Causes Of The Truman Doctrine
The United States was in the midst of a massive World War that shook Europe and threatened the very principles of freedom and Democracy. On April 12 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who has dealt with the majority of the war, died of an Intracerebral Hemorrhage leaving Harry S. Truman to finish the global war and handle the future issues of the Cold War that will rise as consequence of World War II. World War II was in the final stages as Nazi German was surrounded and the allies were slowly closing in on Berlin; however, Truman soon engaged in conflicts concerning the spread of communism by Soviet Russia. Tensions began to rise between the Democratic West and Communist East, as the United States and Soviet Russia were the only two nations
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still standing at the end of the war. Both nation fought for control and influence over Europe. During Truman’s Precedency, there was a huge transition from movements in victory over Fascism to anti-communism. Many Americans supported and were passionate about the anti-communist movement which heavily influenced Harry Truman’s international policy during the Cold War. President Harry Truman was thrown into a time when the United States had finally come face to face with Communism; however, he persistently perused Communism and established many factors within the containment strategy to stop and ultimately end communism in Russia, thus establishing democratic and capitalist principles in European countries and overall shaping American foreign policy in the future. Only a month after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fourth term inauguration, Harry Truman had to quickly step into the role of president and finish out the rest and pretty much the entirety of Roosevelts fourth term. He quickly came face to face with the communism. The Potsdam Conference in July of 1945 was the last conference in which the big three would meet. This was Harry Truman’s first meeting with the Russians and believed that the Russians needed to be handled with a stern iron fist. He was a huge supporter of anti-communism and acknowledged the probability of the spread of communism: “At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternate ways of life…One way of life is based upon the will of the majority and is distinguished by…free elections, freedom of political oppression. The other way of life is based on the will of the minority forcibly imposed on the majority” (Foner). This conference entailed the splitting up off Germany which gave Stalin free rein to spread communism throughout the East especially as he imposed communist governments on Poland, Hungary, and Romania. Stalin‘s unwillingness to uphold free election and self-determination, as agreed in Potsdam conference, was the final straw in tensions with Russia. From this point on, Truman and his advisors wanted to fight communism everywhere it showed up. Greece has been fighting a civil war since 1944 between the guerilla Communist and Royalist forces. Britain has been supporting the royalists from the beginning; however, in the early part of 1947, they set word to America that they couldn’t no longer support Greece and the neighboring country Turkey against the Communist forces. Truman recognized the sure defeat of royalist forces and western democratic principles that would be lost to Communism if he didn’t take action. Truman acted fast as he along with George Marshall, Secretary of State, and Dean Acheson, Undersecretary of State, addressed congress on the issue of Greece on February 26. Truman addressed congress by heavily upholding Democratic principles and by playing up the Totalitarianism of Communism: “I believe that 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”. On February 27, congress agreed to Truman’s request and granted 250 million dollars in support for Greece and 150 million dollars in support for Turkey. Truman’s push for this aid sparked the beginning of the Cold War as the United States had finally taken action against Communism. Truman’s victory in congress would lead to the Communist defeat in both Turkey and Greece, thus establishing long lasting Democratic principles in both countries. Today, Greece is a Constitutional Republic and Turkey is a Democracy. Overall, Truman had taken a step toward the downfall of Communism in Soviet Russia.
One of the biggest factors that came out of the issue with Greece was, not the aid but the forging of the Truman Doctrine.
The Truman Doctrine was established on May, 12 1947, in Truman’s speech to congress concerning the Greece. The Truman promised to economically and militarily aid all free people facing threats of subjugation. The doctrine itself was not a major turning point in short term foreign policy, as he had established similar ideas in containment months earlier; however, it was important in rallying the publics support, as it was heavily publicized. Public support would overall make actions easier to pass foreign policies, as it thinly united the Republican and Democratic parties. Anti-communist in both parties were forced to put aside their skepticism and support Truman. The unity that Truman created would instill anti-communism, its containment, and it’s down fall, as these policies would be supported throughout eight presidents after him, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, and George Bush, and the remainder of the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine also caused the creation of the Marshal Plan. The European economy lay in ruins and economic reconstruction was slow. These were the conditions in which Communism grew, as its principles appeal to people who were under extreme hardship, as Communism is supposed to support the basic needs of everyone equally. Truman recognized this threat and quickly moved to sign the Marshal plan. The Marshall Plan’s was an Economic Assistance Act strived to stabilize Europe both economically and politically. The plan focused on Capitalist ideals and free market to bolster economic production and defer people from supporting communist parties in their country. Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan on April 3 1948. The United States ended up providing 13 billion dollars in aid to Europe. The funding prevented Germany, Greece, Turkey, and many other countries from going
communist and thus preventing communist reach. The Marshall Plan would not have been possible without Truman establishing his Doctrine. He would have never gotten the support to fund this much money to foreign nations, thus allowing Communism to spread. However, he received enough money from congress to support most of Europe, keeping them out of communist hands, and even allowed the United States to have great economic gain as well. The more money put into European economy the more money they had to buy American goods, thus starting a great economic flow between Europe and America. America began receiving 16 billion dollars in exports and 8 billion dollars in imports. Over all, the Marshall plan indirectly warded off communism in tarnished European countries while also allowing reconstruction and prosperity to the US and European economies.
