Iron curtain. The Iron Curtain looms before Russia

While the Russian Foreign Ministry is preparing a response to the expulsion of diplomats from the US and EU countries, experts around the world have recognized the beginning of a new cold war. The expulsion of diplomatic mission workers in the Skripal case is unprecedented. There has never been a case where countries expelled diplomats not because of a bilateral conflict, but because of a third party. And the fact that the USA was “asked” for much more people, than from the affected UK, suggests that the threads of this story may stretch from Washington.

Just like in the middle of the last century western world rallied against Russia, which is now for him the same “evil empire” that Reagan spoke about in the 1980s. Western experts now rate the chances of war between the United States and Russia as six out of ten. This is a very alarming indicator.

The famous Russian political scientist Fyodor Lukyanov also allows for the demonstration of military muscles. In his opinion, the situation will develop in the direction of escalation, while he even allows Russian banks to be disconnected from the SWIFT settlement system. The European Union considered this extreme measure in 2015, but the matter was hushed up. Then the former Minister of Economic Development, the well-known Alexei Ulyukaev, said that such sanctions would be tantamount to military action. Top managers of large Russian banks spoke about the same thing.

Perhaps this is an exaggeration. But it is absolutely certain that Russia’s exclusion from the largest interbank information exchange system will have an extremely negative impact on the country’s economy. Banks will have to negotiate directly with foreign partners and look for intermediaries, which will inevitably cause costs. Isolation will mean failure. Russia is one of the most active participants in SWIFT; in terms of the number of transactions, Russian banks rank second in the world after American ones. Ultimately, the shutdown will also affect ordinary citizens - owners VISA cards and MasterCard. They will be able to make online purchases abroad only for the first time, while banks pay payment systems from the balances in special accounts.

Europe is a long-time trading partner of Russia. The gap will hit its economy and affect the standard of living of ordinary citizens. On Tuesday, even the head of the Pentagon, James Mattis, discussed this topic, saying that Russia’s destiny is to be married to Europe, despite the contradictions that are currently taking place. In some ways, the old general is right.

If disconnected from SWIFT, the military-industrial complex will also suffer, since it is connected to the international banking system. A return to a planned economy is simply unrealistic, because this is literally the last century.

And yet the question arises: is it possible to return to the same “Iron Curtain” that protected Soviet man from the corrupting influence of the West? Or him new version 2.0, which, of course, will be different, but will not change its essence?

According to Dmitry Abzalov, president of the Center for Strategic Communications, the “iron curtain” in the form in which it existed in Soviet times is impossible in Russia.

Under the USSR, citizens were prohibited from traveling abroad. There were two centers of power - now China has joined the ranks of superpowers. Finally, the Warsaw Pact is long gone. Soviet Union through trade partnerships with Eastern European countries, he provided himself with a minimum of necessary goods that were impossible to purchase in NATO countries.

The world has changed too much, it will be difficult to protect yourself with the “iron curtain”, there are too many points of contact. The same North Korea, which is a very closed country, is actively working with China and Latin America, and its re-exported products can be found on store shelves in European Union countries.

For now, the confrontation between Russia and the West is on the diplomatic plane. Although the economy has already been affected due to sanctions, it is not as bad as it could be. Germany continues to build Nord Stream 2. Europe buys gas from Russia. And Moscow is connected with the EU by a huge number of “strings”, breaking which will be painful for both sides.

If Russia and the West decide to deliberately do this, reviving some kind of “iron curtain,” it will be extremely difficult to implement. Theoretically, it is possible to artificially limit the travel of citizens abroad by closing visa centers.

But, as Abzalov believes, such a measure is extremely unlikely. People are used to traveling abroad, and communication means now cannot be compared with those that existed in Soviet times.

"You can protect yourself if you have television, telephony and telegraph. Now there is the Internet, mobile broadband, the signal passes through a number of countries. People in modern world and especially in the youth segment, they are interdependent and interconnected, and this system is difficult to interrupt,” the expert says in a conversation with Morning.

Closing ourselves behind the Iron Curtain is simply pointless. But the information confrontation will only intensify, since this is an open field. However, this is still happening, but, apparently, it will be even stronger in the future. As a result, society can be divided into two opposing camps. It has already become commonplace when yesterday's friends do not communicate with each other because political views. It’s better not to even think about how this could end.

They are closed to Russians; as it turns out, there are enemies in the West; security forces are ordered not to travel abroad; politicians are not allowed there. Moreover, they tightened currency exchange and control over foreign accounts. All this makes us think about the prospects for real freedom of movement of our fellow citizens across the border. We decided to remember how the Soviet “Iron Curtain” fell over Russia. And you can make comparisons yourself.

Once upon a time, you could even touch the Iron Curtain with your hands. A long time ago, such a metal structure was used in theaters: if a fire occurred on the stage, a special metal curtain was lowered, which fenced off the audience in the hall from the raging flame. However, initially a purely technical term, over the past 90 years it has been used in a completely different interpretation. In reference books, this phrase is called a political metaphor, implying the political, economic and cultural isolation of a country (in this case, the USSR) from other states.

The right to be called an inventor catchphrase could be disputed by several people. One of them is the Russian philosopher Vasily Rozanov, who in 1917, in his book “Apocalypse of Our Time,” expressed the opinion that after October revolution An iron curtain fell over Russian history, as if in a theater, “with a clang and creaking.”

Soon, the same metaphor in relation to the isolation of communist Russia was used by then Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau in his speech at the Paris Peace Conference.

This phrase was heard most loudly in the famous Fulton speech of British Prime Minister Churchill, which he delivered in 1946, and which marked the beginning of decades of the Cold War.

In reality, the Iron Curtain fell around the world's first state of workers and peasants back in the mid-1920s. Since then, for the vast majority of people living in “Red”, all other states have turned into an unattainable mirage.

It was impossible to get to him: the border was locked. The only exceptions were the lucky few - diplomats, scientists, musicians, high-class engineers... And also the “Stalin falcons” - Soviet pilots, famous for their unique ultra-long flights. (In 1937, the ANT-25 aircraft, controlled by a crew under the command of Valery Chkalov, managed to fly from the USSR through the North Pole to America. Three pilots - Chkalov, Baidukov and Belyakov - for this feat received, in addition to state awards, a thousand US dollars each, which they purchased there, in the United States, miracles of technology unprecedented in the USSR - household refrigerators and “sophisticated” American radios.)

Valery Chkalov

The case of citizen Lebedev

Former gentlemen - “exploiters”, “bourgeois scientists”, “adherents of hostile ideologies”, who, even before the advent of the “Iron Curtain”, managed to emigrate (and some even new government almost kicked there from the Land of the Soviets), they could now savor their luck.

Well, those who hesitated to leave the cordon, from now on had to come to terms with the position of eternally persecuted second-class people for the rest of their lives. Or try to find some “exclusive” ways to leave the “Bolshevik paradise.”

Some tried to do it semi-legally. For example, the heiress of the famous merchant dynasty Vera Ivanovna Firsanova (who owned the Petrovsky Passage and Sandunovsky Baths in Moscow before the revolution) managed to get from Belokamennaya to Belokamennaya in 1928 together with a theater troupe that went abroad on tour. To make such a trip possible, Firsanova had to become a member of the theater's technical staff - either in the costume department or in the prop shop... Naturally, such a metamorphosis of the eminent merchant's wife could not have happened if not for the generous reward received from her by someone either from the theater administration.

