The Origins of the Cold War, c1945-1949: Developing Tensions - the Soviet Union Occupation/Control of Eastern and Southern Europe

Question 1

Timeline of development of Soviet
Union occupation/control of Eastern and Southern Europe

Answer 1

• 1945
- No clear evidence Stalin wanted communist bloc in Europe

• June 1945
- Provisional Government of
National Unity formed (Poland)

• October 1946
- Nikola Petkov wins over 20% of popular vote (Bulgaria)

• 1947
- Gottwald accepted Marshall Aid (Czechoslovakia)

• January 1947
- Polish communists and socialists combined

• By April 1947
- All other political parties had been banned (Bulgaria)

• September 1947
- Nikola Petkov executed (Bulgaria)

• 1948
- Gomulka accused of ‘national deviation’ and replaced by Boleslaw
Bierut (Poland)

• By 1948
• USSR established buffer zone based on satellite states
• Soviet influence in Yugoslavia limited

• June 1948
• Benes resigns (Czechoslovakia)
• Yugoslavia expelled from Cominform

•1949
- Hungarian communist leader, Laszlo Raik, executed

• By 1949
- All political opposition in Hungary disappeared

Question 2

What were Stalin’s initial post-war aims in
Europe?

Answer 2

• Stalin believed all states the USSR liberated from Nazi occupation would fall under Soviet sphere of influence due to Yalta and percentages agreement
• In 1945, no evidence that Stalin wanted to create a communist bloc in Eastern Europe
• Initially, Stalin sought influence rather than ideological expansion
• Stalin’s initial intent to create a buffer zone based on satellite states was completed by 1948

Question 3

In what year was there no clear evidence that Stalin wanted a communist Eastern European bloc?

Answer 3

• 1945

Question 4

In which countries had the USSR successfully established communist regimes?

Answer 4

•Poland
•Hungary
• Bulgaria
• Romania
• Albania
• Czechoslovakia

Question 5

By what year had the USSR established communist regimes in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania and Czechoslovakia?

Answer 5

• By 1948

Question 6

Why was communism appealing to countries in Eastern Europe?

Answer 6

• Communists made up anti-fascist wartime resistance and were patriots
• Communism offered better prospects than capitalism in states with mass unemployment and economic chaos
• Communism offered employment and social mobility

Question 7

Which parties usually acted as rivals for communists?

Answer 7

• Pro-agrarian parties
• Political parties focused on interests of farming communities e.g redistribution of land
• Many rural peasants supported pro-agrarian parties

Question 8

How important was ideological purity to Stalin?

Answer 8

• Ideological purity came second to power
• Power needed for security
• Stalin willing to temporarily ally with other political parties to gain power
• Needed Stalinist puppets

Question 9

Poland

Answer 9

• Lublin Poles

• During WWII, Polish government existed in exile in London
• But Stalin created pro-Stalin Lublin Government
• By agreeing to free elections at Yalta, Stalin able to preserve role of Lublin Poles

• Pluralist

• In June 1945, the Provisional Government of National Unity was formed
• Contained parties across the political spectrum
• Facade of free multi-party elections

• Opposition

• Polish Peasant Party weakened as communists allied with
Polish socialists
• In January 1947, communists and socialists merged, making communists dominant group
• Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Gomulka wasn’t pro-Moscow
• Gomulka believed in Poland’s right of self-determination
• In 1948, he was accused of ‘nationalist deviation’ and replaced by pro-Stalinist, Boleslaw Bierut

Question 10

Which Polish governments existed during
WWII?

Answer 10

• London Poles
- Lublin Poles

Question 11

When was the Provisional Government of
National Unity formed?

Answer 11

• june 1945

Question 12

Which party acted as rivals to the Polish communists?

Answer 12

• Polish Peasant Party

Question 13

When were the Polish communist and socialist parties merged?

Answer 13

•January 1947

Question 14

Which Polish politician was not pro-Moscow?

