Influence Of The 20th Congress Of Communist Party Of Soviet Union And "the Sixties"

At the20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) held on14-25February1956, First Party Secretary Khrushchev criticized the "personality cult" ofStalin in a secret report which defamed and totally negated Stalin and dealt a heavy blowto people's belief in communism, the Soviet socialist system and the internationalcommunist movement.The so-called "thawing" process started by the20th Congress, which, from today'spoint of view, carried some of "bourgeois liberalization" characteristics, had anfar-reaching adverse impact on the Soviet Union.While Khrushchev's criticism of Stalin did not negate the fundamental principles ofthe Soviet socialist system,"the Sixties" as represented by Gorbachev who had grown upunder the influence of the so-called "20th Congress spirit", carried out the bourgeois"liberalization" in the second half of the1980s that completely denied the Soviet socialistsystem under the pretext of reform.They first inherited what Khrushchev did in totally negating Stalin, carried out amore open "glasnost" movement to deny the Soviet history and Soviet system attributingall the problems of the Soviet society to so-called "Stalinism", mounted an expandedcriticism of the Soviet system and history, and eventually embarked on a path ofdemocratic socialism that abandoned party leadership, socialism and Marxist theory.Gorbachev also inherited Khrushchev's theories such as "the party of the wholepeople" and "State of the whole people" that aimed at abandoning proletarian dictatorshipand ran counter to Marxism and Leninism. While adopting Khrushchev's bourgeoishumanitarian thought, Gorbachev put forward the theories of "humane democraticsocialism" and "putting the values of mankind above all".He further developed Khrushchev's thinking of abandoning proletarian dictatorshipand declared the Communist Party of the Soviet Union as "a political organization thatunited Soviet citizens on a voluntary basis" and represented "the common interests of theSoviets". He gave up the CPSU's leadership position, introduced the multi-party system, andultimately dissolved the CPSU under the push of the democrats.By changing the proletarian nature and guiding ideology of the Party, the CPSUGeneral Secretary Gorbachev finally dissolved the central leadership mechanism of hisown party.It was Khrushchev who changed the proletarian nature of CPSU like no one hadever done. The destruction Gorbachev did to the cause of the Soviet communism can beequated to what Khrushchev did at the20th and22th CPSU Congress.It is of great academic value and practical relevance to study "the Sixties" in relationto the20th CPSU Congress, trace back the ideological and political cause of the fall of theCPSU and reveal how Khrushchev had developed his erroneous philosophy.