Nikita Khrushchev facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Nikita Khrushchev
Никита Хрущёв |
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First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union | |
In office September 14, 1953 – October 14, 1964 |
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President | Kliment Voroshilov Leonid Brezhnev Anastas Mikoyan |
Premier | Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin Himself |
Preceded by | Joseph Stalin |
Succeeded by | Leonid Brezhnev |
Premier of the Soviet Union | |
In office March 27, 1958 – October 14, 1964 |
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First Deputies | Frol Kozlov Alexei Kosygin Dmitriy Ustinov Lazar Kaganovich Anastas Mikoyan |
Preceded by | Nikolai Bulganin |
Succeeded by | Alexei Kosygin |
Personal details | |
Born | Kalinovka, Dmitriyevsky Uyezd, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire |
15 April 1894
Died | September 11, 1971 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
(aged 77)
Nationality | Soviet |
Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Spouse(s) | Yefrosinia Khrushcheva (1916–1919, died) Marusia Khrushcheva (1922, separated) Nina Khrushcheva (1923–1971, survived as widow) |
Signature | ![]() |
Nikita Khrushchev
Никита Хрущёв |
|
---|---|
![]() |
|
First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union | |
In office September 14, 1953 – October 14, 1964 |
|
President | Kliment Voroshilov Leonid Brezhnev Anastas Mikoyan |
Premier | Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin Himself |
Preceded by | Joseph Stalin |
Succeeded by | Leonid Brezhnev |
Premier of the Soviet Union | |
In office March 27, 1958 – October 14, 1964 |
|
First Deputies | Frol Kozlov Alexei Kosygin Dmitriy Ustinov Lazar Kaganovich Anastas Mikoyan |
Preceded by | Nikolai Bulganin |
Succeeded by | Alexei Kosygin |
Personal details | |
Born | Kalinovka, Dmitriyevsky Uyezd, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire |
15 April 1894
Died | September 11, 1971 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
(aged 77)
Nationality | Soviet |
Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
Spouse(s) | Yefrosinia Khrushcheva (1916–1919, died) Marusia Khrushcheva (1922, separated) Nina Khrushcheva (1923–1971, survived as widow) |
Signature | ![]() |
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (15 April 1894 – 11 September 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. He ruled from 1953–1964.
Contents
Early life
Nikita was born in the town of Kalinovka in Russia. He later moved to Ukraine. He worked in mines, and became part of the Bolshevik movement. He was a political commissar in the Red Army in the Russian Civil War and again in World War II and moved his way up in the Communist Party, eventually becoming trusted by Joseph Stalin. When Stalin died, Georgy Malenkov and several others including Khrushchev shared power. Eventually Khrushchev became the leader.
He died of heart disease on 11 September 1971 in Moscow, aged 77.
"De-Stalinization"
When Nikita became the leader of the Soviet Union, he began something he called "De-Stalinization". He made a secret speech, in which he denounced Stalin as a man who committed many murders of innocent people. In early 1956, he took down all posters and statues of Joseph Stalin. Also, he moved Stalin's grave to a place where people could not see it.
Relations with the "West"
He also had better contacts with the western countries like the USA, Britain, and France. This means the USSR and the western world were friendlier. He visited America in 1959. During this visit, Khrushchev spoke at the United Nations and visited where he wanted, including destinations such as New York and Hollywood. However, his visit to Disneyland was cancelled for security reasons.
But the USSR and the US still did not trust each other. In 1962 America and the USSR had a Cuban Missile Crisis which could have led to nuclear war but didn't. Khrushchev had bargained with the Americans to get rid of the missiles they had placed in Turkey, for the missiles in Cuba were the only way for withdrawal.
Relations with China
Also, during this time, the Soviet Union became a lot less friendly with China. Because the Chinese leader Mao Zedong liked Stalin, he did not like it when Khrushchev became friendlier with the west, and when Nikita Khrushchev began a "destalinization" campaign.
Preceded by Josef Stalin |
First Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party 1953–1964 |
Succeeded by Leonid Brezhnev |
Preceded by Nikolai Bulganin |
Prime Minister of the Soviet Union 1958–1964 |
Succeeded by Alexey Kosygin |
Images for kids
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Khrushchev (second from right) poses for a photo alongside Joseph Stalin (far right) sometime during the 1930s.
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Regional party leaders in 1935. In the front row sits Nikita Khrushchev (Moscow), Andrei Zhdanov (Leningrad), Lazar Kaganovich (Ukraine), Lavrentiy Beria (Georgia), and Nestor Lakoba (Abkhazia) (behind him stands Mir Jafar Baghirov).
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A photo of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev after being devastated by the Second World War.
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Georgy Malenkov, the man who briefly succeeded Stalin as leader of the Soviet Union.
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Khrushchev featured on the November 1953 cover of TIME after becoming First Secretary of the Communist Party
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General Secretary Khrushchev speaking before the 20th CPSU Congress in 1956
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Khrushchev, his wife, his son Sergei (far right) and his daughter Rada during their trip to USA in 1959
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Khrushchev (right) with cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin, Pavel Popovich and Valentina Tereshkova, 1963
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Khrushchev and Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser aboard a train returning to Cairo from Alexandria, during a visit by Khrushchev to Egypt, 1964.
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Khrushchev with Vice President Richard Nixon, 1959
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Khrushchev featured as Time Magazine's Man of the Year for 1957 after the launch of Sputnik
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Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy, Vienna, June 1961
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The maximum territorial extent of countries in the world under Soviet influence, after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 and before the official Sino-Soviet split of 1961
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Khrushchev & Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej at Bucharest's Băneasa Airport in June 1960. Nicolae Ceaușescu can be seen at Gheorghiu-Dej's right hand side.
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Khrushchev (left) and East German leader Walter Ulbricht, 1963
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Khrushchev with Mao Zedong, 1958
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Nikita Khrushchev with Anastas Mikoyan (far right) in Berlin
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Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet "On the transfer of the Crimean Oblast". In 1954, the Soviet leadership, which included Khrushchev, transferred Crimea from Russian SFSR to Ukrainian SSR.