What did the 'Iron Curtain' symbolize during the Cold War?

The 'Iron Curtain' symbolized the division between capitalist and communist countries during the Cold War. This term was popularized by Winston Churchill in a speech he gave in 1946, where he described an ideological barrier that separated the Western nations, which were primarily democratic and capitalist, from the Eastern nations controlled by the Soviet Union, which adopted a communist system.

This division was not just geographical but also political, as it represented the opposing ideologies and the tensions that characterized international relations during that period. The Iron Curtain became a powerful metaphor for the lack of communication and cooperation between these two worlds, highlighting the fundamental differences in governance, economics, and social systems. While the physical border between East and West Berlin was significant, it was part of a larger context of division that the Iron Curtain represented. Similarly, NATO's alliance and economic differences were elements of the Cold War but did not capture the full symbolic meaning of the Iron Curtain as a representation of the broader ideological conflict.