This research paper discusses and analyzes the reforms initiated and carried out by Nikita Khrushchev (b.1894-d.1971) as leader of the Soviet Union. In a number of areas Khrushchev attempted to improve the performance of the Soviet state and its economy and to remove or ameliorate many of the worst features of the Soviet system under his predecessor, Joseph Stalin. His most lasting reforms were political. He and his colleagues in the collective leadership of the Soviet Union (after a rocky beginning) worked out a system for an orderly and peaceful transfer of power after the bloodbaths and purges of the Stalinist era. However, Khrushchev's efforts to deStalinize the Soviet Union's internal workings did little to curb the arbitrary and repressive nature of the Leviathan state created by his predecessors or render it more responsive to the needs of the Soviet people. The cultural thaw which occurred under his aegis had a partially liberating effect on the intelligentsia; but it was carried out in an inconsistent and ultimately counterproductive manner. Unintended consequences of Khrushchev's efforts to deStalinize the Soviet Union were the loosening of its control over Eastern Europe and growing tensions with its Chinese ally.
Khrushchev undertook only half-hearted efforts to decentralize and make more efficient the Soviet command and control economy, which by the end of his term in office began showing signs of deteriorating. Khrushchev gave very high priority to improving the productivity of Soviet agriculture but largely failed in that endeavor. The primary reasons for the incomplete and mediocre results of Khrushchev's reforms was the inability of the Soviet system to reform itself and the powerful forces within the government and the Communist Party which resisted change. However, Khrushchev because of his ideological rigidity, his penchant for unrealistic schemes and his own erratic and impulsive personality and temperament con...