Khrushchev The Secret Speech

In March 5, 1953 Joseph Stalin (1878- 1953) who had fiercely ruled the Soviet Union since 1928, passed away at the age of 73. Consequently, Nikita Khrushchev (1894- 1971) emerged victorious and became first secretary of the Communist Party. Khrushchev is known for being responsible for the “de-Stalinization” of the Soviet Union. Additionally, he was a major protagonist for supporting the development of the early Soviet space program, and for moderately implementing liberal reforms in capacities with domestic policy.
Stalin's death led to a temporary “warm up” in Cold War tensions. As a result of Stalin’s demise, “Austria regained its sovereignty and became an independent,” then a “neutral nation after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country.” The following year, in February 25, 1956 Khrushchev condemned Stalin and his policies at the 20th Communist Party conference. This historic elocution by Khrushchev is known as “The Secret Speech.” After a summit between President Eisenhower and the new Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in Geneva, the USSR revealed its plans to reduce its military forces by more than 600,000 troops. Not long after his “Secret Speech”, Khrushchev called for "peaceful coexistence" between the East and West.
The perspective
As introduce in “The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: A History in Documents”, more than “100,000 workers and students demanded a democratic government, the withdrawal of Soviet troops, and the release of Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty, who had been held in solitary confinement since the end of 1948.” This resulted in “sixteen Soviet divisions and 2,000 tanks crushed the Hungarian revolution after Hungary's Premier Imre Nagy promised Hungarians free elections” and the termination of the one-party system, then furthermore criticized the Warsaw Pact. Some 200,000 Hungarians fled the country after the suppression of the uprising.