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Lesson 9.05 Soviet Control of Eastern Europe

Following the close of World War II, the Soviet Union moved quickly to ensure that pro Russian governments would come to power in the newly constructed Eastern Europe. Joseph Stalin’s mission as leader of the USSR was to insure the following things:

Each Eastern European state had a Communist government loyal to the USSR. Each state's economy was tied to the economy of the USSR.
If Communist control was threatened, each state could use its own army or secret police, or call on the Red Army for help and that the Warsaw Pact of 1955 bound all of the Eastern European states closely to the USSR.

Stalin died in 1953 and by 1955 a new policy seemed to be developing. The new Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev seemed to want better relations with the West and reform in the USSR. In Eastern Europe, they hoped for less tight Soviet control. In 1956 Khrushchev gave various concessions to Poland. With the appearance of some liberalization the Eastern European Nations of Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 were encouraged to also liberalize their governments, but with disastrous results.

Hungary 1956
The events in Poland gave hope to Hungary. Hungarians were fed up with many aspects of Communist rule. However, the main reason they began protesting in October 1956 was probably to do with their national pride. They resented the increasing number of Russian officials, advisers, security officers and technical experts who they felt were taking over their country. Protests began in the summer of 1956 but by October the Moscow backed Hungarian leaders were pushed out and the popular Imre Nagy took over. He brought in a series of radical policies. The most radical of all was his plan to make Hungary a neutral state and pull out of the Warsaw Pact. This was too much for Soviet leader Khrushchev who sent in tanks and troops to crush the revolt. It was bloody and brutal, with thousands of casualties. The Western powers protested, but they knew they could do little to help Hungary in what was the USSR's 'back yard'.

Czechoslovakia 1968
Czechs were traditionally friendlier to the USSR and more in favor of Communism than the other Eastern European states. Despite this, by 1968 they felt that the Communist party needed to reform. It needed new economic policies and needed to be more open and encourage free speech. In early 1968 this feeling brought Alexander Dubcek to power in Czechoslovakia. There was a new Soviet leader by this time as well - Leonid Brezhnev. He watched anxiously as Dubcek reformed Czech economic policies and allowed the Czech media to interrogate Communist party leaders live on radio and TV. Unlike Hungary, Dubcek was a loyal supporter of the Warsaw Pact. Like Hungary, he went too far for the Soviet leader and the tanks moved in to Prague in August 1968. There was fighting, but not as serious as in Hungary 12 years earlier. Again, the West protested, but was unable to take any serious action.

Assignment 9.05 - Soviet Control of Eastern Europe

Your Task
Your task is to study the sources on the Hungary 1956 and Czechoslovakia 1968 to create an Exhibition on Soviet intervention in Eastern Europe in these two nations. For this assignment you will use the information and worksheets from the Cold War Website at

http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/coldwar/default.htm

Click on the link, “How did the Cold War Work?

Under Case Studies, click on, “Soviet Control of Eastern Europe.”

Read the Background Information.

Download and print out the Worksheets from the link at the top of the page. The worksheets will help you to keep track of your work as you analyze each document.

Click on each document-primary source that is listed, read the document-primary source, and fill in the worksheet. There is space to use 2 additional links from the bottom of the page. There are helpful links on the page to guide you through each document. These links can provide you with additional information to see how the document fits into the big picture.

Once you have read and analyzed each document, you must select Four (4) of them to include in your exhibit. This assignment can be done in PowerPoint or a word processing program. You need to insert the pictures of the four documents you have chosen along with a caption of why you selected the document for your exhibit. When completed your exhibit should indicate your knowledge of what happened in these two nations during the Cold War.