Cominform and Comecon.
The Cominform (or Communist Information Bureau) was set up in September 1947 by Stalin to draw together the various European communist parties. All the satellite states were members and the French and Italian communist parties were represented. Stalin’s aim was to tighten his grip on the satellites: to be communist was not enough; it must be Russian-style communism. Eastern Europe was to be industrialised, collectivised and centralised. States were expected to trade primarily with Cominform members and all contacts with non-communist countries were to be discouraged. Only Yugoslavia objected, and was consequently expelled from the Cominform in 1948, though she remained communist. In 1949 the Molotiv Plan was introduced, offering aid to the satellites, and another organisation known as Comecon (Council of Mutual Economic Assistance) was set up to coordinate their economic policies.
Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam Conferences – Stalin and Truman: ideological differences – Soviet Satellite States – Cominform and Comecon – US Involvement in Europe Post WW2 – Truman Doctrine – Marshall Plan – Bizonia – Berlin Airlift – NATO: Origins and History – The arms race and Mutually assured destruction – Soviet rule in Hungary – Destalinization – Hungarian Revolution – Berlin: Refugee Crisis – Khruschev’s challenge to the west over Berlin – 1960: Paris Summit – Kennedy and the Berlin Crisis – Berlin Wall – President Kennedy visit to Berlin – Cuban Missile Crisis: Why were missiles there? – Cuban Missile Crisis: Why did Kennedy respond as he did? – Cuban Missile Crisis: Resolution and analysis – Vietnam War