diplomats in the U.S.S.R., had included criticism of Stalin, especially the concept of one-man rule. It became known as “The Secret Speech.” The open sessions, which had been reported on by U.S. At a closed session on the last day, Nikita Khrushchev gave a speech denouncing Stalin.
The party Congress took place in Moscow from February 14 to February 25. In a statement that soon became supremely ironic, the guidance stated “The 20th Party Congress will probably not bring any surprises on policy issues.” Thus, the Western Powers were astounded when in March 1956, word began to leak out that Stalin had been censured on February 25 at the Twentieth Party Congress. The Department of State and the United States Information Agency (USIA) sent out a policy statement on the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on February 8, 1956. In 1956, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union held the first party Congress after the death of Stalin, the twentieth in a line going back to before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. at the time of his death was such that his body was placed in the mausoleum in Red Square in which Soviet founder V.I. ( See this post for a humorous reaction to his death.) His standing in the U.S.S.R. Josef Stalin presided over the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) from 1928 until he died in March 1953.
Today’s post was written by David Langbart, archivist in Textual Reference at the National Archives at College Park, MD.