10 Postwar Europe and the Cold War
Trace Europe’s postwar recovery, Cold War division, integration, and the social and political effects of decolonization.
Recovery along different paths
In 1945, much of Europe faced destroyed infrastructure, shortages, displaced populations, and weakened economies. Recovery followed different paths in the continent’s emerging political blocs, and reconstruction was not simply a return to prewar conditions.
The United States launched the European Recovery Program, commonly called the , in 1948. It provided economic assistance to participating countries in western Europe and encouraged cooperation in rebuilding trade and industry. The Soviet Union rejected the program and discouraged governments in its sphere from taking part.
Western European economies grew rapidly in the following decades, while governments expanded social services and helped rebuild housing and industry. In eastern Europe, communist governments reorganized economies around state ownership and central planning, while maintaining close political and economic ties to Moscow.
division and its symbols
After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as rival superpowers. Their ideological and strategic competition, the , divided Europe into a broadly capitalist, democratic West and a communist East dominated by the Soviet Union. This division was often called the .
Germany became a central point of conflict. The former German capital, Berlin, was divided among the victorious powers even though it lay inside the Soviet occupation zone. In 1948, the Soviet Union blocked land routes to Berlin’s Western-controlled sectors. The Western Allies supplied the city by air until the blockade ended in 1949.
In 1949, Germany became two states: the Federal Republic of Germany in the West and the German Democratic Republic in the East. Military alliances reinforced the division. The United States, Canada, and western European countries formed the in 1949. After West Germany joined NATO in 1955, the Soviet Union and its eastern European allies formed the .
In 1961, East German authorities built the to stop people leaving for the West. It became the best-known physical symbol of Europe’s division.
European integration
Western European leaders pursued cooperation partly to make another war between European states less likely. On 9 May 1950, French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed placing French and West German coal and steel production under a shared authority. Because these industries were essential to making weapons, shared oversight was intended to tie former rivals together.
Six countries established the in 1952. The 1957 Treaties of Rome expanded cooperation by creating the and .
Integration developed gradually: governments coordinated particular industries and trade while retaining many national powers. Although the effort began among western European states, it later expanded beyond its original members and became the foundation for the modern European Union.
and social change
After 1945, independence movements brought the European overseas empires to an end over several decades. changed Europe’s place in the world: former imperial powers lost direct control over colonies, even as many sought to maintain economic, diplomatic, or cultural ties with newly independent states.
also reshaped European societies. People moved to Europe from former colonies, often to join families or fill jobs during postwar reconstruction and economic growth. Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Portugal were among the countries transformed by these migrations. In some cases, European settlers also moved back to the former imperial country as colonial rule ended.
These movements made European cities more diverse and brought questions of citizenship, race, belonging, and the legacies of empire into domestic politics.