The attention of the audience was then drawn to Lenin 's Testament , copies of which had been distributed , criticising Stalin 's " rudeness " . Further accusations , and hints of accusations , followed , including the suggestion that the murder of Sergey Kirov in 1934 , the event that sparked the Great Terror , could be included in the list of Stalin 's crimes . While denouncing Stalin , Khrushchev carefully praised the Communist Party , which had the strength to withstand all the negative effects of imaginary crimes and false accusations . The Party , in other words , had been a victim of Stalin , not an accessory to his crimes . He finished by calling on the Party to eradicate the cult of personality and return to " the revolutionary fight for the transformation of society . " The speech shocked delegates to the Congress , as it flew in the face of years of Soviet propaganda , which had claimed that Stalin was a wise , peaceful , and fair leader . After long deliberations , in a month the speech was reported to the general public , but the full text was published only in 1989 . Not everyone was ready to accept Khrushchev 's new line . Communist Albanian leader Enver Hoxha , for instance , strongly condemned Khrushchev as " revisionist " and served diplomatic relations . The speech was also seen as a catalyst for 1956 uprisings in Poland and Hungary , and was seen as a " major stimulus " to the Sino – Soviet split
Great Terror
Great Purge
20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union