铁幕演说是1946年3月5日，英国前首相温斯顿·丘吉尔在美国富尔顿城威斯敏斯特学院发表的反苏联、反共产主义的演说，运用“铁幕”一词之意攻击苏联和东欧社会主义国家“用铁幕笼罩起来”，因此此演说被称为“铁幕演说”。铁幕演说也被认为是正式拉开了美苏冷战的序幕。

1946年1月，英国前首相丘吉尔应邀访美。3月5日，他在美国总统杜鲁门陪同下抵达密苏里州富尔顿，在杜鲁门的母校威斯敏斯特学院发表了题为“和平砥柱”的演说。

丘吉尔在演说中公开攻击苏联“扩张”，宣称“从波罗的海的斯德丁(什切青)到亚得里亚海边的的里雅斯特，一幅横贯欧洲大陆的铁幕已经降落下来”，苏联对“铁幕”以东的中欧、东欧国家进行日益增强的高压控制。对苏联的扩张，不能采取“绥靖政策”。美国正高踞于世界权力的顶峰，应担负起未来的责任。主张英、美结成同盟，英语民族联合起来，制止苏联的“侵略”。

富尔顿演说后不到10天，斯大林发表谈话，严厉谴责丘吉尔和他的朋友非常像希特勒及其同伴，演说是杜鲁门借他人之口发表的“冷战”宣言，是美国发动“冷战”的前奏曲。

第二次世界大战后，美国经济、军事实力急剧膨胀，成为世界头号资本主义强国。与此同时，苏联力量也逐渐强大，国际地位大大提高，东欧一些国家在苏联的影响下走上了社会主义道路，再加上苏联推行意识形态输出，在欧洲极力扩张自己的势力，美苏之间的矛盾日益加深。西方国家提出了用除直接武装进攻以外的一切手段和行动来遏制共产主义，一场“冷战”(Cold War)在以美国为首的资本主义国家和以苏联为首的社会主义国家之间展开。

1946年3月5日，英国前首相丘吉尔在应邀访问美国期间在密苏里州富尔顿城的威斯敏斯特学院发表了题为《和平砥柱》的演讲。

在演讲中，丘吉尔对苏联大加攻击。他说：“从波罗的海边的什切青到亚得里亚海边的里雅斯特，已经拉下了横贯欧洲大陆的铁幕。这张铁幕后面坐落着所有中欧、东欧古老国家的首都——华沙、柏林、布拉格、维也纳、布达佩斯、贝尔格莱德、布加勒斯特和索非亚。这些著名的都市和周围的人口全都位于苏联势力范围之内，全都以这种或那种方式，不仅落入苏联影响之下，而且越来越强烈地为莫斯科所控制。”“几乎在每一处都是警察政府占了上风。到目前为止，除了捷克斯洛伐克以外，根本没有真正的民主。”

丘吉尔还指出，在铁幕外面，共产党的“第五纵队”遍布各国，“到处构成对基督教文明的日益严重的挑衅和危险”。丘吉尔呼吁英美联合起来，建立“特殊关系”，推动西方民主国家“团结一致”。

这一演讲和所使用的“铁幕”一词，立即引起了国际社会的关注。

苏联方面反应强烈，斯大林说，丘吉尔“现在采取了战争贩子的立场”；美国朝野也受到强烈震撼，杜鲁门很高兴。但在美国国会中出现了若干激烈的敌对言论，认为丘吉尔是想把美国引向“最恐怖的战争”，让英国渔翁得利。

丘吉尔的铁幕演说是第二次世界大战之后西方政界一位最有身份的人对苏联进行的最公开、最大胆的指责，这也是以美国为首的西方世界对以苏联为首的社会主义阵营开始“冷战”所发出的最初信号。有不少专家认为，丘吉尔的铁幕演说揭开了长达40多年冷战的序幕。

“铁幕”一词尽管不是丘吉尔的首创，但经他这么一用，从此便成为战后国际关系中有关东西方对抗的专有名词。

当然，丘吉尔发表如此言辞激烈的演说，并非一时心血来潮，而是当时国际形势、英国的利益和丘吉尔的反共情结使然。

第二次世界大战结束前后，新的世界格局已见分晓，大英帝国风光不再，沦为二流强国；美国取代英国，转而成为世界第一强国，力主在全世界发号施令；苏联作为社会主义国家不仅成为欧洲最强大的国家，而且在世界范围内也只有它有实力向美国叫板。 尽管美、英、苏在二战中曾经是一致对敌的盟友，但随着战争的结束，由于彼此间利益的冲突，它们之间的摩擦不断升温。

