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Eastern Europe is a concept that lacks one precise definition. It refers to a geopolitical region recently influenced by the Cold War. In some definitions its borders are defined more by culture than by clear and precise geography^{[citation needed]}. Throughout history and to a lesser extent today Eastern Europe has been distinguishable from Western Europe and other regions due to cultural, religious, economic, and historical reasons^{[citation needed]}. Although the term Eastern Europe was largely defined during the Cold War, it still remains much in use.^[1] The term is commonly used in the media and in everyday use both in "eastern" and other regions of Europe. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Geopolitics is the study that analyzes geography, history and social science with reference to spatial politics and patterns at various scales (ranging from home, city, region, state to international and cosmopolitics). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... HIStory – Past, Present and Future, Book I is a double album by American singer Michael Jackson released in June 1995 and remains Jacksons most conflicting and controversial release. ... A current understanding of Western Europe. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... Religious is a term with both a technical definition and folk use. ... Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ... History is often used as a generic term for information about the past, such as in geologic history of the Earth. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies. ...

Definitions

CIA World Factbook classification:      Eastern Europe      Southeastern Europe      Transcontinental

Eastern Europe as defined by the United Nations' Standard Country or Area Codes for Statistical Use (marked red):      Northern Europe      Western Europe      Eastern Europe      Southern Europe

According to the members of The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names^[2]:      Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia Division      East Central and South-East Europe Division

Pre-1989 division between the "West" (grey) and "Eastern Bloc" (orange) superimposed on current borders: Russia (dark orange), other countries formerly part of the USSR (medium orange),members of the Warsaw pact (light orange), and other former Communist regimes not aligned with Moscow (lightest orange).

2007 Time Almanac classification.

Several definitions of Eastern Europe exist today, but they often lack precision or are extremely general. Definitions vary both across cultures and among experts and political scientists, recently becoming more and more imprecise ^[3]. Usually, the term is understood as a region lying between Central Europe and the Ural mountains, or as European countries of the former "Eastern Bloc" - western borders of Eastern Europe depend on the approach. World Factbook 2004 cover The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (984x924, 72 KB) Summary Map: Europe (location), subregions as delineated by United Nations geographic classification scheme:  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  (Northern) Asian portion of Russia  Southern Europe  Countries of Western Asia with partial territory in Southern Europe – Turkey (Trakya... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (984x924, 72 KB) Summary Map: Europe (location), subregions as delineated by United Nations geographic classification scheme:  Northern Europe  Western Europe  Eastern Europe  (Northern) Asian portion of Russia  Southern Europe  Countries of Western Asia with partial territory in Southern Europe – Turkey (Trakya... UN redirects here. ... Northern Europe Northern Europe is the northern part of the European continent. ... A current understanding of Western Europe. ... The southern half of Europe is shown in shades of red. ... UN redirects here. ... Made by User:Joy by modifying Europe-small. ... Made by User:Joy by modifying Europe-small. ... State motto (Russian): Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! (Transliterated: Proletarii vsekh stran, soedinyaytes!) (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Capital Moscow Official language None; Russian (de facto) Government Federation of Soviet republics Area  - Total  - % water 1st before collapse 22,402,200 km² Approx. ... Not to be confused with the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement about airlines financial liability and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the Peoples Republic of Poland. ... TIME redirects here. ... See also: Political Science Notable political scientists Kenneth Arrow - Nobel Memorial Prize winning economist who published influential paper on his widely cited Arrows Impossibility Theorem Robert Axelrod Duncan Black - Responsible for unearthing the work of many early political scientists, including Charles Dodgson Jean-Charles de Borda - 18th century mathematician... Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... Ural may refer to one of the following: Ural Mountains Ural (region) Ural River Urals Federal District IMZ-Ural, a Russian motorcycle Ural automobile Ural, Krasnoyarsk Krai, an urban settlement in Russia This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... A map of the Eastern Bloc 1948-1989. ...

