Cold War · 1946-1955

The Iron Curtain and the Marshall Plan

In 1946 Churchill warned that an "iron curtain" had come down across Europe. America answered with the Marshall Plan and NATO; the Soviet Union with its own bloc and the Warsaw Pact. Students draw the line on the map and see how Europe split in two.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
13–16
On the map
3 steps, AD 1960
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 1946 Churchill warned that an "iron curtain" had come down across Europe. America answered with the Marshall Plan and NATO; the Soviet Union with its own bloc and the Warsaw Pact. Students draw the line on the map and see how Europe split in two.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Explain what Churchill meant by an "iron curtain" in 1946.
  • Describe the aims of the Marshall Plan and why Stalin rejected it.
  • Show on the map how Europe split into NATO and Warsaw Pact countries by 1955.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 1960

Stettin to Trieste

Open the map in 1960. Find Stettin (Szczecin) on the Baltic and Trieste on the Adriatic. Draw a line between them with your finger. Which countries lie east of it?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 1960

Two Germanys

Zoom in on Germany in 1960. Find West Germany and East Germany. Compare with 1945: which occupation zones became which state?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 1960

Two blocs

Zoom out over Europe in 1960. Ask the atlas: "Which countries were in NATO and which in the Warsaw Pact in 1955?" Where are the neutral countries?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Why did the wartime alliance between the Soviet Union and the West break down so quickly after 1945?
  2. The Marshall Plan gave billions of dollars to western Europe. Was it generosity, self-interest or both?
  3. Stalin did not let Poland and Czechoslovakia accept Marshall aid. Why?
  4. NATO members promised that an attack on one would be an attack on all. Why would a small country like the Netherlands want that promise?
  5. Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Finland joined neither bloc. What were the advantages and risks of staying neutral?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Charlemagne, whose empire once united much of western Europe. Then compare: after 1945 western Europe drew together again, this time through aid and alliances. Who made those decisions, and why?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.