Though the “Great Patriotic War of the Fatherland” had fostered Russian nationalism and a relaxation of totalitarian terror, Stalin’s new rivalry with the United States provided him with an excuse to re-establish a harsh dictatorship. Stalin reasserted control of the government and society through the reintroduction of five-year plans. Once again, Soviet central planners favored heavy and military industry over consumer goods, housing, and collectivized agriculture. Stalin exported this system to eastern Europe. Rigid ideological indoctrination, attacks on religion, and a lack of civil liberties were soon facts of life in the region’s one-party states. Only Yugoslavia’s Josip Tito (1892–1980) could resist Soviet domination successfully because there was no Russian army in Yugoslavia.

In 1953 the aging Stalin died. Even as his heirs struggled for power, they realized that reforms were necessary because of the widespread fear and hatred of Stalin’s political terrorism. They curbed secret police powers and gradually closed many forced-labor camps. Change was also necessary for economic reasons. Agriculture was in bad shape, and shortages of consumer goods discouraged hard work. Moreover, Stalin’s foreign policy had led directly to a strong Western alliance, isolating the Soviet Union.

The Communist Party leadership was badly split on just how much change to permit. Reformers, led by Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971), argued for major innovations and won. Khrushchev spoke out in a “secret speech” against Stalin and his crimes and initiated a series of reforms known as de-Stalinization in the West. Khrushchev eased foreign policy, declaring that “peaceful coexistence” with capitalism was possible. The government relaxed controls over heavy industry and the military and shifted some resources from these areas to consumer goods, improving standards of living substantially throughout the 1960s.

De-Stalinization stimulated rebelliousness in the eastern European satellites. Poland won greater autonomy in 1956 after extensive protests forced the Soviets to allow a new Communist government. The people of Budapest, Hungary, installed a liberal Communist reformer as their new chief in October 1956. The rebellion was short-lived. After the new government promised free elections and renounced Hungary’s military alliance with Moscow, the Soviet Army invaded and crushed the revolution, killing around 2,700 protesters. When the United States did not come to their aid, Hungarians and most eastern Europeans concluded that their only hope was to strive for small domestic gains while obediently following Russia in foreign affairs.

In August 1961, amid concerns about growing defections to the West, the East German government began construction of a wall between East and West Berlin. It also built a ninety-mile-long barrier between the three allied sectors of West Berlin and East Germany, thereby completely cutting off West Berlin.

By late 1962 party opposition to Khrushchev’s policies had gained momentum. De-Stalinization was seen as a dangerous threat to party authority. Moreover, Khrushchev’s policy toward the West was erratic and ultimately unsuccessful. In 1962 Khrushchev ordered the installation of nuclear missiles in Cuba, triggering the military standoff known as the Cuban missile crisis. After a tense diplomatic crisis Khrushchev backed down and removed the missiles. Two years later, Communist Party leaders removed Khrushchev in a bloodless coup. After Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982) and his supporters took over in 1964, they talked quietly of Stalin’s “good points,” stopped further liberalization, and launched a massive arms buildup.