post 1945

• allies given USSR control of the eastern sector of Germany; run by Red army until GDR created 1949
• after war in Poland the communists joined a coalition Gov and became leaders 1947; forced non-communist into exile
• in Hungary the communist party became the largest party; imprisoning opposition and attacked church leaders
• Romania: 1945 communist was elected as PM, 1947 communists abolished monarchy
• in Bulgaria a left wing coalition won 1945, communists members of party executed other leaders
• in Greece Britain and USA supported to help defeat Russia
• In Albania the communists gained power immediately after the war
• In Yugoslavia: Mashal Tito led war-time resistance to Nazis, elected president 1945, expelled 1948
• france and Italy had strong communist parties
• In Czechoslovakia a left wing coalition won 1945, 1948 Czechoslovakia became a communist, one party state
• Satellite states created: buffer states between Russia and west of Europe
• Cominform: communist information Bureau was made to counter propaganda of west
• 1946 Churchill speaks on iron curtain
• 67-77 million increased urban workforce after war with more women involved
• less than 60% of harvest production in 1945; produced 60% less than pre-war
• east German machinery was moved to Russia as reparations for war
• 2nd to USA in industry
• 'transformation of nature' Stalin 1948 calling on peasants to plant forests often in unsuitable areas, not practical
• 'beg, borrow or buy; wages low, taxes increased, poor life
• 2.5 million prisoners of labour camps in 1953