On Eastern and Western Europe - Assignment Example

Due to the second World War, the so called Iron Curtain was established in Eastern and Central Europe. During this time, the Soviet Union established a strong program of influence on many of these Eastern Bloc countries, making them so called satellite states, under complete control of the Soviet Union, sometimes through its support of autocratic dictators. This reflected the historical problems of approaching true communism from an Eastern Bloc perspective, as a direct result of the growing tensions between the USA and USSR in post-World War II Berlin.

After the closing off of Berlin and the separation of an entire city by the infamous Berlin Wall, the stage was set for the metaphor of the literal division of Europe. In the west, there was a lot of cultural and hegemonic influence from societies based on the concept of approaching socialism in some cases, but not true communism, and in many cases, very strong capitalism. In the east, there was the dominance of the Soviet power, which then aligned with local power in the creation of Eastern and Central European puppet regimes.

#2 Central European countries that were more “Western” in their focus included Hungary and Poland. “Eastern” countries included the Baltic states and more northern areas. Poland seems to the lay person to be more similar to Germany than to Russia. The Czech Republic seems closer to Germany as well, considering the amount of German spoken there. Hungary seems more Russian, as do the Baltics. Of course, there are objective and subjective considerations to keep in mind, when it comes to ascribing national characteristics, or characteristics that are seen or said to be based on nationality.

In any case, the cultural influence of other states and cultures can be divided between western and eastern ideas, in terms of political structure, and if the east is considered to be