Ethnic groups began to gain independence
Answer:
Going out on a limb here and assuming you're speaking about the end of WWII.
Explanation:
At the end of WWII, most of Europe was destroyed due to the war. The two main superpowers that emerged were Russia and the United States. There was a lot of discussion about dividing up Europe into colonies but the United States didn't want any part of that. Instead, General and later Secretary of State George Marshall devised what was later called the Marshall Plan.
Under the Marshall Plan, the United States gave over $12 billion to the European countries affected by WWII to help them reestablish their economies and rebuild their nations. This even included our enemies, such as Germany and Italy. The goal was that if they could rebuild and be influenced by captialism, then democracies might have a chance of spreading. These discussions were held at the Paris Accords and of course, Russia was against it. Russian leader Stalin tried to kill the Marshall Plan then when he realized that couldn't be done, he tried to take credit for some or even all of it's successes.
Back in the United States, our Congress which at the time was controlled by the Republicans, put forth a bill called the Economic Cooperation Act of 1948. President Truman signed the Act into law and the ECA was funded and implemented. To protect the integrity of the program, the money wasn't given directly to the participating countries. Instead, it was managed by local authorities who had to account for every single penny.
In addition to receiving help to rebuild their economy and their infrastructure, the participating European countries also received direct technical assistance from the United States to help bring new industries and businesses into Europe. All in all 17 countries took advantage of the program and were helped.
