Der eiserne Vorhang (German), the iron curtain (English), le rideau defer (French). This expression was given life by the iron curtain used earlier in the theater, which, in order to protect the auditorium from fire, was lowered onto the stage in case of ... ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions

- "IRON CURTAIN", Russia, ROLAND BYKOV/ROSCOMKINO FOUNDATION, 1994, color, 241 min. Retro drama in two films. The film "Iron Curtain" is based on an autobiography. The fate of the hero of the tape, Kostya Savchenko, almost completely repeats the post-war fate of the author. ... ... Cinema Encyclopedia

- (iron curtain) The demarcation between Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe and Western Europe. This phrase was first uttered in 1920 by Ethel Snowden, the wife of a British Labor politician, but it was made famous by Winston Churchill, who announced in March ... ... Political science. Vocabulary.

Iron curtain- (Iron Curtain), a common name. borders between Eastern Europe. countries focused on the former. Soviet Union, and zap. no one Mrs. you. In relation to the countries of the Soviet sphere of influence, this term was first introduced into use ... ... The World History

CURTAIN, a, m. Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 ... Explanatory dictionary of Ozhegov

Iron curtain- wing. sl. The iron curtain separating the theater stage and adjacent premises from the auditorium for fire protection purposes was first used in France in Lyon in the late 80s and early 90s of the 18th century. Over the next century... Universal additional practical explanatory dictionary by I. Mostitsky

iron curtain- disapproved. about a policy conditioned by ideological struggle and aimed at isolating some country or group of countries from external relations and influences. This expression was already encountered in the First World War, on December 23, 1919, J. Clemenceau declared during ... ... Phraseology Handbook

1. Public. Unapproved Barriers (usually deliberately created for ideological reasons) that prevent mutual contacts between different countries and create their political isolation. BMS 1998, 200; TS of the 20th century, 228; SHZF 2001, 74; Yanin 2003, 106; BTS, 334 ... Big dictionary of Russian sayings

"Iron curtain"- the regime of isolation of the socialist camp. The idea belongs to Churchill, who spoke on March 5, 1946 in Fulton (USA) with a warning about the threat of communist expansion in Europe ... Geoeconomic dictionary-reference book

iron curtain- On a policy aimed at isolating a country or a group of countries from external relations ... Dictionary of many expressions

Books

• Roll call across the Iron Curtain, . "... One of the most remarkable women of the beginning of the 20th century, refined and cultured, imbued with the trends of the Renaissance," Nikolai Berdyaev called Yevgenia Kazimirovna Gertsyk. Poet's sister...
• Solutions. My life in politics. When the Iron Curtain Came Down (set of 2 books), . The publication contains the books "Decisions. My Life in Politics" by G. Schroeder and "When the Iron Curtain Collapsed" by E. Shevardnadze…

They are closed for Russians, in the West, as it turned out, they are enemies, the security forces are ordered not to travel abroad, politicians are not allowed to go there. Moreover, they tightened currency exchange and control over foreign accounts. All this makes us think about the prospects for real freedom of movement of our fellow citizens across the border. We decided to remember how the Soviet "Iron Curtain" fell over Russia. And you can make comparisons yourself.

Once upon a time, the "Iron Curtain" could even be felt with your hands. A long time ago, such a metal structure was used in theaters: in the event of a fire on the stage, a special metal curtain fell, which blocked the audience in the hall from the raging flame. However, initially a purely technical term over the past 90 years has been used in a completely different interpretation. In reference books, this phrase is called a political metaphor, implying the political, economic and cultural isolation of the country (in this case, the USSR) from other states.

The right to be called the inventor of the winged expression could be challenged by several people. One of them is the Russian philosopher Vasily Rozanov, who in 1917, in his book “The Apocalypse of Our Time”, expressed the opinion that after the October Revolution, an iron curtain descended over Russian history, like in a theater, “with a clang, a creak”.

Soon the same metaphor for the isolation of communist Russia was used in a speech at the Paris Peace Conference by then Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau.

This phrase was most loudly heard in the famous Fulton speech of the British Prime Minister Churchill, which he delivered in 1946, and which marked the beginning of the decades of the Cold War.

In reality, the "Iron Curtain" descended around the world's first state of workers and peasants in the mid-1920s. Since then, for the vast majority of people living in the "Red", all other states have become an inaccessible mirage.

