USSR Control Over Eastern Europe Flashcards
Why the USSR wanted to take over Eatsern Europe
Provides a buffer between the Soviet Union and Central Europe to protect themselves
To spread communism
To gain new resources and populations to expand their own Empire
Background about Hungary
Hungary was on the losing side of WW2
By the end of the war, Hungary was under Soviet control and had political ruling from Moscow and communist rule was established (satellite state).
In 1955, Hungary signed the Warsaw Pact.
What caused the rebellion of 1956 - Hungary
People were very angry about the influence of Soviet rule and the communist policies.
Elections were held after the end of the war. The Smallholders Patty, a group working for the rights of ordinary Hungarians, won 57% of the vote. The Russians refused them to form a government and allowed the Hungarian Communist Party to form a government with only 17% of the vote.
Russian control included censorship, a secret police and control over what schools taught. 2000 people were executed and over 100,000 were imprisoned because of the Russians.
The Hungarians were religious but the communists banned it. A leading Hungarian Catholic, Cardinal Joseph Mindszenty was arrested, tortured and put in prison.
Hungary was very poor after the war and needed to rebuild their country. However, the food that was produced was sent to Russia which meant that standard of living dropped for the people.
Why did the Hungarians think that change might be possible?
They thought that the UN or the American President, Eisenhower would help them
Stalin had died in 1953. Therefore, Russia has tried to move away from some of his policies. The new leader, Khrushchev refused to allow the arrest of 400 political opponents in Hungary.
In June 1956, workers in Poland had risen against Soviet rule and Russia gave in. This gave people hope in Hungary that they could do the same thing.
The uprising in Hungary
Students in Budapest demanded an end to Soviet occupation. The police made arrests and when the students tried to help those who had been arrested, the police started shooting them and the 30 foot statue of Stalin was toppled by protestors.
Russian troops had been sent to stop the protestors. Soviet tanks were put outside the Parliament building and Soviet soldiers guarded the bridges and crossroads.
The Hungarian soldiers joined the students in Budapest
The Hungarian Communist Party elected a new PM, Imre Nagy. He asked Khrushchev to remove the Russians troops from Hungary and promised the people free elections.
Loads of protestors gathered in front of the Parliament building. The politicians who were loyal to Russians were forced to flee as the protestors took control of the running of the country. Nagy continued as PM.
Khrushchev agreed to the demands of Nagy to remove troops and the Russians pulled out.
The new government introduced democracy, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. People were relaxed from prison and Nagy announced that they were gonna leave the Warsaw Pact and appealed to the UN for help
One thousand Russian tanks moved into Budapest and immediately captured everything. The Russians were stronger than the Hungarians.
The new leader of Hungary, Janos Kader promised Nagy and his followers that they would be allowed to leave the country safely. Three weeks later, they were kidnapped, tried and eventually executed for treason. Causes include both countries had a long term resentment of Soviet rule.
The reform for Czechoslovakia
What caused it?
In 1958, the Prague Spring began in which it was a period of reform with the government making changes to many aspects of life in Czechoslovakia. They attempted to improve the country and lessen the ties to Soviet Russia.
What caused the demand for reform?:
Throughout the 1960s the Czechoslovakian economy struggled. Several changes were made. The most important of these was a loosening of government control on businesses meaning that companies could now have more control over setting prices and wages. This was very different to communist rule.
There were also political changes. The leader of the ruling Communist Party, Antonin Novotny was replaced after protests by students against his rule. His replacement, Alexander Dubcek made a list of complaints against Novotny and promised change.
Proposed reforms included:
- The abolition of censorship, the press could now print what they wanted
- Freedom of speech - citizens had the right to criticise the government
- Members of the party were not to be unconditionally loyal to the party but instead be honest about how the country was run.
- The creation of workers’ council in industry
- Increased rights for trade unions
- Rights for farmers to form independent farms away from state control
- A recognition of Slovak National indentity and customs
- Freedom of movement for all people
Dubcek knew that these reforms would be seen as potentially dangerous by Moscow and therefore declared that Czechoslovakia had no intention of changing its foreign policy, leaving the Warsaw Pact or ending its alliance with the Soviet Union, this was meant to reassure the USSR and avoid the need for intervention from Moscow.