Vera Firsanova

Once in France, Vera Ivanovna remained there. And a few years later she tried to rescue her husband Viktor Lebedev from Russia. An official appeal to the Soviet embassy unexpectedly yielded a favorable result. In 1932, all the necessary documents were prepared for Viktor Nikolaevich to leave the USSR, he even bought tickets for an express train from Western Europe... Was such a “happy ending” really possible in the “country of security officers”? The further course of events showed that this was just an illusion.

On the morning before his departure, citizen V.N. Lebedev was found strangled in his apartment. The money and jewelry that were with him, prepared for transportation abroad, disappeared. They didn’t even try to look for the villains who committed this crime, and the medical report listed “heart attack” as the cause of death. (I wonder if any of the valiant OGPU employees were awarded for the successfully carried out operation to suppress the export of Lebedev’s capital from the country?).

In those years, of course, there were also attempts to illegally cross the border. The classics of this genre were immortalized in the finale of their famous novel “The Golden Calf” by Ilf and Petrov. They described Ostap Bender’s attempt to cross the border right through the virgin snow, with cash capital prudently “converted” into liquidity – a luxurious fur coat, gold cigarette cases and “trinkets”...

The ending of this operation for the Great Combinator turned out, as we remember, very sad. Although in reality, some of his followers still succeeded in such operations... However, in fairness, it must also be said that many of the illegal immigrants simply died while trying to cross the border - they drowned in rivers, froze, ran into bullets from border guards...

A certificate prepared in 1930 mentions that in the first six months alone, in the northwestern section of the border, security officers stopped over 20 attempts to illegally leave the USSR, during which 7 border violators were killed.

Record holder Kanafiev

Cases of escape and attempted escape of Soviet citizens behind the Iron Curtain were regularly noted in the post-war years.

The most resonant stories were, of course, related to the hijacking of planes. The first such “air breakthrough” was terrorist attack, implemented in 1970. Two Lithuanians, father and son Brazinskasa, hijacked an An-24 plane with 46 passengers on board, performing a regular flight from Batumi to Sukhumi. During the hijacking of the plane by the Brazinskas, 19-year-old flight attendant Nadezhda Kurchenko was killed, two crew members and one passenger were wounded. An airliner hijacked by criminals landed in Trabzon, Turkey. After serving two years in prison for their “feat,” the Brazinskas subsequently managed to move to America.

Pranas Brazinskas

For the followers of these two Lithuanians, attempts to “fly away” from the USSR on a plane with captured hostages ended in most cases unsuccessfully: they were either “taken” on the ground by soldiers of our special forces, or returned from other countries to their homeland as a result of diplomatic negotiations.

There were other, more original cases of attempts by Soviet citizens to overcome the Iron Curtain.

Simferopol resident Alexander Kanafiev showed amazing persistence in his desire to escape “from the Sovk”. In the late 1970s - mid-1980s, he tried several times to “go to the West.” The idea of ​​trying to get across the Black Sea to the Turkish shores on an inflatable boat almost ended in his death, but the 25-year-old graduate of the Faculty of Physical Education did not give up his dream.

Some time later, he managed to “infiltrate” the Soviet-Romanian border and even reach the capital, but there he was detained by the Romanian special services and handed over to the Russian side.

Alexander still managed to escape... And almost immediately he again attempted to cross the border - this time from the Azerbaijan SSR to, but then the malicious offender was quickly “tied up” by the border guards.

Such a persistent reluctance of the young man to build a “bright communist future” together with all Soviet citizens was regarded as a clear sign of mental illness, and Alexander spent the next few years under compulsory treatment in one of the psychiatric institutions. Having left it, in the summer of 1986 he once again risked crossing the Soviet-Romanian border. On the territory of the “fraternal socialist country” he was again detained and returned to the Soviet side. Alexander’s “reward” for yet another test of the Iron Curtain’s strength was a prison sentence, which was shortened only by perestroika, which gained momentum in the country.

In the summer of 1959, the flight “to the capitalists” of the Soviet Baltic officer Nikolai Artamonov caused a lot of commotion. When the newest destroyer at that time, “Crushing,” was stationed in the Polish port of Gdynia, its commander, Captain III Rank Artamonov, took advantage of the opportunity and fled with his Polish lover to Sweden - right on the command boat.

At the same time, in order for the sailor-motorman to carry out his orders, the captain took a pistol out of his holster and threatened the sailor that he would shoot him. (A noteworthy touch to this story: when the boat reached one of the Swedish ports, Artamonov climbed ashore with his companion, and ordered the sailor to return back to the destroyer, since he, they say, “has nothing to do in the West.”)

The defector immediately found himself under the tutelage of the CIA. He soon received an American passport in the name of Nicholas George Shadrin and worked for 7 years in the analytical division of American intelligence. The KGB officers, having followed the traitor, managed to recruit him, but later the ex-captain was suspected of a double game and decided to take him to Soviet territory. In the winter of 1975, the security officers carried out a special operation: under a plausible pretext they lured Artamonov to Moscow, and there, after injecting him with a certain drug and rendering him unconscious, they took him to Russia, hiding him in a car. However, the former captain of the 3rd rank did not live to see the investigators at Lubyanka: he died from an overdose of “disabling” drugs shortly after crossing the Austrian-Czechoslovak border.

Relatives for sale

From the 1970s, let's fast forward again 40-50 years ago.

Do not let citizens leave the country - of course, good way to protect the self-sufficiency of the young Soviet state, but troublesome and low-profit. It is necessary to monitor, stop, carry out “actions of coercive influence”, search for and confiscate valuables prepared for export beyond the cordon... Former Russians who have gone into exile and are eager to get their less fortunate relatives out of the “Sovdepia” are a completely different matter. “These people are ready to pay money to save loved ones.” And Soviet officials can only draw up pieces of paper, entering the corresponding ransom amounts into them, and receive currency for the Country of Soviets.

Thus, some residents of the USSR turned into completely free “export goods.” So profitable business, however, was very reminiscent of the slave trade and the “remnants of serfdom” unanimously condemned by all revolutionaries. However, the Bolshevik rulers were not particularly scrupulous when it came to serious material benefits. They simply concealed such transactions.

Very little is still known about this article of Soviet “supplies” abroad. However, thanks to the help of Moscow history researcher Valery Lyubartovich, the author of these lines has the opportunity to introduce MK readers to documents relating to the story of the ransom of the family of the Russified German Roman Prove from communist captivity.

Before the revolution, Roman Ivanovich Prove was known as one of the respectable Moscow entrepreneurs and served on the boards of several large banks. Even after the December uprising of 1905, out of harm’s way, he transferred the bulk of his capital abroad, and in 1917, when the Bolsheviks seized power, he hastened to leave for Russia.

