The Iron Curtain and Its Role

In the International System

It was the former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who in his speech at Westminster College, Fulton, USA, used the term, the iron curtain, for the first time, in 1946, in order to describe the division of Eastern from Western Europe.

The Iron curtain was created by the Soviet Union after the World War II. It stood for an ideological and military barrier between the countries, which were under the dependence of the Soviet Union and the non-communist, politically free countries in the West. Behind the Iron Curtain were included almost all of the states in Central and Eastern Europe. One of its main tasks was to restrict people inhabiting the communist area from traveling outside and to restrict the information flow in it, from the non-communist world.

The Iron Curtain strengthened its positions during the Cold War. It became the border, which constructed the bipolar structure of the world politics. However, the stability and the restrictions of the Iron Curtain diminished with the death of Stalin in 1953 and the policy of modernization of the Soviet Union, led by his successor Nikita Khrushchev. Later on, after the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, Iron Curtain restored its positions and stability again.

The collapse of the Iron Curtain was in 1989 and was symbolized by the opening of the Berlin wall on the 9^th of November. The dismantling of the Soviet Union in December 1991 followed this event.

There are many complicated reasons for the collapse of the Iron Curtain. However, it is assumed that one of the main reasons for such a dramatic act, with such tremendous consequences for the world system, is the modification of the Soviet Union. During the 1980’s great changes took place in the Soviet Union, both political and economic. The accession of Gorbachev to power in 1989 gave birth to the restructuring (peresroika) and the openness (glastnost) in the Soviet Union. As for the economic perspective, there were short-term causes such as economic stagnation and poor harvests in the early 1980’s, and long-term causes such as inability of modernization, inflexibility of the central planning system and lack of incentives in production on agriculture.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/churchill-iron.html

This website presents Winston Churchill’s speech in Fulton, Missouri, in 1946. In this speech, Churchill stresses on the serious threat coming from behind the Iron Curtain – the Soviet Union and its intention of expansion. Moreover, the term - the Iron Curtain - is used for the first time in this speech.

In spite of the fact that Churchill’s speech is provided in short form, after reading it, the audience gets a clear idea of its main points. This speech actually unifies and represents the position of the Western society toward the world system – the idea of pacification of Europe and the whole world. Furthermore, Churchill’s speech is thought to be the onset of the Cold War.

To sum up, having in mind its content and the enormous significance of this speech in the period after the World War II, this website is worth visiting.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1946stalin.html

This website contains Stalin’s reply to Churchill’s speech. Stalin draws an analogy between Churchill and Hitler and accuses Churchill in supporting the racial theory, which Hitler also used to support. Stalin also explains the growing popularity of communism in Eastern Europe and as a result of its policy to provide liberty for the peoples.

Stalin’s reply to Churchill’s speech is significant in the way that it shows that there was a communication and a dialogue between the two sides of the conflict, separated by the Iron Curtain. It also shows the people that both the leader of the communist East and the leader of the West not only accuse each other, but also give explanations for their actions, which is of a great importance to the ordinary people.

Stalin’s reply is also in a shorter form, but it conveys the main points of his ideology and actions. This site is worth reading, because it presents the other point of view in the conflict between the communist and noncommunist countries, separated by the Iron Curtain.

http://www.brianrose.com/lostborder.htm

This website The Lost Border is divided into seven sections and mostly consists of photographs, accompanied by brief explanations for the Iron Curtain. The first section is the Introduction and presents a brief summary, by the author, who is the photographer as well, and a map of the Iron Curtain and its borders.

This website The Lost Border presents an interesting way of explaining the issue of the Iron Curtain by using photographs. The author presents for the visitors of this website, the Iron Curtain in the different stages of its existence: from the very beginning of its creation, to its destruction in 1989. He suggests the method of learning by visual memory rather than, by reading a text. However, the brief descriptions of the images complement the photographs and make this website a perfect teaching tool for every individual, interested in the issue of the Iron Curtain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Curtain

This website contains a brief description of the term “Iron Curtain” and also an extract of the speech of Churchill, an extract of a speech of Allen Dulles and an extract of an article of Joseph Goebbles. This website also provides some links to the main historical events and places, concerning the Iron Curtain.

This website is an easy and convenient way of getting general knowledge of the Iron Curtain, by explaining the main points of this issue, which is of great importance for the world politics and international relations. The links that it provides are also very useful for getting the basic piece of information of the main places and events that took place in that period. The only weak sides of this website are that it will not be very useful for people, who want to have more information about the Iron Curtain and its effect on the international relations.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/news/19991105/

The website above presents a number of documents, which were gathered ten years after the collapse of the Iron Curtain. They contain the speeches and the actions of the former communist leaders behind the Iron Curtain and have been collected and arranged by the National Security Archive and its partners in Europe.

This website is worth visiting for several reasons. First, it is a collection of previously secret documents, published in the Soviet Union. Second, these documents are presented for the first time in English. Third, they contain transcripts of the meetings between the leaders of the communist countries and their most significant speeches and actions. Finally, before clicking on the different documents, the website contains a brief summary of each of them.

The only one weak point of this website is that, with the documents it provides, this website focuses on the events that took place behind the Iron Curtain only in 1989, there are no secret documents from the whole period of the existence of the Soviet Union.

http://www3.telus.net/EKaminski/tearsin.htm

This website shows the main points of the history of the countries in Eastern Europe. It covers the period from 1956 to 1991. This website separates the different countries and explains the actions of the leading individuals and the key events that took place in that period.

This website can give the reader the main idea of the political situation in Central and Eastern Europe during the existence of the Soviet Union. It is well organized and easily accessible. However, it does not concentrate on the Iron Curtain as its main target, but on the situation in Europe at that time. So, it is not very useful for the readers, who are interested in the Iron Curtain as a barrier between the communism and democracy, but on the countries, which are situated behind it.

http://www.turnerlearning.com/cnn/coldwar/iron/iron_eye.html

This website shows the opinion of some people for the Iron Curtain, the Cold War and the consequences of it in their lives. They show their point of view for the following issues: Returning Home From The War, Postwar Economy, and Stalin's Bolshoi Theatre Speech.

This website is very useful for a reader, because it represents the point of view of people, who witnessed the Cold War and the Iron Curtain. Moreover, the people, who are interviewed, are from different backgrounds.

This website has also its weak sides. The extracts from the interviews with the people are too small and can easily be manipulated. They can easily mislead the reader. Moreover, this website contains of only the interview with six people, a fact that also leads to hesitation about the verification of the information, which is provided.