Skip to content
People of the Revolution and the USSR
Activity
Affiliation
Position
Citizenship
Background
Era(set)
People of the Soviet Union
People of the Chinese revolution and the People’s Republic
People of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era
People of the wider world
-
Otto Grotewohl Otto Grotewohl
The Social Democrat who led a divided state into being
Government and administration · East Germany
1894–1964
-
Herbert Vere Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt
Australia's Foreign Minister who led the small and medium powers' fight against the great-power veto at San Francisco
Political and party leadership · Australian Labor Party (ALP)
1894–1965
-
Friedrich Ebert Jr. Friedrich Ebert junior
A social democrat who moved from municipal politics into state power amid Germany's division
Political and party leadership · Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED)
1894–1979
-
Kurt Schumacher Kurt Schumacher
SPD leader who survived ten years in Nazi camps and, after the war, refused the merger with the Communists
Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
1895–1952
-
Hubert Ripka Hubert Ripka
Postwar foreign trade minister who resigned in February 1948 and went back into exile
Economy, finance and planning · Czechoslovakia
1895–1958
-
Erich Gniffke Erich Gniffke
SPD organiser in the Soviet zone who signed the merger with the KPD, then left the SED in 1948 and fled west
Social movements and organizing · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
1895–1964
-
Ludvík Svoboda Ludvík Svoboda
A national hero of two world wars who became an unlikely last bastion of the Prague Spring
Military command · Czechoslovakia
1895–1979
-
William K. Harrison Jr. William K. Harrison Jr.
The US Army lieutenant general who signed the Korean Armistice as UNC delegate after 158 truce meetings
Military command · United States state institutions
1895–1987
-
John J. McCloy John Jay McCloy
A pragmatic architect of the postwar U.S. international order
Government and administration · United States state institutions
1895–1989
-
Klement Gottwald Klement Gottwald
The communist leader who turned Czechoslovakia into a people's democracy through the February 1948 coup
Political and party leadership · Czechoslovakia
1896–1953
-
Imre Nagy Nagy Imre
Premier for thirteen days
Government and administration · Hungary
1896–1958
-
Jacques Duclos Jacques Duclos
The PCF's number two for 37 years: a Stalinist who moved between parliament and the underground
Political and party leadership · French Communist Party (PCF)
1896–1975
-
Traicho Kostov Трайчо Костов
Bulgaria's number two, who ran the repression and fell to a Stalinist purge
Political and party leadership · Bulgaria
1897–1949
-
Anthony Eden Anthony Eden
A British diplomat of war and decolonisation
Political and party leadership · United Kingdom state institutions
1897–1977
-
Ludwig Erhard Ludwig Erhard
The West German economic statesman who shaped currency reform and the social market economy
Economy, finance and planning · Germany state institutions
1897–1977
-
Lucius D. Clay Lucius D. Clay
The US military governor who answered the blockade of West Berlin with a 324-day airlift
Military command · United States state institutions
1897–1978
-
József Révai Révai József
Overseer of culture in the Rákosi era
Ideology and propaganda · Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)
1898–1959
-
Vasile Luca Vasile Luca
Finance minister of the "Muscovite faction", purged on the pretext of the 1952 currency reform and dead in Aiud prison, a Székely Hungarian communist
Political and party leadership · Romania
1898–1963
-
Ernst Wollweber Ernst Wollweber
Communist who ran an anti-fascist sabotage network before the war and headed the Stasi from 1953 to 1957
Security, intelligence and policing · East Germany
1898–1967
-
István Dobi Dobi István
Smallholder turned titular head of state
Legislature and state representation · Hungary
1898–1968
-
Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse
Frankfurt School philosopher and the pre-eminent theorist of the 1960s New Left
Scholarship and theory · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
1898–1979
-
Ernő Gerő Gerő Ernő
Hungary's last Stalinist First Secretary; his three months in power ignited the revolution
Political and party leadership · Hungarian Working People's Party (MDP)
1898–1980
-
Henri Navarre Henri Navarre
Last commander of the French Far East Expeditionary Corps, who chose to fortify Điện Biên Phủ and met defeat there in 1954
Military command · France state institutions
1898–1983
-
Heinrich Rau Heinrich Rau
Communist who chaired the German Economic Commission, the forerunner of the GDR government, and led East German economic policy
Economy, finance and planning · East Germany
1899–1961
-
Aleksander Zawadzki Aleksander Zawadzki
A communist leader who helped shape postwar Poland's state
Political and party leadership · Poland
1899–1964
-
Fritz Selbmann Fritz Selbmann
East German heavy-industry minister who faced the striking workers outside the House of Ministries on 16 June 1953
Industry and production · East Germany
1899–1975
-
Sreten Žujović Сретен Жујовић
A Stalin supporter at the heart of Tito’s party
Social movements and organizing · Communist Party / League of Communists of Yugoslavia (KPJ/SKJ)
1899–1976
-
Georges Bidault Georges Bidault
From Resistance chief to architect of the Marshall Plan response, the foreign minister who told Molotov that Soviet actions divided Europe
Government and administration · France state institutions
1899–1983
-
Raoul Salan Raoul Salan
French commander in the First Indochina War and leader of the OAS.
