Official reason: old age & health, however the real reasons were due to his hare brained unsuccessful shemes, hasty conclusions, rash decisions & actions based on wishful thinking.
Main reasons for K's downfall= De-Stalinisation, Economic Policy Failures & Foreign policy Failures (Cold War).
Political Failures is also a reason; these were influenced & are addressed under De-Stalinisation & Foreign Policy Failures.
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De-Stalanisation
Influenced K's attitudes & ideas,such as his political ones.
He also appeared anti Stai in the way he had handled foreign country relationships, this made him highly unpopular.
De-Centralisation: Existing ministers in Moscow were abolished & replaced by 105 regional ministers correspondiing to existing administrative regions.
Party influenced these minitries- central planning principle remaining.
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Economic Policy Failures
1954- Virgin Land Schemes:initially successful as total grain harvest had amost doubled from 1953-58, however from 58 the VLS was a failure due to unsuitabe soil, hasty planning, inexperienced management & insufficient fertilisers to replenish the soil.
1956-65 Seven-Year Plan: were some impressive gains with gross output of steel coal & oil increasing by 60-80%, however it didn't meet plan targets as well as:
Resources got diverted to the wrong places, they ended up stranded in railway sidings.
Managers were afraid to innovate with new methods, due to fear of disrupting production.
Was replaced by the 7th Five-Year Plan in 1961.
Situation by 1964:only 5/1000 citizens owned a car, 82/1000 owned a TV & only 40/1000 owned a refrigerator; were falling well behind the West.
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Foreign Policy Failures
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis=K had looked undeniably weak; it was humiliating how he had given in to Americ (* Stalin wouldn't have).
K had lost face when he had removed his missiles publicly from Cuba, whereas Kennedy was seen as though he fought down Communism; this essentially forced K to resign.
1960s Split with Communist China=Mao Zedong didn't agree with K's De-Stalinisation policy, hw saw Khrushchev as weak & non-aggressive.
International relations were one of Khrushchev's pivotal downfalls.
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Anti-Party conspiracy
May 1957= Presidium menbers; Malenkov, Molotov,Bulganin & Kaganovich plotted against Khrushchev as they were opposing his party influence.
The fact that his own party had detested him demonstrates how unpopular he was as a leader, especially as his reforms hadn't succeeded.
His populist brusque style was disliked; his personality had also contributed to his downfall.
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