On the other side of Churchill’s Iron Curtain was eastern Europe. This includes the nations of Austria, Germany, Russia, Greece, Poland, Romania, Hungary, and the former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

Civilization was present in these regions sooner than in Western Europe and England. This was predominantly in the form of the Ancient Greek Civilization. Around 2000 BCE, a civilization known as the Minoans were beginning to develop on the island of Crete. At nearly the same time northern shepherd tribes began moving down into central Greece. These included one group known as the Mycenaens, who conquered the Minoans and built a small empire extending into parts of Asia Minor as well as Greece. They held power from 1600 BCE until about 1200 BCE. At this time, new invaders conquered the Mycenaens. This group, known as the Dorians had no system of writing, so the time of their control from 1200 BCE until 750 BCE is known as the Greek Dark Age, due to lack of records. The Dorians integrated their life with the remaining Mycenaens and became known as the Hellians. This brought Greece’s Dark Age to a close and the power of monarchs gave way to the power of aristocracies. Greece thrived until the first real challenge to their power came in 492 BCE. This was in the form of an attack by the Persian Empire. A series of wars pursued which Greece finally won, forcing the Persians back to Asia. Athens soon emerged as the most powerful of the Greek city-states, which angered Sparta. Now a series of wars broke out between these two city-states. Sparta ended victorious, but both were in a weakened state. The Greek neighbors to the north, the Macedonians, took advantage of this and marched down through Greece, taking control under King Philip II. After his death in 336 BCE, his son Alexander took over, and built a large empire encompassing all of Persia, Greece, Macedonia, and parts of Egypt. He earned the nickname Alexander the Great for his conquests. After his death in 323 BCE the city-states began to fight amongst one another, and eventually weakened themselves too severely. This opened the door to the mighty Roman Empire, who took control in the mid 100s BCE.

Rome ruled, as described in the section on Western Europe until 476 CE when its western half was overthrown by the Germanic Tribe, the Visigoths. The eastern half of the Roman Empire, however, survived. This half of the Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire, and was centered around the city of Constantinople, or present day Istanbul, Turkey. This empire thrived in the east, while western Europe struggled to find a form of stability. It wasn’t until an invasion by the Turks in 1453 CE when Constantinople was captured that the empire finally fell. The rulers of the Byzantine Empire were not worshipped as the rulers of the Ancient Roman Empire had been, but instead viewed themselves as servants to God, put on the earth to rule. The throne was also not completely hereditary, but was decided upon by the people, senate, clergy, and former ruler. All these things combined to make the rule of the Byzantine Empire long, and successful.

The Byzantine Empire helped lay the roots for Russian civilization. Between 700 and 800 CE the Slavic People dwelling north of the Byzantine Empire went to war with Byzantium. They were defeated, but the Byzantium Missionaries converted many Slavs to Christianity. Later, when the Vikings conquered the Slavic territories, the Russian leader Prince Vladimir named Byzantine Christianity the official religion.

Eastern Europe did not have the strong influence of the Roman Empire that western Europe did when nations were forming. Due to this, they formed in different ways than the path followed by France, and England. With time Poland and Hungary formed strong nations and kingdoms, but Russia took awhile longer. In the ninth century a small civilization was set up around the city of Kiev by the Rus people. Later, in 1237 CE this was overthrown by Mongol invaders. The Mongols ruled for 200 years until the people united and revolted against their control under Ivan the Great. Later, when Ivan IV took power, he set up an autocracy, in which the czar had total power over the nation. He became known as Ivan the Terrible. Under this pattern, most lands soon formed into organized nations, and only Germany was left independent. The German states failed to unite because they were constantly at war with one another, and there was simply too much rivalry to form into one nation.

The steps towards making Russia into what it is today occurred during the rule of Peter the Great from 1689 until 1725. Peter wanted to modernize Russia, so he spent time in Western Europe, learning about their civilization. He returned in 1698 to put down an uprising, and then passed laws to make Russia more like western Europe. Then in order to gain a sea port, Peter attacked Sweden and defeated King Charles XII. Russia gained their port, and Sweden fell permanently from world power. After Peter several weak rulers took power until Catherine the Great took the throne in 1762 CE.

