What was Europe like after ww2?

Europe was divided into a US-led Western Bloc and a Soviet-led Eastern Bloc. Internationally, alliances with the two blocs gradually shifted, with some nations trying to stay out of the Cold War through the Non-Aligned Movement.

How was Germany punished after ww2?

The Treaty of Versailles Punished Defeated Germany With These Provisions. Some disarmed the German military, while others stripped the defeated nation of territory, population and economic resources, and forced it to admit responsibility for the war and agree to pay reparations.

What was “operation UN unthinkable”?

Thus British planners devised “Operation Unthinkable,” an apt name for what would have been World War III. What could be a more unimaginable task then trying to devise some way for Britain—broke and exhausted after two world wars—from launching a preventive war to defeat the Soviet colossus?

Why did Zhukov decide to regroup troops in Poland?

In June 1945 senior Soviet Army commander Marshal Georgy Zhukov suddenly ordered Soviet forces in Poland to regroup and prepare their positions for defence. According to Edinburgh University professor John Erickson, Operation Unthinkable helps to explain why he did it.

Were the plans for the Normandy invasion of France ever approved?

The plans were never approved or implemented. The creation of the plans was ordered by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in May 1945 and developed by the British Armed Forces ‘ Joint Planning Staff in May 1945 at the end of World War II in Europe.

What was the outcome of World War II in Europe?

Total war against Russia—months before the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan—was an outcome that no one wanted. The Allied forces had nearly 4 million men in Europe when Germany surrendered, the majority of which were Americans who would soon be transferred to the Pacific.