POST-STALIN EUROPE March 1 1953: Stalin did not get up.

. o Had just started another round of purges, may have been on the verge of war with the US (really Gaddis?) o Someone may have poisoned him, but well never be sure o Fails to leave a clear successor o Thus, Khrushchev vs. Malenkov Asymmetry of influence in Europe: Soviet imposition vs. American invitation o Germany: Stalin extremely unhappy about division of Germany o Treated eastern Germany terribly under occupation, left an unpopular regime in place o Korean War created fears in W. Europe o Blah blah the DDR is bad and people took most any chance they could to get to the BRD o Well, it seems Walter Ulbricht was a terrible politician o Asked to reduce rigidity, doesnt do so, riots break out. Errrrrrr duh. o First example of Soviet regime intervention the weak rule the strong wtfffff o On the other hand, Adenauer is pretty well secured and isnt nearly the same Why was Germanys entry into NATO so blas? o Game of Dual Containment: Germany cant dominate in NATO (also Gaddis made a point about the EU, but this is exactly the OPPOSITE) o Emergence of some common ground for the Great Powers Khrushchev comes to power (1955) o Very effective displacement of enemiesMolotov to Outer Mongolia, Malenkov to a power station o Tries to conduct a reform program, but this causes problems o Oh hay lets tell the truth about Stalins paranoia! Polish Uprising o Uprising in Poznn o Choose new leader without consulting Kremlin o Fearful of an anti-Russian revolt (WELL DUH DID YOU FORGET THE 19TH CENTURY????), Russia moves to assert its authority o Polish Premier reassures Russians, gains some freedoms for Poland (daww my fave) Hungarian Revolution of 1956 o Unclear of how this all got started, but Hungary rose in armed revolt! o Cute lady: I was scared, I never used gun before! o Battle of Budapest October 1956 o Imre Nagy eventually backs revolutionaries o Despite large scale destruction, Hungarians optimistic about the future o THEN THE SUEZ CRISIS! INEPTITUDE EVERYWHERE! o Nagy declares neutrality in a last-ditch effort to secure some concessions o Soviets just steamroll them o Eisenhower had to deal with three crises at once. Poor guy. o Khrushchev seen as undertaker of Europe, not a reformer