It should be noted, however, that for many people who identify themselves, because of cultural difference^[4], with the idea of Central Europe,^[5] associating them with Eastern Europe may be controversial^[6] and even offensive.^{[citation needed]} Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ...

CIA

The CIA World Factbook^[7] describes the following countries as located in: World Factbook 2004 cover The World Factbook is an annual publication by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with basic almanac-style information about the various countries of the world. ...

• Central Europe: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
• Eastern Europe: Belarus, Estonia^[8], Latvia, Lithuania, and Ukraine
• Southeastern Europe: Albania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Montenegro and part of Turkey
• Russia is defined as a transcontinental country.

Anthem:  Serbia() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Rusyn 1 Albanian 2 Demonym Serbian Government Parliamentary Democracy  -  President Boris Tadić  -  Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica    -  First state 7th century   -  Serbian Kingdom3 1217   -  Serbian Empire 1345   -  Independence lost... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ... This article is about the country in Europe. ...

UN

The United Nations Statistics Division considers Eastern Europe to consist of the following ten countries^[9][10]: Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia (a transcontinental country), Slovakia, Ukraine. The assignment of countries or areas to specific groupings is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories by the United Nations^[11]. UN redirects here. ... A transcontinental country is a country belonging to more than one continent. ...

The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) was set up to consider the technical problems of domestic standardization of geographical names^[12]. The Group is composed of experts from various linguistic/geographical divisions that have been established at the UN Conferences on the Standardization of Geographical Names. UN redirects here. ...

• Eastern Europe, Northern and Central Asia Division^[13]: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Russian Federation, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
• East Central and South-East Europe Division^[14]:Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic,Greece, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Ukraine.
• Romano-Hellenic Division^[15]: Belgium, Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, Holy See, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.^[16]
• Baltic Division^[17]: Estonia,Latvia, Lithuania

Motto: none Anthem: Hymn of the Russian Federation Capital Moscow Largest city Moscow Official language(s) Russian Government Semi-presidential Federal republic  - President of Russia Vladimir Putin  - Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov Independence From the Soviet Union   - Declared June 12, 1991   - Finalized December 25, 1991  Area    - Total 17,075,400 km... Anthem:  Serbia() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Rusyn 1 Albanian 2 Demonym Serbian Government Parliamentary Democracy  -  President Boris Tadić  -  Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica    -  First state 7th century   -  Serbian Kingdom3 1217   -  Serbian Empire 1345   -  Independence lost... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ...

Time Almanac

The 2007 Time^{[citation needed]} Almanac defines Eastern Europe as the following 24 countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine TIME redirects here. ...

Geographical

The Ural Mountains are the geographical border on the eastern edge of Europe. In the west, however, the cultural and religious boundaries are subject to considerable overlap and, most importantly, have undergone historical fluctuations, which make a precise definition of the western boundaries of Eastern Europe somewhat difficult. Map of the Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains (Russian: , Uralskiye gory) (also known as the Urals, the Riphean Mountains in Greco-Roman antiquity, and known as the Stone Belt) are a mountain range that runs roughly north and south through western Russia. ... For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ... Various Religious symbols, including (first row) Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Bahai, (second row) Islamic, tribal, Taoist, Shinto (third row) Buddhist, Sikh, Hindu, Jain, (fourth row) Ayyavazhi, Triple Goddess, Maltese cross, pre-Christian Slavonic Religion is the adherence to codified beliefs and rituals that generally involve a faith in a spiritual...

Soviet era

One view of the present boundaries of Eastern Europe came into being during the final stages of World War II. The area eventually came to encompass all the European countries which were under Soviet influence or control. These countries had communist regimes imposed upon them, and neutral countries were classified by the nature of their political regimes. The Cold War increased the number of reasons for the division of Europe into two parts along the borders of NATO and Warsaw Pact states. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... This article is about the form of society and political movement. ... A neutral country takes no side in a war between other parties, and in return hopes to avoid being attacked by either of them. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... This article is about the military alliance. ... Not to be confused with the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement about airlines financial liability and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the Peoples Republic of Poland. ...

