Introduction
In March 1946, Winston Churchill made his now famous speech at Fulton in Missouri declaring that ‘an iron curtain has descended across the continent’. At that point, the physical division of Europe had not yet been solidified but the ideological battle lines were being drawn. It would not be long before ‘Iron Curtain’ became an appropriate phrase to describe the divide between East and West during the Cold War.
The communist takeover of Eastern Europe
By 1947 every Eastern European state, with the exception of Czechoslovakia, had communist regimes imposed upon them by the Soviets. Political opponents were suppressed, elections were rigged and all other parties were disbanded. Yugoslavia was the only state which actually voted in a communist government, due to the popularity of Marshal Tito. In 1948, Czechoslovakia was also taken over by the communists with help and encouragement from Stalin. Soviet divisions occupying Austria were moved up to the border with Czechoslovakia, effectively closing off Eastern Europe from the West. When the Iron Curtain was complete it stretched 6,800km from the north of Finland to the Black Sea.
Germany and the Iron Curtain
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The Iron Curtain had a profound impact on Germany. The country was divided between East and West, with Berlin deep inside East Germany. Berlin itself was also divided between East and West and became an important focal point for the Cold War. The first major crisis occurred in 1948.
In June 1948 a new currency, the Deutschmark, was introduced in West Berlin. It was intended to aid recovery and stabilise the economy. The already tense atmosphere deteriorated as the contrast between East and West Berlin was highlighted. Stalin was unhappy about an island of capitalism prospering within East Germany. He responded by cutting off all road, rail and canal links into West Berlin; power supplies were also severed. He wanted to starve the Western allies out of Berlin, but they were determined to hold on.
Over the next ten months, the Western allies airlifted 2.3 million tons of food, fuel and medical supplies into West Berlin on 277,500 flights. By May 1949, the Soviets had to admit that the blockade had failed. The crisis brought home the fact that Germany would be a divided country for the foreseeable future. Without any chance of reconciliation, separate governments were set up in Germany – the German Federal Republic (West) and the German Democratic Republic (East).
From 1945, large numbers of people, averaging about 200,000 a year, had fled East Germany for West Berlin. It was an embarrassment to the Soviets but they could not force the Western allies out of the city. In August 1961, the Berlin Wall was erected to stop the exodus, stretching for 28 miles across the city. Although the Berlin Wall became an enduring symbol of the Cold War, it was the Intra-German border that actually separated East and West Germany.
The British in Germany
In August 1945, the 21st Army Group was re-designated into the British Army of the Rhine or BAOR. It consisted of 80,000 men who were initially tasked with controlling the occupied zones and overseeing post-war reconstruction in Germany.
But as the Cold War progressed, it evolved into a defence force against a possible attack from the Soviets. Between 1947 and 1948, BAOR was restructured and reduced. After NATO was formed in 1949, BAOR was designated as the British land force contribution in Western Europe.
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In addition to military personnel, there was also a large British civilian population in Germany. It was mainly based around British military barracks focussed in the Ruhr area. The Anglicised settlements had their own shops, entertainment and even radio stations.
Life behind the Iron Curtain
For most in the West, life behind the Iron Curtain was shrouded in secrecy. Travel to and from Eastern Europe was restricted and required negotiating not just the physical barriers, but also a great deal of bureaucracy. There were instances when individuals managed to escape from the communist regimes, but such attempts were very risky and without any guarantee of success. Having any kind of sympathy or connection with the West was actively discouraged and could even be dangerous, especially in Romania.
It was harder for the Soviets to prevent news of major events in Eastern Europe from reaching the West, for example the Hungarian Uprising in October 1956. The moderate leader Imre Nagy had began a process of liberalisation and tried to declare Hungarian neutrality and withdrawal from the Warsaw Pact. This was unacceptable to the Soviets and in November they sent 15 army divisions and 4,000 tanks into Hungary. Hungarians thought that the West would send help but the risk of prompting a war was too great. They resisted for nearly two weeks before the Soviets could bring the country under control. Thousands were killed, including Nagy himself, executed in June 1958; thousands more fled to Austria.
The Prague Spring in 1968 was another event which caught the attention of the West. It was in many ways similar to what happened in Hungary. Attempts were made to liberalise the communist system but on 20 August 1968 more than 200,000 Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia and imposed martial law. Czechoslovakia saw very little unrest again until the 1980s.
The travel restrictions and lack of information, combined with flashpoints such as the Hungarian Uprising and the Prague Spring, fuelled the suspicion and hostility the West had towards the Soviet Union throughout the Cold War. The Iron Curtain not only kept Eastern Europeans in, but it also ensured that East and West could not have any kind of relationship until communism collapsed in the 1980s.
