Download IRON CURTAIN ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

IRON CURTAIN ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
After viewing Iron Curtain and engaging in the corresponding discussion questions and
activities, students will be able to answer the following:

What was the Iron Curtain?

How did experiences during WWII influence U.S. and Soviet postwar foreign
policy?

Why did the relationship between the wartime allies deteriorate so quickly?

How does Iron Curtain shed light on the broad themes of the Cold War?
Segment One
As Americans come home from WWII, they return to a country stronger and wealthier than ever
before. War and the postwar rush to spend put capitalism back on its wheels. While the United
States lost nearly 300,000 soldiers to the war, the Soviet Union lost 27 million citizens during this
period - more than one-tenth of its population - through combat and Stalin's political liquidations.
Nearly 70,000 towns and villages had been destroyed.
How did the American soldiers' experience on returning from WWII compare with that of Soviet
soldiers' experience?
According to eyewitnesses, how did the Soviet soldiers treat the Berliners?
What happened to Germany and its capital Berlin as a result of having lost the war?
What changes were made to the boundaries of Germany and Poland?
Consider the casualty figures for the war and make inferences about the following questions: How
might the fact that the Soviet Union lost 27 million people affect its policies following the war?
What would you expect the Soviet Union to want after the war? How might these needs compare
with those of the United States following the war?
Segment Two
A Greek civil war threatens Britain's oil route from the Middle East through the Mediterranean.
Britain's intervention in this civil war is costly. Meanwhile, with troops located in most of Eastern
Europe, the Soviet Union now dominates the countries along its western border. Stalin claims to
fear encirclement by the capitalist powers.
Why did Great Britain intervene in the Greek civil war?
What was the relationship between the Soviet Union and the countries it occupied along its
western border?
According to the video, what were Stalin's fears in the years immediately following the war?
Based on eyewitness reports, how did Stalin act on those fears?
Segment Three
Devastated by the war, Poland has no choice but to accept a close alliance with the Soviet Union.
Stalin promises to defend the new Polish frontiers against any German attempt to win back lost
territory.
What was the condition of Poland immediately following the war?
What was the relationship between Poland and the Soviet Union after the war? What were the
experiences of the Polish people during the war (Episode 1)? How might these experiences affect
their postwar relationship?
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Segment Four
Stalin warns that capitalism and imperialism make future wars inevitable. George Kennan
analyzes the Soviet Union's intentions in an 8,000-word prophecy that the Soviet Union would
seek to extend its influence throughout the world, and must be contained. Days later, Winston
Churchill delivers his "Iron Curtain" speech to a college audience in Fulton, Missouri.
According to the video, what were the various interpretations of Stalin's Bolshoi Theater speech
in 1946?
Who was George Kennan and what was his perspective on Soviet intentions? On what did he
base his recommendations for a U.S. response?
Use the map to follow Churchill's Fulton, Missouri, speech. What "facts" does Churchill tell his
audience? Why did Truman think that the American public was not ready for this speech?
According to Robert Tucker, what was the Soviet response to the "Iron Curtain" speech?
The metaphor Iron Curtain is defined by Random House as "a barrier to understanding and the
exchange of information created by the hostility of one country toward another." Write a poem or
short story or create a visual representation entitled The Day the Iron Curtain Descended on Our
Town.
Conflicts between the Soviet Union on one hand and the United States and Britain on the other
arise in Turkey and Iran. Stalin tries to gain a military presence in both countries but the Western
allies seek to keep both free from Soviet influence. In a report to President Truman, Clark Clifford
and George Elsey conclude that the Soviet Union "constitutes a real menace to freedom in this
world," but that "a war with the USSR would be more total, more horrible, than anything
previously known."
Have students locate Turkey, the Dardanelles and the Bosporus. Why were the United States,
Great Britain and the Soviet Union interested in this territory?
Why did a conflict arise in Turkey?
According to the video, what effect did the Soviet actions have on Truman and the American
government? How did that response translate into action?
Segment Six
Secretary of State James Byrnes tells the people of Stuttgart, Germany, that Americans want to
"help the German people win their way back to an honorable place among the free and peaceloving nations of the world." The economies of the Soviet Union, Germany and the rest of Europe
are getting worse. In Britain, the coal industry is unable to meet the demand and unemployment
rises to 6 million. Britain stops giving aid to Greece and Turkey. To help avert a communist
takeover in Greece and Turkey, President Truman announces that the United States will contain
the advance of communism.
When meeting at the Paris Conference in July of 1946, on what points did Molotov and Byrnes
disagree in regard to Germany?
How do students interpret the archive narration of Byrnes's speech in Stuttgart, Germany? What
evidence can students find that supports the video's assertion that "it was at Paris that the
wartime alliance began to finally break up"?
How do eyewitnesses describe life in the Soviet Union immediately after the war?
What do students think General Lucius Clay meant when he said, "There is no choice between
being a communist on 1,500 calories a day and a believer in democracy on a thousand"?
Why did Great Britain withdraw aid from Greece and Turkey? How did the U.S. respond?