A competing view excludes from the definition states that are historically and culturally different. This usually refers to Central Europe and sometimes the Baltic states which have significant different political, religious, cultural, and economic histories from their eastern neighbors. Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... The three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. ...

Post-Soviet

Since the breakup of the Soviet Union, other definitions of Eastern Europe have emerged.

The Baltic states were Soviet republics but currently EU members that can be included in definitions of both Eastern and Northern Europe.^[18][19] The three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. ... In its final decades of its existence, the Soviet Union consisted of 15 Soviet Socialist Republics (SSR), often called simply Soviet republics. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: European Union The European Union On-Line Official EU website, europa. ... Northern Europe Northern Europe is the northern part of the European continent. ...

•  Lithuania
•  Estonia
•  Latvia

The three former Soviet republics of the South Caucasus are seen as transcontinental countries^{[citation needed]}, at the juncture of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia. The 2007 Time Almanac has classified all three in Eastern Europe but the Central Intelligence Agency^[20] and the United Nations^[21] do not consider those states as being in Europe and instead consider them to be in Asia. Image File history File links Flag_of_Lithuania. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Estonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Latvia. ... South Caucasus: Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan South Caucasus (also referred sometimes as Transcaucasus) is a name to the transitional region between Europe and Asia extending from the Greater Caucasus to the Turkish and Iranian borders, between the Black and Caspian seas. ... This is a list of countries spanning more than one continent. ...  Southwest Asia in most contexts. ... CIA redirects here. ... UN redirects here. ... For other uses, see Asia (disambiguation). ...

•  Armenia
•  Azerbaijan
•  Georgia

Kazakhstan is considered part of Central Asia, with a small portion west of the Urals in Eastern Europe.^[22] Image File history File links Flag_of_Armenia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Azerbaijan. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Georgia. ... Map of Central Asia showing three sets of possible boundaries for the region Central Asia located as a region of the world Central Asia is a vast landlocked region of Asia. ...

•  Kazakhstan

Image File history File links Flag_of_Kazakhstan. ...

The Balkans

Some Balkan states can be considered both Eastern and Southern European. Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia are currently EU members, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia and Turkey are currently official candidate countries, Serbia,Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro are officially recognised as potential candidates. ... Southern Europe is a region of Europe. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: European Union The European Union On-Line Official EU website, europa. ...

•  Albania
•  Bosnia and Herzegovina
•  Bulgaria
•  Croatia
•  Republic of Macedonia
•  Montenegro
•  Serbia

Image File history File links Flag_of_Albania. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Bulgaria. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Croatia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Macedonia. ... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Montenegro. ... This article is about the country in Europe. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Serbia. ... Anthem:  Serbia() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Rusyn 1 Albanian 2 Demonym Serbian Government Parliamentary Democracy  -  President Boris Tadić  -  Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica    -  First state 7th century   -  Serbian Kingdom3 1217   -  Serbian Empire 1345   -  Independence lost...

Central Europe and other countries

Some Central European states were communist states during the Cold War but currently EU members often excluded from the definition of Eastern Europe due to economic, historical, religious, and cultural reasons.^[23][24][25] Historical lands and provinces in Central Europe Central Europe is the central region of Europe. ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: European Union The European Union On-Line Official EU website, europa. ...

•  Czech Republic
•  Hungary
•  Poland
•  Slovakia
•  Slovenia

Other countries: Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Poland. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Slovakia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Slovenia. ...

•  Romania often included in Eastern Europe, currently perceived as Southeastern European^[26][27] or Central European^[28].
•  East Germany was sometimes included in Eastern Europe but only in the context of its inclusion in the Warsaw Pact.
•  Greece is usually considered part of Southern Europe, but is sometimes classified as part of Eastern or Southeastern Europe.
•  Cyprus is a member of the European Union and is therefore culturally and by default considered a part of Southeastern Europe, though it is technically situated in Southwestern Asia.^{[citation needed]}

Image File history File links Flag_of_Romania. ... The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe southeastern Europe (see the Definitions and boundaries section below). ... Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_East_Germany. ... This article is about the state which existed from 1949 to 1990. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Greece. ... The southern half of Europe is shown in shades of red. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Cyprus. ...

