Much of Eastern Europe becomes a de facto German colony. Belgium splits into French and Flemish states. Civil wars erupt in Serbia and Albania. Macedonia fragments and is divided by Bulgaria, Greece and Albania. Romania s Hungarians rebel and demand union with Hungary.
Communists return as a political force in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Poland.
Hard liners, extreme nationalists, and communists unite, solidify power, stabilize the economy, and begin rebuilding the old Soviet Union. The Cold War resumes, as Moscow re-asserts its power in the Baltic states, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, the Mideast. Russian troops invade Central Asia, the Caucasus, Afghanistan. After a short, sharp war, Russia invades and reabsorbs Ukraine which is abandoned by the west. Russia becomes the world s leading produce of oil and gas, and major exporter of water.