When Stalin died in 1953 he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev, who began a process of De-Stalinization to fight the abuse of power of cult of personality of the previous leader. Khrushchev allowed some level of freedom and speech. The relations with the capitalist bloc enhanced a lot in this period. However there were some critical moments due to Cuba or Berlin.

Leonid Brezhnev led the USSR between Khrushchev’s death in 1964 and 1982. He stopped all Khrushchev’s reforms. His external policy switched from coexistence to tension with the USA