The Keys ep7 The Khrushchev Thaw
The two biggest shocks in the history of the USSR both occurred in mid-winter: Gorbachev’s Perestroika in January 1987 and Khrushchev’s Thaw in February 1956. Were they caused by a longing for spring amid a harsh winter?
It all started with a funeral bell announcing the death of Stalin on 5 March 1953. The news quickly reached the furthest corners of the Soviet empire, even the labour camps. Most significantly for Latvians, the Siberian deportees returned home.
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