Khrushchev's Memoirs (Selected Works)

Author: (Russian) Nikita Khrushchev
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-02-01
Features: In a little while, every word spoken by those alive today will be worth its weight in gold. How much more so for those who once steered the helm. I would like to share my views on a series of issues. Based on my experience, I know that our next generation will desperately seek out every word about this very important period. We lived, created, and built a great nation during that time. I was lucky to be part of it. I participated in many decisions on major issues, in implementing those decisions, and in the events of that important period. Therefore, I believe I have a responsibility to share my views. —Nikita Khrushchev
The authoritative and most complete Chinese translation of Khrushchev’s Memoirs (in three volumes), personally edited and compiled by his son, Sergey, will be published by this press. This book is a selection from the memoirs of the former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev, documenting major events during his tenure as the highest leader of the USSR and significant experiences in his political career. The book contains approximately 350,000 words, compiled and published by Khrushchev’s son, with Zhang Zuwu of the Central serving as the translator. He is also the main translator of Gorbachev’s memoirs. The excerpt of my father, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev’s memoirs, that you are reading is only a part of the vast amount of material he dictated between 1967 and 1971. I became the editor and keeper of the manuscript purely by circumstance. Back then, helping my father write his memoirs could have brought great trouble. Authorities did everything they could to prevent the publication of Khrushchev’s memoirs, and they succeeded, at least in our country. Now everything has changed, but publishing has encountered new obstacles, primarily financial ones. Moreover, in the eyes of superficial readers, the comments of a deceased politician on a non-existent country and system hold no practical significance. Khrushchev’s memoirs, in their "obsolescence" and lack of relevance, bear some resemblance to the memoirs of another Russian reformer, Sergey Yulyevich Vitte. Both were written in secret and against official opposition. Both were published abroad first, while appearing in their homeland many years later, after the regime had changed, when denying the experience of the previous government and one’s own history had become the habit of most. Both are reflections of their time, deeply personal accounts of a nation at a crossroads. Both look back to the past while looking forward to the future. When Khrushchev began writing his memoirs, authorities seriously proposed restoring Stalin’s reputation. He believed their decision was extremely unwise and deeply harmful to the country. He resisted it to the best of his ability, telling the truth about Stalin and Stalinism. Here is the 20th Congress, which exposed the crimes of the system, steering the country from the path of war to the bumpy road of peaceful coexistence, turning away from the arms race to continuous disarmament, which would ensure the country’s security without hindering intensive economic development. Here is the story of attempts to reform our society and explore a rational economic structure—one that could help our country achieve my father’s ideal of "catching up with America," not in the production of nuclear missiles, but in the production of goods that would provide a decent life. He wanted to first ensure that the people of the country were "well-fed," matching the U.S. in the production of meat, milk, and butter. The Virgin Lands Campaign, the corn planting that drew many laughs (besides corn, there was also soy), and the policy of establishing large livestock complexes were heavily criticized at the time. Yet, it was in such complexes, not individual farms, that the U.S. produced chicken (which the Russians had already grown accustomed to calling "Bush legs"), pork, and beef. These topics all deserve serious study. Despite the mistakes, the living standards of residents were raised without imports of grain (except for the disastrous year of 1963). Unfortunately, not everything went as planned. Despite all the flaws and errors, Western scholars still believe that among the leaders of the Soviet Union in the 20th century, only Khrushchev left office with a country in better shape than when he took it from his predecessor.
Housing. Five-story apartment buildings, concrete prefabricated panels—nothing more than "Khrushchev-style slums." Why this path was chosen is detailed by Khrushchev in the book. He believed that without this, our country would never escape shanties and overcrowded public housing.
Economic Reform. The shift from ministries to State Committees for the National Economy, from vertical centralized management to regional management. This transition once had a positive impact on the economy. At the same time, it exposed the contradictions between the interests of state owners and regional elites. The final outcome of the reform was the irreversible restoration of that vertical line—no longer the one of the ministries, but the pyramid of power of the State Committees for the National Economy, regional and all-union.
Military Reform. Khrushchev understood that economically, we could not catch up with the U.S. in the foreseeable future. In this case, symmetrical military strategy, the establishment of balanced armed forces, and the consequences that followed—arms races—would lead to the economic collapse of our country. He believed the solution lay in asymmetrical military strategy, ensuring our security with hundreds (200–300) intercontinental ballistic missiles protected by a well-trained army of about 500,000 soldiers. We would not try to match the U.S. in the navy, air force, tank forces, or tactical nuclear forces. The vast savings should be used to develop the economy. Military reforms began immediately after Stalin’s death. The army was reduced from 5.5 million to 2.5 million. The costly construction of the surface navy was halted. The air force and artillery were downsized. Tank production was planned to be significantly reduced. This is why the military establishment disliked him.
Foreign Policy. How could our country avoid external threats? Khrushchev believed there was only one way: to force the U.S. to treat the USSR as an equal. In the face of a vast economic disparity, the only way to achieve this was to respond strongly to any move by the other side. Thus, crisis politics emerged: from the Suez Crisis of 1956 to the Cuban (Caribbean) Crisis of 1962. If you line them up, it becomes clear: thanks to both firm and cautious responses, the U.S. recognized our country’s superpower status, though only in a military sense. I do not expect everyone to agree with my assessment. Some may think I am biased. Of course, my views on that era and my father are subjective. They can only be so. But is there a non-subjective view? The past is the past, but without the past, there would be no present. The better we learn from the past, the fewer mistakes we will make in the future. Here, I sincerely thank Leonora Nikiforovna Fenogentova for her tireless efforts. She transcribed all the tapes of Khrushchev’s dictations into text under extremely difficult and hostile circumstances. I am also deeply grateful to Anatoli Yakovlevich Shevelevko for his efforts to correct the entire manuscript and prepare it for printing. Ahmed Ahmedovich Eskendrov published the full text of the memoirs in the Journal of Historical Problems.