But in Soviet Russia The remaining daughter of Roman Ivanovich (who became Rudolf in the “non-march”), Evgenia, who was married to the nobleman Nikolai Redlikh. In the very first years of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the Redlikh family was evicted from their mansion in the center of Moscow, and a few years later, Evgenia Romanovna’s husband was completely arrested as a “socially alien element.” Perhaps for the Redlich Sr. and their seven children, the matter would have ended quite sadly if in 1933 Herr Prove had not appealed through the USSR Embassy to the Soviet authorities with an official request to allow his daughter and her relatives to leave for permanent residence in Germany.

Such a statement did not in the least embarrass the responsible comrades in charge of foreign and foreign affairs in the Soviet People's Commissariats. internal affairs. So what if Nikolai Redlikh was arrested and convicted?! So what if this family goes to a country where fascism has come to power?! – The main thing is that they pay good money for them!

In the archives of the great-granddaughter of Rudolf Prove, papers were preserved that were drawn up more than 80 years ago, when organizing the Redlikhs’ departure from Russia. This entire commercial operation was organized (apparently for greater secrecy!) through the Berlin representative office of Intourist.

The paper, dated June 7, 1933, meticulously describes all the “overhead expenses” associated with sending Evgenia Romanovna’s family from the “bright kingdom of socialism” “under the heel of the brown plague.”

For example, for each of the older children it was necessary to pay 1,479 Reichsmarks, of which 151 marks went to pay for travel in a third-class carriage of the Moscow-Berlin train, another 134 marks “with kopecks” were intended as compensation to the intermediary - “Intourist”, well, the main part - 1194 Reichsmarks 26 pfennigs - was actually a ransom. (However, formally, this very impressive amount for those times was supposed to be transferred to the Soviet side, supposedly for issuing a foreign passport.)

It should be noted that the “humanists” from the USSR in this case approached the assessment of citizens sold to the West in a differentiated manner. Compared to adult family members, the price for minors Andreas and Natalia was half the price! (Truly, a market approach: these large ones are worth five each, but these are small ones, but three each!)

As a result, the concern for saving his daughter’s family cost Rudolf Prova almost 12 thousand Reichsmarks. (Translated to modern price levels, this amounts to an impressive amount - about 250 thousand dollars.) However, it should be recognized that the Bolsheviks honestly worked for the currency they received. – Just four months after the deal was finalized, Herr Prove met his beloved Zhenechka with her husband and children at the Berlin train station.

As Valery Lyubartovich said, a similar story happened in the Osorgin family. Her husband, Georgy Osorgin, died in a camp on Solovki in the fall of 1929. And his wife Alexandra Mikhailovna, née Princess Golitsyna, was ransomed a year later along with two small children by her relatives who settled in Paris. By the way, one of these children exchanged for currency, Mikhail Osorgin, later became a priest and for more than two decades was the rector of the Russian Orthodox Church in Rome. And what did they spend the money received by the Soviet side for the future shepherd of human souls?.. - Well, this currency may also have gone to a good cause. Useful, for example, for purchasing machines or medical equipment.

This terrible Russia

On the other side of the Iron Curtain, interesting things were also happening – through his “fault”. In many leading capitalist countries, local residents were diligently protected from the “communist infection” that could leak from the Soviet side.

In Canada, England, and the Scandinavian countries, they very selectively allowed the penetration of objective information about life in the USSR - our films, books, magazines, pictures telling about “Rush” were offered to people in the West in very small quantities. (But the production of American action films was organized on a large scale, where the main negative heroes there were Bolshevik monster killers, ruthless Russian military leaders, insidiously trying to destroy the countries of “true democracy”...) Tourist trips to the USSR were not encouraged: potential travelers were told all sorts of horrors about the dangers and hardships awaiting civilized Europeans in “Red Russia”. As a result, those who nevertheless went on an “extreme voyage” to the Soviet Union, returning safely from there, acquired an aura of real heroes in the eyes of their compatriots.

Another very revealing, but little-known fact, which I heard about from Alexander Plevako, the former editor-in-chief of Foreign Broadcasting of the USSR (more often called “Moscow Radio” by listeners).

“We are talking about radio broadcasting from the Soviet Union to an audience in the United States,” said Alexander Sergeevich. “The Americans like to repeat that, unlike the Soviets, who jammed the Voice of America, they never interfered with our radio transmissions from Moscow. However, it is not. They just found another, not as obvious as the work of “jammers,” way to isolate the majority of their citizens from Soviet propaganda. "Moscow Radio" has always broadcast its programs on short waves, and in America long years specifically slowed down the production of shortwave radios. They were produced in small quantities and were very expensive...

The “Iron Curtain” gradually began to “decay” along with the decrease in the intensity of passions of the “Cold War”. At the end of the 1980s, when Gorbachev’s Perestroika was in full swing in the USSR, it collapsed and crumbled.

The history of the Cold War is not only the history of the rivalry between two ideologies, but also the history of the rivalry between two economic systems, which in essence were antipodes to each other. What is remarkable about this topic? It illuminates the beginning of what we will all witness during our lifetime. “The Iron Curtain - this expression was given life by a device previously used in the theater - an iron curtain, which, in order to protect the auditorium from fire, was lowered onto the stage in case of a fire on it. This was very appropriate in an era when they had to use open fire to illuminate the stage - candles, oil lamps, etc. For the first time, such an iron curtain began to be used in France - in the city of Lyon in the late 80s - early 90s gg. XVIII century."

Vadim Serov.

Let's remember how it was...
"IN. I. Lenin proclaims Soviet power.” V.A. Serov, 1962

It is generally accepted that the well-known “iron curtain” fell on the country of the Soviets in the 1920s, roughly speaking, as soon as the USSR was created, they immediately covered it with a curtain so that dirt would not fly from the west. I'm afraid to disappoint some, but this is not so.

The country of the Soviets existed, developed and there was no self-isolation, and it did not have any closedness; on the contrary, the Soviet government made every effort to eliminate this closedness. For this purpose, famous writers, artists and other figures from all over the world were invited to the USSR. The purpose of all this was to break the veil of lies with which the West shrouded us, and to make it possible to assess what was happening in our country more or less truthfully.

In addition to writers and artists, ordinary people also came to the USSR: some of them were invited as specialists for a large salary, and some came on their own, for ideological reasons (people wanted to build the society of the future with their own hands). Naturally, after some time, returning to their homeland, they all brought with them a wealth of information about the country of the Soviets.

But the Western powers did not attach any importance to this of great importance, they no longer saw Russia as a serious enemy for the coming decades, although they did not stop their attempts to snatch an extra piece from us (the campaign of 14 states).

“Russia, which was a Western-style civilization - the least organized and most precarious of the great powers - is now a modern civilization in extremis (lat. at its last gasp - author's note). ... History knows nothing like the collapse that Russia is experiencing. If this process continues for another year, the collapse will be final. Russia will turn into a country of peasants; cities will be empty and turn into ruins, railways will be overgrown with grass. With the disappearance of the railways, the last vestiges of central power will disappear.”
H.G. Wells, 1920

A. Hitler. 1924

However, the rapid growth rates of the USSR greatly frightened the West, showing them that they had greatly miscalculated on our score, even taking into account the insertion of sticks into all our wheels and wheels.
Then, the trump card of the West, Adolf Hitler, was pulled out of his sleeve (you can read more about this in the article - “Shock USSR. Chronicles of Stakhanov”) and a war of a grandiose scale, hitherto unseen by mankind, was unleashed.

