they would be imprinted in my memory for the longest time.
My reaction
I wanted to do a project on destalinization because I thought it would be fun to find out more about how people disprize Stalin and know more of the history about it. To be honest I was interested a little bit but I couldn't find any more topics to talk destalinization. The only thing that actually interested me was how people actually feel about him.
Bibiolography
"Nikita Khrushchev Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
"Nikita Khrushchev." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
"Joseph Stalin." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
"Joseph Stalin Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television, n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
"Joseph Stalin (1879-1953)." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 15 Mar. 2016.
"Joseph Stalin - History Learning Site." History Learning Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
"Top 10 Most Evil Men - Listverse." Listverse. N.p., 05 Sept. 2007. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
"What Russians Think about Stalin." What Russians Think about Stalin. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.
"Russians And Stalin: 'What Is Not Positive In History, They Prefer To Forget'"RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.