Classical antiquity and medieval origins

Europe divided by religion.

The earliest known distinctions between east and west in Europe originate in the history of the Roman Republic. As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared between the mainly Greek-speaking eastern provinces which had formed the highly urbanized Hellenistic civilization. In contrast the western territories largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division was eventually reinforced by the later political east-west division of the Roman Empire. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 737 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1475 × 1200 pixel, file size: 740 KB, MIME type: image/png)  Protestantism  Orthodox Christianity  Catholicism  Sunni Islam  Shia Islam Description: religions in Europe, map en Source: own map, based on the Generic Mapping Tools and ETOPO2... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 737 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1475 × 1200 pixel, file size: 740 KB, MIME type: image/png)  Protestantism  Orthodox Christianity  Catholicism  Sunni Islam  Shia Islam Description: religions in Europe, map en Source: own map, based on the Generic Mapping Tools and ETOPO2... This article is about the state which existed from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC. For the state which existed in the 18th century, see Roman Republic (18th century). ... The term Hellenistic (derived from HéllÄ“n, the Greeks traditional self-described ethnic name) was established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to refer to the spreading of Greek culture over the non-Greek people that were conquered by Alexander the Great. ... Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ...

The division between these two spheres was enhanced during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed starting the Early Middle Ages. By contrast, the Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Byzantine Empire, managed to survive and even to thrive for another 1,000 years. The rise of the Frankish Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism that formally divided Eastern and Western Christianity, enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus The Western Roman Empire in 395. ... Justinians wife Theodora and her retinue, in a 6th century mosaic from the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. ... Byzantine redirects here. ... Map of Carolingian Empire The term Carolingian Empire is sometimes used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the dynasty of the Carolingians. ... The Second Ecumenical Council whose contributions to the Nicene Creed lay at the heart of the famous theological disputes underlying the East-West Schism. ... Eastern Christianity refers collectively to the Christian traditions and churches which developed in Greece, Russia, Armenia, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, northeastern Africa and southern India over several centuries of religious antiquity. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Western Christianity...

The conquest of the Byzantine Empire, center of the Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Frankish empire) led to a change of the importance of Roman Catholic/Protestant vs. Eastern Orthodox concept in Europe. Orthodox icon of Pentecost. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... Motto دولت ابد مدت Devlet-i Ebed-müddet (The Eternal State) Anthem Ottoman imperial anthem Borders in 1683, see: list of territories Capital Söğüt (1299–1326) Bursa (1326–1365) Edirne (1365–1453) Ä°stanbul (1453–1922) Government Monarchy Sultans  - 1281–1326 (first) Osman I  - 1918–22 (last) Mehmed VI Grand Viziers  - 1320... This article is about the medieval empire. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ...

The Cold War divides Europe into the Eastern/Western blocs

     Countries where a West Slavic language is the national language      Countries where an East Slavic language is the national language      Countries where a South Slavic language is the national language

The borders of Eastern Europe were largely defined by the Cold War. The Iron Curtain separated the members of the Warsaw Pact (in red) from the European members of NATO (in blue). Neutral coutries were classified by the nature of their political system.

