"Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League (, SKDL; , DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. It was founded in 1944 as the anti-communist laws in Finland were repealed due to the demands of the Soviet Union, and lasted until 1990, when it merged into the newly formed Left Alliance. At its time, SKDL was one of the largest leftist parties in capitalist Europe, with its main member party, the Communist Party of Finland, being one of the largest communist parties west of the Iron Curtain."
"memory of the division is being kept alive in many other places along the ""Grenze"". Throughout the Cold War the term ""curtain"" would become a common euphemism for boundaries – physical or ideological – between communist and capitalist states. Post Cold War: Geography: Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the name for the physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the"
"neutral. Separate international economic and military alliances were developed on each side of the Iron Curtain: Physically, the Iron Curtain took the form of border defences between the countries of Europe in the middle of the continent. The most notable border was marked by the Berlin Wall and its Checkpoint Charlie, which served as a symbol of the Curtain as a whole. The events that demolished the Iron Curtain started in discontent in Poland, and continued in Hungary, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. Romania became the only communist state in Europe to overthrow its government"
"Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the name for the physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union to block itself and its satellite states from open contact with the West and its allied states. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the Soviet Union, while on the west side were the countries that were allied to the United States or nominally"
"Curtain"", a term used widely in Europe from the 1940s to the early '90s to refer to that region's Communist boundaries. It was used less often than ""Iron Curtain"" in part because while the latter remained relatively static for over 40 years, the ""Bamboo Curtain"" shifted frequently and was somewhat less precise. It was also a less accurate description of the political situation in Asia because of the lack of cohesion within the East Asian Communist Bloc, which resulted in the Sino-Soviet split. During the Cold War, Communist governments in Mongolia, Vietnam and later Laos were allies of the Soviet"
"of high metal fences and walls, barbed wire, alarms, anti-vehicle ditches, watchtowers, automatic booby traps, and minefields. It was patrolled by 50,000 armed East German guards who faced tens of thousands of West German, British, and US guards and soldiers. In the hinterlands behind the border were more than a million North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and Warsaw Pact troops. The border was a physical manifestation of Sir Winston Churchill's metaphorical Iron Curtain that separated the Soviet and Western blocs during the Cold War. It marked the boundary between two ideological systems—democratic capitalism and single-party communism. Built by East Germany"
"dividing the capitalist countries from the communist one. A great wall was erected almost two decades later to strengthen the division, literally and figuratively. Built in 1961, the Berlin Wall represented one of the great political, economic, and ideological divides of the twentieth century between two major powers: the United States and the Soviet Union. It was 96 miles in length. The conflict between these two powers affected the global community, namely Germany. Even after it was demolished, the wall symbolized divisions in Germany and the rest of the world, ones that arguably still exist today. Cornell sociologist Christine Leuenberger"
"to symbolize physically the ""Iron Curtain"" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin; from there they could then travel to West Germany and to other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989 the Wall prevented almost all such emigration. During this period over 100,000 people attempted to escape and over 5,000 people succeeded in escaping over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from"
"of West German, British and US guards and soldiers. Despite the extensiveness of the Inner Border, it was the Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) that would serve as the famous and infamous representation of the ""Iron Curtain"" and the Cold War. The Berlin Wall was a barrier that divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989, constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off (by land) West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin until it was opened in November 1989. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive"
"Bamboo Curtain The Bamboo Curtain was the Cold War political demarcation between the Communist states of East Asia, particularly the People's Republic of China, and the capitalist and non-Communist states of East, South and Southeast Asia. To the north/northwest lay Communist China, the Soviet Union, Vietnam, and others. To the south and east lay capitalist/non-Communist India, Japan, Indonesia, and others. In particular, following the Korean War, the Korean Demilitarized Zone became an important symbol of this Asian division (though the term ""Bamboo Curtain"" itself is rarely used in that specific context). The colorful term ""Bamboo Curtain"" was derived from ""Iron"
"mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB), which demarcated the border between East and West Germany, it came to symbolize the ""Iron Curtain"" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Before the Wall's erection, 3.5 million East Germans circumvented Eastern Bloc emigration restrictions and defected from the GDR, many by crossing over the border from East Berlin into West Berlin, from where they could then travel to West Germany and other Western European countries. Between 1961 and 1989, the wall"
"candidates won a striking victory, inaugurated a series of peaceful anti-communist revolutions in Central and Eastern Europe that eventually culminated in the fall of communism. In November 1989, protestors in Berlin began taking down the Berlin Wall, which became a symbol of the collapse of the Iron Curtain, with most of Eastern Europe declaring independence and moving to hold democratic elections by 1991. The Treaty of Maastricht 1992 renamed the EEC as the ""European Union"", and expanded its powers to include a social chapter, set up a European Exchange Rate Mechanism, and limit government spending. The UK initially opted out"
