Aftermath of World War II

The political, social, economic, and territorial changes after World War II, including reconstruction, decolonization, and the emergence of the Cold War.

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Cold War: A prolonged geopolitical rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. The wartime alliance gave way to a global contest that defined postwar politics.
Allied occupation of Germany: The administration of Germany by the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union after its defeat. Occupation authorities disarmed Germany and shaped its political and economic reconstruction.
Yalta Conference: A February 1945 meeting of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin to plan postwar Europe and the war’s conclusion. Its agreements and unresolved disputes shaped the early settlement among the victorious powers.
Occupation of Japan: The Allied-led administration of Japan from 1945 to 1952, directed chiefly by the United States. Occupation reforms reshaped Japan’s constitution, institutions, and place in the postwar order.
Holocaust restitution: Efforts to return property or provide compensation to Holocaust survivors and Jewish communities after World War II. Survivors’ claims exposed the difficulty of repairing losses through law and state policy.
United Nations: An intergovernmental organization founded in 1945 to promote international cooperation and collective security. Its creation sought to prevent another world war through a new system of international cooperation.
Marshall Plan: A United States program that provided economic aid to help rebuild Western European economies from 1948. American aid supported recovery while strengthening Western European ties to the United States.
Potsdam Conference: A July–August 1945 meeting of Allied leaders that addressed Germany’s administration and the postwar order. The conference exposed growing disagreements over Germany and Eastern Europe.
Berlin Blockade: The Soviet Union’s 1948–1949 blockade of Western access to Berlin, answered by an Allied airlift. The crisis made the division of Germany and the emerging Cold War tangible.
German expulsion from Eastern Europe: The forced displacement of millions of ethnic Germans from territories in eastern and central Europe after the war. These expulsions reveal how postwar security and border-making imposed severe civilian costs.