Changes

====De-Stalinization and domestic policies====

By the end of 1955, due to the policy, pursued by Khrushchev, thousands of political criminals had returned home, and shared their experience in the Soviet labor camps. With several million political prisoners newly released, Khrushchev eased and freed the domestic political atmosphere. Continuing investigation into the abuses further revealed Stalin’s crimes to his successors. Khrushchev believed that once he successfully removed the stain of Stalinism, the Party would inspire even greater loyalty among the people. Beginning in October 1955, Khrushchev insisted on revealing Stalin’s crimes before the delegates to the upcoming 20th Party Congress. Some of his colleagues opposed the disclosure and managed to persuade him to make his remarks in a closed session. <ref>Nikita Khrushchev: Consolidation of power & his Secret Speech - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev#Consolidation_of_power.3B_Secret_Speech</ref>

The 20th Party Congress opened in 1956 , and Khrushchev delivered his so-called “Secret Speech” to a closed session of the Congress and strictly limited to a number of many Soviet delegates. The speech was the nucleus of a far-reaching de-Stalinization campaign intended to destroy the image of the late dictator as an infallible leader and to revert official policy to an idealized Leninist model. Observers outside the Soviet Union have suggested that Khrushchev’s primary purpose in making the speech was to consolidate his own position of political leadership by associating himself with reform measures while discrediting his rivals in the Presidium (Politburo) by implicating them in Stalin’s crimes.

The secret speech, although subsequently read to groups of party activists and “closed” local party meetings, was never officially published. Nonetheless, it caused shock and disillusionment throughout the entire Soviet Union, harming Stalin’s reputation and the perception of the political system and party that had enabled him to gain and misuse such great power. It also helped give rise to a period of liberalization known as the “Khrushchev thaw”thaw, ” during which censorship policy was relaxed, marking a Soviet literary Soviet renaissance. Thousands of political prisoners were released, and thousands more who had perished during Stalin’s reign were officially “rehabilitated”“rehabilitated. ”

The speech also contributed to the revolts that occurred later that year in Hungary and Poland, further weakening the Soviet Union’s control over the Soviet bloc and temporarily strengthening the position of Khrushchev’s opponents in the Presidium. Furthermore, through his Secret Speech , Khrushchev effectively denounced the "cult of personality" that surrounded Stalin and accused Stalin of the crimes committed during the Great Purges. This denunciation effectively alienated Khrushchev from the more conservative elements of the party. Moreover, it also resulted in a deepening wedge between the Soviet Union and China that led to the so-called Asian Cold War and the Sino-Soviet split later in 1960. <ref>Khrushchev’s Secret Speech and its effects - http://www.britannica.com/event/Khrushchevs-secret-speech</ref>