Name
Date
Chapter
In-Depth Resources: Unit 8
Section 1 Peacetime Adjustments and the Cold War
28
Geography Application
Communist Governments After World War II
oviet troops liberated East European countries from
German control near the end of World War II. But
the Soviets brought more than liberation. They also
brought their Communist system to the region.
At first, the presence of Soviet troops in Eastern
Europe was viewed with favor by the West. The
Soviets seemed to be setting up a sense of order in
war-torn countries as Nazi rule was dismantled.
However, the Soviets stayed on. They had an
intimidating effect in the area. The Soviets began
dominating governments rather than assisting them.
Local Communist parties became the only parties
allowed. From 1944–1949, the Soviets forced their
style of government on these countries. However,
between 1946 and 1947, the United States did
manage to keep communism out of Greece and
Turkey.
S
In the Far East, communism flourished after World
War II. The Communists had had a toe-hold in the
area since Mongolia’s government went Communist
in 1921. Then, in 1948, Korea was divided into a
Soviet zone in the north and a U.S. zone in the south.
Meanwhile China’s Nationalist government came
under attack from internal Communists. A civil war
raged until the Nationalists were pushed to the
offshore island of Taiwan. So in 1949 the country
with the world’s largest population became
Communist. Only in Japan and South Korea did the
United States keep communism out.
The map below shows where Communist
governments were successfully put in place. The
chart reveals how many people came under the
Communist political system.
0
N
500 mi
0
1000 km
U.S.S.R.
1917
Copyright © McDougal Littell Inc.
EAST
GERMANY
1949
POLAND
1947
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
1948
(became Communist
prior to WWII)
HUNGARY
1947
ROMANIA
1947
YUGOSLAVIA
1946
ALBANIA
1944
MONGOLIA
1921
BULGARIA
1948
NORTH
KOREA
1948
CHINA
1949
COMMUNIST GOVERNMENTS AFTER WORLD WAR II
Date shows year Communist government took office
Population (in 1950)
Albania
Bulgaria
Czechoslovakia
East Germany
1,219,000
7,029,000
12,338,000
18,388,000
Hungary
Poland
Romania
Yugoslavia
9,205,000
25,008,000
15,873,000
15,772,000
China
North Korea
590,195,000
9,083,000
THE COLD WAR AND THE AMERICAN DREAM
69
Communist Governments After World War II continued
Interpreting Maps and Text
1. Name the nations in Eastern Europe that had Communist governments by 1947.
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2. In which nations did Communist governments gain power in 1949?
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3. Which were the two most populous Communist nations in Eastern Europe
by 1950?
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Which was the least populous?
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4. Soviet leader Stalin sought to justify the takeover of East European countries.
He claimed that the Soviet Union needed friendly states on its borders as
protection from the West. (The map shows, unlabeled, the former Soviet
Union republics of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, and the Ukraine.
Consult the Atlas, page R33, if you need to.) Which Eastern European
nations shared a land border with these republics of the Soviet Union?
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5. Find Greece and Turkey on the map. (You may consult the Atlas again.) Why
do you think that keeping those countries free of Communist control was so
important to the West?
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6. Find Japan on the map. Why might the United States have felt that a free
Japan was a necessity?
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70
UNIT 8 CHAPTER 28
Copyright © McDougal Littell Inc.
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