Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was in the first place a non-physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and its allied states. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influen…
What was life like behind the Iron Curtain?
YouTube. My own parents lived behind the Iron Curtain for the first 32-33 years of their lives and it was often not a pleasant experience. They got free education, which was a positive, but life was often crappy, bleak, and dreary--and of course there was no hope for a better life since the Soviet regime tightly forbade most emigration.
Where did the Iron Curtain start and finish?
The Iron Curtain was the physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The curtain was lifted during 1989-91, when Communist governments fell in Eastern Europe and the USSR.
Who coined the term Iron Curtain?
Winston Churchill had been the Prime Minister of Great Britain during World War II. It was Churchill who coined the term Iron Curtain in a 1946 speech he delivered in Missouri. It refers to the fact that Eastern Europe was more or less controlled by the Soviet Union.
What does the term Iron Curtain mean?
What does Iron Curtain mean? The Iron Curtain is a Western term referring to the boundary which divided Europe into two separate areas of political influence and ideology from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War. A variant of the Iron Curtain, the Bamboo Curtain, was coined in reference to the People's Republic of China.
When was the iron curtain first used?
Churchill's first recorded use of the term "iron curtain" came in a 12 May 1945 telegram he sent to U.S. President Harry S. Truman regarding his concern about Soviet actions, stating " [a]n iron curtain is drawn down upon their front. We do not know what is going on behind".
Who used the term "iron curtain"?
The first metaphorical usage of "iron curtain", in the sense of an end of an era, perhaps should be attributed to British author Arthur Machen (1863–1947), who used the term in his 1895 novel The Three Impostors: "...the door clanged behind me with the noise of thunder, and I felt that an iron curtain had fallen on the brief passage of my life". The English translation of a Russian text shown immediately below repeats the use of "clang" with reference to an "iron curtain", suggesting that the Russian writer, publishing 23 years after Machen, may have been familiar with the popular British author.
How long is the Iron Curtain Trail?
The trail is 6,800 km (4,200 mi) long and spans from Finland to Greece.
Why did Albania withdraw from the Warsaw Pact?
Albania withheld its support to the Warsaw Pact in 1961 due to the Soviet–Albanian split and formally withdrew in 1968. The Iron Curtain was a political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) ...
Where was the Iron Curtain located?
Further information: Origins of the Cold War and Cold War (1947–1953) Remains of the "iron curtain" in Devínska Nová Ves, Bratislava (Slovakia) Preserved part of "iron curtain" in the Czech Republic. A watchtower, dragon's teeth and electric security fence are visible.
Which countries were east of the Iron Curtain?
The nations to the east of the Iron Curtain were Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and the USSR; however, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and the USSR have since ceased to exist.
Where did Churchill use the term "iron curtain"?
Winston Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" address of 5 March 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, used the term "iron curtain" in the context of Soviet-dominated Eastern Europe:
Why did the Iron Curtain form?
These borders were formed in the years after World War II, as Soviet-controlled regimes in the East sought to tighten control and prevent both emigration and infiltration. Though not the first to use the term ‘Iron Curtain’, Winston Churchill popularised its use in this context.
Who coined the term "iron curtain"?
Fraser J. Harbutt. 1. The Iron Curtain was a Cold War name for the borders between Western and Soviet Europe. It was coined by Winston Churchill in 1946 during a speech in Fulton, Missouri. 2.
What was Churchill's plan for the Cold War?
He anticipated the formation of an anti-Soviet Western security system, based on the Anglo-American nucleus. He outlined the role that Britain would play as a junior partner….
What was the message of Stalin's speech in February 1946?
In a February 1946 speech, Stalin stressed the superiority of communism over capitalism, warning Russians to stay on their guard against the West.
Was the Iron Curtain a political concept?
Within four years, the border was sealed, government-authorised crossings were strictly controlled and unauthorised crossings were dangerous. The Iron Curtain was not only a political and philosophical concept, eastern Europe had been a virtual prison. “The Fulton address was a brilliant exercise in political prophecy.
Military Alliances
Two economic and international alliances existed on both sides of the Iron Curtain: On the Soviet Union’s side were the countries that made the Warsaw Pact and were members of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance and on the U.S. side were the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Community.
End of the Iron Curtain
Although it seemed as if the Iron Curtain’s restrictions were a bit relaxed after Stalin died in 1953, the Berlin Wall’s construction reinforced them in 1961. It was only in 1991 when the Cold War ended and the one party communist rule in Eastern Europe was abandoned that the Iron Curtain ceased to exist.
