"Communism in 20 years" was a slogan put forth by
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (– 11 September 1971) was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964 and chairman of the country's Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. During his rule, Khrushchev s ...
at the
22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (russian: XXII съезд КПСС) was held from 17 to 31 October 1961. In fourteen days of sessions (22 October was a day off), 4,413 delegates, in addition to delegates from 83 foreign ...
in 1961. Khrushchev's quote from his speech at the Congress was from this phrase: "We are strictly guided by scientific calculations. And calculations show that in 20 years we will build mainly a
communist society
In Marxist thought, a communist society or the communist system is the type of society and economic system postulated to emerge from technological advances in the productive forces, representing the ultimate goal of the political ideology of co ...
".
In his speech, Khrushchev promised that
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
would be built "in the main" by 1980. His assertion that "The current generation of
Soviet people will live under communism" was the final phrase of the
Third Program of the CPSU The Third Program of the CPSU is the main document of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, adopted at its 22nd Congress on October 31, 1961. The main goal of the program was to create a plan for the construction of communism. (It was the first ...
, which was adopted at the congress.
"
omethingwill survive centuries" is a popular Russian cliché. The latter political slogan is attributed to Kremlin speechwriter
Elizar Kuskov, who allegedly quipped "this slogan will survive centuries", expressing a cynical attitude as to whether the goal could genuinely be attained.
See also
*
Real socialism
Real socialism, better known as actually existing socialism or developed socialism (), was an ideological catchphrase popularized during the Brezhnev era in the Eastern Bloc countries and the Soviet Union.
Notes
References
{{USSR-stub
1961 in the Soviet Union
Ideology of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Leninism
Nikita Khrushchev
Political catchphrases
Soviet phraseology