HIST 236 Lecture Notes - Lecture 22: Leningrad Affair, Gosplan, Eastern Bloc
19 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Postwar Stalinism
The Soviet Union was in rough shape domestically after the
war (famine, physical devastation, etc.)
-
Stalin made it clear that the war had changed nothing and the
country would pursue the same path it had started on in the
1930s; it would not liberalize and he would not cede power
Victory in the war had legitimized the way to attain
communism that they had put in place in the 1930s
○
-
He became more paranoid, mistrustful and anti-Semitic in his
old age
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Another smaller round of purges happened after the war
Doctors plot, Jewish doctors are accused of trying to kill
Soviet leaders and Stalin
○
Leningrad affair, purges the leader of the Gosplan
○
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Gorlizki and Khlevniuk: Stalin retained dictatorial control, but
increasingly delegated authority, especially on domestic
issues, but not on international issues
Lets bureaucrats come up with ideas on how to change
things
○
Stalin does not delegate authority on international
affairs
○
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An Expanded International Role
The Soviet Union got a seat at the table when it came to
reorganizing Europe
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It joined the United Nations and got a seat on the security
council and a veto
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Vladislav Zubok: after the revolution, the Soviet Union saw
itself as a base for socialist revolution; after the war it saw
itself as the centre of the communist world, with satellite
states orbiting around it, and it became much more
concerned with security and aggrandizement
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It quickly found itself in another conflict with the West: the
Cold War
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The Issue of Germany
Relations between the West and the Soviet Union soured
quickly, in particular; over the issue of Germany
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The Soviet Union wanted to neuter Germany militarily and
turn its zone of occupation into a communist country, which
had been accomplished by 1949
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The Soviet Union also extracted heavy reparations (materials,
labour, technology, etc.) from Germany and was accused of
exploiting it
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Red Army is stealing "trophy reparations," basically anything
that they can find
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POWs are used for reconstruction in the Soviet Union
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Worsening Relations with the West
The ideological battle between communism and capitalism
heated up during this time
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The US accused the Soviets of communist expansionism
To stop this, it created NATO, offered aid via the
Marshall plan, and adhered to the Truman Doctrine
○
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The Soviet Union was increasingly excluded from the global,
American dominated economic order
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Churchill accused the Soviet Union of installing communist
governments in Eastern Europe and pulling their strings (Iron
Curtain speech)
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Communist Regimes in Eastern Europe
Across central and eastern Europe communist regimes were
installed
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Building Unity in the East Bloc
The Soviet government sought to tie Central and Eastern
European countries to the USSR politically and economically
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The Comecon was its answer to the Marshall Plan and to the
other Organization for European Economic Cooperation
It was meant to coordinate their economies to draw on
each other's strengths and provide fraternal aid to
weaker states
○
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The Red Army also remained sanctioned in these countries
and the threat of military intervention loomed should they
choose to go their own way
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The Tito-Stalin Split
There was dissent within the Eastern European communist
world
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Stalin and Tito fell out in 1948
Tito disagreed that Yugoslavia should implement Soviet-
style socialism and wanted a more national variant
○
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After this schism, Stalin tried to have Tito killed and purged
"Titoists" at. Home and in the People's Democracies
A high profile case occurred in 1952 when Slansky, a
member of the Czechoslovakia government was tried
and executed as a Titoist
○
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This made it clear the Soviet government was not going to
tolerate challenges to its authority
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Lecture 22 - Building a New Empire
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
9:39 AM
Document Summary
The soviet union was in rough shape domestically after the war (famine, physical devastation, etc. ) Stalin made it clear that the war had changed nothing and the country would pursue the same path it had started on in the. 1930s; it would not liberalize and he would not cede power. Victory in the war had legitimized the way to attain communism that they had put in place in the 1930s. He became more paranoid, mistrustful and anti-semitic in his old age. Another smaller round of purges happened after the war. Doctors plot, jewish doctors are accused of trying to kill. Leningrad affair, purges the leader of the gosplan. Gorlizki and khlevniuk: stalin retained dictatorial control, but increasingly delegated authority, especially on domestic issues, but not on international issues. Lets bureaucrats come up with ideas on how to change things. Stalin does not delegate authority on international affairs.
