Eastern Europe

The USSR controlled Eastern Europe. By   1948,    Poland,    Hungary,   Romania,    Czechoslovakia,   Albania    and Bulgaria had pro-soviet Communist governments controlled by USSR (Stalin). Under this goverments big companies and banks were nationalised and  heavy industry was developed. The land was distribute among the peasents. All this People's Republics were integrated into Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance)

But there were serious problems:

• Yugoslavia had a Communist government, led by Josip Tito, but it was not pro- soviet, so Stalin opposed Tito´s power.
• Polish workers in Poznan went on strike (1956) but were soon controlled by Russian troops.
• In Hungary, the people of Budapest (1956) protested against the harsh government of Rakosi. They were treated differently at first allowing them to hold free elections, ending communism there. But Soviet tanks invaded Hungary, killed a lot of people (20,000 Hungarians) and the new Primer Minister, Kadar, was loyal towards Russia.
• In Berlin, 2,5 million people left East Berlin for the West, half of them were young people. A 30 mile barrier (wall) was erected (13th August 1961) across the city of Berlin  dividing the Eastern sector from the West.West Berliners were suddenly separated from their relatives in the East for the next 30 years. No more people could leave East Berlin for  the West. Those who tried to escape were shot dead.
• In Czechoslovakia, in 1968, the czech government, led by Dubcek, tried to install its own type of socialism (Socialism with a Human Face). This was called the Prague Spring. But the troops of the Warsaw Plan invaded Praga and suppressed the attempt