Cold War Eastern Europe

With access to declassified files from The National Archives (UK), online for the first time, the collection captures the sweep of Cold War dynamics from Poland to Cuba, from East Berlin to Southeast Asia.

No ordinary historical documents, the files are the raw materials of espionage, resistance, and everyday survival. Broad in scope, the collection shows how the Cold War in Eastern Europe shaped—and was shaped by—world events.

Explore the events and ideas that defined the Cold War era

• high-level Foreign Office briefings
• legal agreements
• underground literature
• dissident letters
• media surveillance
• minutes from secret meetings
• ideological battles
• cultural exchanges
• economic pressures
• covert operations

Step behind the Iron Curtain—and into the heart of global Cold War diplomacy

1953-1960. The Khrushchev Thaw and the process of de-Stalinization; the gradual reform and easing of political terror in the Soviet Union; the reassertion of Soviet power across the Eastern Bloc with the formation of the Warsaw Pact; and the military suppression of uprisings in East Germany, Poland, and Hungary.

1961-1966. Events that altered the trajectory of the Cold War; construction of the Berlin Wall; the Cuban Missile crisis; the rise of Leonid Brezhnev and the removal of Nikita Khrushchev as the head of the Soviet Union; and the enactment of drastic reforms within the Soviet Union that culminated in the Sino-Soviet split.

1967-1975. In-depth reporting of the movements for social change in Czechoslovakia (1968) and Poland (1968 and 1970); the subsequent reinstatement of the Soviet model through suppression and military intervention; and the period of détente, which saw the steady easing of tensions between East and West that culminated in Richard Nixon's visit to Moscow in 1975.

1976-1982. The latter Brezhnev years known as the Era of Stagnation, characterized by steady economic decline across Eastern Europe; the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979; the deepening rift between East and West as Soviet influence expanded in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia; the non-ratification of SALT II; and the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which illustrated the deteriorating relationship between the major powers.

More sample files

• FO 371/122767: Confidential cypher communication from the UK’s Ambassador to the Soviet Union reporting on Khrushchev's Secret Speech, 1956.
• FO 371/151626: Account of the Hungarian Revolution by a Communist Party member who opposed the Revolution, 1960.
• FO 371/160572: Secret telegrams to the Foreign Office reporting on the building of the Berlin Wall, 1961
• FO 371/169185: British Military Government summary of John F. Kennedy's visit to Berlin, 1963.
• FO 371/159605: Summary of the public reaction to Yuri Gagarin's space flight, 1961.
• FCO 28/4223: Report on the public reaction to the Moscow Olympic Games, 1980.
• FCO 28/3996: Margaret Thatcher's message to Brezhnev against the invasion of Afghanistan, 1979.
• FCO 33/4353: Dispatch comparing life in the GDR with George Orwell's 1984.
• FCO 28/2361: Transcripts of all speeches and statements made by Leonid Brezhnev and Richard Nixon during Brezhnev's official 1973 visit to the United States.

Support for teaching and learning—with scholarly depth and global breadth

Students will want to engage with previously secret primary sources. Most of the material is written in English written as easy-to-read briefings.

Support tools include:

• Topical essays.
• Lesson plans written by members of the Editorial Board.
• A timeline of the key events documented in the files.

“Cold War Eastern Europe is a truly indispensable resource for students and academics alike studying the history of Eastern Europe, Communism and the Cold War.” — Csaba Bekes, Founding Dir., Cold War History Research Center, Budapest.