The Nineteenth Party Congress opens after a long gap

The Soviet Union and allied governments created Comecon to coordinate economic relations in the emerging Eastern Bloc. It offered a framework for trade and planning but also reinforced Moscow’s...

The successful test ended the U.S. monopoly on nuclear weapons and intensified the arms race. Soviet scientific work and industrial mobilization occurred in a state system marked by secrecy, forced...

The meeting opened negotiations over the relationship between the Soviet Union and the newly founded People’s Republic of China. Their talks revealed both revolutionary solidarity and bargaining...

The treaty established a formal alliance and economic cooperation between the two states, replacing an earlier agreement tied to the Nationalist government. The relationship was consequential for...

North Korean forces invaded South Korea. Newly available Soviet records show Stalin approved Kim Il Sung’s plan after seeking assurances about Soviet and Chinese involvement. The war devastated Korean...

The government accused mostly Jewish physicians of conspiring to murder Soviet leaders. The campaign intensified state antisemitism; Stalin’s death soon halted the case, and his successors later...

Stalin’s death ended nearly three decades of personal dictatorship. His rule left a transformed industrial and military power, alongside mass famine, executions, forced labor, deportations, and a...

The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued an amnesty that released many prisoners serving shorter sentences and reduced penalties for some offenses. It did not free most political prisoners, but it...

Beria was arrested by other leaders of the collective leadership that emerged after Stalin’s death and later executed. His removal revealed how the security apparatus and elite competition shaped...

At the Twentieth Party Congress, Nikita Khrushchev condemned Stalin’s cult of personality and purges, beginning official de-Stalinization. The speech exposed some crimes while limiting criticism of...