and the International Monetary Fund between the US and the USSR. On February George Kennan, the American charge d’affaires in Moscow, in an , -word telegram to the Department of State, known as ‘Long Telegram,’ emphasised that the Soviet Union did not see the possibility for long-term peaceful coexistence with the capitalist world and suggested that the best strategy was to “contain” communist expansion around the globe. In March Churchill, who was invited to speak at Fulton in Missouri, condemned the Soviet action of installing communist governments in Eastern European region. He declared “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent.” He called for a western alliance which would stand firm against communism.
Churchill’s speech is considered to signal the beginning of the Cold War. Stalin criticised Churchill as a warmonger. After the Iron Curtain Speech of Churchill, USSR continued to tighten its George Kennan The World after World War II hold over Eastern Europe. By the end of except Czechoslovakia the rest of the area was brought under Communist rule.
Churchill at Fulton The Berlin Blockade and Formation of East Germany and West Germany By the Yalta and Potsdam Conference agreements, Germany, with its capital city Berlin, was divided into four zones, viz., U.S zone, U.K. zone, French zone and USSR zone. By early all the three western zones were merged together and with the Marshall Plan these zones registered rapid growth and development. USSR’s response was to put pressure on communications between West Berlin and West Germany.
In June the Russians stopped all road and rail traffic between West Berlin and West Germany. The western powers decided to maintain contact with Berlin by air. For nearly eleven months West Berlin was supplied by air, and vast quantities of supplies were flown in at immense cost. In May USSR ended its ban on land traffic and the crisis ended.
The western powers now went ahead and set up the Federal Republic of