12 Incredible Facts About The Cuban Missile Crisis
During World War II 1939 1945 German Nazis took over many European countries When Germany lost the war the Nazis were pushed out of these countries Nazi controlled governments schools and businesses had to be rebuilt Europe was divided into eastern and western sections This division was called the iron curtain The United States Great Britain and Canada helped Western European countries rebuild The Soviet Union aided Eastern European countries The iron curtain didn’t just divide countries It divided how people lived Like the Soviets the new governments in Eastern European countries were communist In a communist government the government owns everything So in Eastern Europe governments owned all the businesses and farms They controlled schools and the news The people living there had no freedom of speech They could not own property Some people in Eastern Europe wanted the freedom of noncommunist countries After World War II much of Europe was left in ruins EUROPE IS DIVIDED AFTER WWII 1 4
Communist governments fenced borders to keep people in Soldiers manned guard towers on the borders People who tried to cross into noncommunist countries illegally were oftentimes shot But the iron curtain wasn’t just a physical division It symbolized the hostility between two ways of life CHURCHILL NAMES CURTAIN On March 5 1946 Winston Churchill spoke at Westminster College in Fulton Missouri Churchill had been the prime minister of Great Britain He talked about keeping people safe from war and unfair governments He spoke about the right to live in freedom He said an iron curtain had fallen across Europe He was the first person to use this term to describe the situation there 4,225 Length in miles 6,799 km of the iron curtain After World War II Europe was split into western and eastern sections Western Europe was aided by the United States Great Britain and Canada The Soviet Union helped Eastern Europe rebuild The iron curtain was the border between communist Eastern Europe and noncommunist Western Europe The Soviet Union supplied Berlin Germany with a shipment of butter among other aid 5
The effects of the iron curtain spread worldwide The Soviet Union and the United States became fierce rivals They competed to recruit other countries to their side If a country appeared to be adopting a communist government the Western powers issued a threat If a country favored the West the communists threatened it The two sides spied on each other Neither side wanted a real war like World War II had been Instead they fought a war of words Western leaders spoke out against the communists They warned people about the communist threat Communist leaders told people that the West was the enemy This was called the Cold War a struggle with no fighting Countries around the world took sides In 1949 the western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO An attack on one NATO country would bring the others into the fight In 1955 the communist countries created the Warsaw Pact An attack on one member in the Pact would be an attack on all It also set up one military force under the Soviet Union Tension built on both sides of the Cold War 12 Number of countries that founded NATO The United States and the Soviet Union were rivals in the Cold War In 1949 some noncommunist western nations formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO In 1955 communist countries created the Warsaw Pact WORLD WAGES COLD WAR 2 6
NATO countries Warsaw Pact Countries Neutral Countries Europe during the Cold War 7
