User:CJK/Soviet Domination of Eastern Europe

Soviet Domination of Eastern Europe

Soviet consolidation and domination in Eastern Europe began as Soviet forces were liberating nations from Nazi rule during World War II. The Soviets chose to incorporate Ruthenia in Czechoslovakia and Kalingrad in East Prussia in addition to the Baltic nations, Eastern Poland, Bessarabia, and parts of Finland which had been previously annexed between 1939-1941, to the Soviet Union. During the Soviet drive to Poland in 1944 a large uprising against the Germans by the Polish Home Army in Warsaw was crushed by Nazi forces. During this time Soviet troops had halted just miles outside the city leading some western observers to conclude that it was a deliberate move so the Soviets would not be seriously contested by non-Communist groups in expanding Communism after Warsaw was taken. After the Soviets liberated Poland they executed the remnants of non-Communist leadership in the area, paving the way for a puppet Communist regime imposed by the Red Army in 1947. In order to “compensate”, German territories east of the Oder River were incorporated into Poland.

The same pattern emerged elsewhere. In Romania, which had switched sides to the allies in 1944, the government was ousted by the Soviets who entered Bucharest against the will of the government. Bulgaria, which had declared neutrality after an anti-Axis coup in 1944, was also attacked until another coup by Communists invited the peaceful entry of Soviet troops. Hungary also experienced the same fate after liberation. In Yugoslavia Soviet forces put Communist Tito in power by taking Belgrade in 1945. But Tito sought to assert Yugoslavian independence after 1948 by splitting with the U.S.S.R. and the Soviets declined to intervene and oust him. All of the Communist governments were created on the Soviet model and ruled by the same totalitarian ideology as the Soviet Union.

The Soviets justified such actions by claiming that their western border had to be secured to prevent further Western invasions. Many Western nations, however, viewed it as an attempt to spread Communism and pro-Soviet governments throughout Europe and possibly the world.