# Khrushchev Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (1894-1971), Soviet leader; first secretary of the Communist Party (1953-1964); premier of Soviet Union (1958-1964). He led a campaign called de-Stalinization, to remove the influence of the late premier Joseph Stalin from Soviet society. He urged peaceful coexistence between his country and western nations. Within the Soviet Bloc, however, Khrushchev sent troops into Poland and Hungary in 1956 against persons who resisted the communist government. He also aided the government of Fidel Castro in Cuba. He had Soviet military missiles installed there but removed them at the insistence of the United States. He was suddenly removed from power in October, 1964.