"I thought you’d be there waiting for me…what greeted me instead was the lingering stench of ashes and the empty sockets of our ruined home."Polish citizen Samuel Puterman returns to Warsaw in late 1945.We begin our examination of the post-WW2 world by looking at the sheer impact the conflict had on the peoples, infrastructure and industry of Europe. Once considered the centre of the world, now Europe was its shattered, gloomy shell. It would take an immense amount of rebuilding, of money and of effort to bring Europe back to the level even approaching the pre-war state of affairs.Yet in the background, a sinister presence loomed. While the war against Fascism had been won, a new ideological world view - communism - had rooted itself in every broken dream and lost cause that remained left over from the war. Time would tell how this world view would represent itself, but already in the East, signs were emerging that the triumphant Soviet Union planned to create its own system at the expense of those in its path.History friends! The Cold War Crash Course is our prequel to the Korean War, so make sure you check in with us here if you want to be up to speed with what happened before. Remember history friends, you too can support the podcast and join our lovely community in the process!Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/WhenDiplomacyFailsPodcast/Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1856652614380207/Twitter: https://twitter.com/wdfpodcastPatreon: www.patreon.com/WhenDiplomacyFailsWebsite: www.wdfpodcast.comBibliography: www.wdfpodcast.com/source-materials/ For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy