Anti-Party Group

Anti-Party Group. The Anti-Party Group was a short-lived, informal coalition of high-ranking Communist Party of the Soviet Union officials who, in June 1957, attempted to oust First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev from power. The group, composed largely of Stalinist conservatives, opposed Khrushchev's policies of de-Stalinization, his Secret Speech denouncing Joseph Stalin, and his erratic foreign and economic initiatives. Their failed coup attempt at a Presidium of the Central Committee meeting was reversed by the intervention of the wider Central Committee, solidifying Khrushchev's control and marking a pivotal moment in post-Stalin Soviet politics.

Background and Formation

The faction emerged from deep-seated political tensions following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. Khrushchev's rise was contested, and his 1956 Secret Speech at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which detailed Stalin's crimes, created profound shock and hostility within the Old Bolshevik elite. Key figures who had risen under Stalin's regime, such as Vyacheslav Molotov and Lazar Kaganovich, felt personally threatened by the de-Stalinization campaign and feared it would undermine the legitimacy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union itself. Further grievances accumulated over Khrushchev's controversial policies, including the Virgin Lands campaign, industrial reorganizations, and his handling of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Suez Crisis. By mid-1957, these opponents coalesced into a conspiratorial bloc seeking to exploit Khrushchev's perceived vulnerabilities following setbacks in the Eastern Bloc.

Key Members and Allegations

The core members of the group were Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov, and Lazar Kaganovich, all former close associates of Joseph Stalin and members of the powerful Presidium of the Central Committee. They were joined by Dmitry Shepilov, who was denounced as having "joined" them, and received varying levels of support from other Presidium members like Nikolai Bulganin and Kliment Voroshilov. The plotters accused Khrushchev of fostering a cult of personality, economic adventurism, and undermining the international communist movement through his destabilizing policies. They particularly condemned his attacks on Stalin's legacy, arguing it damaged the prestige of the Soviet Union and played into the hands of Western powers like the United States and NATO. The conspiracy was hatched during Khrushchev's absence from Moscow, with the plotters planning a swift vote in the Presidium to remove him from the post of First Secretary.

The 1957 Plenum and Defeat

On June 18, 1957, the conspirators called a meeting of the Presidium of the Central Committee and, by a majority vote of 7-4, moved to demote Khrushchev to the position of Minister of Agriculture. However, Khrushchev and his supporters, including Mikhail Suslov and Anastas Mikoyan, refused to accept the Presidium's decision, arguing that only the full Central Committee, which had elected him, could remove him. Khrushchev's allies, notably Marshal Georgy Zhukov, used Soviet Air Force aircraft to rapidly fly supportive Central Committee members from across the Soviet Union to Moscow. A marathon session of the Central Committee Plenum was convened from June 22-29. There, with the military backing of Georgy Zhukov, Khrushchev's supporters dominated the proceedings, passionately defending the Secret Speech and the Khrushchev Thaw. The plenum ultimately condemned the conspirators, labeling them the "Anti-Party Group," and expelled them from the Central Committee and Presidium of the Central Committee.

Aftermath and Historical Significance

The defeat of the Anti-Party Group was a decisive victory for Nikita Khrushchev, temporarily consolidating his power and allowing him to accelerate his reform agenda. The main ringleaders were not executed but were given minor posts far from Moscow; Georgy Malenkov was sent to manage a power station in Kazakhstan, Vyacheslav Molotov became ambassador to Mongolia, and Lazar Kaganovich was made director of a cement factory in the Ural Mountains. The event demonstrated the declining power of the Old Bolshevik elite and the increased institutional role of the broader Central Committee in resolving leadership disputes. However, Khrushchev's subsequent erratic rule and the alienation of powerful constituencies like the Red Army—leading to the dismissal of Georgy Zhukov—ultimately contributed to his own ouster in the 1964 Soviet coup d'état. Historically, the episode marked the last major attempt by Stalinist hardliners to reverse de-Stalinization and is seen as a critical juncture in the transition from the Stalin era to a more collective, though still authoritarian, form of rule in the Kremlin.

Category:Political history of the Soviet Union Category:1957 in the Soviet Union Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union