In 1945 the USSR gained East Germany and Austria as well, which increased the success of Eastern Europe’s takeover. However West Berlin’s takeover was a major failure for Stalin and the Communists never managed to take control over this part of the city - neither in 1948 nor in 1961. The later received a lot of international attention, which made the Soviet failure stand out. This made communism seems less successful in comparison to capitalism, and thus it represented a minus point for the communist ideology in the battle with capitalism.
Stalin wanted to take over Greece and soon his intentions provoked a civil war. However, the USA was determined to fight against the spreading out fo Communism - by applying the Truman Doctrine - and they managed to fulfill their aim in this region and prevented the Communists to gain control over Greece. The Doctrine was applied for Turkey as well, and the country managed to remain part of the Western pro-American group of countries. Therefore the lost ‘battles’ in Turkey and Greece show that Communism spread out was a failure.
In 1949 almost quarter of the world’s population became Communist: China. Although, the expansion wasn’t planned by the USSR, the idea of Communism was applied here also. This spread out is particularly important, because China is still nowadays Communist.
Another takeover which proves the success of communism expansion took place in Cuba, where in 1959 Fidel Castro, supported by the Soviets came to power. Like in China, Communism is still ruling in Cuba nowadays, and it is merely 100 km away from the US, proving the unstoppable force of Communism, and thus the success of its spread.
In 1948 Communists took over North Korea. Even though they failed to spread to South Korea as well - due to American support - the expansion can be considered a success as North Korea is still today a strongly Communist country.
It is true that Communists never managed to take over Greece, Turkey, South Korea or West Berlin and Germany, but they spread Communism to half of Europe - eastern -, a quarter of the world’s population - China -, to Cuba and North Korea. The last three countries are still nowadays Communist, showing the power of Communism’s expansion and thus that overall it was a success.
