The Geo-politically Important Effects of the Iron Curtain

I am researching the Iron Curtain geographically induced effects on the lives of Europeans and global politics during and after the Cold War. The Iron Curtain is a conceptualization of the ring of influence the Soviet Union used to protect and buffer themselves during the Cold War. This situation came about after the end of World War II. The United States and the Soviet Union, having beat the Nazi regime, began dividing up Europe into two spheres of influence. The two superpowers supported opposing political ideologies; with a communist Eastern bloc supported by the Soviet Union and democratic Western states supported by the United States.

The satellite nations included in the Iron Curtain, which developed into the greater communist USSR, were Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and East Germany. Germany’s Berlin had been split by the heavily guarded Berlin Wall where the Soviets controlled the East and the U.S. controlled the West. This area was a continual place of tension during the war until its destruction in November of 1989. The two other communist countries in the east, Yugoslavia and Albania, supported the Soviet Union but were not directly under their control. 

The Iron Curtain and the Cold War surrounding it had disastrously negative effects on the post war economy, especially in Eastern Europe. The people there faced food shortages, economic stagnation and large-scale political upheaval. When the Soviet Union finally collapsed, a large power vacuum left the Russia Mafia and rampant corruption throughout all levels of government. Despite these setbacks, Russia has been able to negotiate and work their way into a position of economic and political power once again. Some of the governments of the disbanded USSR were able to reap the rewards of globalized trade with Russia, but others have been unable to escape the poverty and governmental instability of their socialist past. I’m choosing to focus on how the effects of the rise and fall of the Iron Curtain, because it is a key piece of history that allows us to understand today’s geopolitics. 

1. How did the Iron Curtain effect the decisions countries made during and after the Cold War?
2. What were the geographically induced differences in development between Eastern and Western Europe?
3. How did events caused or related to the Iron Curtain effect society and economics over time?

“The Soviet Takeover of Eastern Europe - Emerging Superpower Rivalry and Its Consequences, 1945-49 - CCEA - GCSE History Revision - CCEA - BBC Bitesize.” BBC News, BBC, Mar. 2020, www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zgj8fcw/revision/1.

This source is a BBC article with no listed single author. It covers the relationship between emerging superpowers through from World War II to the beginning of the Cold War, with specific focus on the United States and the USSR. The formatting follows a timeline approach covering different portions of the situation at a time. Focus points include the Soviet takeover of Eastern Europe, the buffer zone created, how the United States and their allies responded along with the Europe’s progression into the Cold War. 

This source contributed important information about the timeline of the creation of the Iron Curtain along with important figures and policy along that timeline. This source provided a larger scale of assessment than many others, which was helpful in understanding how seemingly small inciting incidents over time caused an extreme division in Europe. For example, during 1945 – 1948 seven Eastern European governments near the Soviet Union experienced the rise of communism in their governments. Almost all these governments were set up with the aid and collusion of the Soviet government. The Soviets positioned troops in many of these countries or took control of the police and military to promote the spread of communist party interests.

This source then talked about how Western countries like the United States and UK lead the democratic western response vocally before actually instituting policy. In a famous speech during March of 1946, Winston Churchill condemned the Soviet Union for creating an “Iron Curtain as a nonphysical, but distinct, division of Europe. This is another one of the smaller events that lead up the greater divide between Eastern and Western Europe. Another important event that in the long run cemented the division was the United State’s new policy called the Truman Doctrine. Enacted by President Truman, this policy was meant stop the Soviet spread of communism by breaking the United States out of its isolationism and into global evens. This policy lead the United States into financially supporting democratic governments in Western Europe to combat the Soviets. This source points out how many of these events lead up to the greater picture and scope of the oncoming Cold War.

Michelle. “Cold War Instigators by Yuriko Akino - Causes of the Cold War.” Google Sites, 18 Apr. 2012, sites.google.com/a/students.yisseoul.org/causes-of-the-cold-war/cold-war-reflection/coldwarinstigatorsbyyurikoakino.

     This source talked about how the two superpower’s ideologies influenced the military, culture, and economy of foreign countries. As the Soviets expanded power in the east, the encountered short-term military and economic power over a large area. The United States, fresh out of stopping the spread of fascism in World War II, felt threatened by the spread of communism. This cultural division established itself as the divide between the ideological East and West. The line of division was the Iron Curtain of communist Soviet satellite nations. Russia’s geography doesn’t feature landscapes that prevent invasion. Moving armies physically from Germany to Russia was easy from a logistical standpoint. Russia’s response to these concerns was the development of the Iron Curtain as a barrier to not only military threats but ideological ones too. The United States also took up an active response to battle the Soviets accruement of communist lead power. This came in the form of the Truman Doctrine as a new way to view the United States involvement and global support for their ideals. According to this source they specifically wanted to support the fight against communism in Italy, France and Greece.

“Consequences of the Collapse of the Soviet Union.” Norwich University Online, Norwich Private Military College, 2 Oct. 2017, online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/consequences-of-the-collapse-of-the-soviet-union.

