The Inevitable Spread of Soviet-backed Communism in Eastern Europe

The era that preceded the formation of the Soviet Union was earmarked with social unrest, famine, and failed governments. After many struggles, many smaller soviet republics joined to form a large conglomerate nation, known as the Soviet Union in 1922. Vladimir Lenin, leader at the time, replaced the failing capitalist government with a communist government. . At the end of WWII, most of Eastern and Central Europe’s countries were being occupied by the soviet army. They came to be controlled by the Soviet government and pulled back behind an “iron Curtain”. Winston Churchill’s famed Iron curtain remark refers to the countries that fell under the spell of the Soviet Union and shut out the western world ways of capitalism. The countries of

Past Setbacks; High politics surpass the economic gains. The thoughts and scarred lifestyle due to cold war with Soviet Union has faded impact on the “new” EU states. Old states fear the aggressive anti-Communist elites as they displayed a vast growth in an incredibly short phase.Though these States tend to be optimistic yet resist dictatorship and there is a fear of being swamped by the powerful West. CEE’s have a cold war vision against the United States while Western Europe has strong

Before World War II, Soviet troops occupied most of Eastern Europe. Stalin promised to hold “free elections” in these Eastern European nations. Later he broke that promise. By 1948, Communists controlled the governments of every Eastern country except Yugoslavia. In each country the Soviets placed dictators.

In times of economic and infrastructural strife, the Stalinist-style of leadership appeared to be the appropriate solution to the immediate set of problems. A unilateral command system was deemed vital to coordinate a relatively swift industrial improvement to repair the damage done by World War II. This style of governance was only advantageous for so long as “the inflexibility of Comecon’s command structure” was unable to adapt to the economic environment that it was entering into (Stone 168). With the world focusing less with weaponry and more with consumer demands, Eastern European countries were unable to fulfill the promises they made to their constituents since some could see or hear about how green the grass was on the western side in comparison. As more people resorted to other means to find necessities and more funds were being tied up in military and defence spending, Eastern Europe gradually exhibited symptoms of a failing society that only grew as the decades went along until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of communist dictatorships throughout the

Although the USSR and the United States were both part of the Allied Powers during WWII, it became immediately obvious when the war ended that these two nations would be enemies moving forward. These two superpowers had worked together to defeat the Nazi Regime, but had conflicting ideas of a superior government. Joseph Stalin, the tyrannical and bloodthirsty dictator who led the Soviet Union, wanted to spread Communist rule through Eastern Europe, China, and Korea, which the United States opposed. The world split between democratic countries backed by America and Communist countries supported by the Soviet Union, and birthed a conflict called the “Cold War,” because, as opposed to a “hot” war, there were no direct military confrontations

By the early 1990s, Soviet domination in Eastern Europe had ended. A number of individuals played a part in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Understanding the role that each played is an important part of understanding the process that changed European politics and geography.

relations with the West in the form of the Marshall plan nor the lack of

The Cold War was a time of great tension between the Capitalist and Communist "worlds." The United States presents these tensions in the Truman Doctrine as the Communists trying to convert any country in need after the second World War to their type of government, which would then create a domino effect of other countries falling under Communism, therefore they need to help many countries get back on their feet as well have their governments Democratic and free. Nikita Khrushchev, leader of the Soviet Union during this time, explained in his "cult of personality" how Stalin made mistakes before he was in power and therefore pursues to ease

Following World War Two, two distant political governments emerged to dictate the direction the world would take. These two governments consisted of Communism and Democracy which stared untrustingly at each other and staunched economic growth with their excessive military budgets. In the end though, Democracy would prove to be the preferred government archetype for the general population of the world.

After World War II, the Soviet Union wanted to create more communist nations, especially along their western border, to prevent themselves from being vulnerable to attack from the West again as they had been from Nazi Germany. Countries like the United States and Great Britain did not want the Soviet Union to spread communism but some Eastern European countries that had been victims of the Nazi regime saw communism as a good way to prevent another fascist regime from rising. Combined with the fact that most Eastern European had a history of unstable government systems and were in poor economic and political states, communism had a very large appeal to most Eastern Europeans. With the help of Soviet military intervention, communism quickly

The collapse of Communism, and the resulting attempts to institute Western-style democracy and markets, brought immense uncertainty to the former Soviet bloc (and non-aligned Yugoslavia). Though the end of communism was welcomed by the vast majority of people, the question of what comes next, and how what has come next is any better, has vexed the former communist countries of Eastern Europe. Each country has adapted to the transition with varying degrees of success. Slavenka Drakulic explores this transition, and the difficulties that have come with it, in A Guided Tour Through the Museum of Communism.

Account for the “failure of democracy” in Eastern Europe (excluding the USSR) in the period 1918-1939.

On December 26, 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was officially dissolved. While the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was a sign that the Cold War was soon to be over, the breakup of the Soviet Union truly symbolised its end. After a bitter era of global fighting between capitalism and communism, each led by the United States and the USSR respectively, it appeared that, for better or for worse, capitalism had prevailed. Today, it looks like this indeed was the case. The People’s Republic of China is the only communist state out of five in the global top 50 in nominal GDP, and although the fact that it is all the way in second might lend modern communism credibility, it would be inaccurate to label it a true communist state from an economic perspective. With communism now largely absent from the vast majority of the world’s regimes, it would appear that it has disappeared as a viable form of government for the time being. With this, communism and its most noteworthy pioneer, Karl Marx, have had their relevance questioned. Having lost the battle for dominance as a global political system, is there still a purpose in learning and analysing Marxism? The answer is yes. While it is undeniable that it has had a troubled history, there are still many lessons to take away from it. Owing especially to his ideas on social and economic equality, the Marxist perspective can still provide insight even into a firmly capitalist society.

After WWII, Europe was in shambles. Nearly every country in the mainland was affected by the death and destruction brought on by the Third Reich’s rise and fall. Many traditional East European governments were toppled in the wake of the costliest human conflict to date. Out of the destruction rose two competing political ideologies, each vying for the dominating spot on the world stage, and a divided Germany was the forefront for this ideological battle. From West Germany westward, the saving grace of capitalism fueled by the Marshall plan secured the prosperous and positive future of countries destroyed by Nazi aggression. From East Germany eastward Moscow fought back under the guiding light of Comrade Stalin with violent terror masked by

The Fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 was a time in history that the world will never forget. "Gorbachev’s resignation on Christmas Day 1991 marked the end of the 74-year Soviet experiment to create a communist utopia." (Ziegler, 170) From that day on, Boris Yeltsin was now president of the new independent Russian state. This also signified the end of the Cold war, which lasted from 1946 to 1991. A few days later, representatives from 11 soviet republics met in Minsk and declared that they would establish a Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). This was the temporary form of government to replace the communistic form of government they had before. This was a tough time for the Soviets, as they completed shifted to a new form of government