Churchill Iron Curtain Speech

Setting the scene

Winston Churchill delivered his 'Iron Curtain' speech on March 5, 1946, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, with President Truman present. Officially titled 'The Sinews of Peace,' the speech declared, 'From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent.' Churchill warned that Soviet-controlled governments dominated Eastern Europe and called for a U.S.-British alliance to counter Soviet expansion.

What happened

Churchill, now out of office after losing the 1945 election, spoke as a private citizen but with Truman's tacit approval—Truman had invited him and shared the train to Fulton. The speech called for the United Nations to have armed forces, for Anglo-American military cooperation, and for the West to stand firm against communism. It was initially controversial—many Americans still hoped for cooperation with the USSR, and Stalin called Churchill a warmonger.

Why it still matters

The Iron Curtain speech is considered the public declaration of the Cold War. The phrase 'iron curtain' entered the lexicon, describing Europe's division. The speech articulated the containment policy before it was official U.S. doctrine. It marked the moment when the wartime alliance was publicly acknowledged as over and a new confrontation begun. Churchill's warning proved prescient—Europe would remain divided for 43 years until the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.

Background

The metaphor named the Cold War.