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| 1953, Jan. 31 |
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| A Pravda announcement of the “doctors' plot” to kill leading Soviet commanders presaged a purge, especially of Jews, which ended with Stalin's death (March 5) and the release of the doctors arrested (April 4). | 1 |
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| March 5 |
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| Death of Joseph STALIN. He was interred in Lenin Mausoleum on March 9. | 2 |
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| March 6 |
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| G. M. Malenkov became head of the Soviet government, with the following first deputy chairmen of the Council of Ministers: Laurenty Beria, Molotov (also foreign minister), Marshal Bulganin, and Lazar Kaganovich. Vishinsky, formerly foreign minister, became a permanent Soviet representative at the UN. | 3 |
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| March 20 |
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| Nikita Khrushchev succeeded Malenkov as first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee. | 4 |
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| June 22 |
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| The government lifted most of its curbs on travel by foreigners, including diplomatic personnel. | 5 |
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| July 10 |
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| Beria's expulsion from the party and dismissal as minister of internal security was announced. His execution, along with six associates (Dec. 23) followed his conviction of treason by the Soviet Supreme Court. | 6 |
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| Aug. 8 |
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| Premier Malenkov declared that “the United States no longer possesses a monopoly on the hydrogen bomb.” | 7 |
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| Nov. 16 |
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| The International Labor Office rejected a Soviet application for membership. | 8 |
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