During the final stages of WWII the future of Europe was decided between the Allies at the 1945 Yalta Conference, between the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, the President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the Premier of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin. Image File history File links Slavic_europe. ... Image File history File links Slavic_europe. ... This article or section should be merged with List of West Slavic languages The West Slavic languages is a subdivision of the Slavic language group (q. ... This article or section should be merged with List of East Slavic languages The East Slavic languages constitute one of three regional subgroups of Slavic languages, currently spoken in Eastern Europe. ... This article or section should be merged with List of South Slavic languages South Slavic languages is one of the three groups of Slavic languages (besides West and East Slavic). ... Image File history File links Iron_Curtain_Final. ... Image File history File links Iron_Curtain_Final. ... Warsaw Pact countries to the east of the Iron Curtain are shaded red; NATO members to the west of it — blue. ... Not to be confused with the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement about airlines financial liability and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the Peoples Republic of Poland. ... This article is about the military alliance. ... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The Big Three at the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin. ... Churchill redirects here. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from...

Post-war Europe would be divided into two major spheres: the "West" mainly influenced by the USA, and the Eastern Bloc dominated by the Soviet Union. With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain. Occident redirects here. ... A map of the Eastern Bloc 1948-1989. ... Warsaw Pact countries to the east of the Iron Curtain are shaded red; NATO members to the west of it — blue. ...

This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and later Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address March 5, 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri: Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Propagandaministerium () (or State Ministry for Public enlightenment and Propaganda) was the Ministry of propaganda in Nazi Germany. ... Paul Joseph Goebbels (German pronunciation: IPA: ; English generally IPA: ) (October 29, 1897 – May 1, 1945) was a German politician and Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda during the National Socialist regime from 1933 to 1945. ... Count Johann Ludwig (Lutz) Schwerin von Krosigk, EK, (August 22, 1887–March 4, 1977) was a German politician. ... This article is about the day. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Westminster College is a private, liberal arts institution in Fulton, Missouri, USA. It was founded by Presbyterians in 1851 as Fulton College and assumed the present name two years later. ... Fulton is a city located in Callaway County, Missouri. ...

As the Cold War continued the use of the term Central Europe declined. Although some countries were officially neutral, they were classified according to the nature of their political and economical systems. This division largely defined the popular perception and understanding of Eastern Europe and its borders with Western Europe till this day. Stettin redirects here. ... For other uses, see Baltic (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Trieste (disambiguation). ... A satellite image of the Adriatic Sea. ... For other uses, see Warsaw (disambiguation) and Warszawa (disambiguation). ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... For other uses, see Prague (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Vienna (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Budapest (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Belgrade (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Motto: Patria si Dreptul Meu (My Country and My Right) Location of Bucharest within Romania (in red) Coordinates: , Country County Founded 1459 (first official record) Government  - Mayor Adriean Videanu Area  - City 228 km² (88 sq mi)  - Metro 238 km² (91. ... This article is about the capital of Bulgaria. ... For other uses, see Moscow (disambiguation). ... A neutral country takes no side in a war between other parties, and in return hopes to avoid being attacked by either of them. ...

A divided Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe was mainly composed of all the European countries liberated and then occupied by the Soviet army. It included the German Democratic Republic, widely known as East Germany, formed by the Soviet occupation zone of Germany. All the countries in Eastern Europe adopted communist modes of government. These countries were officially independent from the Soviet Union, but the practical extent of this independence - except in Yugoslavia, Albania, and to some extent Romania - was quite limited. In some matters they were little more than client-states of the Soviet Union. “East Germany” redirects here. ... The Soviet Occupation Zone (German: Sowjetische Besatzungszone (SBZ) or Ostzone) was the area of eastern Germany occupied by the Soviet Union from 1945 on, at the end of World War II. It became East Germany. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... Satellite state or client state is a political term that refers to a country which is formally independent but which is primarily subject to the domination of another, larger power. ...

Under pressure from Stalin these nations rejected to receive funds from the Marshal plan. Instead they participated in the Molotov Plan which later evolved into the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (short: Comecon). As NATO was created, the countries of Eastern Europe, except Yugoslavia, became members of the opposing Warsaw Pact. U.S. postage stamp issued 1997 honoring the 50th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. ... Molotov The Molotov Plan was the system created by the Soviet Union in 1947 in order to provide aid to rebuild the countries in Eastern Europe that were politically and economically aligned to the Soviet Union. ... A Soviet poster reading COMECON: Unity of Goals, Unity of Action The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON / Comecon / CMEA / CEMA), 1949 – 1991, was an economic organization of communist states and a kind of Eastern Bloc equivalent to—but more inclusive than—the European Economic Community. ... This article is about the military alliance. ... Not to be confused with the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement about airlines financial liability and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the Peoples Republic of Poland. ...

