In early 1944 Joseph Stalin started to revert Russia back towards dictatorship due
to his tensions with the United States of America. Amidst this, the leading
members of the communist party created a new slogan: “The war on Fascism
ends, the war on capitalism begins.” In the years 1945 and 1946 Stalin purged the
returning soldiers from war, and the citizens as well. Thus reviving the forced-labor
camps of the 1930’s. Stalin not only purged his people but their culture and art as
well. He did so because he believed they derived from the West, which made them
evil. Stalin also reestablished his five year plans which gave heavy industry and the
military top priority. This meant that consumer goods, housing, and collectivized
agriculture were neglected, and that daily life in the Soviet Union just became very
hard. Very few people, such as Josip Broz Tito, were able to resist Soviet control.
However, their resistance did not last very long. So, they were eventually purged
by Stalin.
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Stalin dies of old age in 1953
Communist leaders did not know , by how much, to change the Soviet System
Reformers, such as Nikita Khrushchev, wanted to make major
improvements
Other Communist Soviet Union leaders: Leonid Brezhnev and Mikhail
Gorbachev
Drastically different styles of ruling led to the downfall of the Soviet
Union
De-Stalinization of the Soviet Union
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Weakened Communist party by driving them out
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Gave nuclear warheads to Communist Cuba, under Fidel Castro, in 1962
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Stirred rebellion in Eastern European countries under Russia (Ex. : Poland and
Hungary)
Rebellion in Hungary (1956)
Russia ordered Moscow to invade Hungary after De-Stalinization,
Liberalization, renounced Hungary’s military alliance with Moscow
Cuban Missile Crisis
U.S. naval blockade forced Khrushchev to take the nuclear missiles back
and to back down
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maintain the status quo
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Re-Stalinization of Soviet Union
End of liberalization, brought back Communism but only the “good points”
Brezhnev Doctrine: gave the Soviet Union and its allies the right to intervene in any
socialist country whenever they saw the need
Invasion of Czechoslovakia (1968): Showed the determination of the ruler to
(Helsinki Conference of 1975) D’etente : Relieving tensions between nations
through agreement
Americans believed that the Soviet Union was taking advantage of the
D’etente by building up its military and political gains (Ex. : Soviet invasion on
Afghanistan in 1979, designed to save an unpopular Marxist regime)
Mikhail Gorbachev’s Reforms
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Perestroika “Restructuring” : lowered the price of goods and allowed personal
services for consumers
Failed due to dissatisfaction in 1988
Glasnost “Openness” : Allowed people to be more free, however went too far and
led to Democratization, equality for all
Democratization : Citizens demanded for more freedoms, some even rioted, and
Gorbachev lost a lot of power
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Boris Yeltsin is elected for president of Russia, August 1991
Gorbachev no longer in control
Anti-Communism Revolution
Citizens wanted a Democracy
“Rebirth of Russia”