Hello, my name's Mr. Williams, and I'm gonna be your history teacher today.

Today's lesson is part of a series of lessons about the origins of the Cold War from 1941 to 1958.

I'm really looking forward to teaching you today, so let's get started.

By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how the USSR established satellite states to take control of Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948.

There are five keywords that are essential to understanding today's lesson.

They are sphere of influence, a region of the world in which one country is dominant, buffer zone, an area that provides protection, satellite state, a country that is dominated by another country, coalition government, a government in which two or more political parties work together to run a country, and rigged election, an election in which unfair tactics or cheating are used to influence the outcome.

Today's lesson is split into three parts.

In this first part, we're going to be learning about why the USSR wanted to control Eastern Europe, and we're going to be learning about the process by which they turned Eastern European countries into satellite states.

Stalin believed that the USA and Britain had accepted that Eastern Europe would be a Soviet sphere of influence after the war.

On two occasions, in 1914 and 1941, the USSR had been invaded from the west by Germany and suffered devastating losses in the conflicts that followed.

As a result, Stalin believed that it was essential for the USSR's security to have friendly states on its western border.

At the Yalta Conference in February 1945, under pressure from Roosevelt and Churchill, Stalin agreed that the countries liberated from Nazi Germany would be allowed to choose their own governments through free elections.

He had no intention of honouring this commitment.

When Molotov, his foreign minister, privately expressed concerns, Stalin responded, "Don't worry.

We can implement it in our own way later." Between 1944 and 1945, as the Red Army marched towards Berlin, they liberated many countries in Eastern Europe from Nazi occupation.

Determined to create a buffer zone to protect the USSR against future attack, Stalin refused to give up control of these countries, and by the time of the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, the Red Army occupied Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

Which part of Europe did Stalin believe had been accepted to be a Soviet sphere of influence? Is it a, Northern Europe, b, Western Europe, or c, Eastern Europe? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to find out the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said that the correct answer was c, Eastern Europe.

Let's do another quick check of your understanding.

At the Yalta Conference, Stalin agreed that there should be free elections in liberated countries in Eastern Europe.

Is this statement true or false? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to find out the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that the correct answer is true, but we need to be able to justify our answer, so on the screen now are two statements.

The first statement says, "Stalin believed strongly in democracy and thought that free elections were important," and the second statement says, "Stalin agreed to free elections under pressure from Roosevelt and Churchill, but did not intend to honour this." Which of these statements best justifies that our original statement is true? Pause the video now.

Press play when you're ready to find out the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said it was the second statement.

Stalin did agree to free elections at the Yalta Conference, but only because he was under pressure from Roosevelt and Churchill, and he had no intention of honouring his promise.

Okay, let's do one more check of your understanding.

Why did Stalin believe it was so important for the USSR to control Eastern Europe? I want you to explain your ideas to your partner and use the keyword buffer zone in your response.

Pause the video now, talk to your partner, and press play when you're ready to see a model response.

Okay, well done.

I hope you had a good conversation with your partner, and well done if your conversation sounded something like this.

"The USSR had been invaded from the west by Germany in 1914 and 1941 with devastating consequences.

Stalin believed that the USSR would be safer if they could turn Eastern Europe into a buffer zone that would protect the country from any future invasion from the West." Between 1945 and 1948, Stalin tightened his control by turning most of the countries of Eastern Europe into satellite states with communist governments that had almost no independence from the USSR.

Across Eastern Europe, the method by which the Soviets turned countries into satellite states often followed a similar pattern.

Firstly, coalition governments were set up in which communists supported by the USSR shared power with other political parties.

In government, the communists took over key areas that would allow them to control the country, including the civil service, the media, security and defence.

The communists then intimidated and attacked their opponents who were usually either arrested or forced to flee.

Finally, once any opposition had been weakened, rigged elections were held to ensure that the communists won and the country was declared a people's democracy.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

On the screen, there is a paragraph that contains four mistakes.

I want you to identify the mistakes and correct them.

Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done for all your hard work on that.

The corrected paragraph may look something like this.

"Starting in 1945, Stalin tightened his control over Eastern Europe by turning most of the countries into satellite states with communist governments that had almost no independence from the USSR." Very well done if you found and corrected all of those mistakes.

Okay, you're now ready for the first practise task of today's lesson.

On the screen are some actions to show how the USSR created satellite states in Eastern Europe.

However, the actions are in the wrong order.

I want you to place them in the correct order.

Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done for all of your hard work on that first practise task.

The correct order is on the screen and it reads as follows.

Soviet-backed communists formed a coalition government with other political parties.

Then the communists took control of the civil service, the media, security and defence.

After this, opposition leaders were arrested or forced to flee.

Then rigged elections were organised to ensure a communist victory, and finally, the country was declared a "people's democracy".

Very well done if you got that correct.

Let's move on now to the second part of our lesson.

In this second part of our lesson, we're going to be focusing in more detail at how the USSR turned specific countries into satellite states.