在东欧、中东、希腊、土耳其等地，美国、英国和苏联更是争斗得异常激烈。美国在战后世界新格局中的一举一动总是受到另一强国苏联的制约，以苏联为首的社会主义阵营也在形成之中。因而，美国政府正在制定着如何对付苏联的决策。此时英国惟有的希望是争取美国舆论，寻求美国支持，重建欧洲均势。

丘吉尔的富尔顿演说是当时美国总统杜鲁门精心安排的杰作。杜氏意在利用丘吉尔这位著名的“反共斗士”投石问路。丘吉尔在演说中不仅充分表达了英国的意愿，同时也道出了美国想说而不便公开说的主张，适应了杜鲁门政府的需要。经过舆论界的一番哄炒之后，美国当权集团尽管感到同苏联公开决裂的时机尚未成熟，民众还没有足够的思想准备，即使政界领导人也有意见分歧，但是，散布苏联扩张和威胁的论调开始在美国舆论界占据了上风。

“美国此刻正高踞于世界权力的顶峰。对美国民主来说，这是一个庄严的时刻。拥有最大的力量，也就是对未来负有令人敬畏的责任。放眼四顾，你不但觉得已经尽了应尽的责任，也感到忧虑，恐怕以后的成就未必能达到这样高的水平。对你我两国来说，现在都有一个机会在这里，一个明确的、光彩夺目的机会。如果拒绝、忽视、或浪费这个机会，我们将受到后世长期的责备。……

“当美国的军事人员在立场严重的局势时，他们习惯于在他们的指令的头上写上‘全面战略概念’字样。这种做法是明智的，因为它能使思想明朗化。那么，什么是我们为今天所应题写的全面战略概念呢？它不应该低于在一切地方的所有男女的所有家庭的安全和幸福以及自由和进步。

“为了使这些无数的家庭得到安全，必须保护他们，使他们不受两个可怕的掠夺者——战争和暴政——的侵犯。……

“……为了防止战争这一主要目的，已经建立了一个世界组织。……我们必须使这一切得到肯定：它的工作是有成果的，它是一种现实而不是一种假象，它是一种行动力量而不仅只是语言的空谈，它是一种真正的和平之宫而不仅只是纷纷扰扰争吵的场所……

“然而，我有一个明确而实际的行动建议要提出来。宫廷和地方行政长官没有县吏和皂吏就不能办事。因此，必须马上着手给联合国配备一支国际武装力量。在这个问题上，只能一步一步来，但我们必须从现在开始着手做。我建议，应邀请每一个大国和其它成员国派出一定数量的空军中队，为这个世界性组织服役。这些中队将由本国训练和筹备，但在各国轮流驻扎。他们身着本国的军服，佩戴不同的徽章。不能要求他们对自己的国家作战，但在其它方面将受这世界性组织的指挥。这个办法可以小规模地实行起来，让它随着我们信心的增长而扩大。第一次世界大战后我曾梦想做到这一步，相信现在会立即办到。

“不过，如果把美国、英国和加拿大现在所共同掌握的制造原子弹的秘密知识和经验托付给这个仍处于婴儿时代的世界性组织，那是错误的和轻率的。如果任凭这种秘密知识在这依然骚动和不团结的世界上自然发展，那是罪恶的发狂。……

“现在我讲到威胁着郊区农夫和城市平民的第二个危险，即暴政。我们不能无视一个事实，就是美国和大英帝国的个别公民到处都可以享受的自由，在许多的国家里是不存在的，其中一些是十分强大的国家。在这些国家里，各种包罗万象的警察政府对民众强加控制，达到了压倒和违背一切民主原则的程度。或是一些独裁者，或是组织严密的寡头集团，他们通过一个享有特权的党和一支政治警察队伍，毫无节制地行使着国家的大权。在这多难的岁月，我们的责任不是用武力去干预那些我们不曾征服的国家的内部事务。但是，我们绝不能放弃以大无畏的声调宣扬自由的伟大原则和基本人权。这些英语世界的共同遗产，继大宪章、人权法案、人身保护法、陪审团审讯制、以及英国习惯法之后，它们又在美国独立宣言中得到举世闻名的表现。

