Eastern Bloc

The Eastern Bloc was a group of socialist countries in Eastern Europe during the Cold War, mainly allied with the Soviet Union. It included nations like Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. These countries had communist governments and were part of the Warshaw Pact, a military alliance opposing NATO, which included Western democracies. The Eastern Bloc was characterized by state control of the economy, restrictions on political freedoms, and a focus on collective ideology. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the decline of the Eastern Bloc and the eventual collapse of communist regimes in the region.