Khrushchev's Purges & the Rise of Soviet Party Nomenklatura

After Stalin died, Khrushchev began a severe decentralization of the Soviet economy. In February 1957, the Soviet ministries were abolished and were instead replaced by the Sovnarkhozy, headed either by the the regional councils and Party members (Siegelbaum).

The Sovnarkzhoy caused chaos in the economy and were for this reason replaced during the 1965 Kosigyn reforms with the ministries again. As the CIA suggests in regards to the 1965 reforms, the “restoration of the economic ministries and the centralization of responsibility for some key functions in newly created state committees had a positive impact, eliminating the near-chaotic situation created by Khrushchev’s organizational innovations” (CIA 1977, p. 17).

The Sovnarkhozy caused chaos in the Soviet economy, but it did also win the corrupt Party members' loyalty to Khrushchev. It was a bribe that Khrushchev gave to Party members in order to win their loyalty and bring about the first steps to the creation of the Party nomenklatura.

Nevertheless, within the Party, there were members that opposed the Khrushchevite bourgeois liberalization.

In late June 1957, the meeting of the Party Presidium took place. Kaganovich, Molotov, Bulganin, Shepilov, Malenkov, Pervukhin, and Saburov formed the seven Party Presidium members, out of the 11 to vote for Khrushchev's removal from power, to be replaced by Bulganin as the head of the Soviet state (Svolik 2012).

Khrushchev refused, to the surprise of the seven Party Presidium members. Instead, Khrushchev argued that a vote by the Party's Central Committee (CC) had to take place to decide whether Khrushchev shall be removed. The seven Presidium members accepted this.

From this moment on, everything turned into Khrushchev's favor and the seven Presidium members lost ground.

Khrushchev, in the previous months had been able to win Zhukov's and Serov's favors. Zhukov, under Stalin and after World War II, had been demoted because of his greed for power. Yet, Khrushchev brought Zhukov back to power, giving him new promises beside Zhukov's own popularity for defeating the Nazis in World War II. Serov on the other hand, had been pleased by Khrushchev because of Khrushchev's execution of Beria, thus giving Serov the leadership of the NKVD/KGB.

Zhukov and Serov used their airplanes to transport Party Central Committee members to the Central Committee meeting (Siegelbaum). There, Zhukov and the Party members overwhelmingly condemned the seven Party presidium members, labeling them as the "Anti-Party Group." Voroshilov, who initially sided with the "Stalinist" "Anti-Party Group" was also pushed into retreat. The "Anti-Party" Group, the seven Presidium members lost their positions and were demoted (Svolik 2012).

The Khrushchevite clique reigned; the nomenklatura entrenched its power further and further in the years to come. Zhukov was later demoted as well, due to Khrushchev's fear of Zhukov's putschist mentality.

In 1961, the Soviet leadership officially ended the Dictatorship of the Proletariat. In 1962, there was a "Stalinist resurgence" this time from the thousands of working class protesters in Novocherkassk, who were asking the prices of meat to not be raised and the corruption of the nomenklatura to end . Yet they were shot at by the police (Ivanov).

References

Ivanov, Y. (2017, June 2). The Unknown History of Soviet Resistance to Khrushchev: The Novocherkassk Massacre. Retrieved July 1, 2018, from http://www.stalinsociety.org/2017/06/02/the-unknown-history-of-soviet-resistance-to-khrushchev-the-novocherkassk-massacre/

Khrushchev Expels the 'Anti-Party Group'. (2016, January 19). Retrieved July 20, 2018, from http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1956-2/the-anti-party-group/the-anti-party-group-texts/khrushchev-expels-the-anti-party-group/

McNeal, R, Hodnett G. 'Resolutions and Decisions of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union: The Khrushchev Years'. Retrieved August 1, 2018, from https://books.google.ca/books?id=ODQ5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT175&lpg=PT175&dq=Pervukhin%20%22Saburov%22%20Anti%20Party%20group&source=bl&ots=CLyBDShvFb&sig=A2tQpumNjZG4nPbkB6j-6urHMlw&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwif2O-g4OPcAhUUFzQIHZD4CXsQ6AEwCXoECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=Pervukhin%20%22Saburov%22%20Anti%20Party%20group&f=false

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE SOVIET ECONOMY: THE CEASELESS SEARCH FOR PANACEAS. (n.d.). Retrieved October 5, 2017, from https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000292221.pdf

Siegelbaum, L. (2017, May 21). The Anti-Party Group. Retrieved August 1, 2018, from http://soviethistory.msu.edu/1956-2/the-anti-party-group/

Svolik, M. W. (2012). The Politics of Authoritarian Rule. Retrieved July 15, 2018, from https://books.google.ca/books?id=6fUgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA98&lpg=PA98&dq=Zhukov transported Central Committee members&source=bl&ots=SLb1JhDXYz&sig=GZE-_PzHsT-5udH0gw2NYWLSV5Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi8iKWsmLbcAhUEBjQIHZ4lBBYQ6AEwCnoECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=Zhukov transported Central Committee members&f=false