The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy: The Truman Doctrine Mark Newsome Strayer University Politics 300 Dr. Sussie Okoro 16 March 2014 The Cold War and U.S. Diplomacy: The Truman Doctrine Harry S. Truman was President of the United States from 1945-1953. President Truman presidency was marked throughout by important foreign policy initiatives. Central to almost everything Truman undertook in his foreign policy was the desire to prevent the expansion of influence of the Soviet Union. At the end of World War II it was immediately apparent that Russia was trying to draw as many countries as it could into its influence, if not total control. The United States became extremely alarmed as country after country did indeed fall under Russia’s …show more content…
The United States has recognized that local threats have worldwide consequences. Recognizing our global interconnectedness was essential for any foreign policy, especially in a world where traditional borders are quickly breaking down. The Doctrine highlighted that foreign intervention does not need to rely solely on military action. Today, political and economic sanctions are a key part of American foreign policy (Bolinder 2013). The Doctrine also calls for the U.S to lead the international community in spreading peace, prosperity and democracy around the world. It has become the foundation for United States foreign policy and a guidebook for international relations in a nuclear and digital age. As stated before the Truman Doctrine was a pivotal point in United States foreign policy. Such a policy has its advantages and disadvantages. The major advantage of that time was that the United States stepped in and help an economically strapped Europe and not let them fall under the domination of a single, hostile state. With Britain withdrawing aid to Greece and Turkey if the United States did not implement the Truman Doctrine, Stalin could have easily became a communist influence on those countries. Another advantage of the Truman Doctrine was that is transform America from being isolationist. Getting involved in the affairs of other countries to contain communism had a major
1947: Truman Doctrine: The Truman Doctrine was one of the policies under President Truman’s “Containment Policy.” In the Doctrine, he requested $400 million to bolster forces in eastern Europe to defend against Communism. Congress agrees and passes the doctrine. Dean Acheson, who was the Secretary of State at the time, argued that the fall of a Communist country will have a “domino” effect on the neighboring countries, and they need to be properly prepared for such a situation. As result of this policy, the US became the “global
The Truman Doctrine affected the Cold War by stopping Communists from destroying Europe any further. History.state.gov states, “President Harry S. Truman established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.” In his speech, he asked Congress to give support to the Greek government and go against the Communists. If the U.S. government failed to help the Greek government, the Communists would continue to damage Europe. The Truman Doctrine affected the Cold War, and another policy that affected the Cold
Truman and Eisenhower each wanted to help limit the increasing issue of communism. One approach they did was getting involved physically and militarily in the countries that were in need. The peace conference at Potsdam was a failure, because communist Russia still stood on their own and as their own separate nation. The Soviet Union had already succeeded in conquering Poland, and much of Europe splitting up Germany. After Hitler committed suicide, the main obstacle for the United States and many other countries was to avoid the looming threat of communism. Truman created the Truman Doctrine to possibly stop or postpone this issue. “I believe,” he argued, “that it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by
Throughout the Cold War, America’s foreign policy made a great difference and was very effective. Document A states that the policy towards the Soviet Union must be long-term, which America did just that. It says to keep the Soviets more of a rival than a partner, which they did very effectively. The Truman Doctrine stated that America would help other countries fight communism both politically and physically. This was very effective because it prevented the spread of communism. The Doctrine was clearly shown in Document B, where the U.S. assisted South Korea from communist North Korea.
If one was to look at the world post WWII, it would be clear to see that the United States had the upper hand in comparison to the Soviet Union. While the USSR had mass casualties and destruction to deal with, the US only benefited from WWII, with an increased economy, and advantages from being pulled out of the Great Depression. The United States took action during the Cold War to try and restrict the USSR’s power. One of the major steps that the US took was to stop the spread of Communism. To prove this point, President Truman established the Truman Doctrine.
Turkey, another country that had been dependent on British aid was also being pressured by the Soviets into granting them base and transit rights through the Turkish Straights. Worried about the growth the spread of communism and the growing influence of the Soviets; President Truman appealed to a joint session of congress to authorize $400-million in emergency aid to the Greek and Turkish Governments and the dispatch of American civilian and military personnel to those countries. In his Speech; Truman said “I believe it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”. This would be known as the Truman Doctrine and it would be the foundation of the post-war American foreign policy throughout the Cold War. The Policy of Containment also sprung from the Truman Doctrine. This new foreign policy stood in stark contrast to the isolationist foreign policy that the United States had held in the past. Instead of avoiding international affairs and conflicts around the world the United States would become more proactive in the affairs of the world to promote its interest and to combat the influence Soviet
Truman also worked on the containment issue. He worked really hard to stop communism in the United States and also not letting communists to be in the United States as well. He also supported the creation of the United Nations in order to avoid future world ward and to help solving conflicts peacefully. Another of his accomplishments was to create the Truman Doctrine that helped countries from Europe to be able to resist communist intervention.
