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the Soviets brought the awesomeness that was Stalinism to [Stalin gives man a hug]

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Eastern Europe and what was the response protests uprisings lots and lots of [pictures of riots]

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unrest there's just no pleasing some people is there Uncle Joe well let's

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start with Poland the first parliamentary elections for the People's

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Republic of Poland were held in 1952 these elections were neither free nor [people in Poland]

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fair naturally the poles who'd had it just about up to here with the Nazis and [Polish man throws box in bin]

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the Soviets telling him what to do protested the results and the protesters

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were purged that purge turned into a bigger purge in some 200,000 polls [neighborhood up in flames]

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including many who identified as moderates or nationalists were killed

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the Poland didn't know when to quit with Stalin dead the Polish people felt

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comfortable trying to shake off the Soviet Union's death grip in 1956 by [Stalin dead in church]

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this time a man named Nikita Khrushchev was the head of the Communist Party in

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the Soviet Union although he had supported Stalin's purges as a younger

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man by the 1950s he was ready for the Soviets to be less repressive Khrushchev [woman presents Khrushchev with Stalin outfit to wear]

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saw to it that men like the reformed loving Soviet premier Nikolai Bulganin

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got to serve in positions of power Khrushchev also worked to give local

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committees and provincial governments power over their own affairs central

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planning was out power to the people was in kind of well the Hungarians saw what

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was happening in Poland and wanted in on the reform action themselves in 1956 [map of Europe]

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they started an uprising of their own while at first it looked as if Hungary

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might get out from under the thumb of the Soviet Union the Soviet leadership

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reversed itself and sent in a large military force to crush the revolt those [tank pointed at Hungary]

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Hungarians who were hope in the US would show up and act on his previous

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overtures of friendship were sorely disappointed then on to Czechoslovakia [Uncle Sam asleep, dreaming of cats]

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in 1968 a reform minded leader of that country's Communist Party loosened

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restrictions on speech travel and the media he also decided that it'd be super [people get tape ripped off mouth]

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cool to split the country in two annoyed that chuckles Vasya was essentially

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spitting on the idea of Soviet authority the nations of the

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Warsaw Pact invaded to stop the reforms while many of the reforms put in place

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in 1968 were reversed the people of Czechoslovakia never stopped fighting

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for democracy they were especially good at messing with street signs so that [people poking man for democracy]

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those on the Soviet payroll ended up dazed confused and well generally

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useless well the nations of Eastern Europe

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learned a valuable lesson during the 50s and 60s the Soviets wanted to be in

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control and they like stability anybody agitating for democracy therefore was a

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sitting duck for a Soviet bullet quack quack [duck gets shot]

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