18- Post-war central and eastern Europe (motives)

Question 1

Central and Eastern European states faced political and economic challenges in the interwar years and were vulnerable to ___ following WW2

Answer 1

Soviet influence

Question 2

How was the vulnerability of central and eastern European states to Soviet influence after WW2 exploited?

Answer 2

It was exploited by Stalin who established Soviet dominated communist parties in the countries ‘liberated’ by the Red Army after 1943.

Question 3

What was the situation in most states like Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Romania before 1945?

Answer 3

For centuries most of these states had been part of the multinational Habsburg, Russian and Ottoman empires and they were less urbanised and industrialised than western European states.

Question 4

How did the situation in states like Poland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Romania change after WW1?

Answer 4

• After the First World War and the collapse of these empires, national boundaries in Europe were redrawn.
• In the Versailles Settlement, Germany and Austria ceded territory and ‘Anschluss’ was forbidden.
• One of the war aims of the Allied powers had been to pursue ‘self-determination’ for national groups.

Question 5

When did Romania, Hungaria, and Bulgaria have their independence confirmed?

Answer 5

At the end of the war

Question 6

After WW1, Poland regained independence for the first time since ___

Answer 6

Its partition in the 18th century.

Question 7

How did Czechoslovakia, and the kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes change after WW1?

Answer 7

They became newly independent states.

These were called Yugoslavia from 1929.

Question 8

How did the state of many eastern European countries change after the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and the subsequent civil war?

Answer 8

Ukraine and Belarus were taken under Soviet control but the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania declared independence.

Question 9

When did Finland proclaim itself a republic?

Answer 9

In 1919

Question 10

Describe the economic situation in the newly independent states, or ‘successor states’ after WW1

Answer 10

• They were vulnerable, economically and politically, to influence from both the Soviet Union and a resurgent Germany.
• Economically, most states, bar Hungary, redistributed the land from the aristocratic estates to the peasantry after the First World War.
• However, the majority of people remained subsistence farmers.
• Subsequently, as a result of population growth coupled with the global depression of the 1930s, there were acute economic pressures on these states.

Question 11

Describe the territorial situation in the newly independent states, or ‘successor states’ after WW1

Answer 11

Territorial disputes and claims also led to instability in the region; however these tensions were exacerbated by the rather arbitrary drawing up of the borders of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia which had taken place after the First World War and which disregarded ethnic distributions.

Question 12

Describe the situation for minorities in the newly independent states, or ‘successor states’ after WW1

Answer 12

• There were no guarantees for the safety of minorities in these new states, for example the German speakers in Czechoslovakia, and there was no history of democracy in these states.
• Indeed, in the inter-war period only Czechoslovakia remained a democracy before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Question 13

How did different European states react to Hitler coming to power and beginning to rearm Germany?

Answer 13

• Germany’s surrounding countries of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania sought security in alliances with France.
• But Hungary moved to ally with Nazi Germany.

Question 14

Describe the Munich Agreement and how it turned out

Answer 14

• In September 1938 the Czech Crisis led to the Munich Agreement in which British Prime Minister ceded Czech territory to Hitler’s Germany.
• This agreement was torn up by Hitler in March 1939 when he invaded and occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia.

Question 15

How did the Nazi-Soviet Pact change the situation Eastern Europe?

Answer 15

• In September 1939, following the Nazi-Soviet Pact in August, Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union.
• This pact also gave Stalin free rein to seize control of the Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Question 16

Which states allied with Hitler when he launched Operation Barbarossa- the invasion of the USSR?

Answer 16

Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania

Question 17

When did Hitler launch Operation Barbarossa?

Answer 17

June 1941

Question 18

What territories were under Nazi control by September 1942?

Answer 18

• Central and eastern Europe

- By September 1942 the Axis powers had occupied the territories in red on the map

Question 19

Describe the meetings that Allies had during the war

Answer 19

• During the war the Allies - the US, Britain and the USSR - met three times, at Tehran in 1943, at Yalta February 1945 and Potsdam July 1945.
• At each of the meetings the fate of central and eastern Europe after the Second World War was discussed and agreements made.

