Page 70 - The Baltic Capitals & St. Petersburg

gradually eroded the various checks and balances which had been designed into the Soviet
political system and assumed dictatorial power by the end of the decade. Leon Trotsky and
almost all other “Old Bolsheviks” from the time of the Revolution were killed or exiled. As
the 1930s began, Stalin launched the Great Purges, a massive series of political repressions.
Millions of people whom Stalin and local authorities suspected of being a threat to their power
were executed or exiled to Gulag labor camps in remote areas of Siberia.

Stalin forced rapid industrialization of the largely rural country and collectivization of its
agriculture. Most economic output was immediately diverted to establishing heavy industry.
Civilian industry was modernized and heavy weapon factories were established. The plan
worked, in some sense, as the Soviet Union successfully transformed from an agrarian
economy to a major industrial powerhouse in an unbelievably short span of time, but
widespread misery and famine ensued for many millions of people as a result of the severe
economic upheaval.

In 1936 the USSR was in strong opposition to Nazi Germany, and supported the republicans in
Spain who struggled against German and Italian troops. However, in 1938 Germany and the
other major European powers signed the Munich treaty. Germany then divided Czechoslovakia
with Poland. The Soviet government, afraid of a German attack on the USSR, began diplomatic
maneuvers. In 1939 after Poland’s refusal to participate in any measures of collective
OP_P]]PYNP _SP @>>= ^TRYPO _SP 8ZWZ_Za =TMMPY_]Z[ ;LN_ bT_S 9LeT 2P]XLYd bSTNS TY PʬPN_
stated that each country would occupy a portion of Poland, which they did, thus obliterating
the independent state of Poland.

In June 17, 1940, the Red Army occupied the whole territory of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania,
and installed new, pro-Soviet governments in all three countries. Following elections, in
which only pro-communist candidates were allowed to run, the newly elected parliaments of
the three countries formally applied to join USSR in August 1940.

Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union in 1941. Although the Wehrmacht had
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of Stalingrad in 1943, which became the decisive turning point for Germany’s fortunes in
the war. The Soviets drove through Eastern Europe and captured Berlin before Germany
surrendered in 1945. During the war the Soviet Union lost more than 27 million citizens
(including eighteen million civilians).

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superpower. The Red Army occupied Eastern Europe after the war, including the eastern half
of Germany. Stalin installed loyal communist governments in these satellite states.

The Soviet Union consolidated its hold on Eastern Europe. The United States helped the
Western European countries establish democracies, and both countries sought to achieve
economic, political, and ideological dominance over the Third World. The ensuing struggle
became known as the Cold War. Stalin died in early 1953 presumably without leaving any
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rule the Soviet Union jointly, but the secret police chief Lavrenty Beria appeared poised to

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