Khrushchev’s “Secret Speech”

On the evening of February 25, 1956, Khrushchev made a speech entitled “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences” to all the delegates of the 20th National Congress of the C.P.S.U. (B), on the eve of the closing session.

This speech was in fact not included on the official agenda of the 20th CPC National Congress. In the brief interval between the election of the Central Committee and the forthcoming nomination of the Presidium, Khrushchev, the newly elected First Secretary of the Party, took advantage of the favorable moment when there were no restrictions on his power to make this report. This report was drafted by a special group, and after discussion and study by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, it was agreed that Khrushchev would deliver it on behalf of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The report exposes Stalin’s serious mistakes, such as the great cult of the individual, the expansion of the purges, mistakes in the relations between the southern countries and the Soviet Union, and Stalin was totally rejected. After the report, there was no general discussion and no special resolutions were adopted. A few days later, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union issued instructions to communicate the contents of the report within the scope of the Party members, and then within the Party organizations of all factories, institutions, as well as other sectors. Finally, it should be conveyed to the outside party, i.e., shared with the Soviet people. The text of the report was sent to the leaders of the Communist parties of the socialist and the capitalist countries and was soon publicized abroad. The “Secret Speech” had aroused strong repercussions in the Soviet Union and abroad. Although the report exposed some of Stalin’s grave mistakes or problems, it did not make a historical, scientific, and comprehensive analysis of Stalin’s merits and demerits throughout his revolutionary career, which caused an internal chaos in the international communist movement. Imperialists and reactionaries of various countries took this event as an opportunity to launch a wave of anti-Soviet, anti-communist, and anti-socialist campaigns.