soviet union post-wwII: superpower?

When did the Soviet Union officially emerge as a global superpower?

Immediately following the Second World War (1945), vying with the USA for global influence.

What symbolic military achievement in 1945 cemented the USSR's status as a dominant European power?

The Red Army's capture of Berlin.

What title was conferred on Stalin to reflect his supreme status as the 'genius organizer' of victory?

Generalissimo.

In what year did the USSR successfully test its first atomic bomb?

1949, confirming its status as a nuclear superpower.

How did the Soviet military presence change in Eastern Europe post-war?

The USSR extended its boundaries and dominated Eastern Europe, imposing its ideology and creating a 'defensive buffer'.

What was the primary objective of the Fourth Five-Year Plan (1946-1950)?

Rapid reconstruction to exceed pre-war industrial levels.

What percentage of investment was dedicated to heavy industry in the Fourth Five-Year Plan?

85 per cent.

How was the labor shortage addressed during post-war reconstruction?

Through the mobilization of the entire population (extra hours) and the use of 2 million POWs and 2.5 million Gulag inmates as slave labor.

Which specific territories were annexed or brought under direct Soviet control between 1939 and 1945?

The Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), eastern Poland, and Bessarabia.

To which global regions was the Soviet Communist model exported after 1945?

Eastern Europe, China, South-Eastern Asia, and parts of Africa and the Caribbean.

What term is used to describe the era (1945-1953) of peak personalized control and cultural uniformity?

High Stalinism.

What campaign was launched to prevent Soviet citizens from being 'contaminated' by Western democratic ideas?

Anti-Westernism and the Zhdanovshchina (drive for ideological and cultural purity).

How did the state treat returning Soviet Prisoners of War (POWs)?

They were viewed as traitors or 'contaminated' by the West; approximately half were sent to the Gulag.

What specific group did Stalin target as 'rootless cosmopolitans' during his post-war nationalist campaigns?

Soviet Jews, suspected of Western or Zionist loyalties.