It was impossible to get to it: the border was locked. The only exceptions were rare lucky ones - diplomats, scientists, musicians, high-class engineers ... And also the "Stalin's falcons" - Soviet pilots who became famous for their unique extra-long flights. (In 1937, the ANT-25 aircraft, controlled by a crew under the command of Valery Chkalov, managed to fly from the USSR through the North Pole to America. Three pilots - Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov - for this feat, in addition to state awards, also received a thousand US dollars, for which they purchased in the same place, in the United States, miracles of technology unprecedented for the USSR - household refrigerators and "fancy" American radios.)

Valery Chkalov

The case of citizen Lebedev

Former gentlemen - "exploiters", "bourgeois scientists", "adherents of hostile ideologies", who even before the advent of the "Iron Curtain" managed to go into exile (and some of them were almost kicked there by the new government from the Land of Soviets), could now savor your luck.

Well, those who hesitated to leave the cordon, henceforth had to put up with the situation of eternally persecuted second-class people for the rest of their lives. Or try to find some "exclusive" ways to leave the "Bolshevik paradise".

Some have tried to do it semi-legally. For example, the heiress of the famous merchant dynasty, Vera Ivanovna Firsanova (who owned the Petrovsky Passage and the Sandunovsky baths in Moscow before the revolution) managed to get from Belokamennaya to Moscow in 1928 with a theater troupe that went abroad on tour. In order for such a journey to become possible, Firsanova had to join the staff of the theater's technical staff - either in the wardrobe department, or in the prop shop ... Naturally, such a metamorphosis of the eminent merchant's wife could not have happened if it were not for the generous remuneration received from her by someone then from the theater administration.

Vera Firsanova

Once in France, Vera Ivanovna stayed there. And a few years later she tried to rescue her husband Viktor Lebedev from Russia. An official appeal to the Soviet embassy unexpectedly gave a favorable result. In 1932, all the necessary documents for leaving the USSR were issued for Viktor Nikolayevich, he even bought tickets for an express train from to Western Europe ... Was such a “happy ending” really possible in the “country of the Chekists”? The subsequent course of events showed that this was only an illusion.

In the morning on the eve of departure, citizen V.N. Lebedev was found strangled in his apartment. The money and jewelry that he had with him, prepared for transportation abroad, disappeared. They didn’t even try to look for the villains who committed this crime, and “heart attack” was indicated as the cause of death in the medical report. (I wonder if any of the valiant OGPU officers were awarded for a successful operation to prevent the export of Lebedev's capital from the country?).

In those years, of course, there were also attempts to illegally cross the border. The classics of this genre were immortalized in the finale of their famous novel The Golden Calf by Ilf and Petrov. They described Ostap Bender's attempt to cross the cordon right across the virgin snow, with cash capital, prudently "converted" into liquidity - a luxurious fur coat, golden cigarette cases and "trinkets" ...

The end of this operation for the Grand Combiner turned out, as we remember, very sad. Although, in reality, some of his followers still succeeded in such operations... However, in fairness, it must be said that many of the illegal immigrants simply died when they tried to cross the border - they drowned in rivers, froze, ran into bullets from border guards...

The certificate, prepared in 1930, mentions that in the first six months alone, on the northwestern section of the border, the Chekists suppressed more than 20 attempts to illegally leave the USSR, in which 7 violators of the border regime were killed.

Record holder Kanafiev

Cases of flight and attempted flight of Soviet citizens behind the "Iron Curtain" were regularly noted in the post-war years.

The most resonant became, of course, the stories associated with the hijacking. The first such "air breakthrough" was a terrorist act carried out in 1970. Two Lithuanians, the father and son of Brazinskasa, hijacked an An-24 aircraft with 46 passengers on board, performing a regular Batumi-Sukhumi flight. During the hijacking of the plane by the Brazinskas, 19-year-old flight attendant Nadezhda Kurchenko was killed, two crew members and one passenger were injured. The airliner hijacked by criminals landed in Trabzon, Turkey. After serving two years in prison for their "feat", the Brazinskas subsequently managed to move to America.

Pranas Brazinskas

For the followers of these two Lithuanians, attempts to “fly away” from the USSR on a plane with captured hostages ended in most cases unsuccessfully: they were either “taken” on the ground by the fighters of our special detachments, or returned from other countries to their homeland as a result of diplomatic negotiations.

There were other, more original cases of attempts by Soviet citizens to overcome the Iron Curtain.

Surprising perseverance in his desire to escape "from the Scoop" was shown by a resident of Simferopol Alexander Kanafiev. In the late 1970s - mid-1980s, he tried several times to "go to the West." The idea of ​​trying to get to the Turkish shores along the Black Sea in an inflatable boat almost ended in his death, but the 25-year-old graduate of the Faculty of Physical Education did not leave his dream.