“If the Germans gain the upper hand, then we must help the Russians, and if things turn out differently, then we must help the Germans. And let them kill each other as much as possible."

G. Truman, New York Times, 1941

As they say (they, in the West) - “nothing personal, just business.”

Bear trap

“Whoever controls the money of a country is the absolute master of all industry and commerce.”

James Abram Garfield, 20th President of the United States, 1881

In July 1944, still at the height of the war, the international Bretton Woods Conference was held in the USA (New Hampshire). The meaning of this conference boiled down to two main points: the dollar is the only currency that is now allowed to have a gold content, all other countries must refuse to back their currencies with gold, introducing dollar backing in return (buy the dollar in order to print their currency), and the second point — the dollar becomes the main settlement currency (all international trade should now be conducted only for dollars).

The USSR signs the enslaving Bretton Woods agreement, its ratification (approval) is scheduled for December 1945.

Here we will move a little away from the main topic, since it is worth mentioning another important fact.

April 12, 1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt is assassinated. The reason for the murder was his friendly relations with the USSR and Stalin personally. This event once again shows that US presidents are just pawns in a big game.
“The closest we were to equal cooperation was when America had Roosevelt and we had Stalin.”

S.E. Kurginyan, political scientist.

Stalin and Roosevelt in Tehran

I will quote Roosevelt's words:

“Under the leadership of Marshal Joseph Stalin, the Russian people showed such an example of love for the motherland, fortitude and self-sacrifice, which the world has never known. After the war, our country will always be glad to maintain relations of good neighborliness and sincere friendship with Russia, whose people, by saving themselves, are helping to save the whole world from the Nazi threat.”

Personal message to Stalin following the results of the Tehran Conference (held: November 28-December 1, 1943):

“I believe that the conference was very successful, and I am confident that it is a historical event, confirming our ability not only to wage war, but also to work for the cause of the coming world in complete harmony.”

"To put it in simple language, I got along very well with Marshal Stalin. This person combines a huge, unyielding will and a healthy sense of humor; I think the soul and heart of Russia have their true representative in him. I believe that we will continue to get along well with him and with the entire Russian people.”

"Beginning with last meeting in Tehran, we work in really good cooperation with the Russians, and I think the Russians are quite friendly. They are not trying to swallow up all of Europe and the rest of the world.”

The quotes speak for themselves.

Exactly 2 hours and 24 minutes after Roosevelt's death, he was replaced by US Vice President and ardent anti-communist Harry Truman. Literally in Russian, “Truman” is translated as “true man” =)), but this is a joke.

The first thing Truman does is prohibit the execution of any instructions from the previous Roosevelt administration.

On April 23, 1945, at a White House meeting, Truman will say: “Enough, we are no longer interested in an alliance with the Russians, and therefore, we may not fulfill the agreements with them. We will solve the Japanese problem without the help of the Russians.”

From this moment on, you can forget about any friendliness.

On the eve of the Potsdam Conference (held: July 17 - August 2, 1945), Truman receives an encrypted message: “The operation took place this morning. The diagnosis is not yet completely complete, but the results seem satisfactory and are already exceeding expectations.” It was a message about the successful testing of an atomic bomb. And on July 21, US Secretary of War Stimson, who accompanied Truman at the conference, receives photographs of the tests and shows them to the president.

And Truman goes on the offensive.

The Big Three in Potsdam

During the conference, he tries to hint to Stalin that the United States has atomic weapons.

Churchill describes the scene this way: “We stood in twos and threes before going our separate ways. I was perhaps five yards away and was following this important conversation with keen interest. I knew what the President was going to say. It was extremely important to find out what impression this would make on Stalin.”

A little later, Churchill will approach Truman: “How did it go?” - I asked. “He didn’t ask a single question,” the president replied.”

And on August 6 and 9, 1945, the United States carried out two nuclear strikes on Japanese cities - on the city of Hiroshima (up to 166 thousand dead) and on the city of Nagasaki (up to 80 thousand dead).

“Military and civilians, men and women, old and young, were killed indiscriminately by the atmospheric pressure and thermal radiation of the explosion... These bombs used by the Americans, in their cruelty and terrifying effects, far surpass poison gases or any other weapons used forbidden.

Japan protests against the United States' violation of internationally recognized principles of warfare, violated both by the use of the atomic bomb and by earlier incendiary bombings that killed old people, women and children, destroyed and burned Shinto and Buddhist temples, schools, hospitals, residential areas, etc. d..

They were now using this new bomb, which had a much greater destructive effect than any other weapon used before. This is a new crime against humanity and civilization."

According to an American report from 1946, there was no military need for the use of atomic bombs:

“Based on a detailed examination of all the facts and after interviews with surviving Japanese officials, it is the opinion of this Study that definitely before December 31, 1945, and most likely before November 1, 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped and the USSR would not have entered the war, and even if the invasion of the Japanese Islands had not been planned and prepared.”

After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Americans planned subsequent atomic bombings of Japan, but later decided that it would be more expedient not to waste bombs as they were created, but to begin accumulating them.

The bomb explosions were an act of intimidation. The message to Stalin here is unambiguous: ratify the Bretton Woods agreement or bombs may fall on you, by accident.

On September 4, 1945, the US Joint Defense Planning Committee prepared Memorandum No. 329: “to select approximately 20 of the most important targets suitable for strategic atomic bombing USSR and on the territory controlled by it." As the arsenal grew, the number of cities was planned to increase. At that time, the USSR not only did not have such weapons, but did not even have a strategic bomber capable of long-distance flights.

December 1945 arrived. The USSR outright refused to ratify the Bretton Woods Agreement.

But there were no atomic strikes on the USSR. Stalin weighed the pros and cons too well.
One of the important reasons for the failed attack was the Americans themselves, namely their supplies to us under Lend-Lease.

From 1941 to 1943, the Allies delivered more than 4,500 Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters to the USSR.

And since mid-1944, approximately 2,400 P-63 Kincobra fighter-attack aircraft, the best American fighters at the end of the war, were delivered to the USSR, which were a modification of the aforementioned P-39s. The Kincobras failed to take part in the war with Germany, and practically in the war with Japan as well.

Thus, it turned out that by the end of the war we had a full complement of the latest American fighters in our arsenal (I think good relations with Roosevelt played a role here), and all atomic bombs, at that time, were delivered using long-range aviation, vulnerable to fighters.

So it turns out that the Americans protected us from ourselves.

R-63 "Kincobra"

America did not have the opportunity to fight us in a fair fight, even by joining forces with Europe. By this time, the Soviet Union was no longer too tough for them. So the West begins to build up its joint military power with all its might in order to bring it down on the USSR as soon as possible. The USSR could only strengthen its air defense and speed up work on its atomic program.

The curtain falls

“The most important thing is to choose the right enemy.”

Joseph Goebbels.

W. Churchill, 1940

On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill, speaking at Westminster College in Fulton (USA), divided the world into two poles: those who are with us and those who are with them, the so-called bipolar world. President Truman also attended the speech.

