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The United States’ Policy of Containment of Communist powers directly aided in the collapse of Soviet Russia. After World War II and the end of German power, Britain and France were left drained and exhausted. Although the United States and the Soviet Union were also drained, they held considerable power. They were the only two “Superpowers” in the world (Larson 14). With conflicting ideologies and mutual distrust, the two powers became rivals competing for power. The Soviet Union spread communism through Eastern Europe as a buffer zone to Germany and soon Europe was divided with the Soviets and communism in the East and the United States and democracy in the West. This “iron curtain”, as Winston Churchill called it, divided Europe (Ambrose 212). The meeting point of the two powers was Germany, which was divided in two. The Soviets controlled the East with Berlin as its capital, and the Allies controlled the West. The East was a Stalin-style socialist republic with a centralized government and a dictatorial regime. A State Security Police, or the Stasi, enforced the communistic ideals, denying freedoms like free speech against the government (Issacs 182). The West became a successful democracy with the help of