Russian Rulers History Podcast · Mark Schauss

The Cold War - Part Two

·23 min·4 clips

The episode picks up the Cold War thread in Korea and in the Soviet bloc's internal politics. Common Form was created in 1947 with members including the Soviet Union, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia, France, and Italy, as a way to coordinate and consolidate communist parties across Europe and strengthen Moscow's influence. Yugoslavia was expelled in 1948 after ideological disagreements with Soviet leadership, while France and Italy had limited influence because their communist parties had little real power at home. By 1948, the Berlin airlift was already in full swing. Korea then became the next pressure point, with the United States recognizing the Republic of Korea, led by Syngman Rhee, on August 15. The Korean War fed back into Soviet planning: Stalin saw the conflict as a distraction that would tie up Western forces while the Eastern Bloc caught up, and he wanted conventional defenses strong enough to deter a U.S. nuclear strike. The episode then turns to the rough economic situation in Eastern Europe, which flared again in the June 1953 riots in East Germany and the deployment of Soviet tanks in East Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, and Jena. After Stalin's death, Soviet politics became fluid. Beria and Malenkov were first in nominal control, Beria was removed quickly, and then Khrushchev and Malenkov battled for the top position. Malenkov pushed consumer goods, while Khrushchev built support through heavy industry and military modernization. By 1955, Khrushchev won. The tone then shifts to a slight easing of Cold War tension, with Khrushchev's first objective being to repair the damage Stalin had done. In May 1955, Soviet troops left Austria, which had wanted to remain neutral, and West Germany was allowed to join NATO and gain full sovereignty, prompting the formation of the Warsaw Pact to counter NATO's growth. That also closed off any hope of reunifying the two Germanys. Khrushchev's secret speech at the 20th Congress, condemning Stalin's crimes, shocked allies, especially the Chinese, and gave people across Eastern Europe hope that conditions might get better and freer. In April 1956, Common Form was dissolved, and the episode closes by pointing toward the broader cultural and political consequences of de-Stalinization, including the educated Soviet elites who would later help shape the reform currents that mattered in Gorbachev's era.

As heard by us

A brisk Cold War pass linking Korea, Eastern Europe, Berlin, Austria, and Khrushchev's rise.

The episode treats the Cold War as a chain of pressure points, moving from Korea into the Soviet bloc, Berlin, and the leadership struggle after Stalin's death.

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Why you'd press play

You want the Cold War mapped from Korea to Khrushchev without fuss.

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