The Brilliance of the Iron Curtain

Winston Churchill was not the first to use the phrase “Iron Curtain,” but his use of this metaphor popularized it. And its popularity created the frame that Western culture would view the Cold War through even to the present.

Leaving after the "Sinews of Peace" Speech

An “iron curtain” was an actual iron curtain in 19^th century theatres. At the first sign of any kind of fire, a curtain made of iron would be dropped between the stage and the audience to give the patrons the chance to flee. An iron curtain separated people from the threat.

Throughout his speech “Sinews of Peace,” Churchill talks about the expanding threat of communist proselyting and thought. He talks about the growth of communist parties and ideology across a ruined and struggling Europe. But, he isn’t the one proposing dropping an iron curtain to protect the people. On the contrary, he is calling for openness and fraternity. Churchill is calling for cooperation and mutual progression based on the moral values of democracy. Democracy is the purging fire that will save the world from war, tyranny, poverty, and privation. A fire that Soviet Russia is dropping the curtain on.

He strikes this idea home by placing the responsibility of peace squarely on the shoulders of a people who believed they were capable of anything. His audience had just emerged victorious from a brutally violent war of good and evil, while the rest of the world lay in a power vacuum that was slowly being filled by a new kind of evil. He calls on them to act, not just because they can, but because no one else can.

This is incredibly empowering. And, despite readily available examples of hardship, Churchill builds it by emphasizing their potential. Of course the fire of democracy will overcome the iron curtain if Britain and the United States join together. Who could stand against an America with double its power and ability to respond to threats? Who would dare fight against the army of the United Nations? And how can totalitarian regimes survive in a world full of peace and democracy?

And the only obstacle he leaves to the victory of unity is participation. The plan will work because on smaller scales it has. Canada and the US enjoy a lasting, exemplary peace, so why can’t that exist elsewhere? Churchill leaves his audience knowing and feeling that they are the deciding factor.

Image credit to the Missouri State Archives