The Truman Doctrine In order to contain Communism,
President Harry S. Truman issued the Truman Doctrine in
1947, which provided aid to Greece and Turkey. The
United States gave aid to those countries, specifically,
because it felt they were most threatened by Communism
during the time of the Cold War (Ferrell, pg.105).
Communism is an economic system in which a single party
controls the means of production with the aim of
establishing a classless society (Encarta). The period after
World War II, up until the year 1990, when The Cold War
ended, was controlled by two superpowers, the United
States and the Soviet Union. The United States was led by
President Harry S. Truman, who was thrown into the
presidency by the unexpected death of Franklin D.
Roosevelt, and the Soviet Union was led by Joseph Stalin
(McCullough, pg. 371). Each expressed different views on
politics, economics and human rights. A number of events
occurred which led the United States and the Soviet Union
to engage in what is now known as the Cold War. The five
areas of conflict were with Poland, Germany, atomic
secrets, Eastern Europe, and economic rebuilding of
Western Europe. The Cold War was not a war in the
typical sense of the word. There were no shots fired, but
rather it was a war with words. In some ways this could be
considered worse than a real war because that type causes
a lot more fear over what could occur at any moment and
weather the threats were real or not. Those countries that
sided with the United States, which were mostly Western
European nations, were known as the free world. The
Soviet Union, on the other hand, occupied the Eastern
European nations which came to be known as the
Communist Bloc (Barrons). During this time, President
Harry S. Truman wanted to contain Communism before it
spread world-wide. He felt that this was the crucial point
and Truman responded by issuing the Truman Doctrine in
1947. Truman feared that third world countries would
accept Communism. Communism 2 sounded tempting to
these countries because it would equalize everyone and it
may even provide those countries with a stable government
(Ferrell, pg. 105). The main objective of the Truman
Doctrine was to support Turkey and Greece because the
United States government felt they were most threatened
by Communism during the Cold War. The United States
did not want Communism to spread, in fear that it would
form in the United States (Encarta). The United States
wanted to show the Soviet Union that they weren’t the
world power and that the Soviets could not force
Communism on other countries, especially weak, smaller
countries. The Soviet Union thought they were the most
After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had very different ideas on how to rebuild. The United States, led by President Truman, wanted to form democracies in Europe and create a capitalistic society to build economically strong nations that would compliment the American economy through trade. In contrast, the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, wanted to rebuild itself and spread communism through Europe and Asia. In a desperate attempt to rebuild, many countries devastated by war fell under soviet influence and resorted to communism. The Soviet Union called these nations Satellite nations and hoped that they would serve as ?buffer? nations, preventing invasion from the west .In its efforts to defend democracy, the U.S. created the policy of containment. In this new policy, the United States would try to block Soviet influence by making alliances and supporting weaker nations. Winston Churchill described this strategy as an ?iron curtain?, which became and invisible line separating the communist from the capitalist countries in Europe. To help enforce the ideas of containment, President Truman create...
Russia, as a communist state, wanted to spread communism. This is seen through Document 6, where Stalin is portrayed asking the question- who should be freed from freedom next? In other words, who should the Russians free from democracy, or spread communism to? America felt a communist world is dangerous, and thus stood obstacle in the Soviet Union’s path to spread communism. Just as the Soviets wanted to spread communism, the United States wanted to contain communism. Document 4 effectively portrays this policy. The Document is the speech where President Truman is explaining the Truman Doctrine in which the US is to protect any nation battling communist pressures. The speech splits the world into communist and democratic camps, intensifying the nations’ thirsts for more power and stifling the other’s power. Within Document 3, Kennan states that the only way to influence the Soviet Union is through force. One way this force took form was through international organizations. The democracies of the world, fearful of communism’s spread, created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Those who made up the organization were to aid each other if attacked. In this way, they could fight the spread of communism through force, in turn, influence the Soviets. The US, as a part of NATO, was now taking direct steps against the Soviet Union, and thus steps toward the Cold War. To counter NATO, the communists formed the Warsaw Pact. This had same purpose as NATO, and hence was also a step toward the Cold War. The different beliefs of the Soviet Union and the United States incited the Cold
During the 1960s through the 1990s the United States was involved in a diplomatic standoff with the Soviet Union. Both nations were preparing nuclear weapons to immediate the other. Throughout the world communism was being spread by the power Soviet forces and the United States created the Truman Doctrine to stop the spread of communism in Turkey and Greece. They continued to combat the spread through wars and “rebellions”. Through the extent of the Cold War, the United States made it their mission to stop the spread of communism. This plan both worked and failed in diplomacy throughout Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
The origins of the Cold War came about when United States President Harry Truman issued his Truman Doctrine. This doctrine stated that the United States would support “free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” This would end up being the foundation of the U. S. involvement in the Cold War. The main idea of the doctrine was to support nations in the resistance of communism. Truman felt that if one nation fell to communism then this would lead to a “domino effect” resulting in many other nations in the region falling to communism. The greatest fear was that the Soviet Union would spread communism throughout the world thus the reason for the policy of containment. Truman felt it necessary to also provide economic aid to nations that surrounded the Soviet Union. The idea being that they would create a ring of Allies that would contain the threat of the Soviet influence of communism. Economic support would be given and if necessary military support as well. The basis for this economic aid was presented in the Marshall Plan. This plan called for $16 billion in economic aid to be used in the reconstruction of Europe.