This speech was the official start of the Cold War.

Fulton Speech

“Neither the effective prevention of war nor the permanent expansion of the influence of the World Organization can be achieved without the fraternal union of the English-speaking peoples. This means a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and British Empire and the United States.
[...]

From Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an iron curtain fell across the continent. On the other side of the curtain are all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and of Eastern Europe- Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest, Sofia. All of these famous cities and the populations in their areas fell within what I call the Soviet sphere, all of them in one form or another subject not only to Soviet influence, but also to the significant and increasing control of Moscow.

Almost all of these countries are run by police governments; they do not have true democracy.”

But Churchill was not the one who first introduced the concept of an “iron curtain” in relation to the Soviet Union. He borrowed this expression from an article by the German Reich Minister of Education and Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels:

Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945)

“If the Germans lower their arms, the Soviets will occupy, according to the Yalta Conference, all of eastern and southeastern Europe, along with for the most part Reich. The Iron Curtain will fall over the entire gigantic territory controlled by the Soviet Union, behind which the peoples will be exterminated.
[...]

All that will remain will be human raw materials, a stupid wandering mass of millions of desperate, proletarianized working animals who will know about the rest of the world only what the Kremlin wants."

This article was written by Goebbels on February 25, 1945, immediately after the Yalta Conference, at which the future fate of the world was decided.

With his article, Goebbels tried to sow seeds of discord in the ranks of the allies (anti-Hitler, of course) and desperately beg the West for a last chance for salvation, in the face of imminent death: “Now Bolshevism stands on the Oder. Everything depends on the tenacity of the German soldiers. Will Bolshevism be pushed east or will its fury cover all of Europe? Everything will be decided by us or not decided at all. That's all the alternatives."

Goebbels's article had its effect, but only after the fall of Germany and the death of its leadership. It was then that Churchill took Goebbels' words for his Fulton speech.

“Had Churchill dug deeper, he would have known that the term “Iron Curtain” first came into use in Scandinavia, where workers in the early 1920s protested against the desire of their rulers to isolate them from the “heretical ideas” coming from the East.”

Valentin Falin, Doctor of History. Sci.

We didn’t fight Hitler in order to transfer power to the Churchills.

Caricature of Churchill in Fulton

Stalin immediately responded to the Fulton speech:
“It should be noted that Mr. Churchill and his friends are strikingly reminiscent in this respect of Hitler and his friends. Hitler began the work of starting a war by proclaiming a racial theory, declaring that only people who speak the German language represent a full-fledged nation. Mr. Churchill begins the work of starting a war also with a racial theory, arguing that only nations speaking the English language are full-fledged nations called upon to decide the destinies of the whole world.

German racial theory led Hitler and his friends to the conclusion that the Germans, as the only complete nation, should dominate other nations. The English racial theory leads Mr. Churchill and his friends to the conclusion that the nations speaking English, as the only full-fledged ones, should dominate the rest of the nations of the world.

In essence, Mr. Churchill and his friends in England and the United States are presenting to the non-English-speaking nations a kind of ultimatum: accept our dominance voluntarily, and then everything will be in order, otherwise war is inevitable.”

Parable of the Good Samaritan

Good Samaritan. Artist: S.V. Bakalovich

The Cold War was declared. The next two steps of the West were the proclamation of the Truman Doctrine (March 12, 1947) and the plan of the US Secretary of State, George Marshall (1947-1948).

The meaning of the Marshall Plan was to provide financial assistance to countries affected during the Second World War.

A gesture of goodwill you say. Alas, no, in America there is “only business”. Each country that received assistance had to sacrifice part of its sovereignty.

The Truman Doctrine contained specific measures against the expansion of the Soviet sphere of influence and the spread of communist ideology (“the doctrine of containment” of socialism), as well as those aimed at returning the USSR to its former borders (“the doctrine of discarding” socialism).

The founding father of the “doctrine of containment” is considered to be the American ambassador in Moscow (at that time) George Kennan. It was he who formulated and outlined in his telegram dated February 22, 1946, even before Churchill’s speech in Fulton, all the main trends of the future Cold War. The telegram was called “long” because it contained about 8,000 words.

Here are excerpts from the telegram:

“Many foreign countries, especially those in Europe, are exhausted and intimidated by the experience of the past and are less interested in general freedom than in their own security. They seek advice, not responsibility. We should be able to offer them such assistance better than the Russians. And if we don't do it, the Russians will.[...]

The Soviet regime is essentially a police regime, dating back to the times of tsarist political intrigue and accustomed to thinking primarily in police categories. This should not be overlooked when assessing the motives of the USSR. (Here we see an example of a myth so actively imposed by the West that it has already become a dogma that does not require proof - “Russia is a prison of nations” - author’s note)

It was George Kennan who formulated the idea that the Soviet Union should be defeated without entering into a direct military conflict with it. The bet here was on the depletion of the Soviet economy, because the economy of the West was much more powerful (why was it more powerful? Yes, because it developed while we were at war, and ate our gold).

Thus, by mid-1947, two types of foreign policy orientation were finally taking shape on the world map: pro-Soviet and pro-American.

Dividing the World Cold War Map

And on April 4, 1949, countries that received economic assistance from the United States under the Marshall Plan signed the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO). Here's a two-move combination for you.

RDS-1 atomic bomb of the USSR

But already in August (29th) 1949, the USSR successfully tested its first atomic bomb - RDS-1. And two years before that, at the beginning of 1947, the USSR created a long-range bomber capable of delivering nuclear warheads. It was the famous Tu-4.

A little about our bomber.

On August 3, 1947, three Tu-4 aircraft opened an air parade in Tushino, which was attended by foreign military representatives. At first, foreigners did not believe that Soviet planes were flying in the sky, because only the United States possessed such bombers; this was their latest development. But, no matter how much they didn’t want to admit it, the planes were Soviet. And the reason for the disbelief of foreigners was the similarity - the planes were exact copies American B-29 “Superfortress” (super fortress).

Bombers Tu-4 and B-29. Tu-4 (left) and B-29 (right)

In 1949, the Tu-4 was put into service and became the first Soviet aircraft to carry atomic weapons.

Thus, the position of the two forces in the world was relatively equalized. Now, it was impossible to take us with bare hands.

Dangerous Soviet Union

The bear insults Uncle Sam

“Truman started the Cold War. And he started it out of fear, out of weakness, not out of strength. And why? After the Second World War, capitalism as a system turned out to be very battered. He was discredited in the eyes of millions of people. It gave birth to the Great Depression. It gave birth to a terrible war. It gave birth to fascism and gas chambers. The Soviet Union was in this sense a real alternative. And this happened against a background when Europe was in ruins.

The Greek communists are about to come to power.

The Italian communists in 1943 had 7 thousand people. In 1945 they had 1.5 million people.

And so Truman and his entourage were afraid that Stalin would take advantage of the opportunities that were opening up to him. Moreover, there was a civil war in China, where the communists won. India continued to fight for independence. Liberation wars were already underway in Indonesia and Vietnam, or they were ready for it.

That is, the Soviet Union, as the Americans believed, could take advantage of this situation in order to create a real threat to American capitalism and the American way of life. The Soviet Union had to be stopped. This was the reason why the Americans started the Cold War."