Let's start with Poland.

In Stalin's view, the country that was of the most vital importance to the security of the USSR was Poland.

He claimed that "throughout history, Poland has always been a corridor for attack on Russia." Consequently, at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences, Stalin secured an agreement that Poland's postwar borders would be shifted westwards and the USSR would be given a large amount of land that had previously been in eastern Poland.

Once this had been achieved, Stalin focused on ensuring that what remained of Poland was ruled by a communist government friendly to the USSR.

Many Poles hated and feared the USSR and were angry about the loss of their territory.

Stalin realised that a government that was friendly to the USSR would not be elected in Poland and would have to be imposed.

A coalition government was established in June 1945, which contained Soviet-backed communists.

In January 1947, rigged elections were held to ensure the election of a totally communist government.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

In 1945, which country did Stalin consider to be of vital importance to the security of the USSR? Was it a, Albania, b, France, c, Poland, or d, Spain? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said that the correct answer was Poland.

Let's do another check of your understanding.

How did Stalin secure a communist government in Poland? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see a model answer.

Okay, well done for your hard work on that question.

Your answer may have included the following.

"Soviet-backed communists joined a coalition government in 1945.

In January 1947, a rigged election took place to ensure there was a fully communist government in Poland." Very well done if you got that correct.

Let's look now at Romania, Czechoslovakia and Hungary and look at how they were turned into satellite states.

From August 1944, Romania was ruled by a coalition government.

Then in January 1945, Romanian communists with support from the USSR caused disruption across the country with violent protests.

In March 1945, the Red Army intervened and forced Michael I, king of Romania, to appoint a government dominated by communists.

We're going to focus now on Romania, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary and learn about how these countries became Soviet satellite states.

From August 1944, Romania was ruled by a coalition government.

Then in January 1945, Romanian communists with support from the USSR caused disruption across the country with violent protests.

In March 1945, the Red Army intervened and forced Michael I, king of Romania, to appoint a government dominated by communists under Petru Groza.

Rigged elections were held in November 1946, and the communists won over 80% of the vote.

The following year, the communists consolidated their control by abolishing the monarchy.

Between 1919 and 1938, Czechoslovakia was the only democracy in Eastern Europe.

After the war, a coalition government led by Edvard Benes attempted to restore democracy.

However, in 1948, Czechoslovakian communists supported by the USSR used force to take control of the country.

Benes was forced to resign, and many people who opposed the communists were arrested or forced to flee the country, and the foreign secretary, Jan Masaryk, a non-communist, was murdered.

Rigged elections in the same year brought the pro-Soviet communist government of Klement Gottwald to power, and other political parties were soon banned.

In Hungary in 1945, elections took place, and although the communists did well, they did not win enough support to form a government.

Despite this, the communists managed to take control of the police and use this power to arrest opponents.

During the election of August 1947, there was a huge amount of voter intimidation, and the communist party won power.

They quickly banned all political parties, and by 1949, Hungary was a one-party state ruled by the communists.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

In which country was King Michael I forced to appoint a communist government that then abolished the monarchy? Was it a, Czechoslovakia, b, Hungary, or c, Romania? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said c, Romania.

Let's do another quick check of your understanding.

In which country did communists force the democratically elected Edvard Benes to resign? Was it a, Czechoslovakia, b, Hungary, or c, Romania? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said the correct answer was a, Czechoslovakia.

Let's do another check.

Of which country did the pro-Soviet communist Klement Gottwald become leader in 1948? Was it a, Czechoslovakia, b, Hungary, or c, Romania? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said that the correct answer was a, Czechoslovakia.

Last check for understanding now.

In which country did the communists lose the 1945 election but still managed to take control of the police to arrest opponents? Was it a, Czechoslovakia, b, Hungary, or c, Romania? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, well done if you said that the correct answer was b, Hungary.

We're now ready for the second practise task of today's lesson.

I want you to write a narrative account analysing the key events in the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948.

You should aim to write about three key events, and you may wish to write about the following: the Yalta Conference, Poland, and Czechoslovakia.

Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to go through a model answer.

Okay, brilliant effort on that second practise task.

You were asked to write a narrative account analysing the key events in the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948.

Your answer may include the following.

"By the time of the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the USSR's Red Army had liberated many countries in Eastern Europe from Nazi occupation.

At Yalta, under pressure from Roosevelt and Churchill, Stalin reluctantly agreed to allow free elections in these countries.

Stalin had no intention of honouring this, however, as he believed that Soviet control of Eastern Europe was essential to protect the USSR against any future invasions from the West.

Stalin wanted to turn the countries of Eastern Europe into satellite states so they could act as a buffer zone that would protect the western border of the USSR.

By the time of the Potsdam Conference, the Red Army occupied much of Eastern Europe, including Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania.

Stalin refused to give up control of these countries.

Breaking the agreement he had made at Yalta, Stalin supported local communist groups to turn these countries into satellite states.

