Eastern Bloc
The term Eastern Bloc referred to the former Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, including the countries of the Warsaw Pact, along with Yugoslavia and Albania, which were not aligned with the Soviet Union after 1948 and 1960 respectively. The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) arranged economic cooperation among the members. Although officially independent countries, they were Soviet satellite states.  The Eastern Bloc was created in 1947 by Joseph Stalin who was leader of the Soviet Union.