A.L. Adamashin, Russian diplomat.

The Soviet system was dangerous for the West not so much from an ideological point of view, but from a methodological one. This mainly concerned the economic component.

“The principle of state policy (Soviet - author's note) was a constant, albeit modest, improvement in the well-being of the population. This was expressed, for example, in large and regular price reductions (13 times in 6 years; from 1946 to 1950, bread fell three times in price, and meat by 2.5 times). It was then that specific stereotypes of mass consciousness, enshrined in state ideology, arose: confidence in the future and the conviction that life can only improve. The condition for this was the strengthening of the state’s financial system in close connection with planning. To preserve this system, the USSR took an important step: it refused to join the IMF and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and on March 1, 1950, it completely left the dollar zone, transferring the determination of the ruble exchange rate to a gold basis. Large gold reserves were created in the USSR, the ruble was inconvertible, which made it possible to maintain very low domestic prices.”

S. Kara-Murza.

And now a little about price reductions.

Modern youth probably think that this cannot happen, that prices are constantly falling, because everyone knows that prices should rise - because of inflation and many other things with complex names that a common person cannot pronounce.

But I have a question - who said that prices should constantly rise?

I’ll explain with my fingers why prices are rising.

Explanation at your fingertips

In each country there is a certain amount of goods and services (commodity equivalent, TE), the number of these goods and services is constantly growing or decreasing (depending on the situation in the country, but definitely does not stand still) and there is a money supply, the purpose of which is to serve universal equivalent of exchange (DE - monetary equivalent). The money supply is always attached to goods and should approximately correspond to their quantity (that is, TE = DE). If there is more money than goods, it is called inflation (TE DE = deflation).

But the Central Bank (in this particular case, I mean the Fed) constantly prints extra money, in other words, creates inflation (TE DE), and in order to equalize the “commodity-money” ratio, prices for goods were reduced (i.e., the solvency of money increased ).

“The essential features and requirements of the basic economic law of socialism could be formulated approximately this way: ensuring maximum satisfaction of the constantly growing material and cultural needs of the entire society through continuous growth and improvement of socialist production on the basis of higher technology. Consequently: instead of ensuring maximum profits, ensuring maximum satisfying the material and cultural needs of society; instead of the development of production with interruptions from boom to crisis and from crisis to boom, there is a continuous growth of production..."

Here even the donkey understands that the Soviet model, from the time of Stalin, is beyond competition, and therefore the only way to fight the Soviet system is to silence it, that is, the same notorious iron curtain.

Nothing personal, just business

“If the American people ever allow banks to control the issuance of money, the banks and corporations that grow up around it will rob the people of all their property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.”

Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the USA.

But why did the US choose such an illogical and extremely unstable financial system? The answer is not complicated - “just business.” The Federal Reserve is a private company, and the inflation rate financial system is just a way for this company to make a profit.

“The main features and requirements of the basic economic law of modern capitalism could be formulated approximately this way: ensuring maximum capitalist profit through the exploitation, ruin and impoverishment of the majority of the population of a given country...”

Now I will explain what inflation is, since many do not understand the essence of this term.

For example: 10 people live in the country, each of them has 100 rubles (i.e., the country’s total turnover is 1000 rubles), but then the Central Bank prints another 1000 rubles. And I have a question for you: how much money do these people have? Yes, they still have all the money, but their price (solvency) has been halved. In other words, the population of the country was simply robbed of 1000 rubles. This is the inflation system - by producing extra money, the Central Bank is simply robbing its population. But here again we remember that the Fed is a private company, and therefore it turns out that it is not robbing “its own population,” but simply “the population” (and it doesn’t matter which country). “Nothing personal, just business.”

Ron Paul, dollar depreciation, trend

“Goods and services that could be purchased for $1 in 1913 now cost $21. Let's look at this in terms of the purchasing power of the dollar itself. It is now less than 0.05% of its value in 1913. It can be said that the government with its banking cartel, as a result of its incessant inflationary policies, has stolen 95 cents out of every dollar from us.”

Ron Paul, American politician, 2009

With the death of Stalin, the practice of lowering prices in the USSR was stopped. Khrushchev abolished the gold content of the ruble, transferring the Soviet currency, following the example of all countries, to dollar backing.

“Now that documents from the first period of the Cold War have been published in the United States, it is obvious that it was precisely a war aimed at the destruction of the USSR and the Soviet state. The doctrine of war prescribed the conduct of two parallel programs: an arms race with the aim of depleting the Soviet economy and the ideological indoctrination of the top of the party and state nomenklatura.”

S. Kara-Murza

As we can now see from history, the second program was a success.

He who has eyes, let him see. conclusions

Wheel of Samsara

The topic of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War in general is relevant today more than ever. As you know, history always repeats itself, it spins in a circle, like the wheel of Samsara, which is why it is important to know history - those who know the past are able to foresee the future.

In conclusion, I would like to quote one more excerpt from D. Kennan’s “long telegram” (February 22, 1946):

“The success of the Soviet system as a form of power within the country has not yet been conclusively proven. It must be demonstrated that it can withstand the critical test of a successful transfer of power from one individual or group of individuals to another.

Lenin's death was the first such transition, and its consequences had a disastrous effect on the Soviet state for 15 years. After Stalin's death or resignation there will be a second transition. But even this will not be the decisive test. Due to recent territorial expansion Soviet authority within the country will experience a number of additional difficulties that once already subjected the tsarist regime to severe tests. Here we are convinced that never since the end of the civil war have the Russian people been emotionally so far from the doctrines of the Communist Party as at the present time.

In Russia, the party has become a gigantic and today successful apparatus of dictatorial rule, but has ceased to be a source of emotional inspiration. Thus, the internal strength and stability of the communist movement cannot yet be considered guaranteed.”

What was Stalin's genius? He understood that the ideological component needed to be constantly changed to suit the changing needs of the country, that is, to be flexible, but his followers no longer understood this, which is exactly what Kennan was talking about.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many thought that the United States had emerged victorious in the Cold War, but the collapse of the USSR was not the end of the war, it was only the end of the battle. Today we can observe an information war - new round, a new battle in one big war - the battle of empires...

Let me remind you of a couple more historical moments: Remember these other moments: and just recently The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

Most people, one way or another, have heard of the concept of the “Iron Curtain”. For some, the “iron curtain” is an expression that does not evoke much emotion or thought. But numerous negative events are associated with this concept. In this article we will consider its significance from a historical as well as a political point of view.

Winston Churchill: about the "Iron Curtain"

It is believed that the concept of the “Iron Curtain” was first mentioned in the early 1900s, but it took hold a little later. On March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill gave a speech that could be regarded as an outright provocation. To be more precise, a clear connection was created: Churchill - the “Iron Curtain” - a call for the Cold War.

I must say, this speech was indeed very bold, with advice on the work of the UN, with the proclamation of the United States of America as the greatest state in the world. Naturally, the “iron curtain” described difficult times for many countries, numerous people and the situation in the world as a whole. And yet, should Churchill have so openly declared the superiority of the United States, pushing the country to make mistakes that could have worsened its situation? So what does it mean when we talk about the "Iron Curtain"? Why did this expression cause mass panic and why is this curtain so dangerous?

