Churchill's Iron Curtain and Stalin's Response

Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" Speech at Westminster College in Missouri, March 5, 1946.

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the [European] continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe… All the famous cities and the populations around them lie in the Soviet sphere and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence, but to a very high and increasing measure of control from Russia.

… An attempt is being made by the Russians in Berlin to build up a quasi-Communist party in their zone of Occupied Germany by showing special favours to groups of left-wing German leaders. ...if now the Soviet Government tries, by separate action, to build up a pro-Communist Germany in their areas, this will cause new serious difficulties in the British and American zones, and will give the defeated Germans the power of putting themselves up to auction between the Soviets and the Western Democracies. Whatever conclusions may be drawn from these facts-and facts they are-this is certainly not the Liberated Europe we fought to build up.

I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their powers and doctrines…from what I have seen of our Russian friends…I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength.

CPWH - VII - Churchill Sinews of Peace (Iron Curtain).mp4

Expanded Excerpt

[PART A] It is my duty however, for I am sure you would wish me to state the facts as I see them to you, to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe.

[PART B] From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow….

[PART C] … An attempt is being made by the Russians in Berlin to build up a quasi-Communist party in their zone of Occupied Germany by showing special favours to groups of left-wing German leaders. At the end of the fighting last June, the American and British Armies withdrew westwards, in accordance with an earlier agreement, to a depth at some points of 150 miles upon a front of nearly four hundred miles, in order to allow our Russian allies to occupy this vast expanse of territory which the Western Democracies had conquered.

[PART D] If now the Soviet Government tries, by separate action, to build up a pro-Communist Germany in their areas, this will cause new serious difficulties in the British and American zones, and will give the defeated Germans the power of putting themselves up to auction between the Soviets and the Western Democracies. Whatever conclusions may be drawn from these facts-and facts they are-this is certainly not the Liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace….

[PART E] … On the other hand I repulse the idea that a new war is inevitable; still more that it is imminent. It is because I am sure that our fortunes are still in our own hands and that we hold the power to save the future, that I feel the duty to speak out now that I have the occasion and the opportunity to do so. I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines. But what we have to consider here to-day while time remains, is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries. Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them. They will not be removed by mere waiting to see what happens; nor will they be removed by a policy of appeasement. What is needed is a settlement, and the longer this is delayed, the more difficult it will be and the greater our dangers will become….

Stalin's Response to the "Iron Curtain" Speech, March 14, 1946.

Mr. Churchill now stands in the position of a firebrand[1] of war. And Mr. Churchill is not alone…he has friends…in England…[and] the United States…

As a result of the German invasion, the Soviet Union has irrevocably[2] lost in battles with the Germans…about 7,000,000 people. In other words, the Soviet Union has lost in men several times more than Britain and the United States together. It may be that some…are trying to push into oblivion these sacrifices of the Soviet people which insured the liberation of Europe from the Hitlerite yoke.

But the Soviet Union cannot forget them. One can ask therefore, what can be surprising in the fact that the Soviet Union, in a desire to ensure its security for the future, tries to achieve that these countries should have governments whose relations to Soviet Union are loyal? How can one, without having lost one’s reason, qualify these peaceful aspirations…as “expansionist tendencies” of our Government?

Helpful Definitions

[1] - Firebrand – one who causes unrest and strife

[2] - Irrevocably – cannot be taken back or restored

Source: Pravda interview through the New York Times

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