Question

churchill’s iron curtain speech
transcript: “from stettin in the baltics, to trieste in the adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent. behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of central and eastern europe: warsaw, berlin, prague, vienna, budapest, belgrade, bucharest, and sofia. all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what i must call the soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from moscow. an attempt is being made by the russians in berlin to build up a quasi - communist party in their zone of occupied germany by showing special favors to groups of left - wing german leaders. at the end of the fighting last june, the american and british armies withdrew westward in accordance with an earlier agreement, to a depth at some points of 150 miles upon a front of nearly 400 miles in order to allow our russian allies to occupy this vast expanse of territory which western democracies had conquered. if now the soviet government tries by separate action to build up a pro - communist germany in their areas, this will cause new serious difficulties in the american and british zones, and will give the defeated germans the power of putting themselves up to auction between the soviets and the western democracies. whatever conclusions may be drawn from these facts, and facts they are, this is certainly not the liberated europe we sought to build up, nor is it one which contains the essentials for a permanent peace. on the other hand, ladies and gentlemen, i repulse the idea that a new war is inevitable - still more that it is imminent. it is because i am sure that our fortunes are still in our hands, in our own hands, and that we own the power to save the future, that i feel the duty to speak out now that i have the occasion and the opportunity to do so.”
answer the following about churchill’s speech:

• what was the \iron curtain\?
• what was the main message?
• what did churchill fear?
• what was the solution?
• how was it received?

Explanation:

1. What was the "Iron Curtain"?

Según el discurso, la "Iron Curtain" (Cortina de Hierro) se refiere a la división geográfica y política que se estableció en Europa después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, desde Stettin en los Bálticos hasta Trieste en el Adriático. Detrás de esta línea se encontraban las capitales de los antiguos estados de Europa Central y del Este (como Varsovia, Berlín, Praga, etc.), que se encontraban en la esfera soviética y estaban sujetas a la influencia y el control de Moscú.

El mensaje principal del discurso de Churchill era alertar sobre la expansión de la influencia soviética en Europa Central y del Este (detrás de la "Cortina de Hierro"), criticar que la Europa liberada no era la que se había buscado construir (no tenía los elementos para una paz permanente) y afirmar que el futuro aún estaba en manos de las democracias occidentales, negando que una nueva guerra fuera inevitable o inminente y exhortando a actuar para salvar el futuro.

Churchill temía que la influencia y el control soviético en su zona de ocupación de Alemania (y en Europa Central/Del Este) llevara a la creación de una Alemania pro - comunista, lo que causaría dificultades en las zonas americanas y británicas de Alemania, permitiendo a los alemanes derrotados "ponerse a la venta" entre los soviéticos y las democracias occidentales. También temía que la situación no condujera a la Europa liberada que se buscaba ni a una paz permanente.

Answer:

La "Iron Curtain" (Cortina de Hierro) fue la división geográfica y política en Europa después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, desde Stettin (Bálticos) hasta Trieste (Adriático), detrás de la cual las capitales de Europa Central y del Este (en la esfera soviética) estaban bajo influencia y control soviético.

2. What was the main message?