Military command · France state institutions
1899–1984
-
Edward Stettinius Edward Stettinius
A corporate executive turned architect of the postwar international order
Diplomacy and international organization · United States state institutions
1900–1949
-
Pak Hon-yong 박헌영
Architect of the Korean Communist Party's rebirth; leader of the Workers' Party of South Korea
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Korea
1900–1955
-
Adlai Ewing Stevenson Adlai Ewing Stevenson
Two-time presidential nominee who pressed the Soviet Union over its missiles in Cuba at the UN Security Council
Government and administration · United States state institutions
1900–1965
-
Stanisław Hejmowski Stanisław Hejmowski
The lawyer who confronted state violence
Law and justice
1900–1969
-
Choe Yong-gon 최용건
The Manchurian guerrilla who became the KPA's first commander and the DPRK's nominal head of state
Military command · Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
1900–1976
-
Urho Kekkonen Urho Kekkonen
The long-serving president who made neutrality a national strategy
Government and administration · Finland state institutions
1900–1986
-
Milada Horáková Milada Horáková
Czech politician who resisted both the Nazis and the Communists and was hanged in 1950 after a fabricated treason trial
Social movements and organizing
1901–1950
-
Rudolf Slánský Rudolf Slánský
KSČ General Secretary who organized the February 1948 coup and built Czechoslovakia's people's democracy as its operational architect
Political and party leadership · Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
1901–1952
-
Erich Ollenhauer Erich Ollenhauer
Exiled SPD functionary who succeeded Schumacher as SPD leader and leader of the West German opposition
Political and party leadership · Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD)
1901–1963
-
Ngô Đình Diệm Ngô Đình Diệm
Politician who became State of Vietnam premier in 1954, ousted Bảo Đại and was South Vietnam’s first president until killed in 1963
Government and administration · Vietnam
1901–1963
-
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej
Romania's first communist leader who turned the country from a Soviet satellite toward a semi-autonomous course
Political and party leadership · Romanian Communist Party (PCR)
1901–1965
-
Stanisław Mikołajczyk Stanisław Mikołajczyk
An agrarian statesman who negotiated between the government-in-exile and Stalin
Political and party leadership · Polish People's Party (PSL)
1901–1966
-
Fulgencio Batista Fulgencio Batista
A Cuban ruler who shifted between electoral legitimacy and military power
Government and administration · Cuba
1901–1973
-
Stefan Wyszyński Stefan Wyszyński
The archbishop who defended the Church's autonomy under communism
Religion
1901–1981
-
Souvanna Phouma ສຸວັນນະພູມາ
Neutralist leader and the last royal prime minister of Laos
Government and administration · Laos
1901–1984
-
Jaroslav Seifert Jaroslav Seifert
A poet who confronted censorship and power at each moment of reform
Literature and arts · Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ)
1901–1986
-
Maxwell Davenport Taylor Maxwell Taylor
A military strategist of the nuclear age
Military command · United States state institutions
1901–1987
-
Vladimír Clementis Vladimír Clementis
Slovak Communist who succeeded Jan Masaryk as foreign minister and was executed after the Slánský trial of 1952
Diplomacy and international organization · Czechoslovakia
1902–1952
-
Hilde Benjamin Hilde Benjamin
East German jurist who succeeded Fechner as justice minister after the 1953 uprising and led its harsh political trials
Law and justice · East Germany
1902–1989
-
Christian de Castries Christian de Castries
French general who commanded the Điện Biên Phủ fortress in 1954 and was captured when it fell
Military command · France state institutions
1902–1991
-
John Alexander McCone John Alexander McCone
CIA director who alone warned that Soviet missiles were coming to Cuba
Security, intelligence and policing · United States state institutions
1902–1991