Another action Truman took in containment was his establishment and signing of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization commonly known as NATO. NATO was and still is a military alliance between the United States and Western Europe. The original founders and members of NATO were United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The alliance was built on the idea that a threat against one nation is a threat against all nations. This can be seen in article five of the alliance’s treaty: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them...will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking...such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area". Truman signed the treaty on July 23, 1949 and he described the treaty to the public by saying, “It is a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression - a bulwark which will permit us to get on with the real business of government and society, the business of achieving a fuller and happier life for all our citizens”. His Truman Doctrine also helped in the creation of NATO, just as it had done for the Marshall Plan and even more so. Truman needed a tremendous amount of support as securing NATO would mark a big change in US foreign affairs. Never before had the United States entered into a binding peacetime alliance. The last of American isolation from Europe had deteriorated, as actions in Europe could have dramatic consequences and effects of US security, due to this alliance. This shows America’s full commitment to fighting and containing communism abroad. America from this point on would be fully engaged in foreign affairs. This action would draw a clear line between Western and Eastern Europe. Russia acknowledged this division by creating an alliance of their own. Russia founded the Warsaw Pact on May 14, 1955. It was similar to NATO in which it was an Alliance between the Soviet Union and all of its satellite communist states in Eastern Europe. The line was drawn between the Democratic East and Soviet West, thus prompting in military conflict at any moment. However, NATO who was ultimately run by the United States focused on defense and ultimately containment. Containment was centered around the idea of the domino effect. It was believed that if communism were to overtake a country it would quickly spread and do the same to neighboring countries, thus the name domino effect. However, if communism were kept in check it was believed that the domino effect would happen, but instead lead to the downfall of communism. Truman took many actions to bring about this in Eastern Europe and his policies would permit this to be supported and enforce long after his presidency.
Truman set the standards for American foreign affairs for the next fifty years of American history, through his policies that aimed to stop and ultimately contain communism. By establishing his Truman Doctrine he uniting the people and political parties against communism, thus allowing him to reach amazing feats in foreign policy. The Marshall plan was a multi-billion dollar investment in aid to the economies of Europe, thus bringing capitalism to the war stricken nations and preventing communism from taking root in these countries. This would have never passed through congress without the support Truman’s Doctrine gathered. The same applies to the formation of NATO. America has never before made military peacetime alliances, as the US has tried to stick to their principles of isolation; however, Truman was able to make it happen, thus building a wall of nations to contain communism. Overall, Truman was successful in containment. Though the impacts may not have been immediate, Truman’s policies did halted the spread of communism throughout the Cold War and ultimately brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991.
still standing at the end of the war. Both nation fought for control and influence over Europe. During Truman’s Precedency, there was a huge transition from movements in victory over Fascism to anti-communism. Many Americans supported and were passionate about the anti-communist movement which heavily influenced Harry Truman’s international policy during the Cold War. President Harry Truman was thrown into a time when the United States had finally come face to face with Communism; however, he persistently perused Communism and established many factors within the containment strategy to stop and ultimately end communism in Russia, thus establishing democratic and capitalist principles in European countries and overall shaping American foreign policy in the future. Only a month after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s fourth term inauguration, Harry Truman had to quickly step into the role of president and finish out the rest and pretty much the entirety of Roosevelts fourth term. He quickly came face to face with the communism. The Potsdam Conference in July of 1945 was the last conference in which the big three would meet. This was Harry Truman’s first meeting with the Russians and believed that the Russians needed to be handled with a stern iron fist. He was a huge supporter of anti-communism and acknowledged the probability of the spread of communism: “At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternate ways of life…One way of life is based upon the will of the majority and is distinguished by…free elections, freedom of political oppression. The other way of life is based on the will of the minority forcibly imposed on the majority” (Foner). This conference entailed the splitting up off Germany which gave Stalin free rein to spread communism throughout the East especially as he imposed communist governments on Poland, Hungary, and Romania. Stalin‘s unwillingness to uphold free election and self-determination, as agreed in Potsdam conference, was the final straw in tensions with Russia. From this point on, Truman and his advisors wanted to fight communism everywhere it showed up. Greece has been fighting a civil war since 1944 between the guerilla Communist and Royalist forces. Britain has been supporting the royalists from the beginning; however, in the early part of 1947, they set word to America that they couldn’t no longer support Greece and the neighboring country Turkey against the Communist forces. Truman recognized the sure defeat of royalist forces and western democratic principles that would be lost to Communism if he didn’t take action. Truman acted fast as he along with George Marshall, Secretary of State, and Dean Acheson, Undersecretary of State, addressed congress on the issue of Greece on February 26. Truman addressed congress by heavily upholding Democratic principles and by playing up the Totalitarianism of Communism: “I believe that 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”. On February 27, congress agreed to Truman’s request and granted 250 million dollars in support for Greece and 150 million dollars in support for Turkey. Truman’s push for this aid sparked the beginning of the Cold War as the United States had finally taken action against Communism. Truman’s victory in congress would lead to the Communist defeat in both Turkey and Greece, thus establishing long lasting Democratic principles in both countries. Today, Greece is a Constitutional Republic and Turkey is a Democracy. Overall, Truman had taken a step toward the downfall of Communism in Soviet Russia.
