The USSR’s Politics of History toward the Slavic Countries of the Eastern Bloc: Formal and Institutional Frameworks. 1945–1989

The article focuses on the problems of Soviet ‘politics of history’ in the Eastern Bloc in 1945–1989 by the example of selected Slavic countries: Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Bulgaria. The implementation of the Soviet system of political control over history proceeded extremely reluctantly and with varying intensity depending on the historical period and particular country. The scope and degree of interference into the affairs of local disciplines of history in above-mentioned countries changed with the political situation and new tendencies in social and political life. Actions aimed at the history of Slavic countries were sanctioned by the CPSU and implemented in accordance with the interests of the State and the Communist Party of the USSR. Kremlin inspired and subsequently oversaw the realization of joint academic projects, provided guidelines on how to research and interpret historic events, thus constituting a significant element of its ‘politics of history’.