Responding to Iranian requests to the United Nations, on March 5, 1946, the United States sent a note to Moscow protesting the retention of Soviet troops in Iran, where Stalin wanted to establish Soviet influence. Yugoslavia, Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia all fell under Communist control by early 1948.

March 1946: Churchill's Iron Curtain Speechĭuring a speech at Fulton, Missouri, on March 5, 1946, visiting British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proclaimed that Europe was divided by an 'Iron Curtain' as the nations of Eastern Europe fell increasingly under Soviet control.

Kennan's articulations of the policy of containment had a major influence on American foreign policy toward the Soviet Union. Kennan published a public version of this argument in the July 1947 issue of the journal Foreign Affairs. Kennan argued that the United States should lead the West in 'containing' the Soviets by exerting counterforce at various geographical and political points of conflict. Kennan argued that the United States would never be able to cooperate successfully with the Soviets, because they saw the West as an enemy and would engage in a protracted battle to limit Western power and increase Soviet domination. Kennan, the Chargé d'Affaires at the Moscow Embassy, sent a long telegram to the Department of State detailing his concerns about Soviet expansionism. The United States and Britain considered this an abrogation of agreements made at the Yalta Conference.įebruary 1946: George Kennan's Long Telegram and the Policy of Containment These included Yugoslavia (November 1945) Albania (January 1946) and Bulgaria (December 1946). United States Relations with Russia: The Cold Warġ945-1946: Creation of Eastern European People's Republicsīetween November 1945 and December 1946, a number of the coalition governments established in the Eastern European countries occupied by Soviet troops during the war transformed into Communist 'People's Republics' with strong ties to the Soviet Union.

List of states hoi4