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The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were aligned with the Soviet Union and existed during the Cold War (1947–1991).
Stalin and the Communist Party were given full credit for the victory over Germany, and generals such as Zhukov were demoted to regional commands (Ukraine in his case). With the onset of the Cold War, anti-Western propaganda was stepped up, with the capitalist world depicted as a decadent place where crime, unemployment, and poverty were rampant.
Members of the Communist Party of China celebrating Stalin's birthday in 1949. In 1924, Joseph Stalin, a key Bolshevik follower of Lenin, took power in the Soviet Union. [134] Stalin was supported in his leadership by Nikolai Bukharin, but he had various important opponents in the government, most notably Lev Kamenev, Leon Trotsky, and Grigory ...
By the end of World War II, most of Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union in particular, suffered vast destruction. [9] The Soviet Union had suffered a staggering 27 million deaths, and the destruction of significant industry and infrastructure, both by the Nazi Wehrmacht and the Soviet Union itself in a "scorched earth" policy to keep it from falling in Nazi hands as they advanced over 1,600 ...
Stalin and German Communism: A Study in the Origins of the State Party. Social Science Classics (2nd reprint ed.). Transaction Publishers. pp. 471– 496. ISBN 0-87855-822-5; Mandel, Ernest (1 October 1978). From Stalinism to Eurocommunism: The Bitter Fruits of 'Socialism in One Country'. New York City: Verso Books.
In September 1947, a meeting of East European communist leaders established Cominform to co-ordinate the Communist Parties across Eastern Europe and also in France and Italy. [516] Stalin did not personally attend the meeting, sending Andrei Zhdanov in his place. [464] Various East European communists also visited Stalin in Moscow. [517]
After 1930, open criticism of Stalin within the Communist Party was virtually non-existent, though Stalin continued to hunt for discreet dissenters. [50] Stalin dominated the Politburo (the policy-making branch of the Communist Party) through staunch allies such as Sergo Ordzhonikidze, Lazar Kaganovich, Vyacheslav Molotov, and Kliment Voroshilov.
With the support of the United Kingdom and the United States, the Greek government forces ultimately prevailed. The war had its roots in divisions within Greece during World War II between the Communist-dominated left-wing resistance organisation, the EAM-ELAS, and loosely-allied anti-communist resistance forces.