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The "Iron Curtain" was the boundary which symbolically, ideologically, and physically divided Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War , roughly 1945 to 1991. The first recorded use of the term was in 1920 by Ethel Snowden in her book ''Through Bolshevik Russia''. German politician Joseph Goebbels was the first to refer to an " Iron Curtain " coming down across Europe after World War II, in a manifesto he published in the German newspaper ''Das Reich'' in February 1945.'Das Jahr 2000', ''Das Reich'', February 25, 1945, pp. 1-2 ''A New Look at the Iron Curtain'', Ignace Feuerlicht, ''American Speech,'' Vol. 30, No. 3 (Oct., 1955), pp. 186-189 The term was not widely used until March 5 , 1946 , when it was popularised by Winston Churchill in his "Sinews of Peace" address. POLITICAL, ECONOMIC, AND MILITARY REALITIES Eastern Europe While the Iron Curtain was in place, certain countries of Eastern Europe and many in Central Europe (except West Germany , Liechtenstein , Switzerland and Austria ) were under the political influence of the Soviet Union . Indeed the Central European states to the east of the Curtain were frequently regarded as being part of Eastern Europe, rather than Central Europe. It became common in the West to refer to former East Germany and Czechoslovakia (now two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia ) as part of Eastern Europe. However, East Germany , the Czech Republic and large parts of Poland are further west than much of Austria, with Prague considerably further west than Vienna . Much of the physical Iron Curtain divided Czechoslovakia from Austria to the South. Many of the states were members of the Soviet Union (the Soviet Socialist Republics ), while, with two exceptions, the neighboring countries of the Eastern Bloc were ruled by pro-Soviet governments, kept in place by the threat of military force. The two exceptions were Yugoslavia which retained its full independence, and Albania which escaped Soviet influence in the 1960s and aligned itself with China ; both Albania and Yugoslavia were Communist State s. To the east of the Iron Curtain, the states developed their own international economic and military alliances, COMECON and the Warsaw Pact . West of the Iron Curtain To the west of the Iron Curtain, the countries of Western Europe , Northern Europe and Southern Europe —along with Austria, West Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland—operated Market Economies . With the exception of a period of Fascism in Spain and Portugal and Military Dictatorship in Greece , these countries were ruled by Democratic governments. Most states to the west of the Iron Curtain— with the exception of Neutral Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Sweden , Finland and Ireland — were allied with the United States within NATO . Economically, the European Community and the European Free Trade Association were the Western counterparts to COMECON. As a physical entity The Iron Curtain took physical form in the shape of border defenses between the countries of the western and eastern blocs. These were some of the most heavily militarised areas in the world, particularly the so-called " Inner German Border " — commonly known simply as ''die Grenze'' in German — between East and West Germany. The inner German border was marked in rural areas by double fences made of steel mesh (expanded metal) with sharp edges, while near urban areas a high concrete barrier similar to the Berlin Wall was built. The barrier was always a short distance inside East German territory to avoid any intrusion into Western territory. The actual borderline was marked by posts and signs and was overlooked by numerous watchtowers set behind the barrier. In some places a "death strip" was constructed on the East German side of the barrier, in which unauthorised access would be met with bullets. The strip of land on the West German side of the barrier — between the actual borderline and the barrier — was readily accessible but only at considerable personal risk, because it was patrolled by both East and West German border guards. Shooting incidents were not uncommon, and a total of 28 East German border guards and several hundred civilians were killed between 1948–1981 (some may have been victims of " Friendly Fire " by their own side). Elsewhere, the border defenses between west and east were much lighter. The border between Hungary and neutral Austria, for instance, was marked by a simple chain-link fence which was easily removed when it became the first part of the Iron Curtain to be dismantled in 1989. On June 27 , 1989 , the Foreign Minister s of Austria and Hungary, Alois Mock and Gyula Horn , ceremonially cut through the border defenses separating their countries. In parts of Czechoslovakia the border strip became hundreds of meters wide, and an area of increasing restrictions was defined as the border was approached. Only people with the appropriate government permissions were allowed to get close to the border. The creation of these highly militarised no-man's lands lead to ''de facto'' nature reserves and created a Wildlife Corridor across Europe; this helped the spread of several species to new territories. Since the fall of the iron curtain several initiatives are pursuing the creation of a European Green Belt nature preserve compound. The term "Iron Curtain" was only used for the fortified borders in central Europe; it was not used for similar borders in Asia between communist and capitalist states. The border between North Korea and South Korea is very comparable to the former inner German border, particularly in its degree of militarisation, but it has never conventionally been considered part of the Iron Curtain. Back in the 1960's, advertising posters in the New York City Subway system for Radio Free Europe had photographs of electrified barbed wire fences that, while not identified specifically as part of the iron curtain, implied that it was the iron curtain. ORIGINS The first recorded use of the term '' Iron Curtain '' was derived from the safety curtain used in theatres and first applied to the border of communist Russia as "an impenetrable barrier" in 1920 by Ethel Snowden , in her book ''Through Bolshevik Russia''. |
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