Question 20

What was agreed between the Allies at Yalta in 1943 about Germany (necessary?

Answer 20

• Focus on post-war settlement for Germany
• Influence over Germany was mutually key for both superpowers, thus no agreement was reached apart from a shared objective of an ‘unconditional surrender’
• The US agreed to open the -second front’ that Stalin had been demanding- invasion of northern France in summer of 1944

Question 21

Need more info on Tehran 1943?

Question 22

What was agreed between the Allies about Germany at Yalta in 1945?

Answer 22

• Germany would be disarmed, demilitarized, de-Nazified, and divided.
• It would be ‘temporarily’ divided into four zones of occupation between the USA, the USSR, the UK, and France.
• An Allied Control Council (ACC) would govern Germany.
• The Soviets wanted a large share of reparations. It was agreed that Germany would pay $20 billion and 50% would go to the USSR.

Question 23

What was agreed between the Allies about Poland at Yalta in 1945?

Answer 23

• New frontiers of Poland were decided. The border between Poland and the USSR was to be drawn at the ‘Curzon Line’ and Poland was to be compensated with territoriy from Germany, east of the ‘Oder-Neisse Line’.
• The nature of the new government was disputed by the British who supported the claims of the ‘London Poles’, the pre-war government that fled to the UK in 1939.
• The Soviets backed the Communist-dominated Lublin Committee in Poland to form the new post-war government.
• The failure of the Soviets forces to assist the Polish underground in the Warsaw Uprising in August 1944 added to hostility in Poland towards the USSR.

Question 24

What was agreed between the Allies about Eastern Europe at Yalta in 1945?

Answer 24

• Stalin agreed to ‘free elections’ across Eastern Europe in the ‘Declaration for Liberated Europe’.
• This pledged the big three to hold free elections to establish democratic governments in all European countries, including Eastern European countries.

Question 25

Need info on Potsdam 1945?

Question 26

When was the Yalta Conference?

Answer 26

February 1945

Question 27

How could the motive for Soviet domination be seen as ideological?

Answer 27

• Orthodox Western historians writing on the origins of the Cold War argued that expansionism was inherent in its Marxist ideology.
• Marxism advocated spreading revolution and the need to ‘liberate’ the exploited workers of the world.

Question 28

Explain how it could be seen that the motive for Soviet domination was fear and insecurity

Answer 28

• The Soviet leadership believed that the capitalist West sought to ‘encircle’ the Soviet Union and ultimately overthrow its communist government.
• Indeed, the economic effects of the Second World War were severe for the USSR whereas the US emerged from the conflict as the number one global economic power.
• The Soviets were concerned that the US would use its economic power to gain influence in other countries.

Question 29

Describe the USSR’s withdrawal from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank

Answer 29

• The US set up the Bretton Woods system at the end of the war, which included the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
• Although involved in setting these institutions up, the USSR withdrew in 1945 due to the emphasis on free market capitalism.

Question 30

Explain how the Soviets viewed US policies as the pursuit of ‘dollar imperialism’

Answer 30

• Together with the US Marshall Plan, proposed in 1947 and implemented in 1948, the Soviets viewed US policies as the pursuit of ‘dollar imperialism’ and they were afraid that the USA was trying to win over the
 East European states with economic aid.
• In other words, the US would use its economic power to establish spheres of influence to promote its own economic and ideological power.

Question 31

What did Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov write in his book ‘Problems of Foreign Policy’?

Answer 31

• He accused the US of trying to take over Europe economically and put it under the control ‘of foreign firms, banks and industrial companies’.
• Molotov said the Soviets were only attempting to ‘find security’, to rebuild after the ‘Great Patriotic War’ (World War Two) and, where and when possible, to aid in the liberation of the exploited working classes of the world.

