from this map, you can determine that Soviet influences spread across Eastern Europe sharply during and after World War II the number of Soviet satellite states decreased significantly right after World War II during and after World War II, Soviet influence decreased across Europe Germany and the Soviet Union shared territories across Europe after World War II

The correct answer is 1) Soviet influences spread across Eastern Europe sharply during and after World War II.

It is clear that socialism in the eastern part of Europe became much more popular and at the time seen as an ideological system victorious over extreme right national socialism (under the flags of Nazi Germany, Italy). In so, the intrinsic dynamic of Soviet socialism was another form of conquest. Soviet influences expanded regaining the territories that were previously invaded by Germany or other powers (in the case of Baltic states). The reasons were not only based the military results by that time (1945-1948) but by the notion that socialism was a new and more efficient way of settling issues in the European and capitalist world, thereby causing the empathy from some neighbour states and also expanding with the introduction of "puppet states" loyal to the Soviet Union.

Examples of this were: the government created in Poland, Checoslovakia or some other socialist republics.