Why did Khrushchev criticize Stalin's policies?
Because it was the truth, comrades! The 'Secret Speech' was not a game; it was a painful necessity. The excesses, the purges, the absolute power concentrated in one man – that is not Marxism-Leninism. It is a distortion, a perversion. The cult of personality breeds fear and stifles initiative. We needed to unleash the potential of the collective, of the people, not crush them under one man's boot. True communism comes from the masses, not from dictatorial whims. We had to cleanse the party and the country.
Ask Nikita Khrushchev the follow-up →