DO NOW—WHAT DOES CHURCHILL MEAN
BY “IRON CURTAIN”?
“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain
has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the
capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe.
Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and
Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie
in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one
form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and,
in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow. The
Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern
States of Europe, have been raised to pre -eminence and power far
beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain
totalitarian control. Police governments are prevailing in nearly
every case, and so far, except in Czechoslovakia, there is no true
democracy.”
--Winston Churchill 1947
THE COLD WAR 1945-1991
2 superpowers
emerge after World
War II
United States
Soviet Union
(Russia/USSR)
The struggle between
them was known as
the Cold War
Political, military and
economic battle
between the U.S. and
Soviet Union
Capitalism/Democracy
vs. Communism
Natural Resources
Markets
CONTAINMENT
The U.S. establishes a new foreign policy
during the Cold War
Containment
The U.S. wanted to limit the spread of
communism to where it already existed
(Soviet Union and Eastern Europe)
Map of Europe during Cold War
WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF
CONTAINMENT?
 The U.S. does not always support democratic governments —
often it supports dictatorships who are anti -Communist
 Nationalist China (Chiang kai-Shek)
 Chile (Augusto Pinochet)
 Iran (Shah Pahlavi)
 Vietnam (Ngo Dinh Diem)
 Cuba (Fulgencio Batista)
 Also, the Cold War can be seen as a form of imperialism
 The US and Soviets were competing for new markets as well as
sources of raw materials
DO NOW
How is the policy of containment a
change from the traditional version of
U.S. foreign policy?
THE UNITED NATIONS
In 1945 the United
Nations was founded
after being suggested
by Franklin Roosevelt
Its predecessor was
the League of Nations
The purpose was to
settle disputes
peacefully
Unlike the League of
Nations, most
nations, including the
US, joined the UN
MARSHALL PLAN
 While Eastern Europe is
under the influence of the
Soviet Union, Western Europe
is struggling after the end of
WWII
 The U.S. fears Western
Europe may turn to
communism if their
economies don’t improve
 The U.S. gave economic aid to
Western Europe to help them
return to prosperity
TRUMAN DOCTRINE
Greece and Turkey
were two countries
along the Iron Curtain
in danger of falling to
communism
President Harry
Truman said the U.S.
will arm people
fighting communism
COLD WAR CONFLICT
1948—The Berlin
Airlift
Berlin (Germany’s
capital) had been
divided at the end of
WWII
It was located in East
Germany (Communist)
BERLIN AIRLIFT
 The U.S. was allowed to
supply West Berlin by
the Soviet Union after
WWII
 1948—Stalin blockades
the road to Berlin
 The U.S. is forced to
supply Berlin by air
 The purpose was to
avoid a war over Berlin
(maybe WWIII???)
BERLIN WALL
 1961—the Communists
build a wall around East
Berlin
 Economic conditions in E.
Berlin were bad
compared to W. Berlin
 It was intended to keep E.
Berliners from leaving to
W. Berlin
 But, it became a symbol
of the Cold War between
the U.S. and Soviets
 Also symbolic of the
closed society that the
Communist system was
THE BERLIN WALL FELL IN 1989, THE
SYMBOLIC END OF THE COLD WAR
CLOSING
How did the U.S. try to limit the
spread of communism in Europe
from the late 1940s to the early
1960s?