In order to deal with the postwar tension between the U.S. and Soviet Union, President Truman, who had only recently became president and lacked experience, implemented a new foreign policy to deal with the Soviet Union. (pg. 1006) As illustrated in the primary source titled “The Truman Doctrine,” The Truman Doctrine outlined America’s foreign policy related to the Soviet Union around a declaration of “war on communism, [the Soviet Union’s ideology that clashed against the U.S.’s], everywhere.” (pg. 1006, Truman Doctrine) Truman intended to implement “containment,” in which the spread of communism would be stopped. (pg. 1032) This declaration officially began the Cold War, a conflict that despite involving no actual direct warfare, devastated the relationship between the two countries. (pg. 1001) Many Soviet and American beliefs clashed with each other. (pg. 1022) For instance, American and Soviet views on individual liberties, religious freedom, human rights,
President Harry S. Truman had major influence on the Cold War in relation to policy he introduced. The Truman Doctrine had major influence on the beginning of the Cold War as it was a policy with hostile implications. On the 12 March 1947, Truman delivered a speech to the U.S about his foreign policy following World War II. This speech called for the containment of communism and implied that America would involve itself in any war between Communism and Capitalism. He said;
President Truman was the first president in office during the Cold War, which started a few years after World War II had ended. Because only a few years had passed since World War II ended many countries were still suffering from lack of economic stability. (Doc A). This is why President Truman created the Marshall Plan which provided aid to countries who needed the money post World War II. (Doc C). The Cold War was not the only conflict that Truman had to deal with, he also dealt with the Korean conflict which was a conflict the UN was involved in to keep communism from spreading from North Korea to South Korea, which held up his policy of containment (Doc B). Although the goal of keeping
The introduction of the Truman Doctrine in March 1947 by President Harry S. Truman was an outline for the basic foreign policy that America would use against Communism and the Soviet Union for nearly four decades. While President Truman assumed office while inexperienced in global affairs, the doctrine demonstrated his firm stewardship on foreign policy. The doctrine, which was eventually adopted as an international relations policy, was introduced in a speech regarding intentions of the country to help Turkey and Greece with military and economic support for them to avoid falling into the Soviet sphere. The main goal of the doctrine was to help free individuals who were opposing initiatives by armed minorities towards suppression. In addition to containing military and economic concepts, Truman Doctrine symbolized the role of the United States in demonstrating global leadership in post-World War II era. As a result, the doctrine ended up playing a crucial role in the then regional and international affairs during the Cold War.
It was on March 12, 1947, the beginnings of the Cold War between major world powers, the democratic US and the communist USSR, when President Harry S. Truman announced his famous Truman Doctrine before a joint session of congress. In his doctrine, Truman states the importance it is for the United Sates to become involved in assisting other countries with political, military, and economic aid to all “democratic” nations under any kind of communist threat. He also states that the reason countries become communist is because they had the “totalitarian regimes forced upon them against their will” (Truman, Harry S.); therefore, in order for that not to happen, the US would restore hope into those who are “resisting attempted subjugation by armed
The Truman Doctrine was a turning point in U.S. foreign relations. To understand how and why the Truman Doctrine changed U.S. foreign policy, there must be a review of U.S. foreign policy throughout the twentieth century. This paper will explore U.S. foreign policy beginning with the Spanish-American War. World expectations
The Truman Doctrine was the impetus for the change in United States foreign policy, from isolationist to internationalists; thus we were drawn into two wars of containment and into world affairs. The Truman Doctrine led to a major change in U.S. foreign policy from its inception - aid to Turkey and Greece - to its indirect influence in Korea and Vietnam. The aftermath of World War II inspired the U.S.
Woodrow Wilson saw the end of the Great War as an opportunity to attempt to remake the World and foreign relations with progressive ideals. His ultimate goal was to establish permanent global peace and international cooperation among a concert of democratic nations. Wilsonianism would greatly impact modern era Presidents’ Foreign policy attempts to influence the world in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Specifically, after World War II during the Cold War the U.S. was instrumental in the promotion of the safety of all nations from, poverty, want, chaos and authoritarian rule (CP 142). Truman as President took international action to keep the world safe for democracy by carrying out his own interpretation Wilsonian foreign policy known as the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine sought to combat the spread of communism through financial and military counter-forces. Not all of Truman’s efforts for U.S. intervention were as fruitful for the U.S. internationally or economically as his advisors had predicted. Nor did the Truman Doctrine always create the intended and desired outcomes they had hoped to achieve in securing democratic nations as trading partners and allies against the expansion of communist regimes. The attempts of the United States to remake the World after WWI and WWII were only partially achieved. The United States pursued a successful policy of containment with in Western Europe; however the U.S. failed to accomplish these policies globally with to the