Some time later, he managed to "leak" through the Soviet-Romanian border and even get to the capital - but there he was detained by the Romanian special services and handed over to the Russian side.

Alexander still managed to escape ... And almost immediately he again attempted to cross the border - this time from the Azerbaijan SSR to, but then the border guards quickly "tied up" the malicious violator.

Such a stubborn unwillingness of a young man to build a “bright communist future” together with all Soviet citizens was regarded as a clear sign of mental illness, and Alexander spent the next few years in compulsory treatment in one of the psychiatric special institutions. Coming out of it, in the summer of 1986 he once again risked crossing the Soviet-Romanian border. On the territory of the "fraternal socialist country" he was again detained and returned to the Soviet side. Alexander's "reward" for another test of the "Iron Curtain" for strength was a prison term, which was shortened only by the perestroika that gained momentum in the country.

A lot of commotion was caused in the summer of 1959 by the flight "to the capitalists" of the Soviet Baltic officer Nikolai Artamonov. When the latest destroyer destroyer “Crushing” was stationed in the Polish port of Gdynia, its commander Captain III rank Artamonov, taking advantage of the opportunity, fled with his Polish mistress to Sweden - right on the command boat.

At the same time, in order for the sailor-minder to fulfill his order, the captain took a pistol from his holster and threatened the sailor that he would shoot him. (A noteworthy touch to this story: when the boat reached one of the Swedish ports, Artamonov got out with his companion on the shore, and ordered the sailor to return back to the destroyer, since he supposedly "has nothing to do in the West.")

The defector immediately found himself under the tutelage of the CIA. Soon he received an American passport in the name of Nicholas George Shadrin and worked for 7 years in the analytical unit of American intelligence. The KGB officers, having come on the trail of a traitor, managed to recruit him, but later the ex-captain was suspected of a double game and decided to take him to Soviet territory. In the winter of 1975, the Chekists conducted a special operation: under a plausible pretext, they lured Artamonov to, and there, after injecting him with a certain drug, and bringing him into an unconscious state, they took him to Russia, hiding him in a car. However, the former captain of the III rank did not live to see the investigators at the Lubyanka: he died of an overdose of "disabling" agents shortly after crossing the Austrian-Czechoslovak border.

relatives for sale

From the 1970s, let's fast forward again 40-50 years ago.

Keeping citizens out of the country is, of course, a good way to protect the self-sufficiency of the young Soviet state, but troublesome and unprofitable. It is necessary to monitor, stop, commit “actions of coercive influence”, search for and confiscate valuables prepared for export over the cordon ... It is quite another matter for former Russians who have emigrated and are eager to get their less fortunate relatives out of the “Sovdepiya”. - These are ready to pay money for the salvation of loved ones. And all that remains for Soviet officials is to draw up papers, enter the appropriate ransom amounts in them, and receive currency for the Land of Soviets.

So some residents of the USSR turned into completely free "export goods". Such a profitable business, however, was very reminiscent of the slave trade and the “remnants of serfdom”, which were unanimously condemned by all revolutionaries. However, the Bolshevik rulers were not particularly scrupulous when it came to serious material benefits. They simply covered up such deals.

Very little is known about this article of Soviet "deliveries" abroad. However, thanks to the help of the Moscow history researcher Valery Lyubartovich, the author of these lines has the opportunity to acquaint the readers of "MK" with documents relating to the history of the ransom of the family of the Russified German Roman Prove from communist captivity.

Before the revolution, Roman Ivanovich Prove was known as one of the reputable Moscow entrepreneurs, he was on the boards of several large banks. Even after the December uprising of 1905, he - away from sin - transferred the bulk of the capital abroad, and in 1917, when the Bolsheviks seized power, he hurried to leave for.

But in Soviet Russia, the daughter of Roman Ivanovich (who became Rudolf in the "nemetchina"), Evgenia, who was married to the nobleman Nikolai Redlich, remained. In the very first years of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Redlich family was evicted from their mansion in the center of Moscow, and a few years later, Evgenia Romanovna's husband was completely arrested as a "socially alien element." Perhaps for the elder Redlichs and their seven children, the matter would have ended very sadly if in 1933 Herr Prove had not applied through the USSR Embassy to the Soviet authorities with an official request to allow his daughter and her relatives to leave for permanent residence in Germany.

Such a statement did not in the least embarrass the responsible comrades in charge of foreign and domestic affairs in the Soviet people's commissariats. So what if Nikolai Redlich was arrested and convicted?! So what if this family goes to a country where fascism came to power?! - The main thing is that they pay good money for them!

