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For 40 years, Europe was divided by an "iron curtain" which lay between the communist and non-communist states. The two zones were known as the Eastern and Western zones. The division had begun in 1945, when Soviet troops had marched into many of the German-occupied countries and dominated the area. In 1955, the East was united in an agreement called the Warsaw Pact.

East Germany

In 1949, the Soviet occupied zone of Germany was named the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Although officially independent, Soviet troops were stationed there and the government pursued Soviet policies. After the war, food shortages and poverty led to rioting against the regime. Many people escaped to the West in search of a better standard of living. To try to stop this flow of refugees, the Berlin Wall was built by the government of the GDR.

Hungarian Revolution

Communists who followed Stalinist policies won the 1947 elections in Hungary. In 1953, a liberal communist called Imre Nagy became party leader and began to introduce reforms. He was forced to resign by the USSR, but pressure for democracy continued.

In 1956, workers and students demonstrated in the capital, Budapest, demanding the withdrawal of Soviet troops. In an attempt to end these protest, the Communist Party reinstated Nagy. But Nagy refused to be a Soviet puppet and instead pushed to make Hungary more independently. The Soviets sent tanks to crush the resistance. A Soviet government was installed and Nagy and his supporters were executed. The brief period of liberalisation is known as the Hungarian Revolution. A pro-Soviet policy was followed until the 1970s, when liberal measures began to be introduced once more.