Now that the idea of a global war has been established, it is important to establish the role of the United States (USA). One of the most important documents in establishing this was the ‘Truman Doctrine’. President Harry S. Truman (1945-53) outlined what would become the basis of US foreign policy for the duration of the Cold War. This was the policy of containment – trying to keep communism from spreading to the rest of the world. His speech to Congress in March 19...
They say that the pen is mightier than the sword, and in the case of the Truman Doctrine and NSC-68, this rings true. The world was seeing so many vast changes in power, so many revolutions, and so much blood shed due to war; it was hard to find a solid standing ground for the United States when it came to their stance on foreign policy. America has been a proud nation, and one that stood firm in its believes, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s, many people in government disagreed on just what to do when it came to the issue of Soviet Union, the rise and fall of communism, and countries such as Greece and Turkey, failing due to the revolutions they were facing because of soviet uprising. President Truman, writer of the Truman Doctrine, would
The Truman Doctrine and the Development of American Foreign Policy during the Cold War On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman defined United States foreign policy in the context of its new role as a world superpower. Many historians consider his speech to Congress as the words that officially started the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine was a major break from U.S. historical trends of isolationist foreign policy. His speech led to the Cold War policy of containment.
Harry Truman During his presidential terms, Harry Truman showed resilience when faced with the many foreign affairs he faced. Events that would highlight Truman’s characteristics as an admirable leader include the hardships he faced during World War II, and his efforts for the containment of communism during the Cold War tensions. Truman fell into office after Franklin Delano Roosevelt passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage, he was sworn into office on April 12, 1845 therefore becoming the 33rd president of the United States. Within a month of Truman’s position in office, World War II in Europe had nearly concluded, within a month Hitler had committed suicide and Germany was throwing up the white flag, however the war in the Pacific with Japan had escalated.
The end of World War II presented an opportunity for Winston Churchill to regain some of the power and influence that the Imperialistic British Empire once possessed. Churchill took advantage of the trust and respect that the American public and President Truman shared about his character. He saw Truman's lack of political experience as an opportunity to restore British imperial authority. Winston Churchill tainted Harry Truman's beliefs and preservations about Russia, because his personal agenda and imperial policy where vital to the supremacy of the British Empire. Churchill manipulated Truman and the American public. He caused them to believe that Russia was a legitimate threat to the free world, thus he created the origins of the Cold War.
Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower shared many similarities yet still many differences when it came to Cold War foreign policies. Truman’s foreign policies revolved around the Truman Doctrine, which stated that the United States would financially support Greece and Turkey . Despite Truman’s and Eisenhower’s differing political parties, the foreign policies of the presidents shared several similarities. The main differences between the two presidents can be attributed to differing circumstances during their years in office. Both Truman and Eisenhower sought to eliminate communism and support civil rights, but Truman emphasized international relations and the American economy while Eisenhower dealt more with domestic issues around civil rights.
The thirty-third president of the United States initiated great change within our country. Harry S. Truman, the creator of the Truman Doctrine created an era of change in United States foreign policy. Truman was the first to create a foreign policy in order to contain Communism, a policy that has been called, 'the hallmark of the Cold War.'1 The Truman Doctrine led to major changes in the U.S., from its inception, to its influence in the Vietnam War.
Today, 195 years after the Monroe Doctrine, the “world police” debate continues. The Monroe Doctrine as you suggest is multifaceted; it suggests both the United States will not tolerate attempts at foreign settlement in the Americas but also limited United States interference in European affairs. This made sense for the time. In laymen’s terms, the Monroe Doctrine stated to England, “You stay in your corner, and we will stay in ours! Otherwise, we are going to have a problem!”
The Cold War is the closest the world has ever come to complete destruction. In this period of time, two world super powers were in a stalemate economically and militarily and were constantly competing to be the superior. The Cold War started as result of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union had some differences on their perspectives of the world. United States being the richest country in the world promoted democracy and capitalism in the world. The newly formed Soviet Union thought that communism was a better political system because it transformed their economy and status in the world from nothing but a declining empire to a super power once again. The Cold War was a long series of events in which the communist tried to spread their ideas of government and socialist economy, known as expansionism, and the United States and some of the other Western powers such as Great Britain tried to contain it. Containment, a term introduced by George F. Kennan, was the foreign policy the United States practiced from 1946 to 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. The United States saw the Soviet Union to be a direct threat to the free world. During president Truman and Eisenhower’s administration the policy of containment evolved so drastically that American presidents would put anything on the line, including world peace.
Before considering Professor X’s assertion that the Roosevelt Corollary actually corrupted the Monroe Doctrine’s “benevolent intent,” it is worth considering whether or not the Monroe Docterine was as benevolent as the unnamed professor seems to suggest. Professor X considers Monroe’s 1823 Doctrine an act of benevolence, in which an increasingly dominant world power generously extends protection over its continental neighbors. Yet the Professor ignores the inherently imperialistic subtext that is contained within the Doctrine, and thus his comparison of the Monroe Doctrine to the Roosevelt Corollary omits a fundamental aspect of America’s colonialist history.
After the tragic events of World War II, the Cold War represented how the two superpowers were in a fight in order to gain more territory. The Soviet Union wanted European countries to abide by communism while the United States were trying to prevent the spread of communism and enforce democracy. However, the Soviets took control of the eastern half of Europe and the United States controlled the western side. Communism is a one-party dictatorship where the government controls economic and political decisions which is based on a five year plan. On the other hand, democracy is where the People elect the president and are protected under the rule of law. From 1947 to 1991, the cold war took in effect and led to decolonization, political and diplomatic confrontation, and armament race.