Shoe-banging incident

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The Nikita Khrushchev shoe-banging incident happened during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York on 12 October 1960 when infuriated Soviet premier pounded his shoe on the desk.

During the meeting, head of the Filipino delegation to the United Nations Lorenzo Sumulong stated the following in reference to Soviet foreign policy:

“

My delegation, the Philippine delegation, attaches great importance to this item entitled "Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples", the allocation of which is now under discussion. We have been a colonized country. We have passed through all the trials and tribulations of a colonized people. It took us centuries and centuries to fight, to struggle, and to win our fight for the recognition of our independence, and, therefore, it would only be consistent with our history, our experience and our aspirations as a people that we vote in favour of having this item referred to the highest possible level of the General Assembly. While this is not the occasion to discuss the substance of the item, I would like to place on record my delegation's view on the import as well as on the scope, the extent, the metes and bounds of this item. We feel this to be necessary in view of the statements made at the start of our meeting by the Premier of the Soviet Union. It is our view that the declaration proposed by the Soviet Union should cover the inalienable right to independence not only of the peoples and territories which yet remain under the rule of Western colonial Powers, but also of the peoples of Eastern Europe and elsewhere which have been deprived of the free exercise of their civil and political rights and which have been swallowed up, so to speak, by the Soviet Union.[1]

”

After that Romanian Deputy Minister Eduard Mezincescu raised protest against "slanderous charges" and Nikita Khrushchev came to the rostrum to demand that Assembly President Frederick Boland call "the toady of American imperialism"^[2] Simulong to order. The President did caution Simulong to "avoid wandering out into an argument which is certain to provoke further interventions". Back to his seat, Khrushchev pounded his fists on the table during the continued speech of Simulong and even picked up his shoe and banged the desk with it. ^[3]

Other sources report a slightly different order of events: Khrushchev first banged the shoe then went to the rostrum to protest.^[4]

Khrushchev's great-granddaughter Nina Khrushcheva writes that after years of embarrassed silence her family explained how exactly that happened. Khrushchev was wearing new and tight shoes so that he took them off while sitting. When he started pounding the table with his fist during his angry response his watch fell off. When he was picking it up his shoes caught his eye... She also mentions that multiple versions of the incident have been in circulation, with various dates and occasions. ^[5]

Nikita Khrushchev in his memoirs mentions a yet another case of shoe-banging. Khrushchev says he was speaking against the Franco regime in strong expressions. A representative of Spain took a floor to reply, and after his speech the delegates from Socialist countries made a lot of noise in protest. Khrushhev says: "Remembering reports I have read about the sessions of the State Duma in Russia, I decided to add a little more heat. I took off my shoe and pounded it on desk so that our protest would be louder." ^[6] The footnote to this text says that Khrushchev's recollections are mistaken.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• A photo of Khrushchev brandishing his shoe, archives of Komsomolskaya Pravda