21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Name	21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Native name	XXI съезд КПСС
Date	27 January–5 February 1959
Venue	Kremlin Palace of Congresses
Location	Moscow
Convoked by	Nikita Khrushchev
Participants	Delegates from Soviet Union republics and communist parties
Preceding	20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Succeeding	22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

21st Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was convened in Moscow from 27 January to 5 February 1959, following the political shifts after the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and occurring during the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, involving delegates from republics of the Soviet Union and representatives of international communist movements such as the Communist Party of China, Communist Party of Cuba, Communist Party of Great Britain and other parties. The congress addressed continuing debates over de-Stalinization, economic development plans like the Seven-Year Plan and foreign policy issues related to the Cold War, the Warsaw Pact, and relations with the United States, People's Republic of China, and Non-Aligned Movement states.

Background and Lead-up

The convocation followed the political aftermath of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and Khrushchev's 1956 Secret Speech, during which tensions among figures such as Georgy Malenkov, Vyacheslav Molotov, Lazar Kaganovich, Leonid Brezhnev, and Anastas Mikoyan influenced party dynamics, while industrial and agricultural debates involved ministries led by technocrats associated with Aleksei Kosygin and planners influenced by the Gosplan (USSR). Internationally, the Soviet intervention in Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Sino-Soviet relationship with leaders like Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and Liu Shaoqi colored preparations, and diplomatic events such as the Geneva Conference and visits involving Dwight D. Eisenhower informed strategic discussions. Economic indicators tied to the Five-Year Plans of the Soviet Union and industrial policy debates involving enterprises in Moscow, Leningrad, and the Ural Mountains region framed delegate priorities.

Proceedings and Key Resolutions

Opening speeches featured Nikita Khrushchev and delegations from parties including the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, Socialist Unity Party of Germany, Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, Polish United Workers' Party, and representatives from Workers' Party of Korea, expressing positions on decolonization, nuclear strategy, and socialist construction. The congress adopted resolutions on the Seven-Year Plan, industrialization targets referencing enterprises like the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and initiatives in the Baikal–Amur Mainline area, and issued statements on the Soviet space program achievements involving programs tied to Sputnik and projecting competition with Explorer 1 and missions associated with agencies like NASA. Cultural and scientific policies referenced institutes such as the Russian Academy of Sciences, debates on literature addressing authors like Mikhail Zoshchenko and Alexander Solzhenitsyn were noted in passing, while foreign policy resolutions addressed relations with Albania, Yugoslavia, Egypt, India, and Czechoslovakia.

Leadership Elections and Appointments

The congress confirmed a Central Committee membership that included long-standing figures like Nikita Khrushchev, Nikolai Podgorny, Leonid Brezhnev, Averky Aristov, and Alexander Shelepin, and elected a Politburo/Presidium composition reflecting alliances and rivalries involving Vyacheslav Molotov and Lazar Kaganovich; appointments affected key ministries and organs including the Council of Ministers (USSR), the KGB, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union), connecting to diplomats such as Andrei Gromyko and technocrats like Aleksei Kosygin. Delegates debated candidacies influenced by factional alignments tied to the Leningrad affair legacy and profiles of regional leaders from Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, and Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic.

Policy Debates and Ideological Issues

Intensive debates concerned de-Stalinization policies initiated after Khrushchev's Secret Speech and the limits of criticism regarding figures such as Joseph Stalin and policies associated with the Great Purge. Economic doctrine arguments juxtaposed central planning advocates linked to Gosplan (USSR) and managers of heavy industry at Red October (Volgograd) against proponents of agricultural reforms influenced by collectivization legacies and experiments with virgin lands campaign initiatives led by figures like Ismail Yusupov and critics in republican parties. Foreign policy and ideological tensions drew in positions from delegations of the Communist Party of China under Mao Zedong, debates on peaceful coexistence espoused by Nikita Khrushchev versus revolutionary approaches favored by elements sympathetic to Fidel Castro and movements in Algeria and Vietnam. Cultural policy disagreements involved intellectuals and institutions including the Union of Soviet Writers, composers like Dmitri Shostakovich, and filmmakers associated with the Soviet film industry.

Domestic and International Impact

Domestically, the congress influenced planning cycles in the Five-Year Plans of the Soviet Union and administrative practice within ministries and regional Soviet Republics such as Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, affecting industrial projects in the Donbas and agricultural policy in the Kazakh SSR. Internationally, resolutions affected relations with the People's Republic of China, Albania, Yugoslavia, and parties in Latin America including the Communist Party of Cuba under Fidel Castro and connections to movements in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, while shaping Soviet positions toward NATO states such as United Kingdom and France and engagements with United Nations diplomacy involving Andrei Gromyko.

Aftermath and Legacy

In the years after the congress, policies endorsed there contributed to leadership consolidations leading toward the prominence of figures like Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin in subsequent decades, influenced the trajectory of the Sino-Soviet split, and intersected with later events including the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and evolving Soviet approaches to detente. Historical assessments reference archival materials, memoirs of participants such as Anastas Mikoyan and contemporaneous accounts in newspapers like Pravda and Izvestia, situating the congress within continuities from the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to later reforms and the eventual dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Category:Communist Party of the Soviet Union congresses