What were the characteristics of the communist takeover in Eastern Europe?

The first characteristic, in most Eastern Bloc countries,
was the violent nature of the takeover.  After being overrun by German armies, the
countries were again overrun by their liberating comrades in the Russian army.  A
relatively immediate and forceful government takeover of nearly all aspects of life
followed.  Remember that this is not just socialism, it is communism, so the government
controls not just the means of production, factories, farms, etc., they also control any
product coming out of those producing enterprises as
well.

The state quickly became an overwhelming force in
people's lives.  Religion was not allowed in many of the Eastern Bloc countries, travel
and freedoms of most kinds were restricted, and social mobility was reduced even
further.  There were pogroms in many Eastern European countries where those whom Stalin
saw as being possible resistors to his agenda were killed by the
millions.

Some countries were not quite as severely
restricted, Yugoslavia was one, but in general, most of the Eastern Bloc disappeared
behind the Iron Curtain.