Nikita Khrushchev led the Soviet Union after Stalin's death, initiating a period known as de-Stalinization. In his 1956 "Secret Speech", Khrushchev denounced Stalin's cult of personality and the purges, marking a significant departure from the repressive policies of the previous era. He introduced economic reforms aimed at improving agriculture and consumer goods production and pursued a policy of peaceful coexistence with the West. However, Khrushchev's unpredictability and the failure of some of his initiatives, such as the Virgin Lands Campaign, eventually led to his ouster in 1964. 

The last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, is often credited with inadvertently leading to its dissolution. Coming to power in 1985, Gorbachev recognized the need for significant reform to address the Soviet Union's economic stagnation and political corruption. His policies of Glasnost (openness) and Perestroika (restructuring) aimed to increase transparency, decentralize the economy, and reduce the control of the Communist Party. While these reforms initially brought hope for change, they also led to increased political dissent, economic instability, and nationalist movements within the Soviet republics, ultimately contributing to the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

The Nobel Prize-winning writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a vocal critic of the Soviet system, particularly the Gulag labor camp system, which he himself experienced. His works, such as "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" and "The Gulag Archipelago", exposed the horrors of political repression and life in Soviet labor camps to a global audience. Solzhenitsyn's writings not only challenged the Soviet government but also inspired other dissidents and reform-minded individuals within the USSR. His impact on Soviet intellectual life highlighted the growing disillusionment with the authoritarian aspects of the regime.