After Stalin's death

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  • After Stalin's death (1953)
    • Khrushchev, Malenkov, Molotov and Beria shared power for 3 years
      • This leadership attempted to reform the Stalinist system
        • Ended the cult of personality
        • Reformed secret police
        • Followed new course in economic policy which placed greater emphasis on consumer goods
    • Peaceful coexistance
      • First used in 1952 by Malenkov but under Khrushchev became policy
      • Still believed the downfall of capitalism was inevitable
        • Best way of conducting relations in the meantime
      • Nuclear too dangerous to contemplate
      • Why this policy was pursued
        • Political
          • After Stalin's death (1953) Soviet leadership was to go through another time of rivalry.
          • Provided opportunity to have different approach to deal with the West
          • Both sides more likely to negotiate
        • Military
          • Cold war made dangerous by development of nuclear weapons
          • By 1955 both sides had hydrogen bombs
        • Economic
          • The arms race involved committing large sums of money to military
            • 1/3 of soviet economy was geared to the military sector
    • USA
      • Eisenhower won presidential election (1952)
        • New look
          • Took a hardline approach against communism
        • Brinkmanship
          • Not shying away from threatening nuclear response
        • Massive retaliation
          • Threatened the use of nuclear weapons against any agressive move by the communist bloc
        • He was more confident than Truman
        • Keen to avoid prospect of nuclear annihilation
        • A reasoned approach
          • Improving living standards by decreasing military expenditure.
    • Destalinisation
      • Attempts to liberalize the USSR after the death of Stalin
      • Promised a return to the policy of 'different roads to socialism'
      • Khrushchev's speech (1956)
        • Untitled

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