Stalin was initially supportive of accepting the Plan, but later went against it as he learned more about the conditions. Suppose he instead keeps supportive and wishes for the Soviet Union and its sphere to accept the aid?
He'd be as likely to accept it as he would partitioning Poland like Germany. The Marshall Plan would loosen his grip on the Eastern Bloc by virtue of offering the citizens an alternative to the Soviets. He wasnt going to let that happen after Barbarossa. Think of the propaganda - "Communism is so great it needs aid from the capitalists!"
Stalin was initially supportive of accepting the Plan
He could use "Communism is so great it needs aid from the capitalists"He'd be as likely to accept it as he would partitioning Poland like Germany. The Marshall Plan would loosen his grip on the Eastern Bloc by virtue of offering the citizens an alternative to the Soviets. He wasnt going to let that happen after Barbarossa. Think of the propaganda - "Communism is so great it needs aid from the capitalists!"
It's the point of the PoD - IOTL he was initially open to the offer and initially directed Eastern Bloc countries to accept the offer in the upcoming summit in Paris. Here, while he is hostile to some of the conditions, he reasons that he can't let Western Europe, which has suffered less total damage, charge ahead of the East, and denying this aid would only hurt them and hence his control/influence on them.
Actually Czechoslovakia was free until 1948 when Communist realized they have to act. Some not good decission on Benes as well as leaders of other political parties helped them.Well Czechoslovakia tried to break free in 48, East Germany in 53, and Hungary in 56. Only Yugoslavia and Albania were able to escape the Soviet hegeomony. So, if Western aid comes in a reactionary crackdown probably follows it. It probably would have created a legit war scare at some point with accusations of CIA meddling etc. The blockade of Berlin is probably delayed as the Marshall Plan is being implemented but as part of the response it is probably absolute - no airlift.
To what extent did this "imperial" policy continue after Stalin? Did it change at all over time?Stalin's intention was to enslave the economies of eastern Europe to the needs of the Soviet Union. They were supposed to create the things the Soviet Union did not have, and be dependent on the Soviet economy. The bourgeosie were going to be wiped out and any dissenting elements to Communist control ended.
Well the puppet states gradually developed into satellite states and the Soviet Union's main goal in the Cold War became having the west accept the status quo as eternal, they kind of got what they wanted in the seventies but In the eighties things went south again. The ironic development was that the Soviet Union became a colony of its own satellites. the Soviet Union started to rely on them for manufactured goods while it sent natural resources to them. Stalin's imperial project developed into a necessity and ended up enslaving the Soviet Union itself.Although Yugoslavia did receive American aid, it was not part of the Marshall Plan. However, what if Yugoslavia was officially part of the Marshall Plan?
To what extent did this "imperial" policy continue after Stalin? Did it change at all over time?
Ok so this is technically not necro but it does feel like one but whatever. I feel like Stalin missed a tremendous opportunity: He could have involved himself with the Marshall Plan but not with the goal of getting aid, no, but with the goal of stalling and obstructing its execution as much as possible. This could be useful as a propaganda tool(evil capitalists would rather see eastern europe starve!) and otherwise as a win by denying the western economies quick recovery, while also making the western populace get mired in economic misery, making them more sympathetic to communism.
In hindsight I don't really know why he didn't do this, surely someone over there must have thought about this too. Right?
I did read your post but nevertheless they could have used the bully pulpit to create a grand display of how much of a geopolitical power play the Marshall plan was, and those complaints would be heard in France and Italy and it would still be a propaganda victory for eastern europe.As I noted above, https://www.alternatehistory.com/fo...cepts-the-marshall-plan.389178/#post-12436383 the Western powers were quite determined *not* to have endless haggling with the Soviets over the Marshall Plan. If the Soviets didn't accept US terms quickly, they would just have gone ahead without them.