Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-56 - Cold War History Book for Students & Researchers - Perfect for History Studies & Political Science Research

This well-researched book brings many aspects of this oppressive period including violence, ethnic cleansing, politics, and economy, control of youth, radio, and arts, which makes it a very interesting read.The book concentrates on three countries: Poland, East Germany, and Hungary, “because they were so very different.”It is worth noting that the author starts with explanation of the term “totalitarian,” which was the idea of “total control” and nowadays it is “applied to so many people and institutions that it can sometimes seem meaningless.” And the difference between Soviet Union and the countries occupied by Soviet Union, which still in present time some people have trouble distinguishing, for example Poland was occupied by Soviet Union; it was not part of Soviet Union.What happened before WWII? “In 1939, after the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and agreed to divide Poland, Romania, Finland, and the Baltic States into Soviet and German spheres of influence. On September 1, Hitler invaded Poland from the west. On September 17, Stalin invaded Poland from the east.”What happened after WWII? April 1945, the liberation day across the capitals of those three countries is described as quiet or silent. The next day the Red Army arrived in Poland and a new chapter of history had started. “In Poland, Hungary, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, the Red Army’s arrival is rarely remembered as a pure liberation. Instead, it is remembered as the brutal beginning of a new occupation.”The regime of Soviet Union, including its ethnic cleansing turned out to be pretty extensive and violent. It was all done on purpose as they knew that “disoriented and displaced, the refugees were easier to manipulate and control than they might have been otherwise.”Also it has to be mentioned that the Soviet Union soldiers did good for millions of Jews freeing them from concentration camps. Their arrival “made it possible for Poles in the western part of Poland to speak Polish after years of being forbidden to do so in public.” At the same time, “the Red Army left extraordinary devastation in its wake.” The Soviet soldiers were overwhelmed by what seemed to them as richness. “More horrific, and ultimately of deeper political significance, were violent attacks on civilian. (…) Women of all ages were subject to gang rapes and sometimes murdered afterwards.”“In Hungary they seemed unsure of how, exactly, a fascist might be identified. As a result, the first arrests were often arbitrary. Men were stopped on the streets, told they would be taken away to do a little work. They would then disappear deep into the Soviet Union and not return for many years.”In regards to economy, “the Bolshevik Revolution’s first slogan had been ‘Peace, Land, and Bread!’ From the moment they arrived, Red Army troops vigorously tried to enforce the same policy, confiscating land from richer owners and redistributing it to poorer peasants. But in Eastern Europe, this simple formula did not have the impact that Soviet officers expected or that their communist colleagues hoped.”“Land reform was greeted with even greater suspicion in Poland, where collectivization carried particularly negative connotations. In the eastern part of the country, many people had family and friends across the border in Soviet Ukraine, whose peasants had experienced first land reform, then collectivization, then famine. So strong was their fear of this scenario that many Polish peasants opposed partial land redistribution – even knowing they might personally benefit...”In Hungary, “many peasants thanked the communists for their new land. But many were made uneasy by the receipt of someone else’s property,” particularly as the clergy were often preaching against it.”As nationalization progressed, the shortages worsened. Shortages and imbalances lasted for about four decades, 1947-1987.Already in 1950, during the communism, the private sector proved to be more profitable, popular and efficient than state run business. But Soviet Union’s response was, “more control, not less, was what the communist parties of the region believed would stop the strikes, fix the shortages, and raise living standards to the level of the West.”During the era of High Stalinism, 1948-1953, religion was being suppressed. “Many children were expelled from school for refusing to publicly renounce religion – estimates vary from 300 to 3,000 – and far more were expelled from universities. (…) The closure of monasteries followed soon after.”Oppression of teachers, arrests in some cases and raids were designed to punish the entire institution if “ideologically correct atmosphere” was not maintained.Another debilitating aspect of economy was “socialist competitions” – competing to finish given quota quickly, but this never made the economy more productive as quality was ignored.“The second part of this book describes techniques: a new wave of arrests; the expansion of labor camps, much tighter control over the media, intellectuals, and the arts.” It included control of artistic production. “Private galleries had disappeared almost entirely, along with the rest of the private sector.” On the other hand, Wanda Talakowska, polish art teacher, designer, curator was inspired by folk art created by peasants and favored by Communists. She saw an opportunity to inspire and create new designs in folk art. She saw an opportunity, where others saw none. Unfortunately, the Poles saw her as a Communist collaborator.As Warsaw was being rebuilt after the war, the Soviet Union tried to make it as Moscow with wide streets, but this is not how Warsaw was built originally. Warsaw with narrow cobbled streets - this is how people remembered it and this is how they wanted it to be rebuilt. It wasn’t an easy process, but to keep people quiet and to avoid riots, little by little the Soviets allowed the rebuilt of Old Town as it used to be. And personally, I am grateful to those who fought for it, as a lover of art and architecture I am a great admirer of Old Towns and folk arts, which make every culture so much richer.