Answer 14

• Deputy Prime Minister Wladyslaw Gomulka

Question 15

When was Gomulka replaced? Who was he replaced by?

Answer 15

• 1948
- Replaced by pro-Stalinist, Boleslaw Bierut

Question 16

Romania

Answer 16

• Easy for Stalin
• Communists popular as offered alternative to pre-war regime
• Red Army occupied Romania
• Minimal opposition

Question 17

Bulgaria

Answer 17

• Involved gradualism, manipulated elections and forced removal of opponents
• Strongest political opponent was the Agrarian Party, led by
Nikola Petkov
• In October 1946 elections, Petkov won over 20% of popular vote
• Petkov faced with trumped-up charges and was executed in
September 1947
• Agrarian Party forcibly absorbed by communists
• By April 1947. all other political parties banned

Question 18

Which party acted as a rival to the Bulgarian communists? Who was their leader?

Answer 18

• Agrarian Party
- Led by Nikola Petkov

Question 19

How much of the vote did Petkov win? Which election was this?

Answer 19

• Petkov won over 20% of popular vote
- In October 1946 elections

Question 20

When was Nikola Petkov executed?

Answer 20

•September 1947

Question 21

By what time had all other political parties been banned in Bulgaria?

Answer 21

• By April 1947

Question 22

Hungary

Answer 22

• Communists allied with greatest opponent, Smallholders Party
• Political opponents arrested and elections rigged
• Many Hungarian communists not loyal to Moscow and formed close links with Yugoslavia
• In 1949, Hungarian communist leader, Laszlo Rajk, was executed for ‘anti-Soviet’ activities
• By 1949, all political opposition to Moscow-backed Hungarian communists had disappeared

Question 23

Which party acted as a rival to the Hungarian communists?

Answer 23

• Smallholders Party

Question 24

Who was the leader of the Hungarian communist party? When were they executed?

Answer 24

• Laszlo Raik
- 1949

Question 25

By what year had all political opposition disappeared in Hungary?

Answer 25

• By 1949

Question 26

What was Czechoslovakia’s political and economic climate like?

Answer 26

• Unlike most of Eastern Europe, Czechoslovakia was industrialised and had large unionised working class
• Czech communists popular among rural peasants because they had given them land at end of war

Question 27

Czechoslovakia

Answer 27

• Czech Communist Party leader, Klement Gottwald, became prime minister
• In 1947, Gottwald made mistake of accepting Marshall Aid
• Growing opposition to communists, but members of these groups resigned in 1948
• Allowed communists to paint this as attempt to create alternative right-wing group
• President Edvard Benes agreed to support communist-dominated government
• Benes resigned in June 1948, leaving pro-Moscow communists in full control

Question 28

Who was the leader of the Czech Communist Party?

Answer 28

• Klement Gottwald

Question 29

When did Gottwald accept Marshall Aid?

Answer 29

• 1947

Question 30

When did members of Czechoslovak opposition groups resign?

Answer 30

•1948

Question 31

Which Czechoslovak president agreed to support a communist-dominated government? When did this president resign?

Answer 31

•Edvard Benes
- June 1948

Question 32

Yugoslavia

Answer 32

• Initially in Soviet camp
• Marshal Josip Broz Tito was committed Stalinist
• When war ended, communist movement firmly in place
• By 1948, Soviet influence on Yugoslavia limited
• Conflict arose after Stalin wanted heavy control over Yugoslavia’s economic and foreign policies
• In June 1948, Yugoslavia was expelled from Cominform
• Leaders accused of abandoning Marxist-Leninism
• Yugoslavia able to survive due to aid from US

Question 33

Who was the leader of Yugoslavia?

Answer 33

• Marshal Josip Broz Tito

Question 34

By what year was Soviet influence on
Yugoslavia limited?

Answer 34

•1948

Question 35

When was Yugoslavia expelled from
Cominform?

Answer 35

• lune 1948