iron curtain

/ˌaɪərn ˌkʌrtn/

Other forms: iron curtains

After World War II, the iron curtain was the political boundary between NATO countries and the Soviet Union.

Although the iron curtain began as an imaginary line separating Western democracies from nations that supported the USSR, it eventually included 4,300 miles of walls and fences. The Berlin Wall, which divided East and West Germany, was part of the iron curtain. This political era — and the iron curtain itself — came to an end in 1989, when most communist countries in Eastern Europe abandoned single-party governments. Prior to its political meaning, an iron curtain was a fireproof theater curtain.

Definitions of iron curtain

1. noun

   an impenetrable barrier to communication or information especially as imposed by rigid censorship and secrecy; used by Winston Churchill in 1946 to describe the demarcation between democratic and communist countries
   type of:

   ideological barrier

   a barrier to cooperation or interaction resulting from conflicting ideologies
2. noun

   any impenetrable barrier preventing the exchange of information or ideas
   type of:

   barrier, roadblock

   any condition that makes it difficult to make progress or to achieve an objective