2) Stalinisation

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Stalin and the West

The new bi-polar world order (the west bloc and the east bloc) led to both powers effectively building empires. But, the western bloc seemed to be created through invitation as most of the western countries had asked America for help, and the eastern bloc seemed to have been created predominantly through force. Stalin did react to events to some degree, like America had been doing, but his bloc seemed to have been created intentionally.

Stalin wanted to spread his and communism's influence through eastern and central parts of Europe, but there seemed to be no pre-determined plan concerning the means to do this. His empire-building began due to his threat perception and insecurity, but it was a gradual process. His bloc can be seen as an empire due to there being a ruler at the top and that the territory kept expanding. Stalin also required other countries' resources, so invading them was one way in which to acquire this.

The impact of the Second World War on the Soviet Union was a fundamental factor in the creation of the Cold War in the eastern bloc. The 'liberation' and the Red Army's occupation of most of eastern and large parts of central Europe was also a fundamental factor. Stalinisation took place between 1947 and 1953 as Russia was experiencing a rise in patriotism and feelings of revenge following the Second World War. They believed they should receieve reparations, and the Red Army's placement in the heart of Europe gave them a significant leverage.

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Insecurity and Imperialism

Soviet domestic and foreign policy was linked, and this was very pronounced. The entire Soviet state and Stalin felt very insecure, and it seems unlikely this would have changed unless the communist revolution triumphed abroard. The Russian communist leaders tried and failed to do this, but disunity among their enemies still allowed their state to survive and grow.

Russia was also concerned with imperialism. Socialism was a kind of imperialism as the leaders of communist countries wanted to bring it to the rest of the world, or in Russia's case, at least enforce it within their own empire. Tsarism and the new communist system had similarities in that both had one ruler at the top trying to expand their empire, so communism never completely eradicated the Tsarist past of Russia. Stalin was power-hungry and wouldn't tolerate opposition so there was an overlap of socialist imperialism with Stalin's ambitions, Soviet insecurity and the Russian big-power chauvinism (didn't respect smaller powers).

The suffering and casualties sustained in the war they used as a justification for receiving reparations from Germany and its satellites, and for the growing imperialism and expansionism. They were creating a security buffer against the west by using eastern Europe and the Balkans.

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Continued

Stalin was determined to keep eastern Europe in his grip and these states faced an imposition of political, economic and social orders modelled off the Soviet Union. He intended on doing this within the Grand Alliance framework, squeezing as much out of it as possible. The devastation and chaos caused by the war, the nationalist passions in eastern Europe and the success of the Red Army and secret police all led to Soviet success.

The Soviets used different approaches for different countries. One approach was unilateralist and ruthless where they would only allow the country to be one thing. Prudence was also used where they were subtle so as to not cause problems with the western powers. They also balanced their goals and priorities. For example with Germany, they tried to show they weren't that bad and were better than the west.

Post-war fait-accompli (something that's aready happened/been decided before those affected hear about it leaving them no option but to accept it) included the military occupation of eastern and central parts of Europe and the initial post-war planning. Indigenous communists were very hopeful that communism would at least spread throughout the country and rule. They were generally happy to rule with other parties initially, and Stalin accepted this as he had to show his willingness to cooperate. This was also in line with Moscow who at first refrained from enforcing a communist revolution.

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Sovietisation

This was the act of bringing countries closer to Russian standards. The Soviet policies towards eastern Europe were flexible, diverse and used escalation where things just progressed naturally. They used different means and groups under the guise of democracy and their approach depended on the country's attitude towards communism and the Soviet Union, the strength of the indigenous communists and other parties (strong in the Balkans but not in Poland, for example), and the geo-political/strategic importance of the country. So, the extent of Soviet involvement varied from country to country.

The foundations of eastern Europe's 'people's democracies' (a multi-class, multi-party democracy on the pathway to socialism) were laid towards the end of the war. Romania and Poland, for example, were geopolitically important as they could provide a security buffer to the west. But, there were anti-Soviet and anti-communist traditions in their political elites. Although they did eventually become a central role of Soviet influence.

  • Poland - The Polish National Liberation Committee (PKWN) was secretly set up by Stalin in the wake of WWII. They followed the Red Army's tanks into Poland and forcibly set up a new national government that was recognised by Moscow. Protection of the new government was set up against opponents from the Polish underground, and there was an elimination of the groups attached to the London Polish government-in-exile. Measures were taken against the Polish 'Home Army' by Stalin to prevent them gaining reinforcements during WWII so he could impose his own government.
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Continued

  • Romania - There was an initial toleration of the 'traditionalist' government that came to power in a coup in August 1944. The Soviets approved a campaign by the communist-led Left coalition, the National Democratic Front (FND), to move the government to the Left. Support of the FND by the Soviet military and special services resulted in a Soviet-backed communist inspired coup in Feb-Mar 1945. In 1947, the king of Romania was forced to appoint a communist government.
  • Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia - They had a balance between Soviet involvement and domestic factors. Wartime cooperation between the communists and other resistance forces led to decent post-war relations. But, sovietisation was still facilitated by the Red Army and Moscow's support to the communists. Czechoslovakia also felt abandoned by the west. Instructed by Moscow, the communists supported the left-liberal government in Czechoslovakia of Edvard Beneš.
  • Hungary - They had a Soviet-created government with communists in prominent positions. But, in the light of the Hungarian communists' weakness, the Soviets reached out to many political forces.
  • Yugoslavia and Albania - There were predominant internal social and political causes in establishing the people's democracies here which was largely due to the successful communist-dominated resistance and liberation of these two countries. So, despite them having help from the USSR, they mainly became communist on their own.
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Continued

  • East Germany - The Soviet-formed German communist 'initiative groups' were formed to create a pro-Soviet political base. Their main responisibilty rested with the Soviet Military Administration in making the Soviet Zone of Occupation pro-communist. Restraint and control were essential, reflecting Moscow's ambivalence with the future of Germany.

