Word: czechoslovakia
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...after the victory of the proletariat and the overthrow of the reactionary leadership in Czechoslovakia, Stalin was vacationing in the Crimea. Klement Gottwald, the Czechoslovak President, and his wife came for a visit. Stalin phoned and asked if I could come to the Crimea as soon as possible. "Gottwald is here and says he can't get along without you. He absolutely demands that you come." This was Stalin's idea of humor...
...from you. If you need some new technology or advanced designs, just say so and we'll give them to you. That would be much better. We are fully prepared to become part of the Soviet Union. I am asking you, Comrade Stalin: let's sign a treaty adding Czechoslovakia to the Soviet Union...
Stalin stopped him right there. "Well, anything is possible," he said vaguely. But in fact he categorically rejected the idea of Czechoslovakia's joining the Soviet Union. I think he was right to do that...
Unfortunately, Stalin was not always so sensible. Some time later, during another meeting with Gottwald, Stalin asked if the Soviet Union should move its troops into Czechoslovakia. The reason could have been simply that the cold war was gaining momentum. Truman was President, and Stalin feared war with America...
...decades, they will have to pay the market price for energy instead of relying on subsidized oil from the Soviet Union; they must also make do with a 30% cut in Soviet supplies. Even with oil at only $20 per bbl., Bulgaria would be forced to use 80% and Czechoslovakia 60% of hard-currency reserves to pay for supplies. Though the Soviet Union stands to gain an additional $7.5 billion in hard-currency earnings as a result of the price run-up, Moscow cannot expect a bonanza: its oil industry is so inefficient that production will decline this year...