After World War II, the United States and Soviet Union emerged as the only global superpowers. Although both were allies in World War II, both nations had fundamentally different governments and economic systems. In Europe, the Soviet Union controlled eastern European countries, while western European countries remained democratic and capitalist.
In Europe this communist/non-communist divide between the West and the East became very apparent, especially after a speech given by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. On March 5, 1946, Sir Winston Churchill gave a now infamous speech known as the “Iron Curtain Speech." In this speech he describes this division in Europe: "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an "iron curtain" has descended across the continent.

1. Notice the “No Admittance By Order Joe” sign on the Iron Curtain. Who is “Joe,” and what country does he represent?

2. Why is Winston Churchill peeking underneath the 'Iron Curtain'? What does this suggest about the nature of the Iron Curtain? Consider the connotation of the words.

3. Compare the 2 sides that the Iron Curtain is dividing. Using you knowledge from the lessons and/or class, what are the primary differences between the two sides?

4. Identify one more detail/symbol from this political cartoon and describe what purpose the artist is trying to illustrate with it. Remember, relate it to the Cold War period and details we have been discussing in class and/or learning in lessons.

1. The name Joe stands for Joseph Stalin who ruled the Soviet Union with an iron fist after world war 2 ended. He also ruled various other Eastern European countries by proxy since he had them work as satellite states. He represents the Soviet Union and all other countries that he had cut off from the remainder of Europe

2. Churchill is looking under the curtain because he wants to get other countries away from the Soviets. He believed that other countries who weren't a part of the soviet union but still were communist countries should be freed from Soviet Union's grasp. It's called an iron curtain because it's a metaphor for strict separation of the two worlds.

3. The primary differences are in the economic model that the two sides employed. West of the curtain there was liberal capitalism while totalitarian communism existed on the other side. The capitalist side was also more liberal when it came to governing those countries as they were mostly democratic, while those east of the curtain had one party systems and were mostly totalitarian.

4. A symbol that can be seen is the background of the eastern part. Unlike in the western part, the eastern part shows heavy industrialization and the world looks dreary, almost like a camp. This is because during the cold war period following world war 2 the Soviets understood that they had to industrialize rapidly in order to catch up to the western world when it came to power and economic prosperity. They focused on heavy industry and in many places the country did look like it looks on the comic.