March 5, 1946 | Winston Churchill Warns of Soviet “Iron Curtain”

New York Times ^ | March 5, 2012

[nickcarraway]

On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Iron Curtain” speech, officially titled “Sinews of Peace,” at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo. After being introduced by President Harry Truman, Churchill, the former prime minister of Britain and now the opposition leader, warned of the threat posed by the Soviet Union, a World War II ally of Britain and the United States.

The New York Times reported that “Mr. Churchill painted a dark picture of post-war Europe, on which ‘an iron curtain has descended across the Continent’ from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic.”

“He strongly intimated a parallel between the present position of the Soviet Union with that of Germany in 1935,” wrote The Times. “His words, he continued, were not offered in the belief that war with the Soviet Union was inevitable or imminent. He expressed the view that Russia does not desire war, but cautioned that Moscow does desire the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of its power and policies.”

Churchill called on the United States to form a “fraternal association” with Britain. He said that the United States stood at the “pinnacle of world power” and must take responsibility to ensure peace in the world.

The American public reacted negatively to the speech. Americans still saw the Soviet Union as an ally and were shocked that Churchill would promote such a confrontational and provocative stance that could incite another war. Some U.S. politicians condemned the speech publicly while privately recognizing that the Soviet Union was indeed a looming threat.

Churchill would be proven correct in time. The Soviet Union did continue to exert its influence over Eastern Europe and extend the “iron curtain.” In March 1947, just over a year after Churchill’s speech, President Truman issued the Truman Doctrine, which pledged

[SunkenCiv]

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Thanks nickcarraway. "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent." Winnie was the 20th century's equivalent of a clean-up hitter. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.