For example, in Poland, a coalition government was established in 1945, but a communist government was established after rigged elections in 1947." And your answer may have finished with the following.

"A year after Poland became a Soviet-controlled satellite state, the USSR supported communists to overthrow the democratically elected leader of Czechoslovakia, Edvard Benes.

As they had done in Poland, the communists organised rigged elections to ensure the election of a pro-Soviet communist government led by Klement Gottwald.

By 1948, similar methods had been used to transform most countries in Eastern Europe into satellite states controlled by the USSR." Fantastic efforts on that second practise task, and well done if your answer looks similar to the model answer.

Let's move on now to the final part of our lesson.

In this final part of our lesson, we're going to be looking at how Stalin's efforts to dominate Eastern Europe affected relations with the West.

By achieving his aim of establishing satellite states in Eastern Europe so quickly and ruthlessly, Stalin caused great alarm in Britain and the USA.

Although Roosevelt Churchill had conceded that Eastern Europe should be a Soviet sphere of influence, leaders in Britain and the USA had not expected such complete Soviet domination.

They believed that governments that were friendly to the USSR could have been established through free democratic elections in Eastern Europe.

Stalin was not prepared to take this chance and used any means necessary to set up satellite states.

Truman saw Stalin's actions as a blatant attempt to spread communism, and his attitude towards the USSR hardened.

In 1946, as the USSR tightened their control over Eastern Europe, Winston Churchill, who was no longer British prime minister, was on a visit to the USA.

In a speech at Fulton, Missouri, which became known as the "Iron Curtain" speech, Churchill used the metaphor of an iron curtain to describe an imaginary line that divided the democratic, capitalist West from the communist East.

Churchill made it clear that he viewed the USSR as a threat to freedom and world peace, which angered Stalin and further worsened relations between the two sides in the Cold War.

Let's take a moment now to check your understanding.

Why were leaders in the USA and Britain alarmed by Stalin's actions in Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948? I want you to explain your ideas to a partner.

Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to go through a model response.

Okay, I hope those discussions were useful.

You might have said something like this.

"Although they accepted that Eastern Europe was a Soviet sphere of influence, leaders in the USA and Britain did not expect the USSR to take control of the region so quickly or ruthlessly.

They also believed that governments that were friendly to the USSR could have been elected through free and fair elections without the need to create satellite states." Let's do another quick check of your understanding.

What metaphor did Churchill use to describe the imaginary barrier dividing Eastern and Western Europe after World War II? Was it a, the "Steel Curtain", b, the "Steel Wall", c, the "Iron Curtain", or d, the "Iron Wall"? Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see the correct answer.

Okay, very well done if you said c.

Churchill described an "Iron Curtain" dividing East and West Europe.

We're now ready for the final task of today's lesson, and in this final task, I want you to explain two consequences of the Soviet's establishment of satellite states in Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948.

You may wish to consider the following: the loss of freedom in Eastern European countries, and the impact on US-Soviet relations.

Pause the video now and press play when you're ready to see a model answer.

Okay, well done for your fantastic work on that final practise task.

You were asked to explain two consequences of the Soviet establishment of satellite states in Eastern Europe between 1945 and 1948, and your answer may have included, "One consequence of the Soviet establishment of satellite states in Eastern Europe was the loss of freedom in these countries.

This was because the USSR supported communist groups to take control using violence and rigged elections.

For example, in Czechoslovakia, the democratically elected leader, Edvard Benes, was forced to resign and was replaced by Klement Gottwald following a rigged election.

Once the communists had taken over, only the Communist Party was allowed to exist and other political parties were banned.

Furthermore, once they'd been set up, Soviet satellite states had very little independence from the USSR." Very well done if you wrote a paragraph that looks something like this.

For your second paragraph, you might have written the following.

"Another consequence of the Soviet establishment of satellite states in Eastern Europe was an increase in tension in US-Soviet relations.

Leaders in the West were shocked at the rapid and ruthless way in which the USSR had turned countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary into satellite states with communist governments.

Truman viewed Stalin's actions as a blatant attempt to spread communism, and Churchill used the metaphor of an 'iron curtain' in 1946 to emphasise the divisions.

As a consequence, tension increased as Truman became more determined to take firm action to prevent communism from spreading further." Very well done if your second paragraph looks something like this.

We're at the end of our lesson now, so it's a really good opportunity to review the key learning points from today's lesson.

At the Yalta Conference, Stalin committed to allowing free elections in Eastern Europe but did not intend to honour this.

Stalin believed that the USSR needed to control the countries of Eastern Europe so they could serve as a buffer zone against any future invasion.

Between 1945 and 1948, the USSR turned most Eastern European countries into satellite states using methods such as rigged elections.

Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe significantly increased tensions between the USA and the USSR.

In 1946, Churchill denounced the USSR as a threat to freedom and peace in his "Iron Curtain" speech.

Thank you for all of your hard work during today's lesson.

It's been a real pleasure to teach you, and I look forward to teaching you again soon.