Deterioration of relationships

"Iron Curtain" is a term that meant certain restrictions in the economic and political sense of different states. After World War II, all countries seemed to be divided into two halves. The “Iron Curtain” itself meant a ban on leaving the country, a struggle between countries for a position of supremacy, and a struggle for weapons. In those days, the position of the USSR was very clearly defined, which dictated its terms to different states, and, of course, no one could like this. Some bowed their heads peacefully, while others only inflamed Protestant politics, which only worsened the situation of their state. Everything that came from the West was considered bad and was immediately rejected or prohibited. A so-called list of “friendly countries” was created that could freely come to the territory of the USSR.

The first mention of the concept of "Iron Curtain"

The year that was credited with creating this meaning was 1920. Many believe that as soon as the Soviet Union was created, it was immediately protected from the rest of the world. The initial desire of the USSR was to develop both internal and external unity. The West believed that the USSR would soon collapse and therefore did not bring any strength among other states, did not pose any competition or danger.

However, the USSR was gaining ever greater growth rates, “standing on its feet” better and stronger, and this could not help but worry the West, which was not only not happy about such a Union, but also tried in every possible way to harm it. The consequences of this unrest on the part of the West were very great, and therefore a wide variety of measures began to be taken to collapse the USSR. What exactly began to happen and what results followed?

Origins of the Iron Curtain

The “Iron Curtain” as such did not exist in the USSR. On the contrary, the Soviet Union wanted to destroy the existing stereotypes. For this purpose, various figures of art, science, and medicine were called and invited. They were ready to offer these citizens high wages and good living conditions on the territory of the USSR.

None of the other states saw any real threat from the Soviet Union. However, the West was greatly frightened when it saw with what strength and power this Union was growing, despite all the problems that tried to destroy it. That is why the preconditions began for the largest and most brutal war, which is known to history to this day. Adolf Hitler entered the struggle for world supremacy and consolidation of the position of “head”, underestimating the capabilities of the Union of Republics. It was the most brutal and bloody war in the entire history of mankind, which people had never seen before.

US provocations

Many will think that the “Iron Curtain” in the USSR did not depend at all on the Second World War, but this statement is erroneous. Even though a fierce battle was fought, the intrigues that the states weaved had no end.

So, in 1944, the United States made a provocative statement that the dollar was the only currency of account, and in April 1945, Franklin Roosevelt, the President of the United States, was killed simply because he was friendly towards the USSR and Joseph Stalin himself. Just a couple of hours later, the place of US President is taken by Harry Truman, who harshly declares his reluctance to resolve conflicts together with Russia. He says that even in the current problem with Japan, he sees no point in helping the Soviet Union. There were many similar provocations during the war years, but the final result turned out to be exactly what it is.

Stalin's "Iron Curtain"

What is the policy of the “Iron Curtain” in the USSR? After the end of World War II, Stalin wanted all decisions regarding Germany to be made under his leadership, but European communists could not accept this. They often tried to exercise independence in making politically important decisions. But Joseph Vissarionovich stopped such attempts and did not let this happen.

The leaders of Yugoslavia tried to create a Balkan Federation, but Stalin intervened here too, deciding to take the initiative into his own hands. Instead of submitting to the will of Joseph Vissarionovich, the Yugoslavs showed disobedience, and in 1949, friendly relations between the USSR and Yugoslavia were dissolved. By order of Stalin, all routes were cut off, West Berlin was cut off from electrical supplies, and food supplies to the rebel territories were stopped.

Conflicts between the parties

The essence of Stalin's "Iron Curtain" was largely to subordinate the conquered territories to his influence. Meanwhile, the situation in the world only worsened. The occupied territories of France, England and the United States were unified, and a month later the Eastern Republic was formed, the leadership of which was assumed by Walter Ulbricht, appointed by Stalin.

Relations on the Eastern side of the world also deteriorated. China and Korea started civil war. Joseph Stalin feared this situation, since China had every chance of becoming an independent communist center. It was not until 1949 that diplomatic relations were formalized between the Soviet Union and communist China. For opponents communist China The "Iron Curtain" is not a reason to leave the UN. All negotiations on the part of the USSR did not bring success, and as a sign of dissatisfaction, the Soviet Union leaves all organs of the protesting side of China.

Warring Korea

It would seem that at this stage everything was over. But this only marked the beginning of a brutal war between North and South Korea. When diplomats of the Soviet Union were dealing with the problems of internal conflicts in China, and the Iron Curtain controlled it from Soviet territories, America sent its troops into the lands of the warring parties in Korea. In turn, the Soviet leadership supported South Korea.

A fierce and bloody war, Seoul, the capital, was captured South Korea. Internal war between the warring parties led to Korea being divided into two separate states. It was also a clear fact that one side adhered to the European path of development, while the other enlisted the support of Soviet forces. However, the series of protests, conflicts and blockades did not stop there, but continued to spread throughout the world.

The "Iron Curtain" in Europe caused discontent on all sides. Only if the Soviet Union tried in every possible way to lower it, the West only aggravated the situation, creating more and more sophisticated conflicts. It is generally accepted that it was the USSR that created the borders and did not allow representatives of outside states to enter. However, in reality everything was far from the case.

The "Iron Curtain" means isolation of the country in every sense, not only a political blockade, but also a cultural and informational one. The western part wanted to protect its territories and citizens from the influence of socialist development. In turn, the Soviet Union also could not ignore this behavior and used its own methods to solve this situation. After all, such political disputes have brought many problems to ordinary people. There were restrictions on products and other goods, as well as on travel outside the country.

"Russian Diary"

In the post-war period, an attempt was made to show real life countries (the “Iron Curtain”, beyond the borders of which ordinary people live). In 1947, a book was published with detailed descriptions, sketches and photographs of people living in the USSR. The book is called “Russian Diary”, it was created under the authorship of the writer John Steinbeck and with photographs by Robert Capa. These two people came to the Soviet Union and tried to study the life of ordinary people: what they eat, what clothes they wear, how they greet their guests or how they lead their own lives.

Attention was diverted from official leaders; the authors wanted to reveal the lives of ordinary citizens. “Russian Diary” showed the true side of Soviet people who hated war, dreamed of peace, wished a good future for their children and were not supporters of world conflicts. The “Iron Curtain” hid this from Western countries, and sometimes gave a false impression of the Soviet Union and its inhabitants.

Destruction of the Iron Curtain

How much longer could this process of isolation last? How long could the Iron Curtain exist? Sooner or later this had to stop. The "Iron Curtain" in the USSR, whose years were marked by difficult times for all people, began to weaken in the second half of the 1950s. At that time, marriages with foreigners began to be allowed.

Everyone was already quite tired of the Cold War, and therefore the next step towards weakening the Iron Curtain was the signing of an agreement that required the destruction of some missiles in both countries. The USSR withdrew its troops from Afghanistan, and in the late 1980s the Berlin Wall fell. In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and the Iron Curtain finally fell, revealing the country's borders. Of course, there were still many fears on both sides that there would be an influx of migrants on both sides of the open borders.