• First and foremost was the Soviet Union (which by itself included Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, etc). Other countries dominated by the Soviet Union were the German Democratic Republic, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia (which later separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia), Hungary, and Bulgaria.

• The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (formed after WWII and before its later dismemberment) was not a member of the Warsaw Pact. It was a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement, an organization created in an attempt to avoid being assigned to any of the two blocs. It was demonstratively independent from the Soviet Union for most of the Cold War period.

• Albania broke with the Soviet Union in the early 1960s as a result of the Sino-Soviet split, aligning itself instead with China. Albania formally left the Warsaw pact in September 1968, after the suppression of the Prague spring. When China established diplomatic relations with the United States in 1978, Albania also broke with China.

Motto Brotherhood and Unity Anthem Hey, Slavs Capital Belgrade Language(s) Serbo-Croatian (spoken throughout the territory), Slovenian, Macedonian, Albanian, Hungarian (all official), and languages of other nationalities. ... Not to be confused with the Warsaw Convention, which is an agreement about airlines financial liability and the Treaty of Warsaw (1970) between West Germany and the Peoples Republic of Poland. ... Member states of the Non-Aligned Movement (2005). ... The Sino-Soviet split was a major diplomatic conflict between the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), beginning in the late 1950s, reaching a peak in 1969 and continuing in various ways until the late 1980s. ... People in a café watch Soviet tanks roll past The Prague Spring (Czech: Pražské jaro, Slovak: Pražská jar, Russian: пражская весна) was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia starting January 5, 1968 when Alexander Dubček came to power, and running until August 20 of that year when the...

Since 1989

With the Fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989 the political landscape of Eastern Europe, and indeed of the world, changed. In the German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany peacefully absorbed the German Democratic Republic in 1990. COMECON and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. This article is about the 1990 German reunification. ...

Many European nations which had been part of the Soviet Union regained their independence. Czechoslovakia peacefully separated into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. The dissolution of Czechoslovakia refers to the dissolution of the former country of Czechoslovakia into the nations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which took effect on January 1, 1993. ...

Yugoslavia fell apart, creating new nations: Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and the Republic of Macedonia (see Breakup of Yugoslavia). Yugoslavia (Jugoslavija in the Latin alphabet, Југославија in Cyrillic; English: South Slavia, or literary The Land of South Slavs) describes three political entities that existed one at a time on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century. ... Anthem:  Serbia() on the European continent()  —  [] Capital (and largest city) Belgrade Official languages Serbian Recognised regional languages Hungarian, Slovak, Romanian, Croatian, Rusyn 1 Albanian 2 Demonym Serbian Government Parliamentary Democracy  -  President Boris Tadić  -  Prime Minister Vojislav KoÅ¡tunica    -  First state 7th century   -  Serbian Kingdom3 1217   -  Serbian Empire 1345   -  Independence lost... This article is about the country in Europe. ... For an explanation of terms related to Macedonia, see Macedonia (terminology). ... An animated series of maps showing the breakup of the second Yugoslavia; The different colors represent the areas of control. ...

Many countries of this region joined the European Union, namely the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Romania.

The term Central Europe reappeared. Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ...

See also

• Western Europe
• Central Europe
• East-Central Europe
• Geographical center of Europe
• Enlargement of the European Union

A current understanding of Western Europe. ... Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. ... Geographical Centre of Europe, monument in Lithuania There is an ongoing debate as to where the Geographical Centre of Europe really is. ... The European Union (EU) was created by six founding states in 1957 (following the earlier establishment by the same six states of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952) and has grown to 27 member states. ...

References and notes