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The '''20th Congress''' of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] was held during February 14 to February 26, [[1956]]. It is known especially for [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s "On the Personality Cult and its Consequences", which denounced the personality cult regime and dictatorship of [[Joseph Stalin]].

The '''20th Congress''' of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] was held during February 14 to February 26, 1956. It is known especially for [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s "On the Personality Cult and its Consequences", which denounced the personality cult regime and dictatorship of [[Joseph Stalin]].

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.