Postwar Europe
The Soviet Union emerged from the war dominating most of Eastern Europe. This expansion of Communism was marked by strained relations between the Soviet Union and the Western nations, instead of the harmony hoped for by the creation of the United Nations, successor to the League of Nations. Events after the war were shaped largely by this East-West hostility, termed the “cold war.” An “iron curtain” was said to separate the Communist and non-Communist worlds.
Cold War divides Germany's capital Berlin had American, British, French, and Soviet sectors (districts) after World War II ended in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors became known as West Berlin. The Soviet sector became known as East Berlin.Through the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) and later aid, the United States made billions of dollars available to non-Communist European nations to help them recover from the war and to prevent the further spread of Communism. The United States also took the lead in establishing an alliance for the defense of Western Europe (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization). Steps toward economic and political unity of Western Europe were made by the creation of such organizations as the Benelux union and the European Communities (known as the European Community during 1967–93 and since then as the European Union). The Communist countries of Eastern Europe, led by the Soviet Union, formed the Warsaw Pact organization, a military alliance, and COMECON, an economic union.