“到此为止，我们显然是完全一致的。现在，当仍然奉行这个实现我们全面战略概念的方法的时候，我要讲一讲此行要谈的关键问题。没有我所称之为各英语民族同胞手足一样的联合，有效地防止战争和继续发展世界组织都是办不到的。这种联合就是以英联邦与帝国为一方和以美利坚合众国为另一方建立特殊的关系。现在不是泛泛空谈的时候，我要明确地谈谈。

“兄弟般的联合不仅要求我们两个庞大的、有血缘关系的社会制度之间存在着日益增长的友谊和相互谅解，而且要求双方军事顾问继续保持密切的联系，以便共同研究潜在的危险。武器的异同，训练的教材，以及在军事院校互换军官和学员的问题。它还应包括联合使用两国在世界各地掌握的所有海空基地，使现有的设施继续用于共同安全的目的。……

“不久刚被盟国的胜利所照亮的大地，已经罩上了阴影。没有人知道，苏俄和它的共产主义国际组织打算在最近的将来干些什么，以及它们扩张和传教倾向的止境在哪里，如果还有止境的话。对于英勇的俄罗斯人民和我的战时伙伴斯大林元帅，我十分钦佩和尊敬。在英国——我毫不怀疑，在这里也是一样——人们对俄国各族人民怀有同情和善意，决心经受种种分歧和挫折，建立起持久的友谊。

“我们理解，俄国需要它西部边界的安全，以免再次遭受德国的侵略。我们欢迎它占有它在世界大国中有权占有的地位。我们特别欢迎的是，在俄国人民和大西洋两岸的我方人民之间保持经常不断的、频繁的和日益增多的接触。但是，我有责任把有关当前欧洲形势的某些事实摆在你们面前。

“从波罗的海的斯德丁〔什切青〕到亚得里亚海边的的里雅斯特，一幅横贯欧洲大陆的铁幕已经降落下来。在这条线的后面，坐落着中欧与东欧古国的都城。华沙、柏林、布拉格、维也纳、布达佩斯、贝尔格莱德、布加勒斯特和索非亚——所有这些饱经沧桑的城市及其居民无一不处在苏联的势力范围之内，不仅以这种或那种形式屈服于苏联的势力影响，而且还受到莫斯科日益增强的高压控制。只有雅典，放射着它不朽的光辉，在英格兰、美利坚、法兰西三国每一个人的眼下，自由地决定它的前途。

“受俄国支配的波兰政府被怂恿对德国领土实行大片的、不义的侵占，正在以可悲的、想象不到的规模把数以百万计的德国人成群地驱逐出境。在所有这些东欧国家原来都很弱小的共产党，已经上升到同它们党员人数远不相称的主导的、掌权的地位，到处争取极权主义的控制。几乎在每一处，都是警察政府占了上风。到目前为之，除了捷克斯洛伐克，根本没有真正的民主。

“土耳其和波斯〔伊朗〕都为莫斯科政府向它们提出的要求和对它们施加的压力而感到惊惶万分。驻在柏林的俄国人正试图通过对各左翼领导集团的袒护，在他们的德国占领区建立一个准共产党。去年6月战斗结束时，美国和英国军队按照先前的协议，从一条将近四百英里宽的战线上西撤，在某些地方深达一百五十英里。这样就让俄国人占领了西方民主国家所攻打下来的辽阔的土地。

“现在，如果苏联政府试图单独行动，在他们的地区建立一个亲共的德国，就将给英美两国占领区制造严重的困难，授予了战败的德国人以在苏联和西方民主国家之间拍卖抬价的权力。这些都是事实。不论我们从中得到什么结论，这肯定不是我们进行武装斗争所要建立的解放的欧洲，也不是一个具有永久和平必要条件的欧洲。

“在横跨欧洲的铁幕前面，还有其它令人焦虑的因素。意大利共产党由于不得不支持共产党训练的铁托元帅对亚得里亚海顶端的前意大利领土的要求，受到严重的牵制。尽管如此，意大利还是前途未卜。再一点，欧洲的复兴，如无一个强大的法国，这是不可思议的。在我的全部公职生活中，我总是为使法国强大而工作着。甚至在最黑暗的日子里，我也不曾对它的命运丧失信心。现在也不会丧失信心。

