We will bury you
Nikita Khrushchev stood before Western ambassadors at the Polish embassy in Moscow on the 18th of November 1956. The room held envoys from twelve NATO nations and Israel. Communist Polish politician Władysław Gomułka sat nearby as a Soviet-influenced satellite state representative. Khrushchev spoke about capitalist states with blunt intensity. He told them that their existence did not depend on whether they liked him or his country. If they disliked the Soviet Union, he said, they should stop inviting them to events. History was on their side regardless of personal feelings. Then he delivered the line that would echo for decades. Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you! The speech caused envoys from all twelve NATO nations and Israel to leave the room immediately.
Khrushchev's personal interpreter Viktor Sukhodrev translated the phrase into English for Western listeners. Many authors now argue this translation created a false sense of military threat. The original Russian meaning suggested the communist system would outlast capitalism over time. It implied survival rather than physical destruction. Some modern translators suggest the phrase meant we shall be present at your funeral instead. This metaphor frames Russia as taking care of funeral arrangements after capitalism dies. An overhead hand clasp gesture reportedly used by Khrushchev may have added confusion due to cultural differences. Mikhail Gorbachev later noted the image came from 1930s agrarian scientist discussions called who will bury whom. Those debates involved bitter arguments about Lysenkoist theory in Soviet pseudo-science circles.
In another public speech Khrushchev declared they must take a shovel and dig a deep grave to bury colonialism. He stated that peaceful coexistence meant intense economic political and ideological struggle between workers and imperialist forces. On the 24th of August 1963, he spoke in Yugoslavia about his earlier words. I once said We will bury you and I got into trouble with it, he told the crowd. Of course we will not bury you with a shovel, he continued. Your own working class will bury you. This referenced Marxist doctrine stating the proletariat is the undertaker of capitalism. In Chapter 1 of the Communist Manifesto Marx wrote that the bourgeoisie produces its own grave-diggers. Khrushchev claimed enemy propaganda picked up the slogan and blew it all out of proportion in his memoirs.
During Khrushchev's visit to the United States in 1959 Los Angeles mayor Norris Poulson addressed him directly. We do not agree with your widely quoted phrase We shall bury you, Poulson stated firmly. You shall not bury us and we shall not bury you, he added while defending American values. Many Americans interpreted Khrushchev's quote as a nuclear threat against their nation. James Stuart Olson noted this interpretation appeared in historical dictionaries from 2000. The New York Times reported on the 19th of November 1956 that Khrushchev's tirade irked envoys again. Diplomatic exchanges followed between American officials and Soviet representatives over the misunderstanding. NATO envoys had already walked out of the Polish embassy reception after hearing the original speech.
Khrushchev's phrase became the title of Jan Šejna's book on communist Cold War strategies. A documentary called We'll Bury You released in 1962 used the same words for its name. Sting included the phrase in his song Russians which came out in 1985. The opening scene of the 2020 film The Courier shows Khrushchev closing his speech with those exact words. In the 2017 film The Death of Stalin Khrushchev declares I will bury you in history during Lavrentiy Beria's death. Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat featured prominently in the 2024 film both the phrase and contemporary commentary on translation accuracy. These appearances show how the quote entered popular culture across decades of filmmaking and music.
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Common questions
When did Nikita Khrushchev deliver the We will bury you speech at the Polish embassy in Moscow?
Nikita Khrushchev delivered the speech on the 18th of November 1956. The event took place before Western ambassadors and envoys from twelve NATO nations and Israel.
What was the original meaning of the phrase We will bury you according to interpreter Viktor Sukhodrev?
The original Russian meaning suggested that the communist system would outlast capitalism over time rather than implying physical destruction. Some modern translators suggest the phrase meant we shall be present at your funeral instead.
How did Nikita Khrushchev clarify his statement about burying enemies during a speech in Yugoslavia on the 24th of August 1963?
Khrushchev stated that he would not bury anyone with a shovel because their own working class would bury them. This referenced Marxist doctrine stating the proletariat is the undertaker of capitalism.
Why did Los Angeles mayor Norris Poulson confront Nikita Khrushchev during his 1959 visit to the United States?
Norris Poulson confronted Khrushchev because many Americans interpreted the quote as a nuclear threat against their nation. He firmly stated that they would not bury each other while defending American values.
Which cultural works have used the phrase We will bury you since the Cold War era?
Jan Šejna titled his book on communist Cold War strategies after the phrase and Sting included it in his song Russians released in 1985. The phrase also appears in films such as The Courier from 2020 and The Death of Stalin from 2017.
All sources
21 references cited across the entry
- 1magazine"We Will Bury You!"November 26, 1956
- 2newsKomsomolskaya PravdaMay 16, 2014
- 3webEnvoys Stalk Again As Nikita RantsNov 19, 1956
- 4magazineForeign News: We Will Bury You!November 26, 1956
- 5newsKhrushchev Tirade Again Irks EnvoysNovember 19, 1956
- 6webFounding and historyLos Angeles World Affairs Council
- 7web'We will bury you': How Mistranslation Heightened Cold War TensionsDr. Stuart J. Birkby
- 9bookThe Long Pretense: Soviet Treaty Diplomacy from Lenin to GorbachevArnold Beichman — Transaction Publishers
- 10inlineMoshe Lewin, The Soviet Century
- 14citationThe Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and PracticeWiley — 2011
- 15bookPerestroika: new thinking for our country and the worldMikhail Gorbachev et al. — Harper & Row — 1987
- 16bookWe Will Bury YouJan Šejna — Sidgwick & Jackson — 1982
- 17webWe'll Bury You
- 18webSting's haunting "Russians" is more relevant today than when he wrote it years agoCarla Sinclair — March 6, 2022
- 19webBenedict Cumberbatch excels as an ordinary spy in 'The Courier'Rob Thomas — March 17, 2021
- 20magazineThe Death of Stalin Dares to Make Evil FunnyAnthony Lane — March 9, 2018
- 21magazineHistory Repeats the Old ConceitsChristina Zachariades — The Gotham Film & Media Institute — 2024