Tag Archives: USSR
The end of the Berlin Blockade
This short podcast presents an overview of how and why Stalin chose to end the Berlin Blockade.
The foundation of the German Democratic Republic (DDR)
On the 7th October 1949 the German Democratic Republic, otherwise known as East Germany, was founded in the Soviet occupied zone of Germany.
The USSR’s first atomic test
On the 29th August 1949, the Soviet Union successfully detonated its first nuclear weapon codenamed RDS-1 and nicknamed First Lightning.
Overview of Radio Free Europe’s first broadcast on 4th July 1950
On the 4th July 1950, Radio Free Europe – founded the previous year to transmit uncensored information to audiences behind the Iron Curtain – completed its first broadcast.
Why were the Rosenbergs sentenced to death? Overview podcast
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were found guilty of espionage and sentenced to death for their role in passing information about the US nuclear programme to the Soviet Union.
The establishment of the Warsaw Pact: an overview
The USSR and seven other European countries signed the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance better known as the Warsaw Pact.
Khruschev’s criticism of Stalin in his ‘secret speech’
Shortly after midnight on the 25th February 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev delivered his ‘secret speech’, officially called “On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences”, in a four hour “closed session” at the end of the 20th Party Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
‘Blood in the Water’ – the Cold War water polo match
On the 6th December 1956, the “Blood in the Water” water polo match took place between the USSR and Hungary.
The execution of Hungarian Communist leader Imre Nagy
On June 16th 1958, Hungarian Communist politician Imre Nagy was executed.