There was an intial post-war optimism in winning over local populations. The Soviets encouraged communists to adjust to local conditions and share power with other socialist and patriotic parties. They aimed to gain popular support for elections, but were unsuccessful. This unpopularity was largely caused because of the Red Army's behaviour and the rapacious Soviet reparations officials.

The failure of national roads to communism and the emergence of the Cold War led the communists to gradually increase the role of Communist parties in national governments, marginalise opposition forces, strengthen their control over the social and economic spheres, introduce the domestic secret police and Soviet secret police services, and increase administrative pressure, subversion and direct repression. But, the process and pace varied between countries. Sovietisation was largely completed by 1947/8.

  • In Poland, the Left bloc dominated the Centrist minority. A falsification of parliamentary elections in January 1947 led to a communist victory. The rest of sovietisation on Polish politics was achieved through force and repression against the opposition, the Polish Peasant Party (PSL), the leaders of which fled to the west.
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Continued

  • In Romania, the  reign of King Michael continued until the 30th December 1947. But, in November 1946, fraudulant elections took place favouring the communists. Opposition leaders were arrested and tried.
  • In Bulgaria, the non-communist government ministers had already been removed towards the end of the war. By June 1947, the chief leaders of the opposition were arrested and sentenced to long prison terms.
  • In Czechoslovakia by 1947, there were accusations of an anti-government conspiracy against non-communist parties in the ruling coalition. In February 1948, a communist-orchestrated coup destroyed all other parties.
  • In Hungary at the turn of 1946/7, there was a secret policy campaign against the Smallholder Party which was well represented in government and parliament. In February 1947, the party's general secretary was arrested which led to the forcing out of the PM, Nagy. The communists then took over the government and eliminated the opposition.
  • In Eastern Germany in the spring of 1946, there was a forced merger of the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party into the Socialist Unity Party. In 1947-8, there was a reorganisation and elimination of the other parties of the Left bloc.

By 1948, the communist one-party systems were the norm across eastern Europe. Soviet representatives had been involved in the sovietisation process and worked closely with the Eastern European communists who were watched and directed from Moscow. Any foreign policies had to be in line with Moscow.

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Stalinisation

Stalinisation took place at 2 interdependent levels, the domestic level and the foreign policy level. At the meeting of the Communist Information Bureau (Cominform) in Poland in September 1947, an information exchange occured ensuring the compliance of eastern European communist parties. It called on these parties to line up behind and 'mimic' the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

After this, the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon) convened in January 1948. It called for the tightening of the economic relationship between Moscow and its eastern European satellites, and for Soviet pressure to expropriate, nationalise, and root out the bourgeoisie. They also wanted a removal of non-compliant communists, ultimately leading to the purges. This was followed by a dramatic series of events including the Czechoslovak coup in February 1948, the Berlin Blockade in June, and finally the Soviet-Yugoslav split in the summer.

Stalinisation from 1947-1953 had dramatic economic and social effects in eastern Europe. The predominantly agricultural and socially conservative societies were transformed with a rapid and heavy industrialisation modelled on the USSR, collectivisation, a significant increase in industrial output, economic integration through Comecon, and the shaping of the Soviet Bloc autarchy. This was all enforced through terror.

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Continued

The purges were characteristic of Stalinisation. Terror was created both by the communist parties and within them. There were internal disagreements concerning Sovietisation and Stalinisation as well as internal leadership struggles.

Josip Broz Tito was the 'Stalin of the Balkans' and was the only challenge to Stalin's omnipotence. Tito's expansionist agenda involved supporting Greek communist guerrillas, planning a South Slav People's Republic, cooperating with Bulgaria (which could be expanded to Romania and Albania), and being a ghost of an independent socialist bloc. Stalin wanted to take control and limit the plan to unify Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Bulgaria's Dimitrov was willing to comply, but the Yugoslavs refused. Tito's challenge involved the insistence on Yugoslavia's own road to socialism and the removal of Soviet military advisors and monitoring of pro-Soviet Yugoslav politicians. Everything was rendered possible with the regime's strength and legitimacy.

The split was caused by an escalating exchange of diplomatic letters. The second Cominform meeting produced a denunciation of Yugoslavia's 'incorrect line', and a call for the removal of Tito. But, he couldn't be toppled and responded by purging pro-Soviet elements in Yugoslavia. He even saught and received military assistance from the western bloc. So, instead, Stalin opted for a 'preventative' purge of all potential 'deviants'.

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Conclusion

Stalin used purges and show trials; he conducted a Bolshevisation and Stalinisation of parties; Lavrenti Beria deployed NKVD officers to 'assist' eastern European regimes; charges were largely made up (like conspiring with western intelligence); and there were punishments and stregthenings of communist authorities, communist leaders, especially of Jewish origin, and non-party government specialists and military leaders. This resulted in the emergence of 'little Stalins' all over eastern Europe.

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