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
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
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
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
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
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,
The Soviet’s growing power was finally addressed in 1946 by former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. His “Iron Curtain” speech warned Americans about the danger of Soviet expansion, causing all citizens to truly realize that Russia was a major threat. It was now clear that America had to assist any country that was threatened by Soviet Communism. In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was established to do just this. Substantial funds were used for the soul purpose of preventing the expansion of communism, which was further utilized in 1948 to assist Turkey and Greece in this fight. This has been said to be the beginning of the Cold War.
The Truman Doctrine was presented to Congress by President Truman. It was a request to send aid to Greece and Turkey because they were so close to Russia. Russia looked at their neighbors and ports as a gold mine. Truman wanted a strong American presence there so the Soviet would not further move toward Greece and Turkey. The Truman doctrine was also a policy of the United States that would support free people resisting communism.
They put into effect containment and the Truman Doctrine because they knew that if he took over enough countries, that the rest would give up or would easily be taken over by him and his demand for power. The U.S feared that Stalin would soon take over Eastern Europe so they decided that they would do anything they could to put an end to him, which they called containment. “Is a belief that this peninsula is an extremely strategic spot and that if it “went” communist all Southeast Asia and beyond would turn Red,” (Doc.6) One example of containment is when North Korea, endorsed by the Soviet Union, invaded South Korea. The U.S sent in troops to fight with South Korea so that Stalin wouldn’t be able to take it over. After 3 years of combat, the Korean War ended with both countries inhabiting the same land they both started with. Another way the U.S took action against the Soviet Union to support their position was the Truman Doctorian. In 1947 Truman decided to give peoples taxes to Greece and Turkey. (Doc. 2) Truman knew that if the Soviet Union took over Greece and Turkey, that the rest of eastern europe would rapidly turn communist. So the U.S sent over around $400 million in support for military and economic aid in both countries. Since the Truman Doctrine helped Greece and Turkey grow stronger, the U.S expanded the Truman Doctrine into the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan sent billions of dollars to countries all over Western Europe to fortify their economies so they would be able to fight the U.S.S.R. In return Stalin would not be able to take over as many countries, people, or land. Thanks to the U.S, the Truman Doctrine and containment helped hundreds of countries from being taken over and pulverized by Stalin and the U.S.S.R in there attempt to come to
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.
1. Truman’s Policy of Containment was that the U.S. would work to stop the spread of communism by providing political, economic, and military assistance to all democratic nations under the threat of communism or any external authoritarian forces. The political aspect of this policy was the alliances made during the Cold War. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was a defensive alliance among the U.S. and other European countries against the Soviet Union. This alliance still exists today. The Warsaw Pact was a defensive alliance that included the Soviet Union and its satellite governments in Eastern Europe. These alliances assured that if one country was attacked, then the others must react by coming to the defense.
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.
Within theories and finding, The Truman Doctrine was established and on March 12th, 1947. Truman speech pledged “American support for free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures” (Simkin, n.d.) Congress also agreed to give economic aid to the military to help fight Greece against communism as he felt that the political stability was threatened. With Greece in trouble Truman as concerned the other countries would fall into Communism and was known as the ‘domino theory’. If it was not for Truman then Greece and Turkey could no longer afford to fight the rebels. “Truman said that the Cold War was a choice between freedom and oppression; Therefore, Americans would have to abandon their decisions not to get involved in European affairs; America was OBLIGED to get involved” (Clare, n.d.). The Truman Doctrine was an American challenge not only to Soviet ambitions but also through a policy of containment.
The original main idea of the Truman doctrine and the policy of containment were to support Turkey and Greece – who were on the verge of being subjugated to the Soviet Union and communism. They needed the assistance of an outside power to help them fight off this threat . The main point to understand this is that it set the precedent that the USA would help any country that was under threat from the Soviet Union in any way, including a communist government trying to take power.