The archives of the great-granddaughter of Rudolf Prove preserved papers drawn up more than 80 years ago when organizing the Redlichs' departure from Russia. This entire commercial operation was organized (apparently, for greater secrecy!) through the Berlin office of Intourist.

In a paper dated June 7, 1933, all the "overhead costs" associated with sending Evgenia Romanovna's family from the "bright kingdom of socialism" "under the heel of the brown plague" are scrupulously described.

Here, for example, for each of the older children, 1479 Reichsmarks had to be paid, of which 151 marks went to pay for travel in the third-class carriage of the Moscow-Berlin train, another 134 marks "with kopecks" were intended as compensation to the intermediary - "Intourist", well, the main part - 1194 Reichsmarks 26 pfennigs - was actually a ransom. (However, formally, this very impressive amount at that time was supposed to be transferred to the Soviet side, allegedly for issuing a passport.)

It should be noted that the “humanists” from the USSR in this case approached the assessment of citizens sold to the West in a differentiated way. Compared to adult family members, for minors, Andreas and Natalia were asked for half the price! (Truly, the market approach: these, large, - five, but these - small, but three!)

As a result, taking care of saving the daughter's family cost Rudolf Prove almost 12 thousand Reichsmarks. (In terms of the current price level, this amounts to an impressive amount - about 250 thousand dollars.) However, it should be recognized that the Bolsheviks honestly worked out the currency they received. - Already four months after the deal was closed, Herr Prove met his beloved Zhenya with her husband and children at the Berlin railway station.

As Valery Lyubartovich said, a similar story happened in the Osorgins family. Her husband, Georgy Osorgin, died in the Solovki camp in the autumn of 1929. And his wife Alexandra Mikhailovna, nee Princess Golitsyna, was redeemed a year later, along with two small children, by her relatives who settled in Paris. By the way, one of these children exchanged for currency, Mikhail Osorgin, later became a priest and for more than two decades was the rector of the Russian Orthodox Church in Rome. But what did they spend the money received by the Soviet side for the future shepherd of human souls?.. - Well, this currency, perhaps, also went to a good cause. Useful, for example, for the purchase of machine tools or medical equipment.

This terrible Rush

On the other side of the "Iron Curtain" were also going on - through his "fault" - curious things. In many leading capitalist countries, the local residents were diligently protected from the “communist infection” that could seep from the Soviet side.

In Canada, England, the Scandinavian countries very selectively allowed the penetration of objective information about life in the USSR - our films, books, magazines, pictures telling about Rush were offered to people in the West in very small quantities. (On the other hand, the production of American action films was launched on a large scale, where the main negative characters were the Bolshevik murderous monsters, ruthless Russian military leaders, insidiously trying to destroy the countries of “true democracy” ...) Tours in the USSR were not encouraged: potential travelers were told all sorts of horrors about that what dangers and hardships await civilized Europeans in "Red Russia". As a result, those who nevertheless went on an “extreme voyage” to the Soviet Union, having returned safely from there, acquired the halo of real heroes in the eyes of their compatriots.

Another very indicative, but little-known fact, which happened to be heard from Alexander Plevako, the former editor-in-chief of the Foreign Broadcasting of the USSR (more often called Moscow Radio by listeners).

- We are talking about broadcasting from the Soviet Union to an audience in the United States, - said Alexander Sergeevich. “The Americans like to say that, unlike the Soviets who jammed the Voice of America, they never interfered with our radio transmissions from Moscow. However, it is not. They just found another, not as obvious as the work of "jammers", a way to isolate most of their citizens from Soviet propaganda. Moscow Radio has always broadcast its programs on short waves, and for many years in America they deliberately slowed down the production of short-wave radios. They were produced in small quantities and were very expensive ...

The "Iron Curtain" began to gradually "dilapidate" along with a decrease in the intensity of the passions of the "cold war". At the end of the 1980s, when Gorbachev's Perestroika was in full swing in the USSR, it collapsed and crumbled.

This expression, of course, is figurative, metaphorical. However, behind it are real historical events, broken destinies, international tension for many decades.

Iron Curtain: origins and essence

No matter how one relates today to what was committed by the Bolsheviks, the title of the book by the American journalist D. Reed, who happened to be in Moscow these days, remains relevant - "Ten Days That Shook the World." It is the world, and not only Russia. From that moment on, the world seems to be splitting into two opposing camps, into two irreconcilable systems - socialism and capitalism. And the gulf between them is not just deep - it continues to deepen further.

One of the first to use the expression "Iron Curtain" in one of the essays of 1930 was the Soviet writer Lev Nikulin. During World War II, it was in the language of Dr. Joseph Goebbels, who was in charge of propaganda and ideology in the Third Reich. However, the expression entered the broad political lexicon after it was heard in the speech of the British Prime Minister W. Churchill, which he delivered in 1946, while in the small provincial town of Fulton.

