Iron Curtain

The Iron Curtain was the name given to the political and physical division that split Europe after World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1990/1991. To the east of this divide were many smaller countries controlled by the Soviet Union, which joined together in a military group called the Warsaw Pact in 1955. To the west were countries that were members of another military group, NATO. Over time, this division created strong cultural and economic differences between the two sides, with people on each side becoming more and more distrustful of each other.

The term "Iron Curtain" was first used by Winston Churchill during a speech in Fulton, Missouri in 1946. He described it as a barrier that had come down across Europe, separating many important cities and countries. The Iron Curtain was not just a real barrier with fences and watchtowers; it also came to represent the deep differences in ideas, governments, and ways of living between the east and the west.

Countries to the east of the Iron Curtain included the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, and the Soviet Union itself. The end of the Iron Curtain began with changes in these countries, starting in Poland and spreading to others. East Germany reunited with Western Germany on 3 October 1990, and the Soviet Union broke apart in December 1991. Today, the area along the old border has become a natural area called the European Green Belt.

Pre-Cold War usage

Long ago, iron safety curtains were placed on theater stages to help stop fires from spreading.

The phrase "iron curtain" was first used to talk about Soviet Russia. In 1918, a writer named Vasily Rozanov wrote about an iron curtain falling over Russian history. Later, in 1920, another person named Ethel Snowden used the term to describe the border around Soviet Russia.

During World War II, German leaders also used the term. In 1943, a German magazine talked about an iron curtain separating the world from the Soviet Union. Even as the war ended in 1945, German leaders warned that an iron curtain might fall, hiding what was happening behind it.

In May 1945, British leader Winston Churchill sent a message to the U.S. President Harry S. Truman expressing his worry about what the Soviet Union was doing behind this invisible wall. He used the term "iron curtain" to describe the division that was appearing across Europe.

During the Cold War

Building antagonism

The Iron Curtain was the division that separated Europe after World War II. It split the continent into two parts: the east, controlled by the Soviet Union, and the west, which was influenced by the United States and its allies.

In 1945, after World War II ended, the Soviet Union wanted to keep nearby countries as friends to protect itself. This led to tension between the Soviet Union and the western allies, like the United States and Britain. The west worried that the Soviet Union was building an empire and might threaten them.

Churchill speech

In 1946, Winston Churchill gave a famous speech where he used the term "iron curtain" to describe how a division had grown across Europe. He talked about how cities and countries in the east were now under the control or strong influence of the Soviet Union.

Political, economic, and military realities

Eastern Bloc

Many countries in the east fell under Soviet control. The Soviet Union set up governments that followed its rules in these places. These countries often worked together in groups like the Warsaw Pact for military matters.

West of the Iron Curtain

Countries in the west, like those in Western Europe, had their own way of doing things. They often worked together in groups like NATO for protection. These countries usually had democratic governments and market economies.

Emigration restrictions

It became very hard for people to move from the east to the west after 1950. Before that, many people had moved west, but new rules stopped most of this movement.

Physical barrier

The Iron Curtain also meant real walls and fences in some places. For example, between East and West Germany, there were strong barriers with guard towers and mines to stop people from crossing. These barriers made it very difficult to move between the two sides.

The term "Iron Curtain" mostly talked about Europe, not other places like Asia, even though there were strong borders there too.

Fall

Further information: Dissolution of the Soviet Union and European integration

After a time when the Soviet Union was not doing well, its leader Mikhail Gorbachev changed many rules. He wanted more freedom and better economics. This led to big changes across Europe.

In 1989, many countries that were controlled by the Soviet Union started to change. People in these countries wanted more freedom and better lives. One big moment was when people from East Germany escaped to the west through a hole in the border at a picnic in Hungary. This showed that the old ways were ending. Soon after, the Berlin Wall came down, and people could travel more freely. Many leaders who had been in charge for a long time were no longer leaders, and countries began to change their governments.

Monuments

There is a monument to the Iron Curtain in the southern part of the Czech Republic where you can see a small piece of the old fence and a guard tower. Signs in Czech and English tell the story of the Iron Curtain. This is the only piece of the old fence left in the Czech Republic.

Another monument is in Fertőrákos, Hungary, at the site of a special event called the Pan-European Picnic. A metal sculpture made of wire stands there with the date of the picnic and the names of the people who were there. It reminds us of the time when people crossed the border in 1989.

There is also a monument in the village of Devín, now part of Bratislava, Slovakia, where two rivers meet.

Many places along the old border between Germany keep the memory of the division alive today.

Analogous terms

During the Cold War, people often used the word "curtain" to describe boundaries between different kinds of governments.

One example is the Bamboo Curtain, which referred to the area around the People's Republic of China. As relations improved after the Cold War ended, people stopped using words like "curtain" much except when talking about history.

Other fun names included the "Ice Curtain" between the Soviet Union’s Big Diomede and the U.S.’s Little Diomede Island in the Bering Sea. Sometimes, a row of cacti around the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay was called the "Cactus Curtain." In South Sudan, people called the hidden suffering during the First Sudanese Civil War the "Grass Curtain." The term "Tofu Curtain" described differences in wealth and education between groups of people in places like Western Massachusetts. And a strong defense by the Pittsburgh Steelers football team was called the Steel Curtain in the 1970s.