Following the Second World War, the Soviet Union expanded its influence over Eastern Europe. Soviet soldiers and diplomats supported Communists, many of whom had fought in anti-Nazi partisanunits.
in the political fights that followed the war in onecountry after another. Different variants of this method were used. Stalin merely imposed a communist administration on Poland, which wascompletelyoccupied by Soviet forces. Hungary and EastGermany also followed the same pattern. In some countries, such as Czechoslovakia, the process took longer and was accomplished through elections in which candidates supported by the Soviet Union won and other parties were proscribed.