Soviet response to Czechoslovakia’s reform
In July 1968, the Soviets announced that they had evidence that West Germany was planning an invasion of the Sudetenland and asked permission to send in the Red Army to protect Czechoslovakia. Dubcek refused. However, a month later, troops from countries across from Warsaw Pact, led by the Soviets, invaded Czechoslovakia. Knowing they wouldn’t stand a chance, the Czechs ordered its armed forces not to resist the invasion. The Prague Spring was crushed and Dubcek was taken to Moscow.
The leader of the USSR, Leonid Brezhnev was worried that the new ideas coming out of Czechoslovakia would spread. Other leaders in Eastern Europe feared that their own people would demand the same freedom that Dubcek allowed.
In 1968, Albania resigned from the Warsaw Pact because they thought that the Soviet Union itself had become too liberal since Stalin had died.
In order to stop similar events, the Brezhnev Doctrine was introduced. It stated that communist countries would therefore be governed by two principles:
1. A one party system in each country
2. All countries were to remain members of the Warsaw Pact
If these conditions were not met, the USSR could use military force to re-establish control. In April 1969, Dubcek was replaced, expelled from the party and spent the next 20 years working as a clerk in a lumber yard in Slovakia. During that period of time, whatever happened in Czechoslovakia was coordinated with Moscow.
Berlin Wall
On 13th August 1961, the people of Berlin found a wall 87 miles long that separated East from West in Germany. The wall was a surprise to most people as the leader of the East Germany said that they had no intention of creating a wall. Despite this, East Germany, under instruction from Soviet Russia built the all.
The wall built by East Germany was to prevent the mass movement of people from East to West. Nearly 2.6 million East Germans had left for West Berlin or West Germany between 1949 and 1961, 15% of the population.
Why were people wanting to go to West Germany instead of staying in East Germany?
The impact of the movement on East Germany
Reaction of the West
The quality of life in the West was much better than in the East after 1948. While West Germany had received financial help through the Marshall Plan from the USA to rebuild after WW2, East Germany had suffered under a communist system after the control of the Soviet Union had been established.
The impact of this mass movement on East Germany was huge:
- Socially: those leading tended to be young and well educated. The Communist Party in East Germany feared a ‘brain drain’ as the more intelligent left East Germany.
- Economically: East Germany lost too many skilled workers. By 1960, only 61% of its population was of working age, compared to 70% before the war. Engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers and skilled workers were all leaving in high numbers.
- Politically: the mass numbers leaving made the communists look unpopular. This was negative propaganda as they competed with the capitalist West.
As this continued, the East German government saw no other way than to close the border between the two. At first barbed wire was used but on 13th August, the first wall was built.
Reaction of the West:
Their own interests were not affected, they could still send troops to West Berlin and the wall made an attempt by invasion from the East less likely. It was also good propaganda for the Cold War, the West could claim to be the side allowing people freedom while the communist states had to erect a wall to keep people in.
The role of Gorbachev in the collapse of Soviet control over Eastern Europe
When Gorbachev was elected ruler of the Soviet Union, he set about reforming the country. His major changes included attempting to modernise the Soviet Union’s economy as well as attempting to tackle corruption and alcoholism. There were two policies, glasnost and perestroika.
Glasnost:
This was the name given to the social and political reforms that Gorbachev introduced. These included more freedom for the media, allowing news to be transmitted of government corruption and criticism of government officials.
The aim of glasnost was to introduce an ‘openness’ to society in the Soviet Union, allowing more people to be involved in the political process through freedom of expression. Gorbachev tried to encourage this by revealing parts of Russia’s past that had previously been hidden, such as details about the more brutal parts of Stalin’s rule.
Perestroika:
The other policy means ‘restructuring.’ This led to a series of economic, political and cultural reforms that aimed to make the Soviet economy a more modern and efficient system. This included:
- Encouraging the private ownership of Soviet industry and agriculture
- Reducing the state control over imports and exports
- Allowing trade with non- Eastern bloc countries
- Allowing foreign investments in Russian businesses.
