who was the leader of the soviet union in 1945?
Joseph Stalin
contradiction
 In 1952 , Stalin repeatedly proposed a plan to unify East and West Germany under a single government chosen in elections supervised by the United Nations if the new Germany were to stay out of Western military alliances , but this proposal was turned down by the Western powers . Some sources dispute the sincerity of the proposal . 

entailment
 Stalin died in 1953 , which was followed by a partial thaw in Poland . Nikita Khrushchev became first secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . The PZPR 's Second Congress deliberated in March 1954 . Cyrankiewicz , previously replaced by Bierut , was returned to the post of prime minister ( to remain in this capacity until December 1970 ) . The Six @-@ Year Plan was adjusted to increase production of items for popular consumption . Khrushchev , present at the Congress , asked Bierut for the reasons of the continuing detention of Gomułka , " a good communist " ; Bierut denied having specific knowledge of Gomułka 's imprisonment . 

entailment
 Shortly after taking office , Yanayev joined a group of more conservative Communist politicians who hoped to persuade Gorbachev to declare a state of emergency , led by KGB chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov . 

contradiction
 After the death of Joseph Stalin , Nikita Khrushchev became the Soviet leader following the deposition and execution of Lavrentiy Beriya and the pushing aside of rivals Georgy Malenkov and Vyacheslav Molotov . On 25 February 1956 , Khrushchev shocked delegates to the 20th Congress of the Soviet Communist Party by cataloguing and denouncing Stalin 's crimes . As part of a campaign of de @-@ Stalinization , he declared that the only way to reform and move away from Stalin 's policies would be to acknowledge errors made in the past . 

entailment
 The primary Soviet leader was Marshal Semyon Timoshenko , a veteran of World War I and the Russian Civil War . Timoshenko had achieved some success at the Battle of Smolensk in 1941 but was eventually defeated . Timoshenko orchestrated the victory at Rostov during the winter counter @-@ attacks and more success in the spring offensive at Kharkov , before to the battle . Overseeing the actions of the army was Military Commissar Nikita Khrushchev . 