This source is an article from Norwich University’s online segment and has no listed author, but a multitude of listed sources. This article is centered around the effects of the Iron Curtain and its deterioration. This source provides an introductory paragraph first to describe how the Soviet Union collapsed from its post WWII position of power. Then it discusses the effects on Eastern economic collapse in terms of foreign trade, crime, and cultural changes. After this, it describes how the United States leveraged themselves into global power using the fall of the Soviet Union.

This source taught me about how the Soviet Union’s economically induced collapse led to a domino effect of eastern European countries dismantling their pro-Soviet governments, sometimes through force. Though all former communist leaders of the eastern bloc had been replaced by 1990, the 20 years of Soviet economic stagnation along with political and cultural upheaval caused significant damage to economies with drops of up to 20% in gross national product. The economic collapse was rooted in Soviet economic activity and political failures. In 1998 62% of Soviet trade was with socialist countries, most in their eastern European sphere of influence. Gorbachev, who took Soviet office in 1985, failed to live up to his promises of economic reform caused the economy to fully collapse.

The article talked about the effect of this deterioration on the systems of eastern Europe. With the power vacuum open, the Russian Mafia filled the power void leading to a drastic increase in organized crime and corruption. The Mafia gave ex-Soviet soldiers, police and KGB members steady employment and use of their skills. Soviet Satellite countries experienced varying effects as state with natural resources, like Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan’s oil, led to growing economies through new export options. Others, like Armenia and Tajikistan remain politically unstable with high rates of poverty. This source helped illustrate how the economies of the Soviet Union and their satellite states were affected by the fall of the Soviet Union. This along with the relative economic recovery of western Europe and the United States’ new global power shows a striking geographical divide. 

Menand, Louis. “Bloc Heads.” The New Yorker, 5 Nov. 2012, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/11/12/bloc-heads.

In this New York Times article by Louis Menand, the political and social dynamics of progressive Soviet totalitarianism in Poland and Eastern Europe and is examined in conjunction with information from Anne Applebaum’s book; Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe. This book illuminates, through primary sources and first-hand accounts, the Poles and other Eastern European states’ struggle under imposed communist life. Using a combination of Applebaum’s primary sources and historical knowledge, Menand makes the claim that Soviet controlled countries during and after WWII underwent a totalitarian experimental societal transformation for over four decades. During this time the US and linked forces failed to help or sometimes even acknowledge the plight of these states. This source contributes a critical look at the United States actions and politicking during the Iron Curtain’s existence while still including information about social change in the Eastern Bloc.

           This source gave information on the way invasion forces treated the residents of invaded territory. Though the Iron Curtain came into existence post WWII, the foundation of the oppression of the Eastern Bloc began earlier. In 1939 after making a deal with Hitler, the Soviet’s invaded eastern Poland looting and systematically exterminating Polish. In the end over 1.2 out of 13 million Poles were arrested and deported to the USSR. These people were Polish elites or other “threats” such as members of the Police reserve corps. In western Poland, the Nazi’s exterminated Jews, constructed death camps and plundered. In 1941 Germany Invaded eastern Poland and the Soviet Union nearly overrunning Moscow, along with invasions of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. As the Red Army pushed back, they reinvaded these countries and “liberated” them, plundering everything of value. The Red Army, with the exception of Bulgaria, was responsible for two million raped women in their conquest of what would become the Eastern Bloc. 

The article spoke about the Soviets’ open desire for eastern European control as they installed puppet governments and eliminated all political opposition through election rigging, assassination, imprisonment, and intimidation tactics. President Truman of the US, who had adopted the policy “to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”, continued to be non-interventional. The United States even failed to protest or prevent the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961, which physically represented the very real divide between the western and eastern blocs.

Another area of the article illustrated how the Soviet Union attempted to repress all other influences other than the communist party in a systematic and experimental way. In areas like government and religion they were relatively successful. They attempted to subdue the Catholic Church’s power by nationalizing religious institutions and their members through blackmail, harassment, and bribery. Local social elites, who embodied the ideals and values of the communist party, were left to govern civil society. Some areas, often artistically based, were harder to control like film and music. Soviets forced Hungary’s large (at the time) film industry to produce socialist films under strict watch, however this censorship failed to prevent filmmakers from using concepts to display messages. They Soviet Union also found it difficult to prevent their youth from listening to rock and roll, which was heavily disseminated by US founded resources.This source gave me insight into how the people east of the Iron Curtain were treated by invasion forces and occupying totalitarian regimes. This information is relevant to the historically slow development of eastern European states’ economies and infrastructure. 

Puiu, Tibi. “The Inglorious Legacy of the 'Iron Curtain' in 20 Maps.” ZME Science, 8 Oct. 2018, www.zmescience.com/science/maps-iron-curtain-legacy-042323/.

This source described the events of the end of WWII that lead to the creation of the iron curtain in a moderate amount of detail. The article, however, focused on how Europe has changed and looked since the foundation of the iron curtain. They cover the topics of population change in Germany, satellite imagery of Germany and Europe, economic trends, technological advancements, population quality of life, human rights, and migration. The authors use 20 different maps throughout the article to articulate and explain these topics.

