Salami Tactics:

   The Soviet take-over of eastern Europe

Links:

CNN page

Detailed account 

Did Salami tactics happen?

1945: the arrows show the British and Americans from the west, the Russians from the east, advancing into Germany.  

During 1946–47, Stalin made sure that Communist governments came to power in all the countries of eastern Europe (the countries which Russia had conquered in 1945).

The Hungarian Communist Rakosi described this process as ‘slicing salami’ – gradually getting rid of all opposition, bit-by-bit.   In this way, Russia gained control of:

Albania (1945) – the Communists took power after the war without opposition

Bulgaria (1945) – a left-wing coalition gained power in 1945; the Communists then executed the leaders of all the other parties.

Poland (1947) – a coalition government took power in 1945, but Stalin arrested all the non-Communist leaders in 1945, and the Communists forced the other non-Communists into exile.

Source A   

In this American cartoon from 1946, the thief labelled ‘Russia’ is caught stealing a bag labelled ‘territorial grabs’.   He is being helped by Stalin, who is dressed like a policeman and holding a truncheon.   Policeman Truman, from the 'World League Police Station' is too late  to stop him.

Hungary (1947) – Hungary was invaded by the Russians, and in 1945 the allies agreed that Russian troops should stay there.   Stalin allowed elections, in which the non-communists won a big majority.   However, some communists were elected, led by a pro-Russian called Rakosi.

       Rakosi now started demanding that groups which opposed him should be banned.   If not, he hinted, the Russians would take over the country.   Then he got control of the police, and started to arrest his opponents.   He set up a sinister and brutal secret police unit, the AVO. 

      By 1947 Rakosi had complete control over Hungary.

Czechoslovakia (1945–48) – a left-wing coalition was elected in 1945.   In 1948, the Communists banned all other parties and killed their leaders.

East Germany (1949) – the Russian turned their zone of Germany into the German Democratic Republic in 1949.  

Source B

... Russia saw it as protecting herself from future attack.   The West saw it as empire-building.

Extra:

1.   Make a spidergram showing all the factors that helped Communists take power.

2.   Explain how the case of Hungary illustrates ‘salami tactics’.

3.   Use Sources A and B to explain how the West saw the Russian takeover of eastern Europe.

Source C