After World War Two, much of Europe had been damaged. “A civilian population that had largely escaped destruction during World War I had felt the full force of bombing and battles during World War II. This time half the deaths had been noncombatants and facilities for production, transport, and communication had suffered heavy damage,” (Hunt 89). In addition to the destruction of Europe, Europe had also been divided. Communists were in control of the Eastern side and the US was giving great support to the Western side. There were many events, programs, leaders, and conditions that affected how each side responded to the challenges of adjusting to the rebuilding of Eastern and Western Europe.
On March 12, 1947 President Harry Truman addressed
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The US, Great Britain, and France were not in compliance with what Stalin wanted so Stalin blocked railroads coming into Berlin “in a doomed attempt to avert a permanent division” (Hunt 93). Stalin was trying to rebuild his side by not letting the western side completely take over. At this time the US had no way of getting supplies to the people there. The US response to this was to send B-29 bombers in order to send supplies. Our help was known as the Berlin airlift. This was one way that Western Europe was trying to rebuild the country. The US wasn’t going to allow Stalin to impede the progress we were …show more content…
He described The Marshall Plan, also called the European Recovery Program. The Marshall Plan was a significant program that led to the rebuilding of Western Europe after World War Two. The Marshall Plan was essentially all about helping Europe rebuild after the war using American money (lecture 2). Our goal was to improve Europe’s economy. This would help Europe rebuild and in turn help the US economy. If Europe’s economy was stable then they would be able to buy US goods. “By 1952 industrial and agricultural production had climbed to 35 percent above the prewar point” (Hunt 91).
Shortly after the Marshall plan was announced, Stalin decided to stage a communist coup Czechoslovakia. (Lecture 2). This is just one example of the Soviet Union expanding in Eastern Europe. Stalin wanted more power and more land and this was one way he had planned on doing it.
In 1949, two republics of Germany were created. The Federal Republic of Germany was West Germany, with Bonn as their capital. The German Democratic Republic was East Germany, with eastern Berlin as their capital. (lecture 2) Each side was trying to build their own government in order to rebuild. East and West Germany were trying to do the same thing with their side but in different