The Early Post-Stalin Succession Struggle and Upheavals in East-Central Europe: Internal-External Linkages in Soviet Policy Making (Part 2)

1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Soviet Policy ◽  
East German ◽  
High Level

Part 2 of this three-part article discusses the aftermath of the June 1953 East German uprising, particularly the arrest on 26 June of Lavrentii Beria, who until then had been one of the most powerful figures in Moscow. Beria's arrest came not because of any high-level disagreements about policy, but simply because Beria's rivals wanted to remove him from the post-Stalin succession struggle. Newly released documents shed valuable light on the plot against Beria, which was intricate and extremely risky, yet ultimately successful.

The Early Post-Stalin Succession Struggle and Upheavals in East-Central Europe: Internal-External Linkages in Soviet Policy Making (Part 1)

1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Soviet Policy ◽  
External Events ◽  
The Impact

The death of Josif Stalin was followed by momentous changes in the Soviet bloc. Part 1 of this two-part article considers how and why these changes came about, looking at the interaction between domestic and external events. It explores the nature of Soviet decision making, the impact of events in East-Central Europe, the implementation of Moscow's new policy, and the use of Soviet troops to put down a large-scale uprising in East Germany. Politics, Power, and U.S. Policy in Iran, 1950–1953

The Early Post-Stalin Succession Struggle and Upheavals in East-Central Europe: Internal-External Linkages in Soviet Policy Making (Part 3)

1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Kramer
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Soviet Bloc ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Soviet Policy ◽  
East European ◽  
Political Configuration

The East German uprising and the downfall of Lavrentii Beria had profound short- and long-term effects on Soviet policy toward Germany and on the political configuration of the Eastern bloc. This article, the final segment of a three-part analysis of Soviet—East European relations in the early post-Stalin era, discusses the changes in the Soviet bloc at some length. It then ties together the three parts of the analysis by exploring the theoretical implications of the linkages between internal and external events in the Soviet Union and East-Central Europe in 1953, drawing on recent theoretical literature about the connection between domestic and international politics.

The Stifled Renaissance of Urbanity: Urban Preservation and the Collapse of Czechoslovak and East German Socialism

2020 ◽  
pp. 009614422090888
Author(s):  
Matěj Spurný ◽  
Brian Ladd
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
German Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
World War ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Inner Cities ◽  
East German

Concern with the decay or demolition of inner cities was an underappreciated factor contributing to the discontent preceding the revolutions of 1989 in east-central Europe. Although there has been some scholarly work on the topic, particularly on the German Democratic Republic (GDR), multinational studies are lacking. This examination of parallel developments in the GDR and Czechoslovakia identifies similar trajectories of discontent and activism in the two socialist states. It follows the evolution of architectural and planning theories and practices from the high point of postwar modernism to the widespread embrace of the very styles and districts once despised. By the 1980s, this acceptance of pre–World War I buildings, districts, and urban scale had pervaded expert circles and reached even the highest levels of party and government. However, both states’ failure to carry out policies that satisfied residents and defenders of old districts fueled the discontent that exploded in 1989.

A Few Unresolved Mysteries about Stalin and the Cold War in Europe: A Modest Agenda for Research

1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Adam B. Ulam
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Soviet Policy ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Gradual Release

Despite the gradual release of once-classified documents in the former Soviet Union, numerous questions and problems about Stalin's role in the Cold War remain. Some tantalizing clues about Stalin's ambitions and motivations have emerged, but several key aspects of Soviet policy in East-Central Europe in the late 1940s and early 1950s seem just as puzzling as they did before the archives were opened. The further declassification of materials may shed new light on these mysteries, enabling scholars to develop a better understanding of the first decade of the Cold War.

The End of Communist Rule in East-Central Europe: A Four-Country Comparison

1991 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy Batt
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Radical Reform ◽  
Country Comparison ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Systemic Crisis ◽  
East German

This article compares the patterns of breakdown of communist rule and the processes by which power was transferred to new ruling groups in four countries: Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the GDR. In the countries covered in this paper, two paths to systemic crisis and breakdown are identified: the path of failed reform in Hungary and Poland, and the path of intransigent resistance to reform in Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic. The lesson of the Czechoslovak and East German experience was clearly that those regimes which totally rejected reform, because they saw it as incompatible with communist power, faced total and rapid collapse when confronted with the challenge of Gorbachev's perestroika and when deprived of the support of the ‘Brezhnev Doctrine’; but the experience of Poland and Hungary suggests that those regimes which embarked on reform were no more successful in preserving communist power — half-way reform turned out in many ways to be even worse than no reform at all, while radical reform, that is, reform which would bring about the intended economic results, in the end could not be achieved without sweeping away communist power. Gorbachev himself now seems to be impaled on the horns of this same dilemma in the Soviet Union.

Parliamentary Election Turnout in Europe since 1990

2002 ◽  
Vol 50 (5) ◽  
pp. 916-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Siaroff ◽  
John W. A. Merer
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Party System ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Dummy Variable ◽  
Compulsory Voting ◽  
High Level ◽  
Cross National

This article examines the cross-national variations in turnout for parliamentary elections in Europe since 1990 – a continent with a vast range in turnout levels and some clear subregional patterns, especially that of low turnout in East-Central Europe. A full range of socio-economic, mobilizational, party system, institutional, and contextual factors are examined for bivariate relationships with turnout. A multivariate model then indicates that cross-national turnout is higher where there is strictly enforced compulsory voting, in polarized two-party systems and countries with a high level of party membership, and where there are no relevant elected presidents or strong regional governments. Variances on these and other key factors are what accounts for the subregional pattern of East-Central Europe and the highest turnout case of Malta; however, Switzerland is confirmed to be a significant national dummy variable.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document