The Cold War Europe is Broken Apart

Stalin said that Communism would one day "rule the earth." He refused to give up the countries he had taken during World War II. The Soviets set up a Communist government in these nations. The nations were allowed their own leaders, but these leaders had to take orders from Stalin.

The United States asked the Soviets to leave these nations, but they refused.

The nations of western Europe became worried that the Soviets would take over more countries. President Truman met with the leaders of western Europe. They set up a policy for dealing with the Soviets. These nations told the U.S.S.R. that they would not fight for the countries that were already taken, but they would not allow them to take any additional nations.

In 1947, England told the United States it was going to remove its troops from Greece. President Truman said he would send money to help both Greece and Turkey, so they would not become Communist satellites like Poland. Both Greece and Turkey were able to keep the Communists from taking their nations.

In June 1948, the U.S.S.R. decided to see how much power they held. At the end of World War II, Germany was divided into four zones. The United States, France, and England governed West Germany. The Soviets governed East Germany. The capital of Germany, Berlin was to stay an open city. It could be occupied by all four nations.

To get to Berlin, the English, French, and Americans had to travel through the Soviet zone. The Soviets thought that Berlin should be theirs because it was in their zone. They closed all roads and stopped all trains to the city.  The two million people living in Berlin were unable to get food, clothing, or coal. The United States decided to send supplies by plane. The United States and its allies sent 277,274 supply planes. This was a plane every three minutes for a year. In September 1949, the U.S.S.R. reopened the roads and rail lines. The United States considered this a major victory in the Cold War.

Occupation zone borders in Germany, 1947

The territories east of the Oder-Neisse line, under Polish and Soviet administration/annexation, are shown as white. Berlin is the multinational area within the Soviet zone.