>What new social, cultural, and political trends emerged in the decades following World War II? Chapter 28 examines political, economic, and social developments in the two decades following the end of World War II. As Europeans struggled to recover from the devastation of war, the Allies worked to shape an effective peace accord. Disagreements between the Soviet Union and the Western allies quickly emerged and led to an apparently endless Cold War between the two new superpowers — the United States and the Soviet Union. This conflict split much of Europe into a Soviet-aligned Communist bloc and a U.S.-aligned capitalist bloc, and spurred military, economic, and technological competition. Conflict between the superpowers had an immense impact in the developing world, where independence movements won liberation from colonial powers. Such tensions notwithstanding, the postwar decades witnessed the construction of a relatively stable social and political consensus in both Communist and capitalist Europe. At the same time, changing class structures, new migration patterns, and new roles for women and youths had a profound impact on European society.

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