Soviet "Salami Tactics" in Eastern Europe

Question	Answer
Albania	The communists immediately took power in 1945
Bulgaria	In the 1945 elections, a Communist-led coalition was elected, but the communists executed the non-communists
East Germany	East Germany was the Soviet zone of Germany. In 1949, they set up a Communist-controlled state called the German Democratic Republic.
Romania	In the 1945 elections a communist-led coalition was elected to power. The Communists gradually took over and by 1947 they abolished the Monarchy.
Poland	Stalin had promised to set up a joint Communist/non-Communist government at Yalta, but then he invited 16 non-Communist leaders to Moscow and arrested them. Thousands of non-Communists were arrested, and the Communists won the 1947 election.
Hungary	The non-communists won the 1945 elections with Zoltan Tildy as president. However, the Communists' leader, Rakosi, took control of the secret police (the AVO), and executed and arrested his opponents. Tildy was forced to resign and Cardinal Mindzenty, head of the Catholic Church, was imprisoned. By 1948, Rakosi had complete control of Hungary.
Czechoslovakia	A coalition government was set up and led by the non-Communist Benes. However, the Communists' leader Gottwald made sure they controlled the radio, the army and the police. Gottwald became prime minister and set up a secret police force. Non-Communists were arrested. In 1948, Communist workers went on strike, the non-Communist minister Masaryk committed suicide and Gottwald took over the government.

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	Created by mollymalone98 over 10 years ago