“不过，在远离俄国边界、遍布世界各地的许多国家里，共产党第五纵队已经建立。它绝对服从来自共产主义中心的指令，完全协调地工作着。除了在英联邦和美国——那里的共产主义运动还在婴儿时代——共产党，即第五纵队到处构成对基督教文明的日益严重的挑衅和危险。这是任何人在取得胜利的次日都应该记诵的一些黯淡的事实。这一胜利是通过在战斗中以及在自由和民主的事业中结成情谊深厚的战友关系取得的。如果我们不趁还来得及的时候正视这些事实，那就太不明智了。

“……我不相信苏俄希望战争。他们所希望的是得到战争的果实，以及他们的权力和主义的无限扩张。因此，趁今天还为时未晚，我们在这里要考虑的是永久制止战争和尽速在一切国家为自由和民主创造条件的问题。

“对于困难和危险视而不见，不能解决问题；袖手旁观，也不解决问题；采取绥靖政策，也无济于事。现在需要的是作出解决问题的安排。拖得越久，就越困难，对我们的危险也就越大。大战期间，我对我们俄国朋友和盟友的观察所得的印象使我坚信，他们所钦佩的莫过于实力，而他们最瞧不起的是军事上的虚弱。由于这个缘故，势力均衡的旧理论不适用了。如果可以避免的话，我们再也经不起在只留有狭小余地的情况下进行工作，从而提供了进行较量的诱惑。假使西方民主国家团结一致，严守联合国宪章的原则，那么，它们推行这些原则的影响力将是巨大的，没有人会来冒犯它们。不过，假使它们四分五裂，在自己执行职责时手软，假使让这紧要关头的几年白白混过去，那么，我们大家确实都要在浩劫中被毁灭了。

“上一次，我曾目睹大战来临，对自己本国同胞和全世界大声疾呼，但是人们都听不进。近至1933年，甚至1935年，或许还能把德国从后来落到它头上的可怕命运中拯救出来，使我们大家都免遭希特勒强加于人类的苦难。

“在全部历史中，没有一次战争比前不久使地球上这么多广大地区沦为废墟的这次大战，更容易同及时的行动加以制止。它本来可以不发一枪就被制止住，而德国本来可以至今是一个强大、繁荣、受尊敬的国家。但是，谁也听不进。于是所有我们这些国家，一个接一个都被卷入可怕的漩涡中了。

“我们肯定地不能让那种事重演。这只有这样做才能达到：在现时，即一九四六年，在联合国普遍权威之下，就所有问题同俄国达成良好的谅解；并且通过这个世界性组织，在讲英语的世界及其一切联系地区的全力支持下，使上述良好的谅解在许多和平的年份中维持下去。

“请不要把不列颠帝国和美国的坚持的能力加以低估。……如果在美国的人口之外，再加上英语联邦的人口，再加上这种合作关系所涉及的在空中、海上、科学和工业各方面的合作，那就不会出现不稳定的、靠不住的力量均衡，致使野心家和冒险家情不自禁。……倘若英国所有道义上、物质上的力量和信念，都同你们的力量和信念兄弟般的联合在一起，那么，就将不仅为我们、为我们的时代，而且也将为所有的人，为未来的世纪，带来一个广阔的前程，这是明确无疑的。”

I seem to have heard of it before. Indeed, it was at Westminster that I received a very large part of my education in politics, dialectic, rhetoric, and one or two other things. In fact we have both been educated at the same, or similar, or, at any rate, kindred establishments.

It is also an honour, perhaps almost unique, for a private visitor to be introduced to an academic audience by the President of the United States. Amid his heavy burdens, duties, and responsibilities-unsought but not recoiled from-the President has travelled a thousand miles to dignify and magnify our meeting here to-day and to give me an opportunity of addressing this kindred nation, as well as my own countrymen across the ocean, and perhaps some other countries too. The President has told you that it is his wish, as I am sure it is yours, that I should have full liberty to give my true and faithful counsel in these anxious and baffling times. I shall certainly avail myself of this freedom, and feel the more right to do so because any private ambitions I may have cherished in my younger days have been satisfied beyond my wildest dreams. Let me, however, make it clear that I have no official mission or status of any kind, and that I speak only for myself. There is nothing here but what you see.