- An increase in the production and trade in consumer goods
Actions in Eastern Europe:
Gorbachev’s policies of promoting ‘opennes’ through glasnost applied not only within Russia, he realised that Eastern Europe must be allowed to choose its own destiny.
Gorbachev made it clear that he would not stand in the way of attempts at democracy in Warsaw Pact countries and troops would not be used to keep countries tied to the Soviet Union.
There were three reasons for this change:
- Gorbachev was a reformer. He believed that Soviet Union was out of date in controlling others and that people should be allowed a say in who ruled them.
- Economically, the Union was crumbling. Food shortages were so common that by the end of the 1980s the wartime system of food cards had been reintroduced.
- Gorbatchev saw his main priority as reforming Russia. To do this he couldn’t be focused on maintaining control of Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union could no longer afford to maintain the military presence needed to control its European satellite states.
Why were there difficulties in Poland in the 1980s?
- There were economic difficulties: prices of goods were going up but wages were not
- There was poverty
- Because people were unhappy, strikes spread across the country
What happened in Poland (especially what was Solidarity)?
~ On 14 August 1980, workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk went on strike, angry at price rises in shops and the sacking of some workers
~ Their leader was Lech Walesa, an electrician
~ The strikers wanted to form a trade union, to represent the views of the workers
~ It took the Communist Party one week before they arrived to negotiate with the strikers
~ The group made a list of 21 demands, which were communicated across Poland. Some of their demands included:
o Trade unions to be free from Communist Party control
o The right to strike
o An increase in wages
o Stopping the exporting of food to other countries, unless there was anything left over
o Promotions at work based upon ability, rather than being a communist party member
o A day off on Saturday
~ On 31 August, an agreement was signed agreeing to some of the demands. Trade unions were allowed which were not controlled by the government.
~ In September 1980, a nationwide trade union called Solidarity was formed.
~ In December 1981, the government declared war on Solidarity and shut it down, making it an illegal group. 10,000 Solidarity leaders were imprisoned. The economy was in chaos and the Polish government were worried the Soviet Union would invade if they did not act.
Why was Solidarity popular, and why was Solidarity shut down?
Solidarity was:
~ Organised: they had a committee, spokespeople and a newspaper
~ Making clear demands: their 21 demands were clear, published and national issues that all could associate with
~ Methods: they did not use violence
~ Supported: by 1981, 10 million people joined Solidarity. 80% of Poland’s workforce were members
Solidarity was shut down because:
~ The government were getting worried. The new Prime Minister – Jaruzelski – invited Walesa to meet him, pretending he wanted to work with him in December 1981. Jaruzelski declared martial law (where the military are placed in control of the country), the military arrested the leaders of Solidarity – including Walesa – and it appeared the Solidarity movement had been defeated.
Why did Solidarity return?
Lech Walesa became a symbol worldwide of the Communist repression. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in prison in 1983.
The Catholic Church supported Solidarity, and most Poles were Catholic. This was a very powerful union. The Communists could not tame the Catholic Church as they could other strikers or rebels.
People around the world supported Solidarity: they did not dissolve quickly in the years after like the rebels in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968.
In 1985, a new leader of the Soviet Union emerged. Mikhail Gorbachev believed in reforms such as ‘glasnost’ (openness) and perestroika (restructuring). He released prisoners, including those from Solidarity.
However, the situation was terrible and Gorbachev’s reforms did not immediately improve things. By 1988 things were worse than ever: there were massive strikes after food prices were increased by 40%. The government met with Solidarity to try and resolve the strikes.
On 17 April 1989, Solidarity was legalised again. They entered candidates into the upcoming election, and won every seat they entered. The Communists did not win enough seats to run the government, so Mazowiecki – a member of Solidarity – became Prime Minister of Poland.
He was the first non-Communist Prime Minister since 1945 and the first anywhere in Eastern Europe in 40 years. A Solidarity-led government was formed.
In 1990, Lech Walesa became the first non-Communist President of Poland since 1939.
Changes in Eastern Europe
June 1989 - Poland becomes independent
September 1989 - Hungary becomes independent
November 1989 - Berlin Wall is removed and East Germany allows free movement
December 1989 - Communist government fall in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Romania
October 1990 - Germany reunited.