Opening the borders

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, not only positive changes began to occur, but also not very favorable ones. Of course, bye Soviet territories were closed from the rest of the world, it was forbidden to travel abroad. And this was prohibited not only to those who wanted to holiday abroad, but also to those who were considering the possibility of studying or working in the West. And even more so, it was forbidden to leave states for the purpose of living in foreign territories.

Naturally, there were a number of small exceptions, but only for those individuals who enjoyed the trust of the intelligence services. The “Iron Curtain” is a process that lasted for quite a long period of time, and therefore the Soviet borders were not opened immediately, but gradually. What was the negative harm of such openness to the world? It's quite simple, check out Russian citizens and the arrival of foreigners primarily provoked the outflow and inflow of funds from the country. This, in turn, shook the economic situation.

Product advantages

The positive consequences of openness to the world should not be denied. The fall of the Iron Curtain opened up new opportunities for Russian citizens. Many foreign companies began to come and create new jobs with decent wages and new experience. Various goods and services that were previously in short supply began to appear on the Russian market. And now they were available even to people with little income.

Also, scientific and medical specialists came to the country, contributed to the development of relevant industries, shared skills and unique experience, which was very necessary for the post-Soviet state. High-income people, who then made up about 10-20% of the country's total population, reaped enormous benefits from open borders. Now they could buy foreign goods and services that were of the highest quality, and the Iron Curtain did not allow even them to do this.

Nowadays

Those times have already passed, but are very firmly entrenched in Russian history. However, these events still haunt modern society. There is an opinion that historical events tend to repeat themselves. The policy of the “Iron Curtain” is monitored in our time, only now it is clearly visible that an information war is going on. The events that are taking place in Russia and abroad cause concern among both heads of state and ordinary citizens, who most strongly feel the conflict of states.

And her allies. It seemed that victory over a common enemy should unite the states of Europe and the world, which together withstood the ordeal of a terrible war. However, relations between the USSR and its allies (USA, UK and other countries) only worsened. The leaders of the USSR tried to “protect the country from the pernicious influence of the West,” and the Western powers tried to protect them from the USSR. As a result, the expressions “Iron Curtain” and “Cold War” arose, defining the relations of the most powerful state in Europe with some countries of the world.

Few people remember that the Iron Curtain once really existed. Such a curtain began to be used in theaters in late XVIII century. The fact is that fire-hazardous candles and lamps were then used to illuminate the stage, so fires often occurred in the theater. The iron curtain was lowered in the event of a fire on the stage, which was tightly separated from the audience, allowing them to safely leave the room. Hardly anyone thought then that the expression “Iron Curtain” would soon acquire political overtones.

For the first time, the expression “iron curtain” was used in a new capacity by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, speaking on March 5, 1946 in the city of Fulton (USA). Summing up the political results of the Second World War, he said that “from Stettin on the Baltic to Trieste on the Adriatic, an “iron curtain” descended on the continent, implying the Soviet Union’s policy of limiting the influence of capitalist powers.

Before Churchill, this expression was used in the same context by the Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels (February 23, 1945). He stated that if the Soviet Union wins the war with Germany, it will fence off Eastern and South-Eastern Europe from the rest of it with an “iron curtain”. In the USSR, this expression was also familiar: back in 1930, Lev Nikulin used it in Literaturnaya Gazeta.

Indeed, relations between the USSR and the capitalist countries of Europe and the USA after 1945 deteriorated sharply. The fact is that the states pursued too different policies, not wanting to make any mutual concessions. The Soviet Union tried to expand its sphere of influence in Europe, which was very painful for the United States. Ultimately, the conflict between the two leading powers of the world at that time led to the so-called “Cold War”.

"Cold War"

The expression “Cold War” meant the political conflict between the USSR and the USA in the period from the late 40s to the early 90s of the 20th century. During this period, two superpowers fought for their influence in the world. This was a struggle not only between two states, but also between two ideologies. The main stages of the Cold War are considered to be the arms race, the struggle for dominance in space and the nuclear confrontation between the USSR and the USA.
The United States did not like the growing influence of the USSR in Europe and American politicians tried their best to limit it. A so-called “containment” policy was developed, that is, limiting the spread of communist ideology in Western European countries. It was expressed in economic, financial and military assistance to non-communist regimes. Basics of the new foreign policy The United States was established by President Harry Truman on March 12, 1947 in the American Congress. Some politicians consider this date to be the official date of the beginning of the Cold War, others are of the opinion that it began after Churchill’s speech in Fulton.

The first stage of the Cold War was left to the Americans. Already in July 1945 (even before the start of the Cold War), the world's first atomic bomb was tested, and in early August the United States demonstrated its military power to the USSR in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was clear that it was necessary to restore the nuclear balance in the world, so work on creating an atomic bomb in the USSR was accelerated, but it appeared only in 1949. After this, both countries began to actively increase their nuclear potential. In an effort to overtake the enemy, both states spent enormous amounts of money on the production of weapons and military equipment. Over the years of rivalry were found technical solutions, which have found application in peaceful life. This is how nuclear power plants, jet passenger planes, the Internet and much more appeared.

At another stage of the Cold War—dominance in space—the competition was fought with varying degrees of success, with the overall advantage of the USSR. In 1957, the first artificial earth satellite was launched, and in 1961 the first man, Yuri Gagarin, went into space. The first spacewalk was also carried out by Soviet cosmonauts. Having completely lost the first stage of space rivalry, the Americans redeemed themselves a little by being the first to set foot on the surface of the Moon.

However, the main stage of the rivalry took place on the ground. One of the tasks of the Cold War, like a conventional war, was the task of winning over as many allies as possible to one’s side. One of the most notable conflicts on this basis occurred in Germany, which was divided into East and West. Thanks to the support of the United States, the latter developed faster economically, so residents of East Germany (GDR) began to move to West Germany. The capital of Germany, Berlin, was also divided into Western and Eastern parts. To limit the outflow of residents from Soviet-controlled East Germany, the Berlin Wall was erected on August 13, 1961, dividing West and East Berlin. The creation of the Berlin Wall not only allowed the government of the GDR to stop the outflow of population, but also to create more favorable conditions for the independent development of the republic. In October, the Americans tried to destroy the Berlin Wall, but Soviet intelligence knew about these plans and took countermeasures. An entire regiment of tanks and a battalion of infantry came out against three jeeps, ten tanks and bulldozers from East Germany. As a result, the Americans had to retreat.

With the coming to power of Mikhail Gorbachev in the USSR, who proclaimed “socialist pluralism,” the conflict was practically settled. During negotiations, agreements began to be concluded between the warring countries to reduce the weapons that both countries had accumulated over the long years of the Cold War. Late 80s Soviet troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan, and East and West Germany became a single state. The economic and political crisis in the USSR no longer allowed fighting with the United States. On December 26, 1991, the Treaty of Union was terminated, which put an end to the Cold War.

In the end, the United States achieved its goal main goal: destruction of your main enemy in the struggle for influence in the world. The USSR crashed into several independent states and even the largest of them - Russia - could no longer dictate its terms to the Americans. In addition, communist countries that were left without the support of the USSR either ceased to exist altogether or found themselves in a deep crisis.