What is the "iron curtain" in the language of journalism? This is the conscious desire of the totalitarian state, which at that time was the Soviet Union, to separate itself from pernicious and harmful influences from outside. Everything coming "from there" was declared hostile in spirit and therefore subject to the speediest eradication. What was the iron curtain fraught with for the Soviet citizens themselves? Many.

First, there are restrictions on movement. Only a few lucky ones managed to break out to the West, and then mostly accompanied by secret agents of the special services dressed in civilian clothes. It was more realistic to get into "friendly socialist countries" - Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia - but after several trips, Soviet citizens were disappointed: much was similar and similar to a well-known reality, except perhaps cheaper and better. Secondly, the restrictions affected leisure activities.

Rallies and demonstrations on May 1 and November 7 - that, in essence, what the decaying system could offer. Both the authorities and the citizens demonstrated mutual hypocrisy: they say that everything is wonderful here, we have built developed socialism, and now we are moving forward with leaps and bounds, towards the final victory of communism. In fact, the system is hopelessly rotten, and all frantic attempts to revive it and breathe new life into it by one of the last General Secretaries of the CPSU Central Committee - were obviously hopeless.

Thirdly, Soviet citizens were extremely constrained in the choice of food and clothing. The last years of Soviet power were remembered for empty counters, gigantic queues for essential goods, and the introduction of a system of coupons. The visible symbol of the "Iron Curtain" can be considered the Berlin Wall, which divided the previously united country into the GDR and the FRG. And only in the late 80s. the wall collapsed, Germany became united. And soon it cracked at the seams and went down in history and. "Evil Empire", as the then American President R. Reagan called it. After these global changes in the geopolitical map of the world, the world ceased to be bipolar, a field of confrontation between the two superpowers.

• If you believe the notorious Wikipedia, then in the medieval theater there really was an iron curtain - without any quotes. Well, it means that the direct meaning of the word was gradually replaced by a figurative one. And the blame for everything is politics and conjuncture.

Most of the people, one way or another, heard about the concept of "iron curtain". For some, "Iron Curtain" is an expression that does not evoke much emotion or thought. But there are numerous negative events associated with this concept. In this article, we will consider its significance from a historical as well as a political point of view.

Winston Churchill: about the "Iron Curtain"

It is believed that for the first time the concept of the "Iron Curtain" was mentioned in the early 1900s, but it was fixed a little later. On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill delivered a speech that could be regarded as an outright provocation. To be more precise, a clear connection was created: Churchill - the "Iron Curtain" - a call for a Cold War.

I must say that this speech was really very bold, with advice on the work of the UN, with the proclamation of the United States of America as the greatest state in the world. Naturally, the "Iron Curtain" described hard times for many countries, numerous people and the situation in the world as a whole. And yet, should Churchill have been so open about the superiority of the United States, pushing the country to make mistakes that could aggravate its situation? So what is meant by the "Iron Curtain"? Why did this expression cause mass panic and why is it so dangerous, this curtain?

Relationship deterioration

"Iron Curtain" is a term that denoted certain restrictions in the economic and political sense of different states. After World War II, all countries seemed to be divided into two halves. The "Iron Curtain" in itself meant a ban on leaving the country, a struggle between countries for a position of supremacy, a struggle for armaments. In those days, the position of the USSR was very clearly indicated, which dictated its conditions to different states, and, of course, no one could like this. Someone peacefully bowed his head, and someone only inflamed the Protestant policy, which only aggravated the situation of his state. Everything that came from the West was considered bad and was immediately rejected or forbidden. A so-called list of "friendly countries" was created, which could freely come to the territory of the USSR.

The first mention of the concept of "Iron Curtain"

The year attributed to the creation of this value is 1920. Many believe that as soon as the Soviet Union was created, it was immediately protected from the rest of the world. The original desire of the USSR was the development of both internal and external friendship. The West, on the other hand, believed that the USSR would soon collapse and therefore did not carry any power among other states, did not pose any competition or danger.

However, the USSR was picking up ever-greater growth rates, “standing on its feet” better and stronger, and this could not but excite the West, which not only was not happy with such a Union, but also tried in every possible way to harm it. The consequences of this unrest on the part of the West were very great, and therefore a wide variety of measures began to be taken to destroy the USSR. What exactly began to happen and what results followed?

