Comecon and Cominform

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COMINFOM

The Communist Information Bureau was set up in 1947 to

enable the Soviet Union to co-ordinate communist parties throughout Europe. It

was the Soviet Union’s response to the Truman Doctrine. It was introduced to

ensure that the states in Eastern Europe

·

Followed Soviet aims in foreign policy

·

Introduced Soviet style economic policies, such

as collectivisation of agriculture and state control of industry.

The Soviet Union used the organisation to purge any members

who disagreed with Moscow. One notable example was Tito, whose refusal to

follow Soviet line led to the expulsion of Yugoslavia from Cominform in 1948.

It also was supposed to co-ordinate the activities of communist parties across Western Europe e.g. Italy. This made the governments of Western Europe very nervous.

Comecon

The Council for Mutual Assistance (Comecon), founded in

1949, was the Soviet response to Marshall Aid.

It was supposed to be the means by which the Soviet Union could financially

support countries in Eastern Europe. In reality, it was used by the Soviet Union

to:

·

Control the economies of these states

·

Give the Soviet Union access to their resources

·

Encourage economic specialisation within the

Soviet Bloc. EG. Czechoslovakia and E.Germany encouraged to focus on heavy

industry.

It was never as effective as Marshall Aid because the USSR never had as much money to give to countries.

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