1. Allied Occupation and Division of Germany: Germany, the center of Nazi power was divided into four occupation zones among the victorious Allied powers-the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The city of Berlin was also divided between these countries. This division persisted until the reunification of Germany in 1990.
2. Expansion of the Soviet Union: The Soviet Union gained substantial territories in Eastern Europe and beyond. These expansions included the eastern regions of Poland, the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia), eastern Finland, parts of Romania and Czechoslovakia, and the Ruthenia region of Czechoslovakia. The Soviet Union emerged from the war as a major global power.
3. Changes in Eastern European Borders: Eastern European countries that were under Soviet influence or control experienced significant changes to their borders. Some territory was exchanged between countries, and new states emerged or were reorganized. Poland gained territory in the west from Germany but lost land in the east to the Soviet Union. Czechoslovakia ceded Carpathian Ruthenia to the Soviet Union and lost the Sudetenland to Germany( later regained after the war). Romania ceded Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina to the Soviet Union.
4. The Independence of Yugoslavia and Albania: Yugoslavia, which was a kingdom before the war, emerged from the conflict as a socialist federal republic made up of six constituent republics. Albania, previously occupied by Italy, became an independent socialist republic.
5. Formation of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany): In 1949, the Soviet -occupied zones of Germany merged to from the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) with a communist government. The Western Allies also merged their three zones to create the federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) with a democratic government. This division would last until German reunification in 1990.
6. Establishment of the Iron Curtain: The division between East and western Europe became known as the Iron Curtain, symbolizing the ideological and physical separation between the communist Soviet bloc countries and the democratic western allies. This divide would play a significant role in the cold War that followed word war 2.
7. Territorial Adjustments in Italy: Italy lost some territories as a result of the war. The Istria and Dalmatia regions were transferred to Yugoslavia, while the Dodecanese Islands went to Greece. Italy also lost its colonies in Africa.
8. Transfer of South Tirol from Austria to Italy: Under the terms of the Paris peace Treaties of 1947, South Tirol, an Italian -speaking province of Austria, was ceded to Italy. This transfer created tensions between Italy and Austria.
These modifications to the map of Europe resulted from the outcome of World War 2 and marked the beginning of a new geopolitical landscape that dominated the postwar era and set the stage for the cold War.