One of the biggest factors that came out of the issue with Greece was, not the aid but the forging of the Truman Doctrine.
The Truman Doctrine was established on May, 12 1947, in Truman’s speech to congress concerning the Greece. The Truman promised to economically and militarily aid all free people facing threats of subjugation. The doctrine itself was not a major turning point in short term foreign policy, as he had established similar ideas in containment months earlier; however, it was important in rallying the publics support, as it was heavily publicized. Public support would overall make actions easier to pass foreign policies, as it thinly united the Republican and Democratic parties. Anti-communist in both parties were forced to put aside their skepticism and support Truman. The unity that Truman created would instill anti-communism, its containment, and it’s down fall, as these policies would be supported throughout eight presidents after him, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Regan, and George Bush, and the remainder of the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine also caused the creation of the Marshal Plan. The European economy lay in ruins and economic reconstruction was slow. These were the conditions in which Communism grew, as its principles appeal to people who were under extreme hardship, as Communism is supposed to support the basic needs of everyone equally. Truman recognized this threat and quickly moved to sign the Marshal plan. The Marshall Plan’s was an Economic Assistance Act strived to stabilize Europe both economically and politically. The plan focused on Capitalist ideals and free market to bolster economic production and defer people from supporting communist parties in their country. Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan on April 3 1948. The United States ended up providing 13 billion dollars in aid to Europe. The funding prevented Germany, Greece, Turkey, and many other countries from going
communist and thus preventing communist reach. The Marshall Plan would not have been possible without Truman establishing his Doctrine. He would have never gotten the support to fund this much money to foreign nations, thus allowing Communism to spread. However, he received enough money from congress to support most of Europe, keeping them out of communist hands, and even allowed the United States to have great economic gain as well. The more money put into European economy the more money they had to buy American goods, thus starting a great economic flow between Europe and America. America began receiving 16 billion dollars in exports and 8 billion dollars in imports. Over all, the Marshall plan indirectly warded off communism in tarnished European countries while also allowing reconstruction and prosperity to the US and European economies.
Another action Truman took in containment was his establishment and signing of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization commonly known as NATO. NATO was and still is a military alliance between the United States and Western Europe. The original founders and members of NATO were United States, Great Britain, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The alliance was built on the idea that a threat against one nation is a threat against all nations. This can be seen in article five of the alliance’s treaty: “The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all and consequently they agree that, if such an armed attack occurs, each of them...will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking...such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area". Truman signed the treaty on July 23, 1949 and he described the treaty to the public by saying, “It is a shield against aggression and the fear of aggression - a bulwark which will permit us to get on with the real business of government and society, the business of achieving a fuller and happier life for all our citizens”. His Truman Doctrine also helped in the creation of NATO, just as it had done for the Marshall Plan and even more so. Truman needed a tremendous amount of support as securing NATO would mark a big change in US foreign affairs. Never before had the United States entered into a binding peacetime alliance. The last of American isolation from Europe had deteriorated, as actions in Europe could have dramatic consequences and effects of US security, due to this alliance. This shows America’s full commitment to fighting and containing communism abroad. America from this point on would be fully engaged in foreign affairs. This action would draw a clear line between Western and Eastern Europe. Russia acknowledged this division by creating an alliance of their own. Russia founded the Warsaw Pact on May 14, 1955. It was similar to NATO in which it was an Alliance between the Soviet Union and all of its satellite communist states in Eastern Europe. The line was drawn between the Democratic East and Soviet West, thus prompting in military conflict at any moment. However, NATO who was ultimately run by the United States focused on defense and ultimately containment. Containment was centered around the idea of the domino effect. It was believed that if communism were to overtake a country it would quickly spread and do the same to neighboring countries, thus the name domino effect. However, if communism were kept in check it was believed that the domino effect would happen, but instead lead to the downfall of communism. Truman took many actions to bring about this in Eastern Europe and his policies would permit this to be supported and enforce long after his presidency.
Truman set the standards for American foreign affairs for the next fifty years of American history, through his policies that aimed to stop and ultimately contain communism. By establishing his Truman Doctrine he uniting the people and political parties against communism, thus allowing him to reach amazing feats in foreign policy. The Marshall plan was a multi-billion dollar investment in aid to the economies of Europe, thus bringing capitalism to the war stricken nations and preventing communism from taking root in these countries. This would have never passed through congress without the support Truman’s Doctrine gathered. The same applies to the formation of NATO. America has never before made military peacetime alliances, as the US has tried to stick to their principles of isolation; however, Truman was able to make it happen, thus building a wall of nations to contain communism. Overall, Truman was successful in containment. Though the impacts may not have been immediate, Truman’s policies did halted the spread of communism throughout the Cold War and ultimately brought about the collapse of the Soviet Union on December 25, 1991.