March, 1946: Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech

On March 5th, 1946, Winston Churchill delivered a warning about the Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. One phrase that he used, the "iron curtain," became an enduring metaphor of the Cold War decades:

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in some cases, increasing measure of control from -- from Moscow. Athens alone -- Greece with its immortal glories -- is free to decide its future . . .

The entire speech, with audio & video, is available here.