The Iron Curtain

At the end of World War II, many Americans believed the Soviet Union was America’s ally. The Soviets had fought on the side of Germany at the beginning of the war but had later left the Axis forces and joined the Allies in fighting against Germany, Italy, and Japan. But by 1946, the Americans realized a friendship between the Soviet Union and the United States of America was not to be the case. Then Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin began a deliberate campaign to spread Communism to other nations in Europe and Asia. In a country ruled by a communist government, the citizens do not have the same freedoms as in a democracy. This act of aggression—the refusal to leave the countries occupied after the war by the Soviet Union—began a conflict with the United States known as the Cold War.

After World War II, Soviet troops refused to leave countries they had liberated, despite America’s insistence that the countries be allowed to hold free elections. Winston Churchill, Britain’s prime minister, said an “Iron Curtain” had come down on Europe, and behind this curtain people’s basic freedoms were disappearing. One clear example of the Iron Curtain was the Berlin Wall—a wall that separated West and East Berlin in Germany. Those on the western side were free, while those in East Berlin were under Soviet control.

President Truman believed the United States should support those people who wanted to be free. This policy and belief would later lead the United States into wars such as the Korean War and Vietnam in an effort to stop the spread of communism.