The Hello and welcome, history friends, patrons all to 1956 episode 2.

Last time we were introduced to a fascinating but also troubled era,

as we saw what happened after Stalin's death and the kind of legacy he left behind.

Only a personality as complex and flawed as Stalin's could have left so many problems behind

for his successors to fix. One of these problems had to do with leadership, and it is this issue

we're going to examine in more detail today. How did Nikita Khrushchev managed to rise above his rivals, some of whom, to take

Molotov for instance, had a far more public profile and could trace their service back years?

But then so could Khrushchev. He'd always been there in the background, biting his time and preparing for the right moment to stake

his claim to the top position. Now that Stalin was dead, more opportunities presented themselves,

and Khrushchev was, as we have seen, a member of the important post-Stalin circle by July

1953, when La Verente Beria, one of the most well-connected men of the circle, was thrown

under the bus. It is to this world that we now take you then, as Khrushchev tries to establish himself

as the leader of the party.

Bullets ripped into the large tractor factory wall as the Red Army officer struggled to reload his rifle with his frost-bidden hands.

Overhead, a light snow was falling, and it was destined to get much colder over the next few weeks.

The defence seemed hopeless, yet those above the common soldier knew largely because they

had urged a counter-attack that all was not lost.

Reinforcements were on the way, and General Zhukov was planning one of the most striking

and devastating maneuvers of the Second World War.

If Nikita Khrushchev ever faltered in his resolve, he would always take solace from these

memories at Stalingrad. He was immensely proud of his service in that pivotal battle, even while

the record of what he actually did there is predictably cloudy.

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