Origins of the Iron Curtain

The "Iron Curtain" in the USSR as such did not exist. On the contrary, the Soviet Union wanted to destroy the prevailing stereotypes. For this, various figures of art, science, and medicine were called and invited. These citizens were ready to offer high wages, good living conditions on the territory of the USSR.

None of the other states saw any real threat from the Soviet Union. However, the West was very frightened when it saw how strong and powerful this Union is growing, despite all the problems that tried to destroy it. That is why the prerequisites for the largest and most brutal war, which is known to history to this day, began. In the struggle for world supremacy and the consolidation of the position of the “head”, Adolf Hitler spoke out, underestimating the capabilities of the Union of Republics. It was the most brutal and bloody war in the history of mankind, which people have never seen before.

US provocations

Many will think that the "Iron Curtain" in the USSR did not depend on the Second World War at all, but this statement is erroneous. Even though a fierce battle was fought, the intrigues that the states wove had no end.

So, in 1944, the United States makes a provocative statement that the dollar is the only accounting currency, and in April 1945 they kill Franklin Roosevelt, the President of the United States, just because he was friendly to the USSR and Joseph Stalin himself. After just a couple of hours, the place of US President is taken by Harry Truman, who harshly declares his unwillingness to resolve conflicts together with Russia. He says that in the current problem with Japan he sees no point in helping the Soviet Union. There were many such provocations during the war years, but the final result turned out to be exactly what it is.

Stalin's Iron Curtain

What is the policy of the "Iron Curtain" in the USSR? After the end of World War II, Stalin wanted all decisions about Germany to be made under his leadership, but the European communists could not accept this. Often they tried to show independence in making politically important decisions. But Joseph Vissarionovich stopped such attempts and did not let this happen.

The leaders of Yugoslavia tried to create a Balkan Federation, but here too Stalin intervened, deciding to take the initiative into his own hands. Instead of obeying the will of Joseph Vissarionovich, the Yugoslavs showed disobedience, and in 1949 the friendly relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia were terminated. By order of Stalin, all roads were cut off, West Berlin was cut off from electrical supply, food supplies to the rebels were cut off.

Side conflicts

The essence of Stalin's "Iron Curtain" was, for the most part, to subjugate the conquered territories to his influence. Meanwhile, the situation in the world only worsened. The occupation territories of France, England and the United States unified, and a month later an Eastern Republic was formed, the leadership of which was assumed by Walter Ulbricht, appointed by Stalin.

Relations on the Eastern side of the world also worsened. China and Korea started a civil war. Joseph Stalin feared such a situation, since China had every chance of becoming an independent communist center. Only in 1949 diplomatic relations were formalized between the Soviet Union and communist China. For opponents of communist China, the Iron Curtain is no reason to leave the UN. All negotiations on the part of the USSR did not bring success, and as a sign of discontent, the Soviet Union leaves all the organs of the protesting side of China.

Warring Korea

It would seem that at this stage everything was over. But this was only the beginning of a brutal war between North and South Korea. When the diplomats of the Soviet Union dealt with the problems of internal conflicts in China, and the "Iron Curtain" controlled this from the Soviet territories, America sent its troops to the lands of the warring sides of Korea. In turn, the Soviet leadership supported South Korea.

A fierce and bloody war broke out, Seoul, the capital of South Korea, was captured. The internal war between the warring parties led to the fact that Korea was divided into two separate states. The exact fact was that one side adhered to the European path of development, while the other enlisted the support of the Soviet forces. However, the series of protests, conflicts and blockades did not stop there, but continued to spread around the world.

The "Iron Curtain" in Europe caused discontent on all sides. Only if the Soviet Union tried in every possible way to lower it, then the West only aggravated the situation, creating more and more sophisticated conflicts. It is generally accepted that it was the USSR that created the borders and did not let in representatives of third-party states. However, in reality it was far from the case.

The "Iron Curtain" means the isolation of the country in every sense, not only a political blockade, but also a cultural and information one. The western part wanted to protect its territories and citizens from the influence of socialist development. In turn, the Soviet Union also could not ignore such behavior and applied its own methods to solve this situation. After all, such political disputes have brought many problems to ordinary people. There were restrictions in products, goods for other use, as well as in travel outside the country.

"Russian Diary"

In the post-war period, an attempt was made to show the real life of the country ("Iron Curtain", beyond which ordinary people live). In 1947, a book was published with detailed descriptions, sketches and photographs of people living in the USSR. The book is called "Russian Diary", it was created under the authorship of the writer John Steinbeck and with photographs by Robert Capa. These two people came to the Soviet Union and tried to study the life of ordinary people: what they eat, what clothes they wear, how they greet their guests or how they lead their own life.

