The Soviet Union conducts its first atomic test

The Communist Information Bureau coordinated several European communist parties and strengthened Moscow’s influence over the postwar movement. Its creation came amid the hardening Cold War and...

A Central Committee resolution denounced Vano Muradeli’s opera and condemned prominent composers including Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev. It made artistic work answerable to political...

The organization expelled Yugoslavia’s Communist Party after its leadership resisted Soviet control. The split showed that anti-fascist and socialist movements could face pressure to subordinate...

At the end of the VASKhNIL session, Trofim Lysenko’s doctrine was declared the official line, with Stalin’s support. Genetics was marginalized, research and teaching were disrupted, and scientists...

The Soviet Union and allied governments created Comecon to coordinate economic relations in the emerging Eastern Bloc. It offered a framework for trade and planning but also reinforced Moscow’s...

The meeting opened negotiations over the relationship between the Soviet Union and the newly founded People’s Republic of China. Their talks revealed both revolutionary solidarity and bargaining...

The treaty established a formal alliance and economic cooperation between the two states, replacing an earlier agreement tied to the Nationalist government. The relationship was consequential for...

North Korean forces invaded South Korea. Newly available Soviet records show Stalin approved Kim Il Sung’s plan after seeking assurances about Soviet and Chinese involvement. The war devastated Korean...

The congress met thirteen years after the previous one, reflecting the concentration of authority during wartime and postwar years. Stalin’s speech presented a global ideological struggle, while the...

The government accused mostly Jewish physicians of conspiring to murder Soviet leaders. The campaign intensified state antisemitism; Stalin’s death soon halted the case, and his successors later...