de-Stalinization
1.
the policy, pursued in most Communist areas and among most Communist groups after 1956, of eradicating the memory or influence of Stalin and Stalinism, as by alteration of governmental policies or the elimination of monuments, place names, etc., named for Stalin.
Source: "de-Stalinization." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2014.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/de-stalinization>.
Stalin Denounced by Nikita Khrushchev
Khrushchev denounced Stalin, the cult of personality he had fostered and the crimes he had perpetrated, including the execution, torture and imprisonment of loyal party members on false charges. He blamed Stalin for foreign policy errors, for the failings of Soviet agriculture, for ordering mass terror and for mistakes that had led to appalling loss of life in the Second World War and the German occupation of huge areas of Soviet territory.
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| Above is an image of Nikita Khrushchev, who denounced Stalin and told the people of his horrible acts to the people; like the gulags. |
History Today Volume 56 Issue 2 February 2006, n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2014.
<http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/
stalin-denounced-nikita-khrushchev>.
THE GULAG
Conditions in the camps were extremely harsh. Prisoners received inadequate food rations and insufficient clothing, which made it difficult to endure the severe weather and the long working hours; sometimes the inmates were physically abused by camp guards. As a result, the death rate from exhaustion and disease in the camps was high. After Stalin died in 1953, the Gulag population was reduced significantly, and conditions for inmates somewhat improved. Forced labor camps continued to exist, although on a small scale, into the Gorbachev period, and the government even opened some camps to scrutiny by journalists and human rights activists. With the advance of democratization, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience all but disappeared from the camps.
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| Above is an image of the statue of Stalin being taken down. |
Works Cited
| Cavendish, Richard. "Stalin Denounced by Nikita Khrushchev." History Today. History Today Volume 56 Issue 2 February 2006, n.d. Web. 9 Dec. 2014. <http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/ stalin-denounced-nikita-khrushchev>. "de-Stalinization." Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Dec. 2014. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/de-stalinization>."De-Stalinization of the Gulags." Matt's Russian History Blog. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://blogs.lt.vt.edu/vthistory/2013/11/02/ de-stalinization-of-the-gulags/>. "The Gulags." Revelations From the Russian Archives. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2014. <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/gula.html>. "Nikita Khrushchev." New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nikita_Khrushchev>. |
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ReplyDeleteI thought that your topic was interesting and your blog was very informative. It is interesting to learn about de-Stalinization and the end of the Stalinist regime because throughout One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich it seems like Stalin will be in power forever and that the Gulags will be in existence for a very long time. It seems like the Stalinist regime will always rule the Soviet Union. There is no mention of a time beyond Stalin’s rule in the book. Also, without Krushchev’s attack on Stalin, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich may not have ever been published and the true horrors of the gulag may never have been brought to light. Solzenheitsyn even said “If Khrushchev hadn’t attacked Stalin at precisely that moment, my story would have never been published.”
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed in the blog that you included not on the description about the conditions of the gulags but also khrushchev's reaction to the camps. This provided both sides of the camps. Although, I do think it would have been more helpful to the reader if you first described the camps then explained khrushchv's speech so that people could more thoroughly empathize with the shock of the crowd. Lastly, I loved the quote "Khrushchev’s audience heard him in almost complete silence, broken only by astonished murmurs." because it perfectly portrayed the tension and disbelief among the Russians' present.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed your blog. It is well written and clearly explains that Khrushchev blamed Stalin for things such as the decline of Russia agriculturally. The mention of the Gulags helps connect de-Stalinization to "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich."
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog topic was very interesting and that you did a really good job including the important information in your post. It was fascinating to read about what the Russian people changed after Stalin last his power. It was also interesting to understand that without de-Stalinization One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich or any book that explained the day to day duties of a person in the gulags and the tortures that that they endured would never have been published. Knowing this, that would mean that the outside world, meaning outside of the gulags, would be oblivious to what was happening in the gulags during the time Stalin's rule.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of de-stalinization was a nice way to start your post. I liked the second picture in which the statue of Stalin is being taken down. It demonstrates your point well and shows how he went for being seen as a godlike hero to a criminal. "The delegates did not dare even to look at each other as the party secretary piled one horrifying accusation on another for four solid hours." I like this part of your post because I thought it was fascinating to see how all his closet political members react to Khruschev's speech. It was nice to hear about how the gulags ceased to exist because we know how terrible the conditions were because of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. The blog post was good but I would have liked to read more about how the country got rid of Stalin's influence after Khruschev's speech.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of desalinization was beneficial because I defintely did not know what that meant, so it was nice to know background about something you're going to read. After watching the documentary about Stalin and his evil actions in class, I was wondering how his rule came to an end and why. This blog post gave me a clear answer, and made me happy to know that someone finally took action about Stalin and his horrible acts. Nikita Khrushchev was the first person to reveal all of Stalin's actions in public, and it was interesting to read about the crowds reactions and how astonished they were to hear it. Your information about the Gulags was also helpful, it was brief but summarized how cruel the gulags were and how bad the conditions were. I also liked the picture of propaganda of Stalin being taken down, it was appropriate for the post and helped create a nice visual of the peoples reactions to Khrushchev's speeches. In the documentary we watched, I saw that Stalin used positive propaganda about him so people would believe that he was helping the country and was a good ruler, so it's ironic that the people turned around and made negative propaganda about him. It's nice to see that the Gulags were ultimately ended as a result of Khrushchev's revolution, due to reading the novel and seeing Ivan and his colleagues struggled in the Gulags.
ReplyDeleteThis log is well written and concise with it's information. I like how you started the blog with important info and got more specific as you went on. The second paragraph is very interesting, and I like how you tried to relate your topic to the gulags in order for the post to be more suited towards the book.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to learn about the Gulag, which is a prominent part of “One Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich”. This was particularly interesting “Forced Labor camps continued to exist, although on small scale, into the Gorbachev period and the government even opened some camps to security by journalists and human rights activist. With the advance of democratization, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience all but disappeared from the camps.” This showed that the Gulags were going to continue to be a scary and significant part of Russia’s history.
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