"changed enough that US Secretary of State James Baker suggested that the American government would not be opposed to Soviet intervention in Romania, on behalf of the opposition, to prevent bloodshed. The tidal wave of change culminated with the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, which symbolized the collapse of European communist governments and graphically ended the Iron Curtain divide of Europe. The 1989 revolutionary wave swept across Central and Eastern Europe and peacefully overthrew all of the Soviet-style communist states: East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria; Romania was the only Eastern-bloc country to topple its communist"
"speech, and the withdrawal of Soviet troops. The Iron Curtain and its physical manifestations in heavily guarded border fences and crossings, e.g. as seen in Czechoslovakia and East Germany, were a dominant factor in the movement to unite Europe. Although some countries, such as East Germany, had a hard-line Communist power structure, others, such as Hungary, took a reform-oriented approach. Supported by Mikhail Gorbachev's new policies, the reformist Communist countries' leadership accepted the necessity for change. Non-governmental organizations and new political parties played a sizable role in the movement towards a democratic, multiparty system. That year, round-table discussions were held"
"Gate, challenging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to ""tear down the wall"" which divided Berlin. The wall had stood as an icon for the political and economic division between East and West, a division that Churchill had referred to as the ""Iron Curtain"". In early 1989, under a new era of Soviet policies of ""glasnost"" (openness), ""perestroika"" (economic restructuring) and taken to even more progressive levels by Gorbachev, the Solidarity movement took hold in Poland. Further inspired by other images of brave defiance, a wave of revolutions swept throughout the Eastern Bloc that year. In May 1989, Hungary removed their border"
"Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), starting on 13 August 1961, the Wall cut off (by land) West Berlin from virtually all of surrounding East Germany and East Berlin until government officials opened it in November 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and finished in 1992. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, accompanied by a wide area (later known as the ""death strip"") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, ""fakir"
"edges, while near urban areas a high concrete barrier similar to the Berlin Wall was built. The installation of the Wall in 1961 brought an end to a decade during which the divided capital of divided Germany was one of the easiest places to move west across the Iron Curtain. The barrier was always a short distance inside East German territory to avoid any intrusion into Western territory. The actual borderline was marked by posts and signs and was overlooked by numerous watchtowers set behind the barrier. The strip of land on the West German side of the barrier –"
"Soviet Union took no overt actions against Hungary, taking a hands-off approach. Removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria The removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria occurred in 1989 during the collapse of communism in Hungary, which was part of a broad wave of revolutions in various communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The dismantling of the electric fence along Hungary's long border with Austria was the first fissure in the ""Iron Curtain"" that had divided Europe for more than 40 years, since the end of World War II, and caused a chain reaction in East Germany that"
"divided by the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall. They formed competing military alliances (NATO and the Warsaw Pact) which engaged in a decades-long standoff known as the Cold War. The period was marked by a new arms race as the USSR became the second nation to develop nuclear weapons, which were produced by both sides in sufficient numbers to end most human life on the planet had a large-scale nuclear exchange ever occurred. Mutually assured destruction is credited by many historians as having prevented such an exchange, each side being unable to strike first at the other without ensuring"
"Removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria The removal of Hungary's border fence with Austria occurred in 1989 during the collapse of communism in Hungary, which was part of a broad wave of revolutions in various communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The dismantling of the electric fence along Hungary's long border with Austria was the first fissure in the ""Iron Curtain"" that had divided Europe for more than 40 years, since the end of World War II, and caused a chain reaction in East Germany that ultimately resulted in the demise of the Berlin Wall. In April 1989,"
"the proletariat, peasantry, and lower middle-class. Churchill observed that an ""Iron Curtain"" had been drawn across Europe, separating the east from the west. In September 1947, a meeting of East European communist leaders was held in Szklarska Poręba, Poland, from which was formed Cominform to co-ordinate the Communist Parties across Eastern Europe and also in France and Italy. Stalin did not personally attend the meeting, sending Zhdanov in his place. Various East European communists also visited Stalin in Moscow. There, he offered advice on their ideas; for instance he cautioned against the Yugoslav idea for a Balkan federation incorporating Bulgaria"
"effectively cutting the city in half and making West Berlin an enclave of the Western world in communist territory. The Wall became the symbol of the Cold War and the division of Europe. Shortly afterward, the main border between the two German states was fortified. The Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops of 1965 was controversial at the time, but is now seen as an important step toward improving relations between the German states and Poland. In 1969, Chancellor Willy Brandt announced that West Germany would remain firmly rooted in the Atlantic alliance but would"
