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independence was being given , along with the eedom of other Easte Eu pean peoples. At the same time, the S iet Union s not needed to de at Japan-in ct Stalin declared war against Japan only eight d s be re she surrendered. And though the U.S.S.R. joined the United Nations, that orga ation proved no more e ective at keeping peace in the world than had the League of Nations and ended up as little more than a very expensive and highly-publicized joke.
A r Germa surrendered, it was divided into ur zones, one each occupied Great Britain, France, the United States and the S iet Union. Each of e ur occupying powers was to prepare its zone r elections and a new gove ment r all of Germa at an early date. But e S iet leaders soon made it very clear that they had no intention of allowing Germa to be reunited. The Kremlin declared at their zone, which came to be known as East Germa , was an independent nation. In ct it s under S iet domination. The other Allies held elections in their zones in 1946, and the Christian Democrat , under the leadership of n d Adenauer, won control of the g e ent, entually rming the Ge an Federal Republic, or West Germany, as it was co only known. enauer was an able leader and led d astated West Germany to renewed p sperity, as st ng hostility g w up between West and East Germany.
Hopes r an early reuni cation of Germany collapsed in July 1948, when the Communists began the Berlin Bloc e. The old German capital had also been divided into ur occupation zones, even though it was in East German territory. The Communists halted all ra and ad tra c into West Berlin, hoping to starve it in submission. But the U.S. re sed to give in. D a er d , ai lanes ew into the besieged ci , bringing od, medicine and el. The Communists had no w of stopping the airli , short of war, and eventually had to end the blockade, in M 1949. But this eliminated a hope r cooperation between e S iet Union and the U d States in Europe.
The Co unists also a empted to extend their in uence over Greece d Turk in 1947 by starting civil wars in those t countries. But President Truman announced the T man Doct ne (also known as con­ tainment) of supplying economic and military aid to countries threatened Communist take- ers. Thanks to this help, the r lutionaries in both Greece and Turkey were de ated and the independence of those nations sa gua ed.
The con ontation between the stern and Communist worlds came