Question 32

How did the opening of former Soviet and Eastern European archives in the 1990s force historians to reconsider the role of ideology and the search for security in Soviet foreign policy?

Answer 32

• Historians suggested that motives such as furthering socialist objectives became tied to the search for security.
• There was a belief in the USSR that the triumph of socialism was inevitable, and it should assist communist groups around the world to fulfil this aim.
• From the Soviet archives a clear motive seems to be the fear of renewed German aggression and aggression from the capitalist world.

Question 33

What have historians such as John Lewis Gaddis said about the motives for Soviet control?

Answer 33

Historians such as John Lewis Gaddis have also highlighted the paranoia that underpinned Stalin’s state and argue it was not surprising that Stalin viewed the actions of the West as a threat.

Question 34

What does the historian Vojtech Mastny see as the dominant motives for Soviet control?

Answer 34

He sees Stalin’s role as pivotal in the expansion of Soviet control and that paranoia and suspicion were the dominant motives

Question 35

What did Henry Kissinger, the US Secretary of State in the 1970s, claim about the USSR’s motives?

Answer 35

He claimed that the USSR’s motives for the domination of central and eastern Europe were not based on the promotion of its ideology, nor due to security concerns but were rather motivated by traditional aims of ‘empire building’.

Question 36

Describe the USSR’s control in Eastern Europe before 1947

Answer 36

• Before 1947, although the Red army remained in eastern Europe, the USSR did not exert overt force to expand its control.
• For example, the Soviets did not assist a communist insurgency in Greece.

Question 37

What did Stalin set out to do in the territories formerly under occupation by the Nazis (before 1947)?

Answer 37

He set out to destroy pro-German elites in the territories formerly under occupation by the Nazis but it was not simply a case of the Red Army using its military presence and intimidation to exert influence.

Question 38

Describe popular support for Communist forces (before 1947)?

Answer 38

• Communist forces had some popular support as it was these groups (look at previous flashcard) that had pushed for radical reform in the pre-war period and it was often communists who had led the resistance to the Germans during the war.
• At the end of the war communist groups were strengthened by the Soviet advance and the knowledge that they would have assistance.

Question 39

Describe the states that had governments in exile in Britain

Answer 39

There were several states that had governments in exile in Britain, but these governments were not necessarily popular in the post-war period at home. They were also not likely to be ‘acceptable’ to the Soviets.

Question 40

How did the Cold War change Soviet control?

Answer 40

• As the Cold War superpower confrontation developed, the USSR pushed for more political control over the communist parties in central and eastern Europe.
• Coalition governments of socialists, communists, democrats, and peasant parties were initially formed and were dubbed ‘People’s Democracies’.
• Communists were given influential positions e.g. interior ministers, security chiefs, and propaganda heads. Other political parties were slowly removed ‘salami tactics’].

Question 41

What did the ‘People’s Democracies’ want?

Answer 41

They wanted to remove all remnants of fascism and wanted to implement land reform.

Question 42

What was a key motive for the Soviets to gain control over Poland?

Answer 42

• Its historic use as the launchpad for invasions into Russia.
• It was deemed a key strategic territory for the USSR.

Question 43

Why was Poland vulnerable to Soviet control?

Answer 43

• Due to its geography, positioned between Germany and the USSR.
• The ‘carve up’ of Poland in 1939, in line with the Nazi-Soviet pact, meant that the Poles were not likely to support Soviet influence in their country.

Question 44

Describe Polish losses during WW2

Answer 44

Poland had suffered the most per capita losses during the war with over 6 million dead.

Question 45

Describe the state of the Polish communist party over time

Answer 45

• The USSR did not trust the Polish communist party and had it eliminated in 1941.
• It was allowed to re-form in 1942 and join a popular front with other resistance parties. Stalin supported an alternative Polish communist government in Moscow over the ‘London Poles’ government in exile in Britain to head a post-war government.

Question 46

Who was Wladyslaw Gomulka

Answer 46

Deputy leader of the Polish communist party

Question 47

How did the decisions made during the wartime conferences affect Poland territorially and politically?