Under Catherine Russia expanded. Amongst Russia, Prussia, and Austria, the entire nation of Poland was divided away. Also, after a war with Turkey Russia gained another port on the Black Sea. Russia was determined to become a European power under Peter and Catharine, but absolutism had gone too far. There was no check to the power of Russian Czars, and in a conquest for more sea ports, Russia usually ended up clashing with other European powers.

Prussia, a part of modern day Germany, also suffered from absolutism. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire until the 1600s. At this point Frederick William of Hohenzollern, later named the Great Elector, took control and built a strong army and government. Several rulers later, Frederick the Great took power in 1740 CE. Under Frederick the Great Prussia became a great nation through a series of wars. First, Prussia went to war with Britain, Austria, and the Netherlands as allies to France and Spain. This war, named the War of the Austrian Succession, gained land for Prussia, but not peace. Later Prussia fought the Seven Years War against France and Austria from 1756 to 1763. In this war they were allied with Great Britain. After this war Prussia further increased in size. Frederick the Great was not only a terrific leader in times of war, he was also devoted to his people in times of peace. He worked hard to increase their standard of living, and was very much successful. All things considered though, absolutism was still harmful to Prussia, because there was no check to the power of the monarchs. Later when the people had to step up and take part in the government they were inexperienced.

As the Hohenzollerns took power in Prussia, the Hapsburgs of Austria were already declining as absolutist rulers. In 1273 CE Rudolf of Hapsburg was elected Holy Roman Emperor. Starting with control over a small part of Switzerland the Hapsburg family gained land and power through marriage, until they had power in Spain, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Bohemia, as well as all of Austria. By 1740 CE, when Maria Theresa took the throne the Hapsburgs had already seen their peak, and the nation of Austria was beginning to struggle. The army had not been paid, and the monarch had lost much of his power. Maria modeled after Prussia’s government and increased taxes, including those over the noble class. She also added to her lands in the division of Poland. Her son, Joseph II took over as emperor in 1780 CE. Joseph was a kind ruler, which ended up being his downfall. He gave his people freedom to do what they pleased, and set up new schools and encouraged learning. However, he was weak in war, and in diplomatic relations with other countries, and like all other Austrian monarchs was unable to unite the people he ruled from so many different backgrounds. By the early 1800s the title of Holy Roman Emperor no longer existed.

In the year 1814 a congress, known as the Congress of Vienna, took place. It included leaders from all the European powers, including Alexander I of Russia, and Austrian minister Prince Kemens von Metternich. The Congress was attempting to redraw the borders of Europe after the expansions of Napoleon, and to return power to the monarchies, crushing revolution. The new boundaries were drawn up rather successfully, and a Quadruple Alliance was formed between Great Britain, later to be replaced by France, Prussia, Russia, and Austria. This alliance pledged to end any revolutions that may take place.

Soon after this conference a revolution broke out in Russia after the death of Alexander I. A brief period of confusion over who was to rule ensued, but Nicholas I took the throne and quickly ended the rebellion. He began to rule the land sternly due to the uprising, and the Russian people did not gain their freedom.

Later, in 1821, when other nations gave aid to the Greeks in their fight for independence from the Muslim Turks Russia joined in. The other nations providing aid were Great Britain, and France. Greece finally gained its independence after an eight year war.

Up until this time Germany was still a confederation of independent states. Most of Germany’s neighboring nations were against the idea of them unifying, as were many German nobles who feared a decrease in their power. The Congress of Vienna had resulted in the lands of Germany being grouped into a German Confederacy, which helped encourage unification. Prussia took the first step towards unification. Led by Otto von Bismarck, chief minister under King Wilhelm I, Prussia won a series of wars including The Danish War of 1864, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. In each of these wars, land was gained, and Germany formed the North German Confederation. In 1871, the German Empire was named with William I of Prussia as its emperor. The government was set up as a confederation of states with the king of Prussia as its ruler. Under the king was a two house legislature to make the laws.

In the same way nationalism brought together Germany, it broke apart the Austrian Empire. Austria ruled over many nationalities, and because of the people’s pride unrest grew under Austrian rule. The most powerful group under Austria were the Hungarians. In 1867 an agreement was signed that Austria would now become Austria-Hungary. It was be ruled by the Austrian King, but there would be separate languages and governments to handle domestic affairs. This agreement was known as the Ausgleich.

