 On 14 May 1955, East Germany became a member of the Warsaw Pact and in 1956 the National People's Army ("Nationale Volksarmee"—NVA) was created.In 1956, at the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev repudiated Stalinism.Around this time, an academic intelligentsia within the SED leadership demanded reform.