Truman_Doctrine

Lopez 1 Amy Lopez Professor Mansfield WOH 1030 July 21, 2010 Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by United states President Harry S. Truman On March 12, 1947 stating that the United States would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military assistant. This was to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. The Doctrine would be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities. This can mean international peace and national security for the United States. Truman thought that if the United States did not assist Turkey and Greece, they can soon fall into communism with great consequences throughout their regions. The policy won the support of Congress and involved sending $400 million in American money, but no military forces, to region. The effect was to end the Communist threat, and in 1952 both countries joined Nato, a military alliance that guarantee their protection. Then the Doctrine shifted American foreign policy towards the Soviet Union from friendship to a policy of containment of Soviet expansion. Historians often use it to mark the starting date of the Cold War. After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union moved from being wartime allies to Cold War adversaries. The Soviet imperialism in Europe delayed withdrawal from postwar Iran and the breakdown of allied cooperation in postwar Germany provided the Lopez 2 backdrop for the Truman Doctrine. Truman himself had first become suspicious in dealing with the Soviets at the Postdam Conference, the Soviet reluctance to withdraw from Iran on schedule in early March 1946, reinforced his concern. A few days later, Churchill delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech about developments in Europe. This started to look like a pincer movement against the oil-rich areas of the Middle East and the warm-water ports of the Mediterranean. Truman was critical of Secretary of State Byrnes, both over being left in the dark about Moscow Conference, and that Iran had not been on the agenda. On January 30, 1946 the UN Security Council approved Resolution 2 concerning the Soviet withdrawal from Iran; Resolution 3 and 5 Were also approved in April and May. In February 1946, Kennan, an American diplomat in Moscow, sent his famed “Long Telegram”, which predicted the Soviets would only respond to force and that the best way to handle them would be through a long-term strategy of containment, that is stopping their geographical expansion. After the British warned that they could no longer help Greece, and following Prime Minister Tsaldaris’s visit to Washington in December 146 to ask for American assistance, the US State Department formulated a plan. Aid would be given to both Greece and Turkey, to help cool the long-standing rivalry between them. In March 1947, President Truman appeared in Congress and used Kennan’s Containment policy as the basis for what became known as the Truman Doctrine. The Doctrine was the first in a series of containment moves by the United States. followed by economic restoration of Western Europe through he Marshall Plan and military containment by the creation of Nato in 1949. President Truman made the proclamation in an address to the US Congress on March 12, 1947, amid the crisis of the civil Greek Civil War. Lopez 3 Truman insisted that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid that they needed, they would inevitably fall to Communism with consequences throughout the region. The Truman Doctrine underpinned American cold war policy in Europe and around the world. The doctrine endured because it addressed a broader cultural insecurity regarding modern life in globalized world. This help mobilized the American economy, modernize and stabilized regions without direct military intervention. The Truman Doctrine became a metaphor for emergency assistance to keep nations from communism. By presenting ideological differences in life or death, Truman was able to garner support for this communism-containing policy. The doctrine soon achieved its immediate objectives. The Greek government defeated the rebels, and Turkey built up its military forces and effectively resisted Soviet pressure. These successes offered encouragement for later interventions. The three months from February to May 1947 were a pivotal moment in American history. This time the United States, by developing and accepting the Truman Doctrine, made a large and significant change in its role in the world. "The period of isolation and occasional intervention ended. In conclusion, President Harry S. Truman created a wonderful policy to assist nations from having communism in their homeland. Thus is it arguable that the Truman Doctrine was not just a policy of ‘containment’ but, as a modern American University suggests: ‘an American challenge to Soviet ambitions throughout the world’.