742 Chapter 28 Collision Courses, Abroad and at Home: 1946–1960
But Europe was now divided in two. In the
West, where American-influenced governments were
elected, private property was respected if often taxed
heavily, and corporations gained influence and
power. In the East, where the Soviet Union imposed
its will and political system on client states, deep-
seated resentment festered among subject peoples.
In March 1948 Great Britain, France, Belgium,
the Netherlands, and Luxembourg signed an alliance
aimed at social, cultural, and economic collaboration.
The Western nations abandoned their understand-
able but counterproductive policy of crushing
Germany economically. They announced plans for
creating a single West German Republic with a large
degree of autonomy.
In June 1948 the Soviet Union retaliated by clos-
ing off surface access to Berlin from the west. For a
time it seemed that the Allies must either fight their
way into the city or abandon it to the communists.
Unwilling to adopt either alternative, TrumanPORTUGALATLANTIC
OCEANGREAT
BRITAINWEST
GERMANY
FRANCEDENMARKBELGIUM
LUX.NETH.AUSTRIAEAST
GERMANYIRELANDICELAND400
200
0 NORWAY
SWEDEN
POLANDCZECHOSLOVAKIAFINLANDYUGOSLAVIAROMANIAHUNGARYBULGARIATURKEYALBANIAGREECESOVIET UNION
(USSR)ITALY
SPAINBaltic
SeaSWITZ.RomeLondonDublinLisbon Madrid
ParisBonnBrusselsCopenhagenStockholmOslo HelsinkiBerlin WarsawPragueBudapestViennaBelgradeAthensSofiaBucharestAnkaraMembers of Warsaw Pact (1955)Members of NATO (1949)Soviet-leaning
Nonaligned counties
U.S. aid per
country in millions
of dollarsBlack SeaDardanelles
Mediter
ra
nea
n SeaNorth
SeaRecipients of Marshall Plan Aid, 1948–1952Marshall Plan aid was originally offered to the Soviet Union and communist bloc states. Stalin, however,
refused to accept American aid and ordered Soviet satellites to refuse, too. All did, except Yugoslavia, whose disobedience infuriated Stalin.