ABSTRACT
The term "peoples' democracies" (PDs) designates in this chapter are the seven Eastern European countries which throughout the post-war Stalinist era remained in the Soviet sphere of influence (Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, German Democratic Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania). The very fact of transplantation of Stalinism to the PDs proves that it has been perceived as a model of a socialist structure. Evolved in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the course of two decades, Stalinism emerged in the PDs in a ready-to-wear pattern, which makes it easier to disentangle the main characteristics of the model itself from the impact of particular historical circumstances. The study of Stalinism in the PDs may take people further in the extremely complex discussion of the links between Stalinism and the Communist concept of socialist society in general. The history of the East European countries from the end of the Second World War until their Stalinization sensu stricto comprises five to six years only.
