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The22nd Congress of theCommunist 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 foreignCommunist parties, listened toNikita Khrushchev and others review policy issues.[1][page needed] At the Congress, theSino-Soviet split hardened, especially due to Sovietde-Stalinization efforts,[2][3] and it was the last Congress to be attended by theChinese Communist Party. The Congress elected the22nd Central Committee.
Other than Sino-Soviet disputes, matters dealt with at the Congress included accepting theThird Program of the CPSU and statute, and the opening of theVolgograd Hydroelectric Plant, the largest in Europe or Russia at the time. The Soviets also tested the world's most powerfulthermonuclear bomb ("Tsar Bomba") inNovaya Zemlya in the Arctic Circle, creating the largest man-made explosion in history.[4][5] They also accepted the removal of Stalin's remains from theLenin Mausoleum,[6] the renaming of several cities named after Stalin and other Stalin-era politicians,[7] and Khrushchev's declaration and plans to buildcommunism in 20 years. HistorianArchie Brown wrote that the program was "the last authoritative document produced by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to take entirely seriously the building of a communist society."[8] Nikita Khrushchev also proposed to revise CPSU's statutes and implement a "systematic renewal of cadres" that would limit terms of individuals in elected party posts and rules for turnover in other Party bodies, worrying that "a gradual freezing of personnel policy would block up the system, and stagnation would occur." However, the proposal was opposed by other Party members. It is believed that Khrushchev's proposal contributed to his later oust from power.[9]
TheChinese Communist Party sent a delegation led byZhou Enlai, withPeng Zhen andKang Sheng to attend the Congress. Zhou and his colleagues placed a separate wreath 'Dedicated to the great Marxist, ComradeStalin'. During the meeting, Zhou expressed opposition to Khrushchev's attack on Albania and left earlier on October 23 after his views were refuted.[10]
