Martina looking at the Berlin Wall that separated East and West Berlin from 1961 to 1989

The consequences of World War II shaped foreign policy in the United States for the next fifty years. Terrance and Martina saw how, at the end of the war, Europe was divided between the two conquering armies. The Soviet Union controlled Eastern Europe and Eastern Germany, and the United States and Great Britain controlled Western Europe and Western Germany. Germany remained divided and took on characteristics of the conquering powers that controlled it. West Germany soon became a democratic country with capitalist economic institutions, just like its occupying countries of Great Britain and the United States. Eastern Germany remained under the dominating control of the Soviet Union, and did not adopt democratic institutions. In response to the destruction caused by World War II, the United States enacted the Marshall Plan, which provided economic support to western European countries, helped them rebuild their economies, and prevented the spread of communism. In the Pacific theatre, the United States occupied Japan, and helped it develop a democratic government and capitalist economic institutions. Because of American support, Japan became a strong ally of the United States. To prevent the atrocities of a world war from happening again, nations came together to form the United Nations, a replacement for the League of Nations.

On your next stop in this quest, you will join Terrance and Martina as they explore how the political and economic consequences of World War II led to the Cold War.