From the official leading persons, attention was diverted to the side, the authors wanted to reveal the life of ordinary citizens. The Russian Diary showed the true side of the Soviet people, who hated war, dreamed of peace, wished a good future for their children and were not supporters of world conflicts. The Iron Curtain hid this from Western countries, and sometimes gave a false impression of the Soviet Union and its inhabitants.

Destruction of the Iron Curtain

How long could this process of isolation last? How long could the Iron Curtain exist? Sooner or later it had to stop. The "Iron Curtain" in the USSR, whose years were marked by a difficult time for all people, began to weaken in the second half of the 1950s. At that time, marriages with foreigners began to be allowed.

Everyone was already pretty tired of the Cold War, and so the next step in weakening the "Iron Curtain" was the signing of a treaty that required the destruction of some missiles in both states. The USSR withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, and in the late 1980s, the fall of the Berlin Wall took place. In 1991, the collapse of the Soviet Union takes place, and the "Iron Curtain" finally falls, revealing the country's borders. Of course, there were still many fears on both sides that there would be an influx of migrants on both sides of the open borders.

Opening the borders

After the fall of the "Iron Curtain", not only positive changes began to occur, but also not very favorable ones. Of course, as long as the Soviet territories were closed from the rest of the world, it was impossible to travel abroad. And it was forbidden not only to those who wanted to vacation abroad, but also to those who considered studying or working in the West. And even more so, it was forbidden to leave the state for the purpose of living in foreign territories.

Naturally, there were a number of small exceptions, but only for those persons who enjoyed the confidence of the special services. The "Iron Curtain" is a process that lasted for a rather long period of time, and therefore the Soviet borders were opened not immediately, but gradually. What was the negative harm of such openness to the world? Everything is quite simple, the departure of Russian citizens and the arrival of foreigners provoked, first of all, the outflow and inflow of funds from the country. This, in turn, shook the economic situation.

Commodity pluses

The positive consequences of openness to the world cannot be denied. The fall of the Iron Curtain opened up new opportunities for Russian citizens. Many foreign firms began to come and create new jobs with decent wages and new experience. Various goods and services that were previously in short supply began to appear on the Russian market. And now they were available even to people with low incomes.

Also, scientific and medical specialists came to the country, who contributed to the development of relevant industries, shared their skills and unique experience, which was very necessary for the post-Soviet state. High-income people, who then made up about 10-20% of the entire population of the country, received huge benefits from open borders. Now they could buy foreign goods and services that were of the highest quality, and the "Iron Curtain" did not allow even them to do this.

Nowadays

Those times have already passed, but they are very firmly entrenched in Russian history. Nevertheless, these events still haunt modern society. There is an opinion that historical events tend to repeat themselves. The policy of the "Iron Curtain" is being monitored in our time, only now it is clearly visible that an information war is going on. The events that are taking place in Russia and abroad arouse concern both among the heads of state and among ordinary citizens, who feel the conflict of states most of all.

If you ask the younger generation what the Iron Curtain is, it can be difficult. Of course, when you have not witnessed certain events, it is difficult to imagine them. However, if you ask the same question to people born in the era of the late USSR, the answer will immediately follow. After all, they lived during this period, they know firsthand what the notorious Iron Curtain is. We will also try to reveal the veil of secrecy and tell in more detail why it arose when it ceased to exist, and we will also try to answer the rhetorical question - was it even needed?

Background of the Iron Curtain

In 1945 the Second World War ended. Germany was defeated - fascist troops were pursued from all sides - by the Americans and the British from the west, by Soviet soldiers from the east. The countries occupied by the Germans at the very beginning of hostilities were liberated, and not by anyone, but by the Red Army. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary - the peoples received their freedom and the right to life thanks to Russian soldiers. Undoubtedly, the Soviet leadership pursued its own goals in the liberation of these states - it was necessary to create puppet governments that were entirely subordinate to Moscow, but apparently pursued a policy pleasing to citizens.

For the whole world, these countries were democratic, but in reality they were not. In most cases, the right people came to power either through a coup or rigged elections. Soviet agents, "gray cardinals", who were appointed advisers, were in fact scammers, executors of all the "dirty" work to eradicate dissent in the country. All parties, with the exception of the communist party, were dissolved and their activities were strictly prohibited. Thus, by the end of the 1940s, the whole of Eastern Europe was separated from the rest of the European part by the so-called Iron Curtain.

So what is it?

