Secret Speech of 1956

E83422

The Secret Speech of 1956 was a landmark address by Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denouncing Joseph Stalin’s cult of personality and political repressions, which triggered major shifts within the Soviet Union and the global communist movement.

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Observed surface forms (4)


Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Soviet document
historical event
political speech
alsoKnownAs Secret Speech of 1956
surface form: Khrushchev’s Secret Speech

On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences
Secret Speech of 1956
surface form: Secret Speech
classifiedAs secret at the time of delivery
condemns abuse of the secret police
mass arrests under Stalin
show trials of the 1930s
violations of socialist legality
countryOfOrigin Soviet Union
criticizes Joseph Stalin
Stalin-era political repression
Stalin’s cult of personality
date 1956-02-25
dateLeaked 1956
deliveredAt Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
surface form: 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
deliveredBy Nikita Khrushchev
deliveredTo delegates of the 20th CPSU Congress
hasAuthor Nikita Khrushchev
historicalSignificance turning point in Soviet history
turning point in the history of international communism
impact ideological crisis in many communist parties
reassessment of Stalinism worldwide
weakening of Stalin’s posthumous reputation
initiated de-Stalinization in the Soviet Union
intendedAudience closed session of Communist Party delegates
language Russian
leakedTo Western governments
Western media
officialTitle On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences
placeOfSpeech Moscow
policyAssociatedWith de-Stalinization
surface form: Khrushchev Thaw

partial liberalization in the Soviet Union
politicalContext de-Stalinization
politicalGoal distance CPSU from Stalin’s crimes
legitimize Khrushchev’s leadership
relatedConcept de-Stalinization
surface form: Khrushchev Thaw

de-Stalinization
relatedEvent Hungarian Revolution of 1956
resultedIn major shifts in the global communist movement
major shifts within the Soviet Union
topic Stalinist repressions
surface form: Stalinist purges

abuses of power under Joseph Stalin
cult of personality of Joseph Stalin
political repression in the Soviet Union
year 1956

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Secret Speech of 1956 alsoKnownAs Secret Speech of 1956
this entity surface form: Khrushchev’s Secret Speech
Secret Speech of 1956 alsoKnownAs Secret Speech of 1956
this entity surface form: Secret Speech
this entity surface form: Secret Speech
this entity surface form: Khrushchev’s Secret Speech
Polish October 1956 cause Secret Speech of 1956
this entity surface form: Khrushchev's Secret Speech
Nikita Khrushchev notableEvent Secret Speech of 1956
this entity surface form: Khrushchev's Secret Speech at the 20th Congress (1956)