Warlords
Under scrutiny
Imperialist tendencies
Stalin |
***** |
The Bolsheviks' early commitment to the self-determination of tsarist Russia's national minorities disintegrated under Stalin when Soviet armies carved up Poland and took control of the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and (after a tough fight) Finland in 1939-40. The Red Army's success later in the war brought most of eastern and central Europe under Communist – and de facto Soviet – control. Whether dressed up as victories for their local Communist movements, or justified as buffers against future German aggression, the extension of Soviet control looked little different in practice from the empire building of Russia's tsars.
