THE IRON CURTAIN

What: A metaphor for the political, military and ideological division of post-World War II Europe Who:Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Harry Truman Josip Broz Tito When:

Winston Churchill Office: Prime Minister of Great Britain Role:  Made the term “Iron Curtain” famous in his Sinews of Peace Speech (text)Sinews of Peace Speechtext  Original figurehead of the Western Bloc  Encouraged US and Western Europe cooperation in what eventually became NATO

Harry S. Truman Office: President of the United States of America Role:  Allied with Great Britain and the Western Bloc  Employed Containment policy to keep Soviet influence from expanding beyond the Iron Curtain  Oversaw the European Recovery Program (the Marshall Plan)  Responsible for US participation in NATO

Joseph Stalin Office: General Secretary of the Soviet Union Role:  Leader of the Eastern Bloc  Controlled much of Eastern Europe through annexed territories and Soviet Satellite states  Established COMECON and the Warsaw Pact as the Eastern Bloc equivalent of the Marshall Plan and NATO

Josip Broz Tito Office: President of Yugoslavia Role:  Declared independence from the Eastern Bloc in 1948  Led an independent Yugoslavia acting as a buffer zone between the Eastern and Western Blocs  Founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (along with the leaders of Indonesia, India, Egypt and Ghana) whose members remained neutral throughout the Cold War

Sources:  Gaddis, John Lewis, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History, Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1998, ISBN  Ramet, Sabrina P.; The Three Yugoslavias: State-building and Legitimation, 1918–2005; Indiana University Press, 2006 ISBN    (Churchill speech excerpt and explainer video)  (Churchill full speech audio)  All images are Public Domain