The West vs. Russia: Churchill's 'Iron Curtain' speech as relevant as ever

Seventy-five years ago, on March 5, 1946, Winston Churchill delivered his landmark "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. It is believed that the speech marked the beginning of a new stage in world history - the Cold War. At the same time, there was only one paragraph about the "Iron Curtain" in the speech.  Churchill's speech At the time, Churchill did not hold any official positions in the British government being the leader of the opposition after the lost parliamentary elections in 1945. Yet, his authority as a politician was extremely high. Therefore, when Churchill asked US President Harry Truman to accompany him on his trip to Fulton, he agreed without hesitation.Truman read Churchill's speech in advance and approved it in its entirety. However, he did not publicly express his point of view, leaving room for maneuver in order to be able to distance himself from it if need be. The Iron Curtain remark was one of the highlights of Churchill's speech. At the same time, there was no such remark in the version of the speech that was previously distributed to journalists, and this aspect could have been lost in the press. According to the British politician, the USSR could respect only the language of force. Therefore, Churchill proposed to find mutual understanding with Russia "under the general authority of the United Nations Organisation and by the maintenance of that good understanding through many peaceful years, by the world instrument, supported by the whole strength of the English-speaking world and all its connections."