The term "Iron Curtain" refers to the ideological barrier that divided Europe during the Cold War, symbolizing the separation between the Western democracies and Eastern communist countries. Coined by Winston Churchill in 1946, it described the political and military division created by the Soviet Union's control over Eastern Europe, which stifled free expression and democratic governance. The Iron Curtain became a metaphor for the geopolitical tensions that characterized the era, representing the lack of transparency and communication between the two worlds. Its fall in 1989, marked by the collapse of communist regimes, symbolized the end of the Cold War and a shift towards integration in Europe.