The Two Europes, East and West since 1945

An economic assistance organization for communist countries

Step 1: After WWII, the USSR wanted to unite Eastern Europe economically under its leadership. Step 2: The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) was set up in 1949 to help plan the economies of communist states. Step 3: It nationalized industry and collectivized agriculture across member states. Step 4: It was an economic body, not a military one – the Warsaw Pact served that purpose. Step 5: The Cominform was the political information bureau. Therefore, COMECON was an economic organization.

Yugoslavia

Step 1: Most Eastern European communist leaders owed their positions to Soviet support and followed Moscow's orders. Step 2: Yugoslavia was different – its leader Tito had won popularity through resistance against Nazi occupation during WWII. Step 3: By 1948, Tito had fallen out with Stalin and refused to follow Soviet-style communism. Step 4: Stalin expelled Yugoslavia from the Cominform and cut aid, but Tito remained popular and independent. Step 5: Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia faced crises later (1956, 1956, 1968). Yugoslavia was the first to defy Moscow.

Soviet tanks moved in and crushed the uprising

Step 1: After Stalin's death in 1953, Hungary saw growing resentment against the pro-Stalin leader Rákosi. Step 2: In October 1956, a full-scale uprising brought Imre Nagy to power as prime minister. Step 3: Nagy announced plans for a multi-party government and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. Step 4: This was too much for the USSR – Soviet tanks moved in, surrounded Budapest, and crushed the revolution in two weeks. Step 5: About 20,000 people were killed; the USA did not intervene; the UN could not stop the USSR. So the Soviet military intervention is the correct answer.

Socialism with a human face

Step 1: In January 1968, Alexander Dubček became First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Step 2: He introduced a programme of liberalisation – decentralisation of industry, freedom of speech and press, and more rights for workers. Step 3: He called this 'socialism with a human face', meaning the country would remain communist but the government would respond to people's wishes. Step 4: Perestroika and Glasnost were Gorbachev's Soviet reforms from the 1980s. Step 5: The Velvet Revolution was the peaceful collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia in 1989. So 'socialism with a hum