Where did the phrase iron curtain come from?
The use of the term "Iron Curtain" as a metaphor for strict separation goes back at least as far as the early 19th century. It originally referred to fireproof curtains in theaters. Its popularity as a Cold War symbol is attributed to its use in a speech Winston Churchill gave on 5 March 1946, in Fulton, Missouri.
Why was the term iron curtain a good description?
Why was the term iron curtain a good description of the soviet presence in eastern europe? Iron curtain had described the division between a communist life and a non communist life.
Who first referred to the Iron Curtain?
In one of the most famous orations of the Cold War period, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill condemns the Soviet Union's policies in Europe and declares, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” Churchill's speech is considered one of the ...
What did the Iron Curtain symbolize about international relations?
The wall, which stood between 1961 to 1989, came to symbolize the 'Iron Curtain' – the ideological split between East and West – that existed across Europe and between the two superpowers, the US and the Soviet Union, and their allies, during the Cold War.
What was the meaning of the famous phrase iron curtain quizlet?
Iron Curtain. A term popularized by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the Soviet Union's policy of isolation during the Cold War. The barrier isolated Eastern Europe from the rest of the world.
How did Winston Churchill describe the Iron Curtain?
Then, on March 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Churchill's famous words “From Stettin in the Baltic, to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent,” ushered in the Cold War and framed the geo-political landscape for the next 50 years.
Who used the phrase iron curtain?
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers a speech at Westminster College that addressed the Communist threat, and in which he uttered the now-famous phrase 'Iron Curtain,' Fulton, Mo., Mar. 5, 1946.
Why was the Iron Curtain erected?
Iron Curtain, the political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II to seal off itself and its dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and other noncommunist areas.
What was the iron curtain speech?
Iron Curtain speech. …which had lowered an “iron curtain” across Europe. The term “iron curtain” had been employed as a metaphor since the 19th century, but Churchill used it to refer specifically to the political, military, and ideological barrier created by the U.S.S.R. following World War II to prevent open contact between….
What was the Iron Curtain during the Cold War?
During the Cold War the Iron Curtain extended to the airwaves. The attempts by the Central Intelligence Agency -funded Radio Free Europe (RFE) to provide listeners behind the Curtain with uncensored news were met with efforts by communist governments to jam RFE’s signal.
What was the Iron Curtain?
The Iron Curtain was the term used to describe the division between the capitalist, democratic countries of Western Europe and the communist states of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The distrust between the West and the communist regime of the USSR began when the former supported the latter’s enemies during the Russian Civil War.
Who was the first person to use the term "iron curtain"?
The term, “Iron Curtain”, was first used by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to describe the post-World War II divide between the capitalist, democratic countries of Western Europe and the communist countries of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. On the eastern side of this Iron Curtain, most people lived an existence ...
What were the hardships of the Eastern Side of the Iron Curtain?
The vast majority of people on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain had to endure daily hardships. They also had to endure endless propaganda about the supposed virtues of communism. Children in schools were fed a daily diet of communist ideological education.
How long did the Iron Curtain last?
The Iron Curtain that divided Europe between East and West would endure for more than 40 years, until it finally came to an end with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the USSR shortly thereafter.
Where did Churchill say the Iron Curtain has descended?
Against the backdrop of this Soviet takeover, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in a speech he gave at Westminster College in Fulton, Michigan, declared, “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.”.
What were the hardships of the Iron Curtain?
People on the eastern side of the Iron Curtain endured routine hardships that included shortages of basic goods and substandard housing. The Iron Curtain came to an end with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union two years later. The term, “Iron Curtain”, was first used by British Prime Minister Winston ...
Where is the Iron Curtain Monument?
Iron Curtain Monument in Budapest, Hungary. Editorial credit: majorstockphoto / Shutterstock.com. The origins of the Iron Curtain go all the way back to 1917, when the communist Bolshevik movement seized power in Russia.
What is the meaning of the Iron Curtain speech?
Harriman. Finest Hour 58, Winter 1987-1988. Editor’s Note: This speech was delivered on 19 May 1986 to the Friends of the Memorial, New York City Branch. Two lines were updated by the editor in the light of the Soviet-American Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, signed in December 1987.
What was Winston Churchill's purpose in his strategy?
Winston Churchill had a purpose in his strategy of deploying strength in dealing with the Soviets. He was, as Sir John Colville has said, a leader who adopted a “flexibility” which “may have a certain relevance in the 1980’s. His aim, as he expressed it in the Fulton speech, never wavered.
What did Harold Macmillan tell Harold Macmillan?
At the Cairo Conference in 1943, he told Harold Macmillan of his fears about the rise of Soviet power, and the failure of the West to observe and respond to the danger. Second, he traced the roots of the dawning conflict to Soviet territorial ambitions.
Is the Iron Curtain true?
To the extent the “Iron Curtain is seen and cited as a powerful and historic warning against an emerging and ruthless adversary, we can say of this interpretation: so far, so true. We can largely say this, even when, as frequently happens, the interpretation ignores the subtleties of Churchill’s argument. But if we stop here – if that is all we see in the speech – then all we are getting is a half-truth.
Historical Background
Life Behind The Iron Curtain
- The average citizen living behind the eastern side of the Iron Curtain, within communist Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, lived a very different life than the average citizen in the West. One aspect of ordinary people’s lives in the communist states was dealing with shortages of basic goods. Everything from meat to hygiene products was always in short supply. Many people in th…
Fall of The Iron Curtain
- The symbolic fall of the Iron Curtain came on November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall dividing communist East Berlin from West Berlin was pulled down. The fall of the Berlin Wall, however, was preceded by many other developments that led to the fall of the Iron Curtain. Earlier in 1989, for example, the communist regimes in Poland and Hungary came to an end. There were also impor…