The Iron Curtain

The long telegram

February 1946 An 8,000-word telegram to the Department of State detailing views on the Soviet Union, and US policy toward the communist state. It's analysis provided one of the most influential explanations for America's Cold War policy of containment.

What was the Iron Curtain?

Imaginary line separating East and West Europe during the Cold War

Churchill's delivers his Iron Curtain speech

March 5, 1946 Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent."

What countries were occupied by the Soviet Union

Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia

Stalin's response

Stalin saw the speech as a deliberate and unfair attempt to paint the Soviet Union as aggressive and untrustworthy.

George Kennan

The American charge d'affaires in Moscow Sent the long telegram Stressed the need to contain communism within its current borders