The Aftermath of World War II

World War II changed the balance of power and foreign relations because the world became divided in seeking for new governments until the “iron curtain” strictly divided the “Free West from the Communist East”, around the world.

After World War II, in Europe, most of the countries were focused on reconstruction of both land and governments, and deciding what to do about Germany. Germany, they decided, would be split into four sections belonging to the British, the United States, France, and the Soviet Union. Berlin would also be split accordingly. The separation of Germany also helped decide what would happen to the countries whose governments collapsed from Nazi occupancy. At the Yalta conference, Soviet Union gained predominance over Eastern Europe, and using its political influences, the Soviet Union succeeded in turning most of the governments in to communist “puppet” regimes. While the Soviet Union continually turned Eastern Europe to communism, Western Europe decided to use democracy for the new governments. The West then attempted to stop the onslaught of communist politics into more European countries, namely the United States with the Truman Doctrine. This difference between the democratic West and communist East created, to quote Winston Churchill, an “iron curtain” over Europe, dividing it. This also made the powers in Europe become divided into those two categories. The Allies, excluding communist nations, joined to create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the predominantly communist nations created the Warsaw Pact.4

Eventually the European nations within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization joined to create a European only group, the European Economic Community. This helped many countries with free tra...

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...dependent countries as devices to implement their wills.

Works Cited

Eric Foner, The Story of American Freedom, (New York: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 1999), 252.

Jay Geller, "World War II and Genocide." (lecture., Case Western Reserve University, 2014).

Jay Geller, "The Politics of a Tripartite World." (lecture., Case Western Reserve University, 2014).

Jay Geller, "Europe Divided, Europe United." (lecture., Case Western Reserve University, 2014).

Jay Geller, "Decolonization of Africa." (lecture., Case Western Reserve University, 2014).

Jay Geller, "Africa in a Post-colonial Era." (lecture., Case Western Reserve University, 2014).

Jay Geller, "The Politics of a Tripartite World." (lecture., Case Western Reserve University, 2014).

Jay Geller, " So Far From God: Latin America in the 20th Century." (lecture., Case Western Reserve University, 2014).