I can therefore allow my mind, with the experience of a lifetime, to play over the problems which beset us on the morrow of our absolute victory in arms, and to try to make sure with what strength I have that what has been gained with so much sacrifice and suffering shall be preserved for the future glory and safety of mankind.

The United States stands at this time at the pinnacle of world power. It is a solemn moment for the American Democracy. For with primacy in power is also joined an awe inspiring accountability to the future. If you look around you, you must feel not only the sense of duty done but also you must feel anxiety lest you fall below the level of achievement. Opportunity is here now, clear and shining for both our countries. To reject it or ignore it or fritter it away will bring upon us all the long reproaches of the after-time. It is necessary that constancy of mind, persistency of purpose, and the grand simplicity of decision shall guide and rule the conduct of the English-speaking peoples in peace as they did in war. We must, and I believe we shall, prove ourselves equal to this severe requirement.

To give security to these countless homes, they must be shielded from the two giant marauders, war and tyranny. We all know the frightful disturbances in which the ordinary family is plunged when the curse of war swoops down upon the bread-winner and those for whom he works and contrives. The awful ruin of Europe, with all its vanished glories, and of large parts of Asia glares us in the eyes. When the designs of wicked men or the aggressive urge of mighty States dissolve over large areas the frame of civilised society, humble folk are confronted with difficulties with which they cannot cope. For them all is distorted, all is broken, even ground to pulp.

I have, however, a definite and practical proposal to make for action. Courts and magistrates may be set up but they cannot function without sheriffs and constables. The United Nations Organisation must immediately begin to be equipped with an international armed force. In such a matter we can only go step by step, but we must begin now. I propose that each of the Powers and States should be invited to delegate a certain number of air squadrons to the service of the world organisation. These squadrons would be trained and prepared in their own countries, but would move around in rotation from one country to another. They would wear the uniform of their own countries but with different badges. They would not be required to act against their own nation, but in other respects they would be directed by the world organisation. This might be started on a modest scale and would grow as confidence grew. I wished to see this done after the First World War, and I devoutly trust it may be done forthwith.

It would nevertheless be wrong and imprudent to entrust the secret knowledge or experience of the atomic bomb, which the United States, Great Britain, and Canada now share, to the world organisation, while it is still in its infancy. It would be criminal madness to cast it adrift in this still agitated and un-united world. No one in any country has slept less well in their beds because this knowledge and the method and the raw materials to apply it, are at present largely retained in American hands. I do not believe we should all have slept so soundly had the positions been reversed and if some Communist or neo-Fascist State monopolised for the time being these dread agencies. The fear of them alone might easily have been used to enforce totalitarian systems upon the free democratic world, with consequences appalling to human imagination. God has willed that this shall not be and we have at least a breathing space to set our house in order before this peril has to be encountered: and even then, if no effort is spared, we should still possess So formidable a superiority as to impose effective deterrents upon its employment, or threat of employment, by others. Ultimately, when the essential brotherhood of man is truly embodied and expressed in a world organisation with all the necessary practical safeguards to make it effective, these powers would naturally be confided to that world organisation.

Now I come to the second danger of these two marauders which threatens the cottage, the home, and the ordinary people-namely, tyranny. We cannot be blind to the fact that the liberties enjoyed by individual citizens throughout the British Empire are not valid in a considerable number of countries, some of which are very powerful. In these States control is enforced upon the common people by various kinds of all-embracing police governments. The power of the State is exercised without restraint, either by dictators or by compact oligarchies operating through a privileged party and a political police. It is not our duty at this time when difficulties are so numerous to interfere forcibly in the internal affairs of countries which we have not conquered in war. But we must never cease to proclaim in fearless tones the great principles of freedom and the rights of man which are the joint inheritance of the English-speaking world and which through Magna Carta, the Bill of Rights, the Habeas Corpus, trial by jury, and the English common law find their most famous expression in the American Declaration of Independence.

All this means that the people of any country have the right, and should have the power by constitutional action, by free unfettered elections, with secret ballot, to choose or change the character or form of government under which they dwell; that freedom of speech and thought should reign; that courts of justice, independent of the executive, unbiased by any party, should administer laws which have received the broad assent of large majorities or are consecrated by time and custom. Here are the title deeds of freedom which should lie in every cottage home. Here is the message of the British and American peoples to mankind. Let us preach what we practise - let us practise what we preach.

