Lesson 2: Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union

Lesson Focus

Explore the Soviet Union's dramatic evolution after Stalin's death. We will examine how new leaders and policies impacted life inside the USSR and fueled resistance movements across Eastern Europe.

People to Know

Nikita Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev

Learning Objectives

• Analyze the political, economic, and social shifts within the Soviet Union during the Cold War, from Stalin to Brezhnev.
• Explain how Soviet control impacted Eastern European nations after WWII and led to various revolts against communist rule.

After World War II, Joseph Stalin sought to rebuild the devastated Soviet Union.

He focused investment on heavy industry and military power, like the hydrogen bomb and Sputnik I. This was funded by exporting goods while giving little back to the Soviet people.

As a result, the USSR became a superpower, but its citizens suffered from extreme shortages of housing and consumer goods. Stalin maintained sole power through intense political terror until his death in 1953.

Following Stalin’s death, new leader Nikita Khrushchev wanted to reverse the regime's harshest policies.

Starting in 1956, he began a process of de-Stalinization, condemning Stalin's terror and loosening controls on literature and art. He also attempted to increase consumer goods and improve agriculture.

However, his economic plans failed and a foreign policy crisis over missiles in Cuba led the party to remove him from power in 1964. Note that this was a significant, though temporary, thaw.

After Khrushchev, Leonid Brezhnev focused on stability and control, but also on easing Cold War tensions.

He asserted the USSR's right to intervene in other Communist states but also entered a period of détente with the U.S. While this allowed for some cultural access, dissidents who spoke out against the government were still suppressed.

This era of relaxed tensions collapsed in 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, leading to a new period of confrontation.

As World War II ended, the Soviet military occupied most of Eastern Europe, seeking to create a buffer zone of friendly governments.

Between 1945 and 1948, the Soviets installed loyal Communist regimes in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, among others. These satellite states were forced to adopt Soviet economic models and political repression.

As a result, most of Eastern Europe fell under Soviet control. Pay special attention to Yugoslavia, which remained independent under its leader, Tito.

Deep resentment over Soviet control and poor living conditions led to revolts in Eastern Europe.

In 1956, Poland gained some freedoms, but Hungary’s attempt to leave the Soviet bloc was crushed by tanks. In 1968, a reform movement in Czechoslovakia known as the “Prague Spring” was also ended by a Soviet invasion.

These events showed that the Soviet Union would use military force to prevent its satellite states from gaining independence, reinforcing its dominance over the region.