Introduction (back to top)

1. one (back to top)

2. two (back to top)

3. three (back to top)

4. four (back to top)

Conclusion (back to top)

• "Churchill speech a lesson for the present," by William Horsley, BBC European affairs correspondent, BBC, March 5, 2006 (60th anniversary of the "Iron Curtain" speech)
  • See Churchill's March 5, 1946 speech itself (courtesy of the Modern History Sourcebook)
• "12 Years after the Berlin Wall Fell," an Eye-witness account by Heiko Khoo, at a "defense of Marxism" (for the current labor movement) site, offers a detailed narrative of various events leading up to the fall of the wall.
• CNN Videotape series: Cold War, 1998, 14 hours (8 video tapes; 3 episodes per videotape) --CNN's epic eight-volume examination of the key events, personalities, and consequences of the cold war. Includes rare footage of historical events and interviews with people who helped shape history. UCSB media collection: D843 .C577245 1998
  1. Comrades (1917-1945): The Soviet Union and the United States confront each other at the end of World War II.
  2. Iron Curtain (1945-1947): The alliance betwen the Soviet Union and the West quickly proves to be little more than a marriage of convenience.
  3. Marshall Plan (1947-1952): With hunger and discontent plaguing postwar Europe, the US proposes an aid program to rebuild the ruined continent.
  4. Berlin (1948-1949): In Berlin, American, British and French sectors from a Western enclave in the Soviet zone of divided Germany. In June 1948, the Soviets blockade the city, but the Western allies successfully airlift in supplies. In August 1949, Soviet scientists explode an atomic bomb, establishing nuclear parity between the superpowers.
  5. Korea (1949-1953)
  6. Reds (1947-1953): American democracy falls victim to anti-communist hysteria.
  7. After Stalin (1953-1956): Khrushchev outmaneuvers Malenkov for power and visits the West.
  8. Sputnik (1949-1961): In October 1957, the first Soviet satellite Sputnik orbits the earth.
  9. The Wall (1958-1963): West Germany has been admitted to NATO. Within East Germany, Berlin is divided between East and West by an open border. Thousands flee from the communist system. To keep their people in, the East Germans build the wall.
  10. Cuba (1959-1962): Khrushchev and Castro decide to install missiles in Cuba.
  11. Vietnam (1954-1972)
  12. MAD (1960-1972)
  13. Make Love, Not War (1960s)
  14. Red Spring (1960s): In the Soviet Bloc, communist rule stifles ambition and achievement. Soviet defense expenditure cripples economic growth. In Czechoslovakia, Dubcek attempts limited reform, but in 1968, Soviet forces crushes the Prague Spring.
  15. China (1949-1972): Chinese communists win the longest civil war in 20th century history, to President Nixon's historic visit to Beijing.
  16. Detente (1969-1975)
  17. Good Guys, Bad Guys (1967-1978)
  18. Back Yard (1954-1990): Latin America
  19. Freeze (1977-1981): Concern for human rights in the East grows; detente ebbs. The Soviets arm Eastern Europe; the US threatens to site missiles in Western Europe. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan ends detente. Promising tougher measures against Moscow, Reagan wins the Presidency. Poland imposes martial law.
  20. Soldiers of God (1975-1988): Afghanistan
  21. Spies (1944-1994): Early CIA attempts to penetrate the Iron Curtain are thwarted.
  22. Star Wars (1980-1988): Reagan boosts US defenses and proposes the Strategic Defense Initiative.
  23. The Wall Comes Down (1989): The dominoes fall: incredibly quicly, the Soviet bloc breaks up virtually without bloodshed. First Poland, then Hungary, then East Germany slips away. Gorbachev makes no effort to hold them back with force. Amid scenes of jubilation, the hated Berlin Wall comes down.
  24. Conclusions (1989-1991): The US Proves the stronger, the Soviet Union implodes; Germany is reunified. Shorn of its empire and communist domination, Russia faces its future in economic chaos. The balance of terror that had kept the peace for more than 40 years vanishes. The Cold War ended without the use of nuclear weapons.
• Smithsonian Video Series: Eastern Europe, Breaking with the Past (Washington, D.C. : Global View Productions, Inc., c1990), 13 videocassettes (650 min.): 13 segments of 50 minutes each. Narrated by Robert Siegel. UCSB: DJK51 .E24 1990
  • Contents v. 1. America's relations with Eastern Europe -- v. 2. Vaclav Havel: leadership in Eastern Europe -- v. 3. Ceausescu: Eastern Europe's last dictator? -- v. 4. Life as an ethnic minority in Eastern Europe -- v. 5. Estonia: a story -- v. 6. Memories of childhood and war --v. 7. At the crossroads: Eastern European Jewry -- v. 8. Theater and the revolution --v. 9. Germany reunites -- v. 10. The Polish experience --v. 11. A new world of television --v. 12. An animated journey --v. 13. A generation of artists.