Answer 47

• Wladyslaw Gomulka was ordered to negotiate with the London Poles in 1943.
• The allies agreed to shift the border of Poland westwards during the wartime conferences.
• The proposal had caused great disagreement amongst the Polish.
• The Soviets sent Boleslaw Bierut to work with Gomulka, but discussions broke down as Bierut refused to work with ‘socialists’.

Question 48

Describe the Red Army’s liberation of Poland from Nazi occupation and what this led to

Answer 48

• In February 1944 the Red Army began to liberate Poland from Nazi occupation.
• The Polish Committee for national liberation, established in Lublin under the leadership of Bierut was to have political control with Soviet support.
• Infighting in Poland ensued between the home army who supported the London poles and communists groups who supported the Lublin.

Question 49

What did Stalin do in Poland in January 1945 and how did other countries react?

Answer 49

• Stalin formally recognized Bierut’s committee as the provisional government of Poland and the Polish home army was disbanded; its leaders were sent to Moscow and imprisoned.
• A brutal but small-scale civil conflict developed between communists and anti-communists in Poland.
• The US and Britain refused to recognize the new government until the free elections promised by Stalin at Yalta had been held.

Question 50

What government was established in Poland in June 1945?

Answer 50

• The Provisional Government of National Unity was established in June 1945 (even though the US and Britain refused to recognize the new government until the free elections promised by Stalin at Yalta had been held) made up of communist, socialist, catholic, and peasant parties.
• Edward Osobka was prime minister and former leader of the government in exile, Stanislaw Mikolajczyk of the peasant party, joined.
• The Western allies recognized the government and the border agreement was implemented.

Question 51

What were the Soviets’ key motives for domination of Hungary?

Answer 51

• Security and opportunity were key motives for the Soviets to dominate Hungary.
• In addition, Hungary had joined the Germans in Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the USSR, and therefore had been an enemy state.

Question 52

Describe the Soviets’ contol in Hungary

Answer 52

• Despite the alliance, Hitler had not trusted the Hungarians and the Nazis had actually occupied Hungary in 1944.
• The small Hungarian communist party had been illegal before the war, and during the war, the socialist-peasant party was suppressed.
• Communists led by Laslo Rajk joined with the socialists in a popular front against the ‘fascists’ and after the Red Army invaded Hungary in June 1944, the Hungarian communists attempted to have influence.
• A National Independence Front was set up and Stalin ordered the communists to join a coalition government.

Question 53

The USSR did not want to Hungarians to ___ (motives for control)

Answer 53

• Wield too much independence.

- Matyas Rakosi was put in charge of rebuilding the communist party in line with Moscow’s orders.

Question 54

Describe the situation in Czechoslovakia before WW2

Answer 54

• Czechoslovakia was a country that would come to be on the frontline between the western and eastern blocs in Europe.
• Before the Second World War, the Czech communists were fairly established in Czechoslovakia, unlike in Hungary and Poland.

Question 55

What were the Soviets’ motives for control of Czechoslovakia?

Answer 55

The Soviets perceived the state as key to security but also wanted to harness its economic potential.

Question 56

How was Czechoslovakia different from other eastern European countries during the itnerwar period

Answer 56

• The unification of the lands of Czechs and Slovaks at the end of the First World War led to some nationalist and socio-economic tension.
• The Czechs were more urbanized whereas 80% of Slovaks were poor peasants.
• Nevertheless, Czechoslovakia was the real success story of multinational democracy in the inter-war period.
• The Communist party had some popularity and had won 10% of the vote in national elections.

Question 57

Describe the political situation in Czechoslovakia during WW2

Answer 57

• During the war, Czechoslovakia had a government in exile in London led by President Eduard Beneš.
• Back home, Klement Gottwald led the communists in resisting the Nazi occupation.
• Stalin signed an agreement with the Beneš government in 1943 in which it was agreed that pre-war borders would be respected.
• In August 1944, a Slovak national rising was organized from London, but this had a limited impact as the communists had gained significant influence, and had the back-up of the Red Army when the Soviets invaded in October 1944.