Now, while still pursuing the method of realising our overall strategic concept, I come to the crux of what I have travelled here to Say. Neither the sure prevention of war, nor the continuous rise of world organisation will be gained without what I have called the fraternal association of the English-speaking peoples. This means a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States. This is no time for generalities, and I will venture to be precise. Fraternal association requires not only the growing friendship and mutual understanding between our two vast but kindred Systems of society, but the continuance of the intimate relationship between our military advisers, leading to common study of potential dangers, the similarity of weapons and manuals of instructions, and to the interchange of officers and cadets at technical colleges. It should carry with it the continuance of the present facilities for mutual security by the joint use of all Naval and Air Force bases in the possession of either country all over the world. This would perhaps double the mobility of the American Navy and Air Force. It would greatly expand that of the British Empire Forces and it might well lead, if and as the world calms down, to important financial savings. Already we use together a large number of islands; more may well be entrusted to our joint care in the near future.

The United States has already a Permanent Defence Agreement with the Do-minion of Canada, which is so devotedly attached to the British Commonwealth and Empire. This Agreement is more effective than many of those which have often been made under formal alliances. This principle should be extended to all British Commonwealths with full reciprocity. Thus, whatever happens, and thus only, shall we be secure ourselves and able to work together for the high and simple causes that are dear to us and bode no ill to any. Eventually there may come-I feel eventually there will come-the principle of common citizenship, but that we may be content to leave to destiny, whose outstretched arm many of us can already clearly see.

There is however an important question we must ask ourselves. Would a special relationship between the United States and the British Commonwealth be inconsistent

A shadow has fallen upon the scenes so lately lighted by the Allied victory. Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organisation intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytising tendencies. I have a strong admiration and regard for the valiant Russian people and for my wartime comrade, Marshal Stalin. There is deep sympathy and goodwill in Britain-and I doubt not here also-towards the peoples of all the Russias and a resolve to persevere through many differences and rebuffs in establishing lasting friendships. We understand the Russian need to be secure on her western frontiers by the removal of all possibility of German aggression. We welcome Russia to her rightful place among the leading nations of the world. We welcome her flag upon the seas. Above all, we welcome constant, frequent and growing contacts between the Russian people and our own people on both sides of the Atlantic. It is my duty however, for I am sure you would wish me to state the facts as I see them to you, to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe.

From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow. Athens alone-Greece with its immortal glories-is free to decide its future at an election under British, American and French observation. The Russian-dominated Polish Government has been encouraged to make enormous and wrongful inroads upon Germany, and mass expulsions of millions of Germans on a scale grievous and undreamed-of are now taking place. The Communist parties, which were very small in all these Eastern States of Europe, have been raised to pre-eminence and power far beyond their numbers and are seeking everywhere to obtain totalitarian control. Police governments are prevailing in nearly every case, and so far, except in Czechoslovakia, there is no true democracy.

Turkey and Persia are both profoundly alarmed and disturbed at the claims which are being made upon them and at the pressure being exerted by the Moscow Government. An attempt is being made by the Russians in Berlin to build up a quasi-Communist party in their zone of Occupied Germany by showing special favours to groups of left-wing German leaders. At the end of the fighting last June, the American and British Armies withdrew westwards, in accordance with an earlier agreement, to a depth at some points of 150 miles upon a front of nearly four hundred miles, in order to allow our Russian allies to occupy this vast expanse of territory which the Western Democracies had conquered.

If now the Soviet Government tries, by separate action, to build up a pro-Communist Germany in their areas, this will cause new serious difficulties in the British and American zones, and will give the defeated Germans the power of putting themselves up to auction between the Soviets and the Western Democracies. Whatever conclusions may be drawn from these facts-and facts they are-this is certainly not the Liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace.

The safety of the world requires a new unity in Europe, from which no nation should be permanently outcast. It is from the quarrels of the strong parent races in Europe that the world wars we have witnessed, or which occurred in former times, have sprung. Twice in our own lifetime we have seen the United States, against their wishes and their traditions, against arguments, the force of which it is impossible not to comprehend, drawn by irresistible forces, into these wars in time to secure the victory of the good cause, but only after frightful slaughter and devastation had occurred. Twice the United States has had to send several millions of its young men across the Atlantic to find the war; but now war can find any nation, wherever it may dwell between dusk and dawn. Surely we should work with conscious purpose for a grand pacification of Europe, within the structure of the United Nations and in accordance with its Charter. That I feel is an open cause of policy of very great importance.

