Soviet Expansion

• How did the USSR respond to its nuclear inferiority?

  Strengthened its control over Eastern Europe.
• What methods were used in the expansion?

  Rigged elections, violence, intimidation
• Which countries relinquished control?

  Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Romania.
• What year were all Eastern European countries ruled by a communist government?

  1947 (Czechzlovakia in 1948)
• Give four ways in which the USSR justified its actions

  It had created a buffer zone against the West.

  It was afraid of the USA's atomic power

  It was afraid of an attack by the West in the near future.

  It had created a 'sphere of influence' as agreed at Yalta.
• Give three things the USA claimed about the expansion

  The USSR had seized control of Eastern Europe and rejected free elections as agreed at Yalta.

  The USA feared that the USSR was determined to extend its influence into Western Europe (and then the rest of the world)

  The USA claimed they were aggressive and a threat to the west.