In Soviet history, Kruschev's Thaw or Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period between the end of 1950s and the beginning of 1960s, when repressions and censorship reached a low point. In Russian, the term is Khrushchovskaya Ottepel or simply Ottepel («хрущёвская о́ттепель»). The term was coined after Ilya Ehrenburg's 1954 novel The Thaw, Оттепель (text in original Russian), sensational for its time. State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... Nikita Khrushchev in 1962 Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: Ники́та Серге́евич Хрущёв) (nih-KEE-tah khroo-SHCHYOFF) (April 17, 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ... // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (Илья́ Григо́рьевич Эренбу́рг) (January 27, 1891–August 31, 1967) was a Soviet Jewish writer and journalist whose 1954 novel gave name to the Khrushchev Thaw. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the West, Khrushchev's Thaw is known as a thaw in the icy tension between the United States and the USSR during the Cold War. The tensions were able to thaw because of Khrushchev's de-Stalinisation of the USSR and peaceful co-existence theory and also because of US President Eisenhower's cautious attitude and peace attempts. For example, both leaders attempted to achieve peace by attending the 1955 Geneva International Peace Summit and developing the Open Skies Policy and Quest for Arms Agreement. The leaders’ attitudes allowed them to, as Khrushchev put it, “break the ice”. The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their alliance partners. ... Peaceful coexistence was a theory developed during the Cold War among Communist states that they could peacefully coexist with capitalist states. ... Dwight David Eisenhower, (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969, popularly known as Ike) was an American soldier and politician. ...

Khrushchev's Thaw developed largely as a result of Khrushchev's theory of peaceful co-existence which believed the two superpowers (USA and USSR) and their ideologies could co-exist together, without war (peacefully). Khrushchev had created the theory of peaceful existence in an attempt to reduce hostility between the two superpowers. He tried to prove peaceful coexistence by attending international peace conferences, such as the Geneva Summit, and by travelling internationally, such as his trip to America’s Camp David in 1959. Main Lodge at Camp David during Nixon administration, February 9, 1971. ...

This spirit of cooperation was severely damaged by the U2 spy plane incident. The Soviet presentation of downed pilot Gary Powers at the May 1960 Paris Peace Summit and Eisenhower's refusual to apologize ended much of the progress of this era.

External link

• SovLit - Free summaries of Soviet era books, many from the Thaw Era