Eastern Europe dominance by Stalin

Romania

• in Romania the communists were popular because they were offered an alternative to the pre-war regime

• moreover the red army occupied Romania

• these two factors made it relatively easy for Stalin

• there was minimal opposition

bulgaria

• in Bulgaria, the process was different but equally effective

• gradualism, manipulated elections and the forced removal of opposition characterised the takeover 

• strongest opponent was Nikola petkov from the agrarian party 

• despite winning over 20 percent of the votes in the October elections ,petkov was faced with trumped up charges and was executed 

• his party was forcibly absorbed into the Bulgarian communist movement 

• by April 1947, all the political parties had been banned

Hungary

• the communists used technique of allying with other political groups in order to challenge the power of their greatest opponent, the small holders party 

• as in Poland and elsewhere , political opponents were arrested and elections were manipulated and rigged in order to produce desired outcome for communists 

• however, as in Poland, many Hungarian communists did not display the degree of loyalty to Moscow that Stalin wanted 

• they formed close links with Yugoslavia where a non -soviet regime was in place 

• in 1949, the Hungarian leader was executed for anti-soviet activities 

• by 1949, all political opposition to the Moscow backed Hungarian communists had disappeared 

Czech

• unlike much of the rest of eastern Europe , Czech was industrialised and had a large unionised working class

• Czech communists were popular among the rural peasants because they had given them land at the end of the war

• the Czech communist party leader Gottwald became prime minister

• his fatal error was showing willingness to accept western aid in 1947

• there was growing opposition to communists from non communist groups

• however, members in these groups who were in government , resigned in 1948

• this advantaged the communists as it enabled them to sue it as an attempt to create an alternative right -wing group

• as a result, the highly respected president Edvard Benes agreed to support a communist dominated government

• Benes resigned in June 1948 and this left the pro-Moscow communists in complete control

Edvard Benes

• led the Czech government in exile in London during the war

• he was not a communist but he was willing to work with Stalin, having decided that there was more to gain from such cooperation than an alliance with Poland

• he returned as Czech president in 46

• he tried and failed to resist a communist dominated government

yugoslavia