Consumer capitalism and the end of the Cold War

The global revolution: a history of international communism, 1917-1991

“…127 D. Carlton, Churchill and the Soviet Union (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2000), [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]Creating German Communism,129. first year after the war were suppressed on the pretext of a 'red peril', despite the complete absence of a genuine revolutionary threat.…”

“…In November 1945, Stalin reminded Gomułka that a party 200,000 strong, as the Polish party now was, should be able to control the country and establish its monopoly of power. 12 However, Poland was not entirely an exception. Once the war in Europe was over, the interference of Soviet bodies and the tendency of local communists to put up with it or even request it increased rather than decreased, demonstrating that the 'people's democracies' were going to become authoritarian political systems because of their very structures.…”

“…11 It is revealing that the three individuals held responsible for the 'German October' fiasco in 1923-Radek, Brandler, and Thalheimer-did not obtain a pardon from the Politburo and the ECCI. 12 The link between 'socialism in one country' and 'capitalist stabilization' was not explicitly admitted or shared.…”

“…143 In spite of this, Stalin proposed the appointment 139 G. Dimitrov, Diario: gli anni di Mosca (1934-1945, ed. S. Pons (Turin: Einaudi, 2002), [11][12][13][14]doc. 438,, Letters from the Soviet Archives (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2000), doc.…”

“…Stalin's instructions to Molotov on the eve of the talks in Berlin in November 1940 were entirely concerned with the division of spheres of influence as a guarantee of security, especially in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. 12 The Soviet objective was that of reviving the entente between the two powers, but the meeting proved to be a dialogue of the deaf: Hitler had no intention of granting concessions in Europe and, besides, had already decided to attack the USSR. The failure of the negotiations was clear even to the Soviets.…”