Who was the British leader who said the Iron Curtain was needed?
Iron Curtain speech, speech delivered by former British prime minister Winston Churchill in Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946, in which he stressed the necessity for the United States and Britain to act as the guardians of peace and stability against the menace of Soviet communism, which had lowered an “ iron curtain ” across Europe.
What was Churchill's iron curtain speech?
Iron Curtain speech, speechdelivered by former British prime ministerWinston Churchillin Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946, in which he stressed the necessity for the United Statesand Britain to act as the guardians of peace and stability against the menace of Soviet communism, which had lowered an “iron curtain” across Europe. The term “iron curtain” had been employed as a metaphorsince 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 IIto prevent open contact between itself and its dependent eastern and central European allies on the one hand and the West and other noncommunist regions on the other.
Who was the architect of the Soviet containment policy?
In Churchill’s view, Soviet policies offered little chance for a successful establishment of peace in the years ahead. American diplomat George Kennan came to a similar conclusion and became the architect of the “ containment ” policy.
What was the name of the church that was rebuilt in the 17th century?
Westminster College commemoratedthe landmark speech by bringing from London and reconstructing on its campus the church of St. Marythe Virgin, Aldermanbury (designed by Sir Christopher Wrenin the 17th century and damaged by German bombing during World War II).
What was the Iron Curtain?
The 'Iron Curtain' was a phrase used to describe the physical, ideological and military division of Europe between the western and southern capitalist states and the eastern, Soviet-dominated communist nations during the Cold War, 1945–1991 . (Iron curtains were also metal barriers in German theaters designed to stop the spread ...
When was the iron curtain first used?
However, the term, which dates back to the nineteenth century, was probably first used in regard to Russia by Vassily Rozanov in 1918 when he wrote: "an iron curtain is descending on Russian history.".
Who said the Iron Curtain was the harshest?
The phrase 'Iron Curtain,' which refers to the harsh and impenetrable nature of the divide, was popularized by Winston Churchill in his speech of March 5th, 1946, when he stated:
Who wrote the book "The Iron Curtain did not reach the ground and under it flowed liquid manure from the?
"The Iron Curtain did not reach the ground and under it flowed liquid manure from the West.". - Prolific Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 1994. The 'Iron Curtain' was a phrase used to describe the physical, ideological and military division of Europe between ...
Overview
During the Cold War
The antagonism between the Soviet Union and the West that came to be described as the "iron curtain" had various origins.
During the summer of 1939, after conducting negotiations both with a British-French group and with Nazi Germany regarding potential military and political agreements, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed the German–Soviet Co…
Pre-Cold War usage
In the 19th century, iron safety curtains were installed on theater stages to slow the spread of fire.
Perhaps the first recorded application of the term "iron curtain" to Soviet Russia was in Vasily Rozanov's 1918 polemic The Apocalypse of Our Time. It is possible that Churchill read it there following the publication of the book's English transl…
Fall
Following a period of economic and political stagnation under Brezhnev and his immediate successors, the Soviet Union decreased its intervention in Eastern Bloc politics. Mikhail Gorbachev (General Secretary from 1985) decreased adherence to the Brezhnev Doctrine, which held that if socialism were threatened in any state then other socialist governments had an obligation to i…
Monuments
There is an Iron Curtain monument in the southern part of the Czech Republic at approximately 48°52′32″N 15°52′29″E / 48.8755°N 15.87477°E . A few hundred meters of the original fence, and one of the guard towers, has remained installed. There are interpretive signs in Czech and English that explain the history and significance of the Iron Curtain. This is the only surviving part of th…
Analogous terms
Throughout the Cold War the term "curtain" would become a common euphemism for boundaries – physical or ideological – between socialist and capitalist states.
• An analogue of the Iron Curtain, the Bamboo Curtain, surrounded the People's Republic of China. As the standoff between the West and the countries of the Iron and Bamboo curtains eased with the end of the Cold War, the term fell out of any but historical usage.
See also
• Danube River Conference of 1948
• EV13 The Iron Curtain Trail, a long-distance cycling route within the European Green Belt
• Removal of Hungary's border fence
• Telephone tapping in the Eastern Bloc
External links
• Freedom Without Walls: German Missions in the United States—Looking Back at the Fall of the Berlin Wall – official homepage in English
• Information about the Iron Curtain with a detailed map and how to make it by bike
• "Peep under the Iron Curtain", a cartoon first published on 6 March 1946 in the Daily Mail