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Delegates at this Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were given no advance warning of what to expect. Indeed, proceedings were opened by Khruschev's call for all to stand in memory of the Communist leaders who had died since the previous Congress, with Stalin being mentioned in the same breath as [[Klement Gottwald]]. Hints of a new direction only came out gradually over the next ten days, which had the effect of leaving those present highly perplexed. The [[Polish communist]] leader [[Bolesław Bierut]] died in [[Moscow]] shortly after attending the 20th Congress.

Delegates at this Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union were given no advance warning of what to expect. Indeed, proceedings were opened by Khruschev's call for all to stand in memory of the Communist leaders who had died since the previous Congress, with Stalin being mentioned in the same breath as [[Klement Gottwald]]. Hints of a new direction only came out gradually over the next ten days, which had the effect of leaving those present highly perplexed. The [[Polish communist]] leader [[Bolesław Bierut]] died in [[Moscow]] shortly after attending the 20th Congress.

The speech shocked delegates to the Congress, as it flew in the face of years of Soviet [[propaganda]], which had claimed that Stalin was a "wise, peaceful, and fair leader." After long deliberations, in a month the speech was reported to the general public, but the full text was published only in 1989. Not everyone was ready to accept Khrushchev new line. [[Albania]]n Communist leader Enver Hoxha, for instance, strongly condemned Khrushchev as "Marxist revisionist."<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/nov1960.htm Reject the Revisionist Theses of the XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Anti-Marxist Stand of Krushchev's Group! Uphold Marxism-Leninism! ]</ref>

The speech shocked delegates to the Congress, as it flew in the face of years of Soviet [[propaganda]], which had claimed that Stalin was a "wise, peaceful, and fair leader." After long deliberations, in a month the speech was reported to the general public, but the full text was published only in 1989. Not everyone was ready to accept Khrushchev new line. [[Albania]]n Communist leader Enver Hoxha, for instance, strongly condemned Khrushchev as "Marxist revisionist."<ref>[http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/hoxha/works/nov1960.htm Reject the Revisionist Theses of the XX Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Anti-Marxist Stand of Krushchev's Group! Uphold Marxism-Leninism! ]</ref>

== External links ==

== External links ==

*[http://www.archive.org/details/ReportOfTheCentralCommitteeOfTheCommunistPartyOfTheSovietUnionTo  Report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to the 20th Party Congress, February 14, 1956]

*[http://www.archive.org/details/ReportOfTheCentralCommitteeOfTheCommunistPartyOfTheSovietUnionTo  Report of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to the 20th Party Congress, February 14, 1956]