ABSTRACT
The end of World War II marked the beginning of the unraveling of colonialism. It also produced a new set of global blocs—the Communist world, led by the Soviet Union, versus what was known as the free world, led by the United States—that replaced the wartime global blocs of the Axis (Japan, Germany, and Italy) versus the Allies (United States, British Commonwealth, China, France, and Soviet Union). These blocs faced off against each other in what came to be called the Cold War. As colonies in Africa and Asia gained their independence from the empires that had controlled them, many new nations found their interests best served by allying with one of the two blocs. Other new nations struggled to retain nonaligned status. The North Korean Provisional People's Committee instituted gender related laws and policies that represented progressive reform ideas with considerable influence from Soviet precedents.
