Motivations & Consequences of the USSR’s Control of Eastern Europe | History for GCSE/IGCSE - Year 11 PDF Download

Motivations & Consequences of the USSR’s Control of Eastern Europe  - Summary & Timeline

• The USSR suffered immense damage from the Second World War, with around 27 million civilian and military casualties, 60 times more than the USA. Operation Barbarossa also destroyed 3,000 Soviet towns and cities. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the USSR, was driven to rebuild and expand the country.
• The defeat of Nazi Germany left a power vacuum in Eastern Europe. Hitler's Lebensraum policy had extended Germany eastwards, and by 1941, Germany occupied much of Eastern Europe. The Russian Empire of the 19th and early 20th centuries included many of these countries. Stalin saw this as an opportunity to reclaim them. The Soviet Army pushed back the Germans in 1943, liberating Eastern Europe along the way. Stalin used this as a pretext to keep the Red Army in Eastern Europe after 1945. At the Yalta Conference, when questioned about this, Stalin promised the Allies that he would allow free elections in these countries. He then used intimidation and propaganda to establish Soviet satellite states.
• Stalin considered the Eastern Bloc crucial for the USSR's security. Truman's secrecy about the atomic bomb increased Stalin's distrust of the West. The Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid aimed to contain Communism, leading Stalin to view Eastern Europe as a buffer zone. He believed that if the West wanted to fight Communism in the USSR, they would first have to defeat the satellite states.
• This section of the course explores the security of the USSR’s control over Eastern Europe. Life in the Eastern Bloc was difficult. The Communist economy implemented Five Year Plans for each satellite state, with each state providing the USSR with valuable products. These targets were often unattainable, yet local communist governments expected workers to strive to meet them. Poor treatment and low wages led to discontent and poor health among workers. Eastern Europeans had no human rights to protest or vote.
• Hungary, East Berlin, Czechoslovakia, and Poland all attempted to protest or reform their countries, but the USSR responded with violence and repression. These methods were only effective in the short term. Internal and external pressures eventually made it impossible for the USSR's control to last. The collapse of control in Eastern Europe also led to the fall of the USSR.

Causes & Consequences of the USSR’s Control of Eastern Europe