Why did communism become established in Eastern Europe after the Second World War? - publié le 04/03/2008

Résumé du document

On the 25th of April 1945, shortly before the official end of the Second World War, American and Soviet soldiers meet at the Elbe river. But to reach the Elbe river, the Russian troops had to come all the way across Europe, and so across Eastern Europe. By the end of the same year, seven states occupied by the Red Army were led by communist parties , and Albania and Yugoslavia were also ruled by local communists. If we add to the report the fact that most of the eastern part of Europe will remain under communist ruling until the end of the 1980s, the question of why communism became established in those countries seems natural. In order to answer the essay question, it might be interesting, first to examine the different reasons that led to the establishment of communism, but also to try and understand how the situation was implemented. The reasons why communism was implemented in Eastern Europe are numerous, and many classifications are used among historians.

Extraits

[...] Beside those direct and often violent tactics, the communists also made use of indirect strategies to gain more control. For example, the communist parties massively recruited in Eastern Europe[42], or manipulated the peoples by appealing to their nationalist identities[43]. The use of nationalism as a tactic needs to be noticed because of the contradiction with the theoretical base of communism. Tito used it a lot and eventually nationalism became a core principle of Titoism, as an opposition to Russian communism. Borkenau also notes that members of the communist parties 'alone received cars and loudspeakers. [...]

[...] The core principle of Titoism is the application of communism at a national level, and without any external pressure. Beyond the Stalinisation of the Popular Democracies and the alternative offered by Titoism, many different tactics were used to establish communism in Eastern Europe. Hugh Seton-Watson classifies the Soviet interventions in east European affairs following three patterns: 'direct political action based on the threat of military force, indirect political action, and economic action'[39]. We have already seen many examples of the first pattern, as proven by the presence of the Red Army, the Prague coup, the destruction of the democratic elites or the political trials and murders. [...]

[...] It is of course impossible to know, but the question proves that much can still be said and thought about the establishment of communism. Bibliography Books Bernstein, S., and Milza, P., Histoire du XXème siècle Tome 2 (Paris, Hatier, 1996) Borkenau, F., European Communism (New York, Harper &Brothers Publishers, 1953) Djilas, M., Conversations with Stalin (USA, Harcourt Brace & Company, 1962) Lovenduski, J., and Woodall, J., Politics and society in Eastern Europe (Hong-Kong, Indiana University Press, 1987) Schöpflin, G., Politics in Eastern Europe (Oxford, Blackwell Publisher Ltd., 1996) Swain, G., and Swain, N., Eastern Europe since 1945 (New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 3rd Edition 1998) Internet resources http://titoism.biography.ms/ http://www.bartleby.com/65/co/Cominfor.html http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/ironcurtain.htm http://www.radio.cz/en/article/63799 http://www.turnerlearning.com/cnn/coldwar/iron/iron_re2.html http://www.usembassy.de/germany/speech_04_25_05.html http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/trudoc.htm Journal Fakiolas, E., 'Kennan's long telegram and NSC-68: a comparative theoretical analysis', in East European Quarterly, Vol. [...]

[...] Why did communism become established in Eastern Europe after the Second World War? Why did communism become established in Eastern Europe after the Second World War? On the 25th of April 1945, shortly before the official end of the Second World War, American and Soviet soldiers meet at the Elbe river.[1] But to reach the Elbe river, the Russian troops had to come all the way across Europe, and so across Eastern Europe. By the end of the same year, seven states occupied by the Red Army were led by communist parties[2], and Albania and Yugoslavia were also ruled by local communists. [...]

[...] Another tool of communist power could be considered in land reform. Wherever Germans were expelled, 'the confiscated lands provided an invaluable fund of patronage to the communists: Czech or Polish peasants who received such land were expected to support the communists, and to a large extent did'[45]. This was another way to gain popular support. The last pattern of intervention described by Seton-Watson is economic action. He explains that in Romania and Hungary's economic reparations to the USSR were not only compensation for the losses of the war, but were designed to literally crush down their national economy and make them totally dependant upon the Soviet Union[46]. [...]