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What Is The Long Truman Doctrine

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Harry S. Truman once declared, "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." (Truman Doctrine, ourdocuments.gov) This quote was given by President Truman in a speech directed to Congress in hopes that they would aid his mission and goal. This doctrine, or principle, that was expressed by President Harry S. Truman in 1947, was called the Truman Doctrine. President Truman 's stance was that the United States must involve itself in foreign affairs in an effort to prevent communism from spreading. He feared that the expansion of communism would threaten the freedom of all nations, including the United States. This policy would end almost …show more content…

In turn, the United States was unhappy with the Soviet Union cutting off aid. (Start of the Cold War Part I, khanacademy.org) The Cold War did not escalate to military force between the two nations. However, tensions continued to rise. It was then that George Kennan, the U.S. ambassador in Moscow sent what is known as the Long Telegram. In this telegram Kennan warned America that the Soviets desired to expand their territory and communism. His concern was that the likelihood of peace between capitalist and communism could not exist. This telegram along with the warning from Britain that they could no longer afford to keep resisting communist forces in Europe, became the influence for Truman in proposing his doctrine. The main goal of the Truman Doctrine was to provide economical and military assistance to countries such as Turkey and Greece, because these two countries were threatened by communism. It was also created to stop the spread of the Soviet government system throughout the world, during the Cold War. In his speech, Truman had asked Congress to give approximately four-hundred million dollars in funding to provide not only financial backing but military support as well. (Uschan, 101) Many Americans opposed the Truman Doctrine because they did not think the United States could afford to get into a global fight against communism and they did not understand how it affected

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