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Containing Communism
In 1947, in an effort to halt, or contain, the advance of communism in Europe, and especially
in Greece and Turkey, President Truman announced the policy known as the Truman Doctrine,
by which the United States furnished military and economic aid to countries threatened by
aggression and subversion. An important adjunct of this policy was the Marshall Plan,
proposed in June 1947 by Secretary of State George C. Marshall. Officially designated the
European Recovery Program, it was a broad program of economic rehabilitation. The policy of
containment was expanded to the western hemisphere in 1947, when the United States joined
with 18 other American nations in signing the Rio Treaty, promising mutual defense and
assistance against aggression on any of the signatory nations. In 1948 the United States
agreed to the establishment of the Organization of American States (OAS) to settle disputes
among the nations of the Americas. As part of his worldwide campaign against communism,
President Truman also implemented the Point Four Program to aid developing nations in Asia,
Africa, and Latin America.1
Truman Doctrine, policy first set forth by United States President Harry S. Truman in 1947.
The immediate objective of the policy was to send U.S. aid to anti-Communist forces in
Greece and Turkey, but it was later expanded to justify support for any nation that the United
States government believed was threatened by Communism during the Cold War period.2
Moves and Countermoves
U.S. officials, concerned over Soviet pressures against Iran and Turkey, interpreted a 1946
speech by Stalin as declaring ideological war against the West. In 1947 the president proposed
the Truman Doctrine, which had two objectives: to send U.S. aid to anticommunist forces in
Greece and Turkey, and to create a public consensus so Americans would be willing to fight
the cold war. He achieved both goals. That same year, journalist Walter Lippmann popularized
the term cold war in a book of the same name. In Congress there was a series of highly
publicized inquiries into pro-Communist activity in the United States. The best-known
investigator, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, gave his name to an era of intense
anticommunism. In 1948 the United States launched the $13 billion Marshall Plan (see
European Recovery Program) to rebuild Western and Central Europe. When Stalin responded
by extending his control over Eastern Europe and threatening the West's position in Germany,
Truman helped to create a military alliance—the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—and to
establish an independent West Germany.
The cold war widened in 1949-1950, when the Soviets exploded their first atomic borab and
the Communists in China conquered their vast homeland. The Chinese Communists signed an
alliance with Stalin, but the United States refused to recognize the new regime. In Japan, then
under U.S. control, economic development was accelerated to counter Asian communism.
When Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, Truman sent the American
military into action (see Korean War). The conflict ended three years later in a truce that left
the prewar border intact. In 1953 Stalin died and Truman left office, but both sides continued to
struggle over Europe. The USSR tried to protect Communist East Germany from serious
population loss by building the Berlin Wall in 1961. Each superpower also attempted to gain
influence over emerging nations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. A serious
crisis arose in 1962 when the USSR placed missiles in Cuba, their new ally. President John F.
Kennedy threatened nuclear retaliation, and the Soviets withdrew the missiles in return for
Kennedy's promise not to invade Cuba.
Sobered by this crisis, the Soviets were also weakened when the Chinese split from Moscow and
the East Europeans grew restless. Nationalism was proving stronger than communism. The
United States, meanwhile, was fighting the Vietnam War, a bloody military action that cost
57,000 American lives in a failed effort to retain South Vietnam. In addition, the postwar
economic superiority of the United States was challenged by Japan and West Germany. By 1973
the two sturabling superpowers had agreed on a policy of détente; it was an attempt to cool the
costly arms race and slow their competition in the Third World. Détente ended by 1980, however,
as Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan to save a Marxist regime. Newly elected U.S. President
Ronald Reagan began a massive arms buildup and new challenges to Soviet-supported groups
in the emerging nations.
In 1947, in an effort to halt, or contain, the advance of communism in Europe, and especially
in Greece and Turkey, President Truman announced the policy known as the Truman Doctrine,
by which the United States furnished military and economic aid to countries threatened by
aggression and subversion. An important adjunct of this policy was the Marshall Plan,
proposed in June 1947 by Secretary of State George C. Marshall. Officially designated the
European Recovery Program, it was a broad program of economic rehabilitation. The policy of
containment was expanded to the western hemisphere in 1947, when the United States joined
with 18 other American nations in signing the Rio Treaty, promising mutual defense and
assistance against aggression on any of the signatory nations. In 1948 the United States
agreed to the establishment of the Organization of American States (OAS) to settle disputes
among the nations of the Americas. As part of his worldwide campaign against communism,
President Truman also implemented the Point Four Program to aid developing nations in Asia,
Africa, and Latin America.1
Truman Doctrine, policy first set forth by United States President Harry S. Truman in 1947.
The immediate objective of the policy was to send U.S. aid to anti-Communist forces in
Greece and Turkey, but it was later expanded to justify support for any nation that the United
States government believed was threatened by Communism during the Cold War period.2
Moves and Countermoves
U.S. officials, concerned over Soviet pressures against Iran and Turkey, interpreted a 1946
speech by Stalin as declaring ideological war against the West. In 1947 the president proposed
the Truman Doctrine, which had two objectives: to send U.S. aid to anticommunist forces in
Greece and Turkey, and to create a public consensus so Americans would be willing to fight
the cold war. He achieved both goals. That same year, journalist Walter Lippmann popularized
the term cold war in a book of the same name. In Congress there was a series of highly
publicized inquiries into pro-Communist activity in the United States. The best-known
investigator, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, gave his name to an era of intense
anticommunism. In 1948 the United States launched the $13 billion Marshall Plan (see
European Recovery Program) to rebuild Western and Central Europe. When Stalin responded
by extending his control over Eastern Europe and threatening the West's position in Germany,
Truman helped to create a military alliance—the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—and to
establish an independent West Germany.
The cold war widened in 1949-1950, when the Soviets exploded their first atomic borab and
the Communists in China conquered their vast homeland. The Chinese Communists signed an
alliance with Stalin, but the United States refused to recognize the new regime. In Japan, then
under U.S. control, economic development was accelerated to counter Asian communism.
When Communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, Truman sent the American
military into action (see Korean War). The conflict ended three years later in a truce that left
the prewar border intact. In 1953 Stalin died and Truman left office, but both sides continued to
struggle over Europe. The USSR tried to protect Communist East Germany from serious
population loss by building the Berlin Wall in 1961. Each superpower also attempted to gain
influence over emerging nations in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. A serious
crisis arose in 1962 when the USSR placed missiles in Cuba, their new ally. President John F.
Kennedy threatened nuclear retaliation, and the Soviets withdrew the missiles in return for
Kennedy's promise not to invade Cuba.
Sobered by this crisis, the Soviets were also weakened when the Chinese split from Moscow and
the East Europeans grew restless. Nationalism was proving stronger than communism. The
United States, meanwhile, was fighting the Vietnam War, a bloody military action that cost
57,000 American lives in a failed effort to retain South Vietnam. In addition, the postwar
economic superiority of the United States was challenged by Japan and West Germany. By 1973
the two sturabling superpowers had agreed on a policy of détente; it was an attempt to cool the
costly arms race and slow their competition in the Third World. Détente ended by 1980, however,
as Soviet troops invaded Afghanistan to save a Marxist regime. Newly elected U.S. President
Ronald Reagan began a massive arms buildup and new challenges to Soviet-supported groups
in the emerging nations.