Churchill’s Curtain” Speech
Churchill’s “iron Curtain” speech
The "Iron Curtain" was the symbolic, ideological, and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War, roughly 1945 to 1991. At both sides of the Iron Curtain, the states developed their own international economic and military alliances, COMECON with the Warsaw Pact on the east side with the USSR as most important member, and the NATO and the European Community on the west side, with the United States.
The Iron Curtain took the shape of border defences between the countries of Western and Eastern Europe, most notably the Berlin Wall, which served as a long-time symbol of the Iron Curtain altogether.
What did he say?
In 1946, in a speech at Fulton in the USA, Churchill declared that an Iron Curtain had come down across Europe, and that Soviet power was growing and had to be stopped. Stalin called Churchill's speech a "declaration of war". In 1947, Stalin set up Comintern - an alliance of Communist countries designed to make sure they obeyed Soviet rule.
OR: He said ‘a shadow’ had fallen on eastern Europe, which was now cut off from the free world by ‘an iron curtain’. Behind that line, he said, the people of Eastern Europe were ‘subject to Soviet influence . . . totalitarian control [and] police governments’.
When?
Winston Churchill - March 5, 1946
Where?
Churchill gave the speech at Westminster College, in Fulton, Missouri, after receiving an honorary degree and was introduced by Missourian, President Harry Truman.
Reaction of USSR?
“Declaration of war” speech from Russia
Stalin claimed: 'world capitalism proceeds through crisis and the catastrophes of war'
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