As said earlier, there is no way for us to give enough service to the major events, because that examination is more reserved for your U.S. History classes. Here, we will instead look over the time period in a fairly broad way, but will discuss them as best as possible. This will at least give a taste of not only what it was like to live in the post-World War II world, but also how that formed the society we now live in.
The best place to begin is with discussing what the Allies did to actually fix the problems which started the war, and to prevent another one, which is ultimately the goal of most peace treaties. Unlike the Treaty of Versailles, which created the weak and useless League of Nations, the Allies formed the United Nations (U.N.) as its successor, which would actually have staying power and teeth to it. The U.N. was headquartered in New York, which reflected how not only was the United States taking more of a role in world affairs, but was also going to be one of the dominant voices. This new organization would actually be a place for all countries, even ones which hated each other, to actually sit down and have a conversation peacefully, instead of becoming involved in another military conflict.
That is what the League of Nations was supposed to do, but ultimately failed to accomplish. This is one of the reasons why even though the United Nations is not perfect, it kept the United States and Soviet Union from going to war in this period, and was able to at least sort of keep the peace. It did serve to redefine how many European countries looked at one another though, and they began to lose many of the old rivalries which began both World Wars. Overall, the U.N. has proven relatively effective.
The best place to begin is with discussing what the Allies did to actually fix the problems which started the war, and to prevent another one, which is ultimately the goal of most peace treaties. Unlike the Treaty of Versailles, which created the weak and useless League of Nations, the Allies formed the United Nations (U.N.) as its successor, which would actually have staying power and teeth to it. The U.N. was headquartered in New York, which reflected how not only was the United States taking more of a role in world affairs, but was also going to be one of the dominant voices. This new organization would actually be a place for all countries, even ones which hated each other, to actually sit down and have a conversation peacefully, instead of becoming involved in another military conflict.
That is what the League of Nations was supposed to do, but ultimately failed to accomplish. This is one of the reasons why even though the United Nations is not perfect, it kept the United States and Soviet Union from going to war in this period, and was able to at least sort of keep the peace. It did serve to redefine how many European countries looked at one another though, and they began to lose many of the old rivalries which began both World Wars. Overall, the U.N. has proven relatively effective.
Europe Splits in Two...Again
During one of our earlier units, Europe split into the sides of Democratic v. Totalitarian. Now, we have a split along the same idea, but more specifically that of Democratic v. Communist. The Soviet Union took control of most of Eastern Europe during World War II, and refused to give it up. After having been attacked multiple times throughout history, Stalin wanted to make sure the homeland of the U.S.S.R. could not be attacked again, and used these countries as "buffers" between the West and East. These countries became known as Satellite Nations, because though they technically ruled themselves, they were completely under the control and influence of the Soviet Union.
On the other hand, democracy returned to many countries after WWII, and even countries which used to be neutral, started to become involved in world affairs again, like Ireland, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, and the largest example, the United States. |
The two sides once again formed military alliances (they just cannot seem to stop doing that, can they?), with the democratic countries creating the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the communist nations aligning themselves together in the Warsaw Pact. The split between the two was called by former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, "The Iron Curtain." This imaginary division is represented as the red line on the map of Europe above. Below, there is a map of what the world looked like by 1953. Though the Warsaw Pact was not formed until 1955, the dark red countries are the ones who would be members of that alliance.
Furthermore, after the end of World War II, Germany was split in two: a democratic West Germany, and a communist East Germany. As with the rest of Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union heavily influenced the policy and government of East Germany, and really clamped down on them as a way to punish them for the war.
On the other hand, the rest of the Allies encouraged West Germany to grow into a strong and powerful democratic ally. This is why West Germany was rebuilt so quickly, and the East was not. As yet another division, Berlin itself (which is in East Germany), was split into four zones, the east controlled by the Soviet Union, and three western zones controlled by the United States, Great Britain, and France. These three western zones were eventually given to West Germany when the Allies ended their military occupation, but the Soviets refused to do the same. Furthermore, the Berlin Wall would be formed, which would literally divide the city and prevent East Berliners from leaving. This division of Germany would continue until 1989, and would only get worse in the meantime. |