the iron curtain

     World War II ended in 1945, when the Americans and the Russians met in Berlin. Germany was defeated, and its territory was divided between the Russians, in the east, and the Americans, British, and French, in the west. Although the Americans and the Russians had been allies during the war, the Americans distrusted the Russians, and disapproved of their communist government. This was the beginning of what came to be known as the "Cold War" between the United States and the Soviet Union ( Russia ). Europe was divided, along an east-west line, with the Soviets having great influence in the east, and the United States ( America ) in the west. The Americans tried to broadcast by radio into the countries of Eastern Europe, but were eventually blocked by an "iron curtain".  The term "iron curtain" was more literal than figurative. Planes carried iron chains back and forth along the borders to block the unwanted radio transmissions. The Americans believed they were broadcasting messages of freedom. The people in Eastern Europe thought that their own attempts to communicate with one another were being blocked by a form of pirate radio. This was all part of the "Cold War" that had a generation fearing a real war, possibly a nuclear war.