"defections in 1970 caused the Soviets to open very limited ethnic emigrations. The fall of the Iron Curtain was accompanied by a massive rise in European East-West migration. The Iron Curtain took physical shape in the form of border defenses between the countries of western and eastern Europe. There were some of the most heavily militarised areas in the world, particularly the so-called ""inner German border"" – commonly known as ""die Grenze"" in German – between East and West Germany. The inner German border was marked in rural areas by double fences made of steel mesh (expanded metal) with sharp"
"Protection of Czechoslovak borders during the Cold War The protection of borders between the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (CSSR) and Capitalist countries of Western Europe, namely with West Germany and Austria, in the Cold War era and especially after 1951, was provided by special troops of the Pohraniční Stráž () and system of engineer equipment which created the real ""Iron Curtain"". The purpose was to prevent citizens of the Eastern Bloc escaping to the West, although official reports stated it was to keep the enemy's spies and saboteurs out of Czechoslovakia. The border system of Czechoslovakia was not as elaborate and"
"Germany and Czechoslovakia. In August 1961, the new Berlin Wall cemented the division of Europe. After the first wave of reform, Gomułka's regime started to move back on their promises. Control over mass media and universities was gradually tightened, and many of the younger and more reformist members of the party were forced out. The reform-promising Gomułka of 1956 turned into the authoritarian Gomułka of the 1960s. Although Poland enjoyed a period of relative stability in that decade, the idealism of the ""Polish October"" faded away. The decisions made at the XIII Plenum of the Central Committee, held in 1963,"
"into the European Union. He became one of Austria's most popular politicians. In June 1989, together with his Hungarian colleague Gyula Horn, he cut the wires of the Iron Curtain near Sopron at the fortified border to Communist neighbour Hungary. As a result, during the following months, thousands of East German citizens were able to exit the Eastern Bloc. This marked the beginning of the fall of Communism. In 1991, he urged Hans-Dietrich Genscher and Helmut Kohl to recognize Croatia and Slovenia as independent states as soon as possible. In November 1989 Mock was one of the founders of the"
"as war would end. Following World War II, another war started. Two nations became the frontrunners for world power: the US and the USSR. This created a power struggle between who would have the most influence for capitalism or socialism. Berlin was in the cross-fire between capitalist and socialist influence and it ended up splitting the city between East and West. Winston Churchill said that there was a metal curtain between the Eastern and Western hemisphere, and Berlin actually had a curtain, the Berlin Wall. Until its destruction in 1989, the city of Berlin was physically divided with little to"
"as a shorthand reference to the division of Europe as the Cold War strengthened. The Iron Curtain served to keep people in and information out, and people throughout the West eventually came to accept and use the metaphor. Churchill's ""Sinews of Peace"" address was to strongly criticise the Soviet Union's exclusive and secretive tension policies along with the Eastern Europe's state form, Police State (""Polizeistaat""). He expressed the Allied Nations' distrust of the Soviet Union after the World War II. In September that year, US-Soviet Union cooperation collapsed due to the US disavowal of the Soviet Union's opinion on the"
"the frontier between Slovakia and Austria. The border runs from west to east along the Morava River and subsequently the Danube. Prior to 1989, the Iron Curtain between the Eastern Bloc and the West ran just in front of the castle. Although the castle was open to the public, the area surrounding it constituted a restricted military zone, and was heavily fortified with watchtowers and barbed wire. After the Velvet Revolution the area was demilitarised. The most photographed part of the castle is the tiny watchtower, known as the Maiden Tower. Separated from the main castle, it balances perilously on"
"People's Republic of Romania, the People's Republic of Albania, and later East Germany from the Soviet zone of German occupation. By the early 1950s, the Soviet approach to controlling national movement was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc (along with China, Mongolia and North Korea). Up until 1952, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones could be easily crossed in most places. Accordingly, before 1961, most of that east-west flow took place between East and West Germany, with over 3.5 million East Germans emigrating to West Germany. On August 13, 1961, barbed-wire barrier"
"for a unified Germany. Loshitzky depicts the role of the Berlin Wall as a symbol of the Cold War, détente, and the collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. She divides the history of the Wall into six major stages: the erection of the Wall (1961); the period of the ""geography of fear"" from the Cold War; the period of détente; the short period of glasnost and perestroika; the fall of the Wall (1989); and after the Wall. On August 13, 1961 the Communist East German government started to build a wall, physically separating West Berlin from East Berlin"
"the Third Reich, and stood opposed to the peaceful socialism of the GDR. The GDR side of the Inner German Border had by far a more complex system of fortifications and border controls than the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) which ran 1,381 kilometers (858 mi) long and between 50-200 kilometers deep, the German portion ran from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia with the entire ""Iron Curtain"" extending from the Arctic to the Black Sea. The border fortifications were indeed formidable with visible electrified fences with barbed wire, guard towers, heavily armed guards, and mine fields. The first area which"
"to prevent such ""provocations""). Fortifications of the inner German border The fortifications of the inner German border comprised a complex system of interlocking fortifications and security zones long and several kilometres deep, running from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia. The outer fences and walls were the most familiar and visible aspect of the system for Western visitors to the border zone, but they were merely the final obstacle for a would-be escapee from East Germany. The complexity of the border system increased steadily until it reached its full extent in the early 1980s. The following description and the accompanying diagram"