The US secretly sent communist-friendly Coca-Cola to a Soviet general in a bid to maintain good ties across the Iron Curtain

• Worsening relations between the Allies after World War II meant no commerce between East and West.
• That was an issue for Soviet Gen. Georgy Zhukov, who came to like Coca-Cola during the war.
• The US tried to get Coke to Zhukov to keep at least one friend across the Iron Curtain.
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As World War II ended and the Iron Curtain fell over Eastern Europe, relations deteriorated between the Soviet Union and its Western allies.