Satellite states (Edexcel GCSE History): Flashcards

Satellite states definition

Countries technically independent but controlled by & dependent on USSR

Years Soviet expanded into Eastern Europe

1947-1949

Six countries that became satellite states

Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, E. Germany

Name for Soviet-controlled Eastern European nations

Eastern Bloc

Stalin's promise at Yalta & Potsdam conferences

Free and fair elections in Eastern Europe

Salami tactics definition

Gradual communist takeover: fixing elections, removing opposition

Three steps of salami tactics

1. Fixed elections 2. Remove opposition 3. Single-party state

Rákosi's method of control in Hungary

Took control of secret police, arrested/removed opposition

Iron Curtain meaning

Division between communist Eastern Europe and democratic West

Soviet justification for satellite states

Buffer zone for protection from Western attacks

US view of Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe

Betrayal of Yalta agreements, proof USSR couldn't be trusted

Western response to satellite states crisis

Truman Doctrine and Marshall Aid

Czechoslovakia's path to communism

Gradual takeover through coalition governments

Year East Germany became communist

1949 (October)