In the aftermath of the Second World War, Eastern Europe, along with Western Europe, with the United States, sees in the USSR, which liberated it from Nazism, its savior. For this reason, the USSR, which enjoys immense prestige with the countries of Eastern Europe, as the United States with the countries of Western Europe, is a model and guide to follow and imitate. But while in the United States the model is capitalism, in the USSR the model is communism. That is why, between 1945 and 1949, the Eastern countries converted to communism: some quickly, others less spontaneously. Yugoslavia and Albania in 1945 are the first two Eastern European countries led by communist governments: the first in the hands of Josip Broz, called Tito, the second between those of Enver Hoxha, two heroic resistants having liberated their country from Nazism without the support of the Soviet Red Army. Bulgaria in 1946, Poland and Romania in 1947, after having been led for several months by provisional governments called National Front governments, bringing together anti-Nazi resistance on all sides, constitute the second wave of nations to pass under the influence Communist governments. Czechoslovakia in 1948 surrendered itself to communism after a show of force known as the “coup de Prague”. On February 25, 1948, in fact, after the resignation of the National Front government of liberal ministers who judge excessive Communist influence, the President of the Republic, Benes, soon resigning, for lack of being communist, is imposed by the Party. Communist Czechoslovak, author of a show of force through the parade of armed labor militias to spread fear, the formation of a communist government under the orders of Prime Minister Klement Gottwald. Hungary in 1949, also insensitive to the sirens of communism the first years, finally be convinced by the tactics of salami. According to Matyas Rakosi, leader of the Hungarian Communist Party, and the inventor of the term, the salami’s tactic is to divide the political opponents “slice by slice” and then cut them out of politics “one by one” until that there is not one left. As a result, the Hungarian Communist Party, after having used threats against its most distant political opponents (liberals), offers its closest political allies (socialists) no choice but to dissolve their political party in order to to join the Communist Party, which became the only legal party at the same time as the only ruler of the country. Germany, finally, in 1949, is the last country of Eastern Europe passed to communism. As a result of the blockade of West Berlin and the division of Germany into two countries, the birth of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) allows the German Communist Party to seize power and entrust its direction to its most High Representative, Wilhelm Pieck. The USSR, on the other hand, is considered by all these popular democracies as the “big brother” to whom we obey and from whom we receive our orders.

1. SOVIET CONTROL
EASTERN EUROPE
SOVIET TAKEOVER
OF THE REGION

2. Cambridge Bibliography
• Allan Todd. The European Dictatorships. Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini (2002).
• Allsopp John. Challenge and Response (1980).
• Anne Applebaum. The crushing of Eastern Europe (2013).
• Andrew Heywood. Politics (1997).
• BBC Bitesize. GCSE-CCEA (2023).
• Ben Walsh. Modern World History (2001).
• Colin Pearce. Representations of 20th Century History (1995).
• John Martell. The Twentieth-Century World (1980).
• Philip Ingram. Russia and the USSR, 1905-1991 (1997).
• Ralph Levering. Debating the Origins of the Cold War. American and Russian Perspectives
(2001).
• Robert Gellately. Lenin, Stalin and Hitler (2008).
• Tony McAleavy. Twentieth Century History. International Relations Since 1919 (2002).
• Steve Phillips. Lenin and the Russian Revolution (2000).

3. Soviet Takeover of Eastern Europe
• The Allied forces moved in from the West to
secure a German defeat in WW2.
• The Soviet forces moved into Germany from
the East.
• American and British forces concentrated
on Western Europe.
• The Red Army replaced Nazi forces in some
countries in Eastern Europe.
• The Americans and the British could do
nothing about this while Nazi Germany
remained undefeated.
• The USSR was an ally at that point.

4. Stalin’s Intentions
• It was clear that Stalin was
very reluctant to give up
control of Eastern Europe,
which he saw as a Soviet
sphere of influence.
• President Roosevelt and
Winston Churchill did not
like the Soviet domination
of Eastern Europe, but they
needed the USSR as ally.
• They did nothing to prevent
Stalin’s military takeover of
this region.

5. Buffer Zone
• Despite the promises made by Stalin at the Yalta Conference to allow
free elections, he had in fact started turning Eastern Europe into a
buffer zone between the USSR and Western Europe.
• Stalin feared that Eastern Europe could be the doorway for an attack
on the USSR by the West.
• During 1946–47, Stalin made sure that Communist governments
came to power in all the countries of Eastern Europe (the countries
which the USSR had conquered in 1945).

6. Summary
After the war, there was a political vacuum in many
countries, because of the dissolution of reconfiguration
of the borders, the results of the peace conferences and
the realignment of the new spheres of influence.
The Soviet leader Stalin helped the Communist parties
in Eastern Europe to win power. Through Cominform,
he made sure that these countries followed the same
policies as the Soviet Union.
They become one-party states.
The Communist Party was the only legal party.
Secret Police arrested the Communists’ opponents.
There was a need to restore law and order. This was a
good excuse to station Soviet troops in each country.
COMINFORM
Communist Information
Bureau. Stalin set up the
Cominform in 1947 as an
organisation to coordinate
the various Communist
governments in Eastern
Europe. The office was based
in Belgrade (capital of
Yugoslavia) but moved in
Bucharest (capital of
Romania) in 1948, after
Yugoslavia was expelled,
because it would not do what
Soviet Union told it to.
Cominform ran meetings
and sent out instructions to
Communist governments
about what the Soviet
Union wanted them to do.

7. Summary cont.
The economies of Eastern Europe were destroyed by
the war. To make them efficient again, the East
European governments implemented same set of
policies used in Soviet Union.
The governments abolished private property and they
took over all private businesses and small industries.
Workers and farmers were told what to produce and
they followed the centralised plans decided by their
governments (usually during 4 or 5 years).
Through Comecon, Stalin made sure that the countries
of Eastern Europe traded with the USSR. He promised
aid to countries that co-operated with the Soviet Union.
When Soviet control was threatened, the Soviet Union
was prepared to use its weapons to crush opposition.
COMECON
Council for Mutual Economic
Assistance. It was set-up in 1949
to co-ordinate the industries and
all the trade of the Eastern
European countries. The idea
was that members of Comecon
traded mostly with one another
rather than trading with the
West. USSR was the favoured
country, as it provided a market
to sell its goods and a cheap
supply of raw materials.
Comecon set up a bank for
socialist countries in 1964. Stalin
formed Cominform and
Comecon in response to the
Marshall Plan. They both played
a significant part in the USA and
Western European countries
creating NATO in April 1949.

8. Readings
How Communism Took Over Eastern Europe After World War II by Vladimir Dubinsky
Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/how-communism-took-over-eastern-europe-after-world-war-
ii/263938/