In a similar manner to the breaking up of Austrian power, the Ottoman Empire, ruled by the Muslim Turks broke down around this time. Religious differences were abundant in the Ottoman Empire, and people began to desire independence from Turkish rule. In 1829 Greece gained its independence. Later, in 1853, Great Britain, Sardinia, France, and the Turks teamed together to keep Russia from taking the Ottoman Empire. This was known as the Criminean War and Russia was defeated. Russia tried again in the Russo-Turkish War and this time was successful. The Ottoman Empire’s power was greatly reduced, and they lost control of all European territories.

As Europe entered the 20th century tensions began mounting. Military Alliances formed between Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy and between Great Britain, France, and Russia. Countries grew suspicious of each other, and small disagreements began leading to larger problems. Finally it all broke loose in 1914. The Archduke Francis Ferdinand, next in line for the Austrian-Hungarian throne was assassinated by a Serbian terrorist. Austria-Hungary asked Germany for help and declared war on Serbia. Russia helped Serbia, and France helped Russia. Germany then marched into Belgium, so Great Britain stepped in on France and Russia’s side. Towards the beginning the Allies: France, Great Britain, Russia, and Italy, and the Central Powers: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria were evenly matched. Germany began wearing down soon though. They were weakening from fighting a two front war with both Russia and France, and Great Britain was controlling the seas. Then in 1918 the US joined on the Allies side, and made victory almost inevitable. Germany was forced to surrender in November, 1918. The leaders of the four Allied powers met in France to discuss the terms for ending the war. Here the League of Nations was formed to attempt to keep peace in Europe. This organization was doomed to failure though, due to their inability to support their actions.

The end of World War I brought new nations into existence in Eastern Europe made up by lands lost by other countries. Among these were Poland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.

After World War I, Russian people grew tired of the unfair privileges granted to the small upper class, especially the Clergy. The discontent grew obvious, and Czar Alexander II began to make changes. He freed the serfs, but did not give them land, and the unhappiness grew. In 1881, he was assassinated. Czar Nicholas II who took power in 1895 was an extremely weak ruler. In 1905 a group marching to the czar’s palace to request changes was fired upon by soldiers. Hundreds died, and the event became known as Bloody Sunday. Czar Nicholas II knew he would have to make changes to hold the country together, and granted them a law making body known as the Duma. However, the czar still had the power to over rule the Duma, and the people were still not happy. During World War I, Nicholas II joined his troops on the battle field to try and build morale, but this proved unsuccessful, as the army was underfed, and less than provided for. In the czar’s absence an adviser named Gregory Rasputin had gained power. He was hated by the nobles of Russia, and in 1916 a group of them murdered him. This led to riot, and the czar was forced to resign, ending the rule of the Romanov family after 300 years and making the Russian Revolution almost complete. After Nicholas resigned, Alexander Kerensky took power, but lost popularity quickly over his support of the war. Soon, however, a radical council of workers and soldiers formed, and took control in 1917 under the leadership of Lenin. This council, or soviet became known as the Communists, and destroyed the supporters of the czar in war. Lenin quickly implemented his new government, but was forced to back off again when it began failing. By his death in 1924, however, the Communists were firmly in control. The government became known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, USSR, or the Soviet Union. Next in line for control was the general who led the communists to war in victory, Leon Trotsky, but Joseph Stalin, another communist leader stole this privilege away from Trotsky, and ruled strictly as dictator from 1929 until his death in 1953.

Meanwhile, in Germany new political parties stepped forward. Among these was the strong, nationalistic Nazi party, led by Adolf Hitler. This party gained support from those who wanted a strong, organized army, those who feared communism, and those who wanted jobs and higher pay, to name a few. Hitler and his party played upon the fears of the people to gain support, and in 1932 Hitler was named Chancellor. From here he called for a second election, and was victorious. He made himself the supreme power of Germany as dictator, but his goals did not end here. He made his Nazi party the only legal party in Germany, and enforced his laws heavily with special military forces. He also gave the order for Germany to begin production for war.

Throughout the rest of eastern Europe many other countries followed Hitler’s example and were taken by dictatorship. Most of the dictators, in turn, followed Hitler. Leading up to World War II Hungary, Poland, Austria, Romania, Greece, and other countries all fell under the powers of a dictator.

