ABSTRACT
An influential scholar has argued that citizens actually experienced more repression during the Thaw because the Khrushchevian state was so ambitious about regulating new areas of life in order to turn citizens into true communists. In addition to its social and political dimensions, the Thaw also reconfigured international relations. Many of the novels famous for their exposes of Stalinist injustice, including The Thaw, also depicted love triangles or adultery. The secret speech also had unexpected ramifications in the Eastern European countries that by this time had developed their own Stalinist systems. As international tourism developed during this period, carefully selected Soviet tourists were sent abroad to both Eastern and Western Europe with the goals of representing Soviet achievements, reconfirming Soviet superiority, and also learning about other societies. The state allowed only politically trustworthy people to travel, and for many of these privileged citizens admiration for European culture coexisted with confidence and optimism in the Soviet future.
