In the waning hours of WWII, Germany’s defeat was assured, but the make-up of post-war Europe was anything but certain. The Soviets pushed hard into Germany from the east and the remaining allies, USA, Britain, and others, moved in from the west. After Germany completely capitulated in May 1945, the Allies split the conquered foe in quarters, giving the Soviets to run the northeast, the Americans the southeast, the British the northwest, and the French the southwest. The understanding was, of course, this would be the arrangement only until a new German government could take back the reigns of their country.

Stalin had other plans. He saw unprecedented devastation in Russia. They had by far the most combined military and civilian deaths, totaling a staggering twenty-five million. Stalin was not in any mood to negotiate. He would have influence over Germany. He would have his presence felt, and so as the other Allies backed out of the country in their respective zones, the Soviets dug in, keeping East Germany firmly under their control.

With Germany split, the Soviets worked to shore up their influence throughout the entire region. This was capped by the signing of the Warsaw Pact in 1952 which gave the Soviet Union military control and foreign policy power throughout countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and others. These Soviet Bloc nations became the counterbalance Stalin wanted against the newly formed NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

This Cold War split created an Iron Curtain, dividing eastern and western Europe for four decades until the wall started to crumble in 1989.