The Iron Curtain: A Divided Europe

A massive iron curtain literally split Europe in half after World War II. On one side,

you had the West, led by the USA, pushing democracy and capitalism. On the other,

the Soviet Union's Eastern Bloc, enforcing communism and total control. Churchill famously

described this divide, warning of a new oppression descending across the continent. Life behind the

curtain meant censorship and a total lack of freedom. It was a 40-year standoff between

two nuclear-armed superpowers who never fought directly. The city of Berlin became a tiny island

of freedom, a symbol of defiance completely surrounded by communism.