What were the stages of Eastern Europe’s takeover by Communism?
STAGE 1 : POLAND
Stalin’s first priority was control of Poland. The country was one of the largets in Eastern Europe and, if conquered, it provided a corridor to Germany. As the red Army pushed back the German one, Soviet soldiers remained in Easter European countries. This happened also with Poland. The Soviets set up anti-fascist governments and at the end of June 1945 a few London poles were included in the Polish government. However, as Stalin gave leading positions to Communists, the Lublin group remained largely dominant. The Western Allies ‘recognized’ the largely Communist government in Poland on 5th of July 1945. This meant that the USA and Britain accepted that the Communists were in charge in Warsaw. Communist power was strengthened even further when in January 1947 rigged elections were introduced in Poland. Any opposition was destroyed and the leader of the London poles, Mikolaczyk thought his life in danger and fled the country. This was the final step in securing the Soviet control over Poland.
