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Khrushchev's secret speech and the purge of the party in service to de-Stalinization was a fairly major turning point in the evolution of Communism and the Soviet Union.

To some extent, I think some degree of "de-Stalinization" was inevitable. Not even the most amoral and blood-soaked of Stalin's subordinates seem to have wanted to continue his policies. I am not sure if a denunciation of Stalin was inevitable though. Especially if someone like Molotov, who was more connected with Stalin's policies, came to power.

So for the sake of argument, let's assume that whoever succeeds Stalin, implements largely the same practical policy changes to those undertaken under Khrushchev in OTL, but there is no public denunciation of Stalin. Instead, at the worst, there is perhaps a quiet party line that "Stalin's glorious successes were achieved at painful cost and it's a jolly good thing that we don't have to sacrifice like that again" or simply the party stops talking about Stalin so much, tapering off the adulation aimed at him without condemning him.

So what impact does that have?

I suspect that it would overall be better for the Soviets. The Soviet Union was Stalin's system. To condemn Stalin was ultimately to condemn the system he created. All of the people in power there were Stalin's people, the helping hands in his crimes, which meant that condemning Stalin was also criticizing themselves. Further, Stalin was actually fairly popular, and while condemning Stalin scored points with the intelligentsia and the West, it alienated many ordinary citizens who had either seen their lives improve under Stalin or who had sacrificed so much in Stalin's name. Also, it weakened relations with Mao (who, though he hardly had an easy relationship with Stalin, respected the senior tyrant and almost seems to have been offended on Stalin's behalf, accelerating his split with the Soviets) and disrupted the Satellite regimes and undermined those who had built their careers on obedience to Stalin.

What do other folks reckon?

fasquardon
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