The Iron Curtain and the Truman Doctrine

By 1946, the wartime alliance had collapsed. The Soviet Union tightened its grip on Eastern Europe, and the USA responded with a new policy of containment. This lesson covers the creation of Soviet satellite states, Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech, the Truman Doctrine, and the Marshall Plan — the key steps that formalised the division of Europe.

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Soviet Expansion in Eastern Europe

Between 1945 and 1948, Stalin established communist governments across Eastern Europe. These countries became known as satellite states — nominally independent but effectively controlled by Moscow.

Country	Year Communist Government Established	Method
Poland	1947	Rigged elections; non-communist leaders arrested
Romania	1945–1947	Communist coalition gradually took full control
Bulgaria	1946	Opposition leaders executed; single-party rule
Hungary	1947	Salami tactics — slicing away opposition piece by piece
Czechoslovakia	1948	Communist coup; Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk died in suspicious circumstances
East Germany	1949	Soviet zone became the German Democratic Republic (GDR)