The maps also illustrated the East/West divides in in health care, birth rates and other measures of human health and happiness. The general trend for most of these maps was that Western Europe is great strides ahead of the Eastern sections. For example, no country under previous Soviet control reported happiness rates higher than 30%, other than a small portion of southern Poland. Between 2006-2008, no area east of Germany has experienced a fertility rate higher than 2 until you get to Turkey, with the exclusion of Nordic countries. These topics discussed in this article are highly relevant to topics from this class, as it relates migration, cultural and political control, and human wellness to geography through maps. 

Scott, Patrick. “An Iron Curtain of Social Views Is Still Evident in Europe, Poll Shows.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 31 Oct. 2018, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/31/iron-curtain-social-views-still-evident-europe-poll-shows/.

In this article authored by Patrick Scott, current politics and social views in Europe are compared in reference to the historical Iron Curtain divide in the Cold War. The article addresses statistics and polls on topics like same-sex marriage, cultural values and the degree of belief in God. The authors point is to show how western European countries tend to be more progressive while eastern European countries tend to be more nationalistic and conservative.

Differences in same-sex marriage viewpoints were interesting to learn about. The polling, which was carried out between 2015 to 2017 covered 56,000 adults in 34 European states. Western states showed high approval for same-sex marriage with no western states showing a majority against it. The lowest approval ratings were in Italy and Portugal at 59%, but most were higher like Sweden with an 88% approval rating. These viewpoints seem to be present in younger populations too. Aside from Ireland and Italy, the western European nations polls showed less than one in five 18-34 year olds apposed same-sex marriage. Conversely, the majority Eastern Europeans of this age group opposed it.

It was also interesting to learn about the differences in how countries see themselves. When asked if they agree with “Our people are not perfect, but our culture is superior to others”, Russia and the Balkan states (Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia and Romania) scored particularly high at 60% or more. Greece did however have the highest score at 89%. The Western states had more modest results. Divides in religious and “preordained fate” beliefs and were another issue area the article discussed that adhered to a generally west vs east pattern. Not only were Eastern countries more inclined to believe in god but also had higher rates of certainty. Most previously Soviet controlled states had a 65% or higher portion of the population believe in preordained fate/destiny.

Runyon, Jennifer. “The Coal Curtain: Why Eastern Europe Will Be Slower to Adopt Renewable Energy.” Renewable Energy World, 14 Jan. 2020, www.renewableenergyworld.com/2019/09/27/the-coal-curtain-why-eastern-europe-will-be-slower-to-adopt-renewable-energy/.

This article illustrates the geographic differences in the development of renewable energy between Eastern and Western Europe since the Iron Curtain. The author, Tomas Demcak, talks about how a proverbial “coal curtain” is following similar geographical divides elevated by the Cold War. He talks about how Eastern Europe’s need for economic progress alongside their strong mining industries present roadblocks to renewable energy. Points are also made about how the UN’s Paris Agreement commitment may be unrealistic.

     The article talks about the some of the hinderances to renewable energy development Eastern Europe is facing. One is the West can much more easily afford the high implementation and initial investment costs of infrastructure. Additionally, Eastern European countries’ economies are often largely reliant on mining natural resources like coal. Changing energy production for the East will have more significant economic consequences than the West, as unemployment will be much higher in the East. Eastern Europe, despite some economic failings, has an updated diverse power grid coming from various sources like nuclear, water and gas. These resources can’t be outright abandoned as their countries already needs all the energy they produce.

     The article shows how the EU’s overall commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020 is disproportionately more difficult for the East. Slovakia, for example, uses nuclear and hydropower for a large portion of their energy. Both of these are not included in the EU’s greenhouse gas reduction mandate. When thinking about how progress can be made in the future, the East will have to embrace a complex solution based of context. Using AI to optimize energy use, proper subsidies implementation and understanding the differing capabilities of Western and Eastern Europe are the author’s proposed paths to proper energy production.

My research into the the impact of the Iron Curtain showed me one crucial finding; the previously Soviet controlled Eastern Europe has suffered more under Cold War conditions and as a result developed slower economically and socially. The root cause of this geographical division was the ideological war between the Western led United States and the Soviet led communist East. Russia in a strategic attempt to buffer the homeland, used the surrounding states as military and ideological buffers from the democratic West. After WWII, Europe's economy and infrastructure was devastated including the Soviet Union. The West, supported by a physically unaffected United States rebuilt using stimulus packages and globalized trade. Eastern Europe received no such support and was pulled into the USSR's Cold War economic demise. This has caused countries East of the Iron Curtain to struggle with economic growth and social modernization.

Learning about this topic has related significantly to the idea of "imagined geographies" and regions. While the Cold War border between East and West was policed, it represented a division of ideological identity and politics at a global scale. In a smaller sense of scale the struggles of subjugated European people's and their stories apply to nations, communities and families. Issues of forced migrations relating to geopolitics were also a heavily present aspect of my research. What I can claim about my topic in reference to Geographies of the Western world is that War and occupation, change nearly every aspect of life for resident peoples. I can also claim that despite moments of failure, Western ideals like democracy have presented countries with the opportunity of choice. Communist and socialist regimes may make conceptual arguments, however, forcefully imposing the implementation of these ideologies can have drastically negative consequences.