Due to the weakness of the League of Nations, Hitler was able to break many agreements to gain power. Eventually this culminated in his signing a non aggression pact with Stalin of the Soviet Union. This was an agreement to not go to war with one another. With the USSR out of his way, Hitler invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. This launched the Second World War.

Within two days of his invasion of Poland both France and Great Britain declared war on Germany. Consistently using his lightening warfare methods of a quick, and overpowering attack, Hitler and the dictators quickly conquered most of Europe. This included Nazi Germany’s conquering of France. Now only Great Britain stood in Hitler’s way. Hitler began his attacks in August of 1940, but the British held out, even managing to destroy much of Hitler’s navy and air force. Hitler needed supplies, so he broke his non aggression pact and attacked the Soviet Union. Now Germany again had enemies on both sides of their borders. The United States had stayed out of the war up until this point, but in March, 1941 the US began to loan equipment to the British, with an agreement to be reimbursed at the end of the war. The US and Great Britain also signed an agreement that neither nation wished to expand as a result of the war. Then in December of 1941, the US joined the war when German’s ally, Japan, bombed a US harbor. With the US on the side of the Allies now, German, Italy, Japan, and the other Axis powers were beginning to lose their advantage. In 1944 British, American, Canadian, and free French troops attacked the Germans from Normandy, France in the form of an invasion. The troops began to push Germany back to the east, while the Soviets continued to fight Germany on the other side. Finally, in 1945, Germany was forced to surrender. Stalin met with the US and British leaders at Yalta, Russia to discuss the peace treaty and the future of eastern Europe. Plans were made for another peace organization known as the United Nations.

After the war the division between eastern Europe, including the USSR, and western Europe along with the United States was described as an iron curtain by British prime minister, Winston Churchill. The United Nations helped to keep the peace as far as actual warfare was concerned, but a cold war broke out between the two sides politically. This would not entirely end until the 1980s. The Soviets had lost land in the war, and decided to make up for this by taking other countries under their control. These nations included Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Poland, and Albania.

Postwar Germany divided into two separate nations. The Soviet Union gained control of East Germany, and the US, Britain, and France took control of West Germany. The former German capital of Berlin became a heated issue. It lay entirely in East Germany, and yet was split amongst all the Allied powers. This upset the Soviets, who blockaded the city, and almost pressed the cold war into violence. Not all the other eastern European nations were happy to be under Soviet control, and Poland and Yugoslavia took back their independence. Hungary tried to follow suit, but was attacked by the Soviets. Thousands died in fighting, and Hungary was unable to gain freedom.

When Stalin died in 1953, Khrushchev took power. He attempted to “de-Stalinize” the Soviet Union throughout his rule by making various reforms. He improved agriculture in the USSR, and the standard of living. He also attempted to grant more freedom of expression to writers and artists, and lessen the harshness of conditions in labor camps.

After the war West Germany recovered to become an economic force in Europe, but were still under pressures from strained relations between the USSR, East Germany, and West Germany. In 1970 as part of chancellor Willy Brandt’s leadership an agreement was signed by both West Germany and the USSR to not challenge their borders with force. Later, in the late 1980s many of the Communist leaders fell in Eastern Europe, and West and East Germany were again united by 1990 under Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

The post war military dictatorship of Greece lost power as well, and in 1974 a civilian government took control. Adreas Papandreou was elected as president in 1981, but failed to honor his campaign promises. Turkey has also had strained internal relations, filled with conflicts.

In 1964 Khrushchev was forced from power in the USSR and replaced by Brezhnev. Brezhnev took away many political freedoms that Khrushchev had granted. He was followed by two leaders with short terms, and then Gorbachev took power. Gorbachev wanted to solve the Soviet Unions serious problems. He cut military spending in order to improve the standard of living. He also promoted a new policy of freedom of speech known as glasnost, and brought about economic reforms. Eventually people grew tired of the Communist rule and began pressing for independence. In 1992 the Commonwealth of Independent States formed, and the USSR broke apart. Each of the satellite countries gained independence and the process of decentralization began.

In Poland in 1978 the anti-Communist Catholic Church gained power when a Polish born Cardinal became the pope. In 1989 Poland held free elections, and although Communist leaders can hold important posts, they may not dictate the future of the nation again.

Other countries in eastern Europe also gained their independence from the Communist parties that had ruled them and from the USSR, and took large steps towards a democracy form of government during the 1960s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

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