Of course, this should not be taken literally - there was no metal barrier between the states. For the first time the term "Iron Curtain" was used by the British Prime Minister in his speech in Fulton in 1946. However, in fact, this phrase was used much earlier - after the revolution of 1917 and the subsequent Civil War in Russia. The philosopher Vasily Rozanov compared the revolution and the establishment of Soviet power with a theatrical action, after which an iron curtain falls with a creak and clang. There was some truth in his words.

Just the period of the Civil War marked the beginning of the isolation of the young Soviet state (it intensified by the end of the 1930s). In addition, it was believed that the USSR itself contributed to its isolation, because it wanted to develop internally and not depend on external factors. Western countries believed that the life of Soviet Russia was short-lived, so you should not waste your time and energy on it.

However, they miscalculated - the USSR not only did not collapse after the end of the Civil War, but also began to develop at a rapid pace, which could not but disturb the United States and Great Britain. And the Soviet leadership, trying to show that life in the country is good and comfortable, invited many intellectuals from abroad, offering them housing and benefits. So to speak, throw dust in the eyes. But the enemy was not a bastard - the United States did everything to suppress the opponent.

In 1944, the country declares its currency - the dollar - the only settlement, and after the death of Franklin Roosevelt, who was always loyal to the USSR and Joseph Stalin in particular, became president, who said that there could be no joint decisions with the USSR. Of course, such provocations could not go unnoticed by the Russian leadership. And in retaliation, an iron curtain descended on the USSR and its friendly countries (read - conquered again).

What did he represent

To a greater extent, these were restrictions on citizens in one case or another. In 1946, Eastern Europe is called the Eastern bloc (Soviet), which was subject to Moscow's policy (unofficially, of course). What was it? First of all, there were restrictions on leaving the communist country. It was incredibly difficult to go even on vacation to a capitalist country - in most cases, a refusal sounded for a person. The same was true of work in the Soviet bloc - foreign journalists were not allowed or were carefully checked, and the diplomatic corps was minimal.

Stalin went further and emphasized in one of his speeches that communism is superior to capitalism in many ways. In response, Churchill made his famous speech in Fulton, USA, where he noted that “the whole of Eastern Europe, from Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, is hidden behind an iron curtain. All the ancient capitals with world history - Warsaw, Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia - were again conquered by Moscow. This is not the liberated Europe we fought for.”

Of course, the USSR benefited from the communization of the liberated countries - the countries supplied raw materials and industrial resources to Moscow. It was especially difficult for those who participated in the war on the side of Germany - Romania and Hungary. They were forced to sign a humiliating armistice agreement with the Soviet leadership. The already poor countries were plundered. Cars, tons of grain were exported to the USSR. Sometimes entire factories were dismantled and moved to the territory of Russia.

Moreover, the Iron Curtain is not only an entry and exit blockade, but also a cultural one. The Soviet Union carefully monitored what information came to citizens, from where, who was the source. Do not think that it was different in the West - countries also sought to protect residents from the pernicious influence of the communist infection. Any contacts with foreign citizens must be controlled by the authorities. If something did not go according to plan, the Soviet citizen was punished, and quite severely. Let us recall at least the example of the legendary Soviet actress Zoya Fedorova, who paid for love with her career and health.

In 1945, she met the American diplomat Jackson Tate. I got to know each other quite closely. So much so that in January of the following year she gave birth to a daughter from him. Of course, it would be a scandal, and the actress married another (a Soviet citizen, of course) so that the child would be recorded on him. However, everything secret becomes clear, and Fedorova was sentenced to 25 years in the camp for "espionage". The term was reduced, but health was already undermined. The career was never restored.

If someone was able to overcome the Iron Curtain and go abroad, then the Soviet leadership worked out its own answer - deprivation of citizenship and the inability to return to the USSR for the rest of their lives. Thus, many cultural figures - writers, poets, directors, actors - became "defectors". And, of course, the leadership carefully concealed the true state of affairs in the country, showing those foreigners who come to the country a beautiful picture of the good, well-fed life of the Soviet Union.

How long could the curtain exist? It is difficult to say, but it fell already in the late 1980s, when the policy of glasnost was announced in the Union. In 1989, the Berlin Wall fell, and this event, one might say, was the turning point that finally destroyed the Iron Curtain. It became a thing of the past with the fall of the USSR, a country that claimed communism was invincible. However, it only lasted 70 years. But after so many decades of isolation, the new Russia was free. In all senses.

Was he needed? The question is rhetorical. On the one hand, the USSR developed successfully, relying only on its own strength, people lived in equal (if possible) conditions, not knowing what was happening "over the hill". But there were also many restrictions. How many broken destinies and broken families happened because of the Iron Curtain. Therefore, let everyone answer for himself - was he needed, or is this another whim of the Soviet leadership?