A Peek Into Leah's Life

Okay... I'm really not obsessed with Kruschev, but he is more interesting than Lenin. Anyways, this is a random example of the teacher side of Leah mixed with cramming for a test. :)
An essay and a quiz!
Khrushchev Quiz

and the essay.... :) (due to time constraints this is only a brief essay that was quickly thrown together to organize my thoughts, it is no way a representation of my knowledge of Khrushchev or my writing abilities)

What were the Khrushchev years all about? It was a very pivotal point in history as the country attempted to recover from the Stalin years as well as work it’s way through many foreign and domestic issues. It was a time where the Soviet Party was being redefined.

Khrushchev had the difficult task of being Stalin’s successor. Essentially that meant that he had to start tearing down before he could begin to build up. Stalin had been a blight in Soviet history, with his great purges forever marring his name. Although Khrushchev was never able to fully finish the de-Stalinization process, he was able to make significant progress as is noted by the success of his Secret Speech. This document criticized Stalin’s purges and his use of the personality cult. While this caused strained relations with China, it also caused such a great reaction in the Polish president that he died of a heart attack while reading it. Despite the varying reactions, the USSR was ready for a change and Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization was that change.

Besides the challenges of de-Stalinization, Khrushchev also faced the difficulty of being one of the main four powers during the Cold War. This was a huge responsibility that demanded quick thinking, skillful negotiation, and being always on guard. While Khrushchev maintained diplomatic relations with the United States, they were far from pleasant ones. Whether it was dealing with Eisenhower or John F. Kennedy, the relationship was strained. His term was marked by the international affairs of the U-2 incident and the Cuban Missile Crises. While neither of these incidents put him on good standing with the United States, they always battled things with negotiation. John F. Kennedy found this especially difficult when he noted to his brother that with Khrushchev it is always give and never take.

But the difficulties in foreign relations were not limited to the United States, Khrushchev also found himself in strained relations with China. Although he had originally set out to help Mao in his new communist regime, the two found that they were irreparably differing in their causes. Although they had similar government forms, Khrushchev was more concerned about improving within the communist bloc rather than spreading communism across the globe. Additionally Mao was infuriated by Khrushchev’s Secret Speech and the fact that China had not been consulted about it in advance. Mao thought that de-Stalinization was a grave mistake. He also believed that the détente relations with the United States were harmful to the regime. For these reasons the relationship between Khrushchev and Mao turned sour.

On the domestic level Khrushchev made many beneficial reforms. One of his first reforms involved the Central Committee. This reform created legal changes that allowed for a more open and public law system. Khrushchev also sought to build the agriculture movement both in it’s actuality within the country and in the realm education. Khrushchev has been quite impressed with Iowa and it’s corn crop. He sought to imitate that and Iowa State University. These reforms helped bolster the suffering and stagnate Soviet Union.

When it came time for Khrushchev to retire he didn’t put up a fight. He felt that he had done all that he should have and he was willing to let them pick up the pieces and fight on their own. Although Brezhnev had been conspiring behind Khrushchev’s back during while Khrushchev was absent from Moscow, he took it modestly and with much grace. He retired peacefully and eventually died of heart disease.