De-Stalinisation? Grassroots Responses to the XXth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in France's ‘Var rouge’.

The XXth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in February 1956 was one of the most extraordinary events in the history of the communist movement, taking the world by surprise by its ‘revolutionary’ content and non-confrontational overtones. The occasion served as a platform for Nikita Khrushchev's de-Stalinisation programme, which was to underpin fundamental reforms in Soviet domestic and foreign policy. Reactions to the Congress on the part of communists in the West have hitherto been analysed at macro levels, with focus on the strategic responses of political and geographical elites, whereas those of the largely ‘Stalinist’ party-base have been for all intents and purposes ignored. This article draws for the first time on the testimonies of 25 informants active in 1956 at all levels of the French Communist Party Var Federation to provide a grassroots perspective on the issues. It allows us to consider key questions from new angles and, as a result, to reconsider our overall interpretation of the ways in which ordinary communists responded to this pivotal event. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]