Welcome to Russian History Retold.

Episode 256, the Iron Curtain, Part 1.

Last time, we ended the series on the transition of Russia into the Soviet Union and the USSR

back into Russia.

Today, we start a new series that will look beyond the borders of Russia and into those countries

in Eastern Europe that were controlled by the Soviet Union.

Given the current situation in Ukraine, I think this topic is very, very important.

Former Soviet-aligned countries like Poland are helping the Ukrainians with weapons and supplies.

This must truly aggravate Putin and the rest of the higher-ups in the Kremlin.

As this also shows how the dynamics from the Iron Curtain era have changed.

My two primary sources for these episodes include Savage Continent, Europe in the aftermath of

World War II by Keith Lowe and Iron Curtain, the crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944 to 1956 by Ann

Applebaum. It's always been my intention to have you, my loyal listeners,

get a feel for those moments in history that may be hard to comprehend in our time.

Lowe's book's introduction does just that.

It describes very vividly what Europe was like right after World War II.

Quote,

Imagine a world without institutions.

It is a world where borders between countries seems to have dissolved, leaving a single

endless landscape over which people travel in search of communities that no longer exist.

There are no governments anymore, on either a national scale or even a local one.

There are no schools or universities, no libraries or archives, no access to any information

...