Answer:
The end of World War II brought upon many changes in Europe, many countries were completely destroyed and were in great need of aid. This need led to the dependency of Europe on two non-European powers: America for Western Europe and the Soviet Union for Eastern Europe. The Yalta Conference of Febuary 1945 is often considered the start of the Cold War. It was at this conference that Eastern Europe was left under the basically unchallenged control of the Soviet Union. The West was often critized for not realizing Stalin's plans. They trusted him blindly, while Stalin trusted no one; his only concerns were with Communist idealogy. After the war, the United States set up the Marshall Plan to give money to countries in need of economic aid. However Stalin refused to let the Eastern European countries accept this aid, and insisted that they depend on Russia for help. He set up the Comecon - Council for mutual economic assistance as a counter to the Marshall Plan.
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