In front of the iron curtain which lies across Europe are other causes for anxiety. In Italy the Communist Party is seriously hampered by having to Support the Communist-trained Marshal Tito's claims to former Italian territory at the head of the Adriatic. Nevertheless the future of Italy hangs in the balance. Again one cannot imagine a regenerated Europe without a strong France. All my public life I have worked for a Strong France and I never lost faith in her destiny, even in the darkest hours. I will not lose faith now. However, in a great number of countries, far from the Russian frontiers and throughout the world, Communist fifth columns are established and work in complete unity and absolute obedience to the directions they receive from the Communist centre. Except in the British Commonwealth and in the United States where Communism is in its infancy, the Communist parties or fifth columns constitute a growing challenge and peril to Christian civilisation. These are sombre facts for anyone to have to recite on the morrow of a victory gained by so much splendid comradeship in arms and in the cause of freedom and democracy; but we should be most unwise not to face them squarely while time remains.

The outlook is also anxious in the Far East and especially in Manchuria. The Agreement which was made at Yalta, to which I was a party, was extremely favourable to Soviet Russia, but it was made at a time when no one could say that the German war might not extend all through the summer and autumn of 1945 and when the Japanese war was expected to last for a further 18 months from the end of the German war. In this country you are all so well-informed about the Far East, and such devoted friends of China, that I do not need to expatiate on the situation there.

I have felt bound to portray the shadow which, alike in the west and in the east, falls upon the world. I was a high minister at the time of the Versailles Treaty and a close friend of Mr. Lloyd-George, who was the head of the British delegation at Versailles. I did not myself agree with many things that were done, but I have a very Strong impression in my mind of that situation, and I find it painful to contrast it with that which prevails now. In those days there were high hopes and unbounded confidence that the wars were over, and that the League of Nations would become all-powerful. I do not see or feel that same confidence or even the same hopes in the haggard world at the present time.

On the other hand I repulse the idea that a new war is inevitable; still more that it is imminent. It is because I am sure that our fortunes are still in our own hands and that we hold the power to save the future, that I feel the duty to speak out now that I have the occasion and the opportunity to do so. I do not believe that Soviet Russia desires war. What they desire is the fruits of war and the indefinite expansion of their power and doctrines. But what we have to consider here to-day while time remains, is the permanent prevention of war and the establishment of conditions of freedom and democracy as rapidly as possible in all countries. Our difficulties and dangers will not be removed by closing our eyes to them. They will not be removed by mere waiting to see what happens; nor will they be removed by a policy of appeasement. What is needed is a settlement, and the longer this is delayed, the more difficult it will be and the greater our dangers will become.

From what I have seen of our Russian friends and Allies during the war, I am convinced that there is nothing they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for weakness, especially military weakness. For that reason the old doctrine of a balance of power is unsound. We cannot afford, if we can help it, to work on narrow margins, offering temptations to a trial of strength. If the Western Democracies stand together in strict adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter, their influence for furthering those principles will be immense and no one is likely to molest them. If however they become divided or falter in their duty and if these all-important years are allowed to slip away then indeed catastrophe may overwhelm us all.

Let no man underrate the abiding power of the British Empire and Commonwealth. Because you see the 46 millions in our island harassed about their food supply, of which they only grow one half, even in war-time, or because we have difficulty in restarting our industries and export trade after six years of passionate war effort, do not suppose that we shall not come through these dark years of privation as we have come through the glorious years of agony, or that half a century from now, you will not see 70 or 80 millions of Britons spread about the world and united in defence of our traditions, our way of life, and of the world causes which you and we espouse. If the population of the English-speaking Commonwealths be added to that of the United States with all that such co-operation implies in the air, on the sea, all over the globe and in science and in industry, and in moral force, there will be no quivering, precarious balance of power to offer its temptation to ambition or adventure. On the contrary, there will be an overwhelming assurance of security. If we adhere faithfully to the Charter of the United Nations and walk forward in sedate and sober strength seeking no one's land or treasure, seeking to lay no arbitrary control upon the thoughts of men; if all British moral and material forces and convictions are joined with your own in fraternal association, the high-roads of the future will be clear, not only for us but for all, not only for our time, but for a century to come.