“In twenty years, the USSR will be producing almost twice as much industrial output as is now produced in the entire non socialist world.”

The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Speech by Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

Annotation

The Third Program of the CPSU, unveiled with theatrical confidence in 1961, promised communism by 1980 and industrial supremacy well before that. By 1981, Soviet GDP sat at roughly 35–40 percent of America's alone, and the economy had entered what would later be called the era of stagnation. Khrushchev himself was ousted three years after making the speech; his targets were quietly buried, then formally abandoned under Gorbachev in 1986. The Soviet Union followed five years later.

What Actually Happened

By 1981, Soviet industrial output was nowhere near double the non-socialist world's; Soviet GDP sat at roughly 35-40 percent of America's alone. The economy had entered what historians later called the 'era of stagnation' under Brezhnev. Khrushchev, who delivered the speech, was ousted in 1964. The targets were quietly shelved, then formally abandoned under Gorbachev in 1986. The Soviet Union itself dissolved five years after that.

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