A Szovjetunió a II. világháború után
The Soviet Union after the Second World War

Summary/Abstract: The Soviet Union emerged from World War II as a great power which had suffered grave damage and made serious sacrifices for the victory. For all this, however, Moscow demanded amends by imposing harshly enforced reparations on the losing countries and by extensively expanding the Soviet sphere of influence. Through means of raw power, the Soviet Union endeavoured to shape the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in its own image, it pressured them into its own system of alliance. With the elimination of war damage, an outdated economic structure was reconstructed, characterized by the predominance of heavy and war industry. Once again, it was society that had to pay the price for this. The political structure was grounded on Stalin’s one-person power; however, with the progression of the disease of the ageing dictator, there arose the question of succession. Several cliques and interest groups fought against one another, the bloody payoffs conjured up memories of the world of the second half of the 1930s. Not even those could feel safe any more who had earlier been considered Stalin’s most loyal and trusted confidants.

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