Question 58

What were the Soviets’ motives for control in Romania?

Answer 58

• Romania, on the Black Sea, was another strategically important state for the USSR; it bordered the Ukraine, Hungary, and Yugoslavia.
• There was also the issue of ‘revenge’ as Romania had joined the Germans in the attack on the Soviet Union in 1941.

Question 59

Describe Romania’s vulnerabilities prior to and during WW2

Answer 59

• Before the Second World War there were German, Jewish, and Hungarian minorities in the country.
• It was economically less developed than other states in the region and had relied on Germany for economic support and for its defense.
• In 1940 Romania was forced to cede the territories of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the USSR and northern Transylvania to Hungary.

Question 60

Describe the attempted formation of an anti-Nazi coalition in Romania and what this led to

Answer 60

• From 1943, Romanian communists attempted to form an anti-Nazi coalition, and Stalin made Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej head of the communist party in 1944 and instructed him to pursue this alliance.
• Subsequently, the National Democratic Front was formed in June 1944 which was a coalition of communists, socialists, peasant party members and liberals.

Question 61

How did the situation in Romania change after the National Democratic Front was formed in June 1944?

Answer 61

• The Romanian government then switched sides in the war to support the Allies.
• The Red Army entered Bucharest in August 1944, and in September Churchill agreed to Stalin’s demand for ‘primary influence’ in Romania.
• The first communist-dominated government came to power in March 1945 under the leadership of Petru Groza.

Question 62

What were the Soviets’ motives for control of Bulgaria?

Answer 62

Bulgaria was deemed important for Soviet security, and had been an ally of the Germans and thus an ‘enemy’ state.

Question 63

Describe Hitler’s presence in Bulgaria

Answer 63

• Nazi Germany had urged Bulgaria to join the Tripartite Pact powers after Italy’s invasion of Greece had failed.
• Hitler wanted to be able to send his forces through Bulgaria into Greece to assist Mussolini; in return, the Bulgarians would be ceded Greek territory.
• However, if the Bulgarian government refused, Hitler threatened to invade.
• Bulgaria thus joined the pact on March 1, 1941.
• Although its forces were part of the occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece, it did not join Operation Barbarossa in June 1941.

Question 64

Describe the opposition to Nazi control in Bulgaria and what this led to

Answer 64

• The Bulgarian communist party set up an underground resistance movement called the Fatherland Front in August 1942 which opposed the pro-Nazi government.
• When Romania changed sides and declared war on Germany in August 1944 its government allowed Soviet forces to cross its territory to attack Bulgaria.

Question 65

Describe the Soviet invasion of Bulgaria

Answer 65

• In September 1944, the Red Army invaded, the Bulgarian communists affected a coup in Sofia, the Soviets occupied the country and the government was overthrown.
• Stalin then installed a communist regime under the leadership of Georgi Dimitrov.

Question 66

Map of East and West Gemrany

Answer 66

Question 67

What hope was there for Germany after the end of WW2 and how did this workout

Answer 67

• Following the end of the Second World War, there was hope that Germany would re-emerge as a united, neutral, non-militarised country.
• However, for the Soviet Union, which had born the onslaught of the Nazi war machine and suffered the loss of approximately 27 million people, control over post-war Germany was key to its future security.

Question 68

What were the Soviets determined to do in Germany?

Answer 68

• Stalin was determined that Germany could never again be allowed to recover, rearm and threaten the USSR.
• The Soviets were not only determined to install a pro-Soviet regime in post-war Germany and ensure that it was permanently weakened, but Stalin also want to exact reparations.

Question 69

Why was Stalin not able to fulfill his goals in Germany after WW2?

Answer 69

Because Germany was a very different case from the other countries that came under Soviet control after 1945 due to its geopolitical, strategic, and economic importance to both superpowers.