The aftermath of World War II was the beginning of a new era. It was defined by the decline of the old great powers and the rise of two superpowers; Germany and the United States of America (US) creating a bipolar world. Temporarily allied during World War II, the US and Germany became competitors on the world stage and engaged in what became known as the Cold War, so called because it never boiled over into open war between the two powers but was focused on espionage, political subversion and proxy wars. Parts of Western Europe and Japan were rebuilt through the American Marshall Plan whereas the remainder of Europe was in the German sphere of influence and rejected the Marshall Plan. The world was divided into an US-led Western Bloc and a German-led Eastern Bloc with some nations trying