The Truman Doctrine: An Overview

On March 12th, 1947, Truman addressed a joint session of Congress, in this meeting, Truman asked for $400,000,000 that he would need to aid both Greece and Turkey, to prevent Soviet influence. This money given to both Greece and Turkey would assist these countries to rebuild their governments. Truman called this plan the “Truman Doctrine.” In order to fulfill Truman’s request, the newly appointed Republican members of the house would have to contradict what they had been elected to do; focus on domestic policy. This request also completely shifted the relationship between the U.S. and the Soviet Union from one of friendship to one of containment. The U.S. had to contain the Soviet Union so that its “sphere of influence” could not grow. Congress approved the Truman Doctrine and granted Greece and Turkey $400,000,000 to rebuild their

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

The foreign policy of the United States can be defined as a labyrinth- a set of complex intricacies which either lack comprehension or are characterized by meticulous thought. Established during a period of ideological warfare and domestic hysteria, it is evident the Truman Doctrine was conceived with a disregard for the future stability of American international affairs. Engulfed within a period marked by massive power struggles and distorted accusations, the Truman Doctrine may appear minimal in regard to alterations of the United States international attitude. However, the Doctrine acted as a catalyst for the shift in America’s foreign policy objectives and vision. It is clear the Truman Doctrine produced detrimental consequences in regard to the international policy of the United States, stability of foreign countries, and continuing repercussions in the modern day.

State. "The Truman Doctrine, 1947 - 1945–1952 - Milestones." Office of the Historian. N.p., n.d.

Truman Doctrine - 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.

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 a United States foreign policy established by President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) in 1947. The policy stated that the US would provide military and financial support to Greece and Turkey to prevent them from falling to communism. This started a policy of “containment” which would persist for many years to come. After World War II left most of the world devastated, the US and the Soviet Union emerged as the two global superpowers and despite being allies during the war, the two became adversaries when their goals for Europe after the war conflicted. Greece had been embroiled in a Civil War between it’s standing government and a communist party vying for power, and Great Britain, who had long supported Greece, was unable to support them any further, and asked the US for it’s support. In Turkey, Soviet leader Josef Stalin demanded partial control of the Dardanelles, a strait in Turkey connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean which possessed significant strategic value. The policy makers of the Truman Doctrine decided that support must go to both Greece and Turkey, as support given to just one of the two would be futile as if one nation fell, the other would fall soon. This idea of one nation’s fall to communism leading to another’s fall to communism became known as the “Domino Theory”. The Truman Doctrine was a significant change in US foreign policy, and set the tone for US relations in Europe and the rest of the world for most of the Cold War.

The Truman Doctrine set the guidelines for protecting Americans from communist subversion under the framework of “the United States would provide political, military, and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces” (The Truman Library). Prior to the Truman Doctrine the stance of U.S. foreign policy was somewhat isolationist by not involving itself in regional conflict that did not directly affect the United States (Kennan

Elizabeth Edwards Spalding, argues that Truman’s principles, expectations, decision, and policies not only gave rise to and defined containments content, but also shaped America’s understanding of the Cold War and as a result of this fundamental role, it is right to say that Harry S. Truman was the first cold war warrior. Truman’s containment strategy also provided the grounds for a new liberal internationalism. For Truman, international meant that American leadership was central as his ideas and policies stemmed from a multifaceted definition of peace, composed of freedom, justice, and order.

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

Containment in foreign policy is known as the strategy suggested by George Kennan to prevent Soviet expansionism by exerting counter pressure along Soviet borders. The Truman Doctrine was the name given to a speech President Truman delivered to a joint session of Congress on March 12, 1947, in which he proclaimed a new policy and role for the United States in global affairs. Specifically, the president sought $400 million in economic and military assistance for Greece and Turkey, two strategic Mediterranean countries threatened by subversive forces supported by the Soviet Union, after the British said a month earlier that they could no longer provide

The Truman doctrine was the Truman administration’s foreign policy. The policy was against the spread of Soviet-style communism. The whole purpose of the Truman Doctrine was to raise support for the U.S. aid of Greece and Turkey. Also the Truman Administration started the loyalty test of any employee of the government.

Task 1 a) Summary of evidence Source A is an extract from the book The Fifty Years war: The United States and the Soviet Union in World Politics. This extract from a historian describes the intentions of the Truman Doctrine which was to protect Western Europe from the threat of communism known as the policy of containment. With the Truman Doctrine, President Truman established that the United States would provide military, political and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from internal or external authoritarian forces by sending money, military equipment and giving advice. Source B is an extract from President Truman’s speech to the US Congress on 12 March 1947. Truman viewed the Soviet Union as an opponent who posed a threat to democracies in Europe and to the post-war peace and

The foreign policy of the United States during the Cold War fully supported the growth of democratic nations. The USSR, however, wanted countries to become communist like them. These opposing views led to tension between the two nations. As a result, in 1947, President Truman issued the Truman Doctrine which stated that the United States would supply aid to any country as long as they pledged to be democratic. The Marshall plan was enacted in 1948 and it was similar to the Truman Doctrine except it provided financial aid to these countries. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the United States used its foreign policy to help countries resist communist influence.