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Stalin's Methods of Establishing Control

Stalin built up communist parties in Eastern Europe through manipulation and fear.

Red Army

Stalin wanted to maintain his Red Army’s presence in Eastern Europe to provide the communists with security.
The Red Army had started to be demobilised after 1945. In 1945 the Soviet Army stood at 11 million and by 1948 it stood at about 2 million.
Sixty Red Army divisions remained in Europe to act as a policing force over satellite states and acted as an enforcer for communist regimes.

'Salami tactics'

The USSR used ‘salami tactics’, in which anti-communist parties were dismantled into smaller disunited groups.
Pro-communist parties often ‘united’ with other left-wing parties to ‘strengthen’ their powerbase but in reality, they dominated the party.
Manipulation and fear were used at elections to promote communist support.

Support for socialist parties in Eastern Europe

Socialism appealed to anti-elitist sentiments which were strong in Eastern Europe after the experience of the Second World War.
Many people were left homeless, unemployed and there were mass shortages of goods. Many rural areas began to adopt a pro-communist ideology.
This organic support for socialism helped the USSR extend its sphere of influence

Historical interpretations

Mark Pittaway (2004) argues that in South-East Europe the Communists barely attempted to look like they were working democratically. They took control by military victory and faced very little resistance. For example, in Yugoslavia and Albania the Communists governed through democratic front until they got 93% of the vote in rigged elections of 1945.
Historian Mark Pittaway (2004) argues that in Eastern Europe the Soviets made people's democracies but they deployed a definition of democracy, 'that relied more on social equality than western concepts did on representative government and rule of law.'

Events in Czechoslovakia

By the end of 1947, every state in Eastern Europe was controlled by a communist government with the exception of Czechoslovakia.

1948 Czechoslovak Coup

In February-March 1948, the communists staged a coup d’etat and purged (expelled from the party and more often than not killed) the non-communist members of the government and police force.
The pro-American Foreign Minister Jann Masaryk was found dead beneath an open window. Masaryk was probably killed by the communists.

Fear of communist expansion in the West

The Czech communists took over the country with little bloodshed and without direct help from the USSR.
Fear of communist expansion in the west increased.

1Origins of the Cold War, 1945-9

1.1Events of 1945

1.1.1The Grand Alliance

1.1.2Yalta Conference

1.1.3Potsdam Conference

1.2The Collapse of the Grand Alliance

1.2.1Communism in the 20th Century

1.2.2Relations between Roosevelt, Stalin & Attlee

1.2.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Origins of the Cold War

1.3Developing Tensions

1.3.1USSR Actions

1.3.2Long Telegram & Iron Curtain Speech

1.3.3Cominform

1.3.4Greek Civil War & the Truman Doctrine

1.3.5A-A* (AO3/4) - Developing Tensions

1.4US Involvement in Europe

1.4.1US Policy Towards Britain & Europe

1.4.2US Attitudes Towards Germany & Berlin

1.4.3The Marshall Plan

1.5Conflict over Germany

1.5.1Sectors & Bizonia

1.5.2The Berlin Blockade

1.5.3The Formation of NATO, April 1949

1.5.4A-A* (AO3/4) - US Involvement in Europe

2Widening of the Cold War

2.1US Containment in Asia

2.1.1Japan

2.1.2China & Taiwan

2.2The Korean War

2.2.1Causes & Military Action in Korean War

2.2.2Attitudes of the USSR, China & the USA

2.2.3Panmunjon Armistice & Impact of the Korean War

2.2.4A-A* (AO3/4) - Widening of the Cold War

2.3Increasing Cold War Tensions, 1949 -1953

2.3.1McCarthyism & The 'Red Scare'

2.3.2USA Dominance in the United Nations

2.4Global Alliances

2.4.1Global Alliances in Europe & Asia

2.4.2Eisenhower, Brinkmanship & Domino Theory

2.4.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Tensions & Alliances

3The Global War

3.1Khrushchev

3.1.1Polish & Hungarian Uprisings 1956

3.1.2East-West Relations

3.2Cold War Rivalries

3.2.1Arms Race & Space Race

3.2.2Berlin Crisis & The Berlin Wall

3.2.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Khrushchev

3.3Conflict in Asia

3.3.1Indo-China

3.4Confrontation Between Superpowers

3.4.1Relations Between the USA & Cuba

3.4.2The Cuban Missile Crisis & its Significance

4Confrontation & Cooperation

4.1Vietnam

4.1.1Johnson

4.1.2Nixon

4.1.3Paris Peace Talks

4.2Cooperation

4.2.1Khrushchev & Kennedy

4.3Pressures on the USSR

4.3.1Czechoslovakia

4.3.2A-A* (AO3/4) - Confrontation & Cooperation

5Brezhnev Era

5.1Detente

5.1.1Settlements

5.1.2Detente up to 1979

5.2Second Cold War

5.2.1Renewed Hostilities

5.3Developments in Africa & Americas

5.3.1Angola, Ethiopia, Chila, Nicaragua, Grenada

5.3.2A-A* (AO3/4) - Brezhnev Era

6Ending of the Cold War

6.1Gorbachev

6.1.1Gorbachev & Reforms

6.2Cooperation between US & USSR

6.2.1Key Figures & Summits

6.3Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe

6.3.1Significance of 1989

6.4End of Tensions Across the World

6.4.1Africa, Afghanistan & the Americas

6.4.2Malta Summit & the Aftermath

6.4.3A-A* (AO3/4) - Ending of the Cold War

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