The US was determined to implement a foreign policy of containment towards the USSR since the beginning of 1945. The US disagreed to requests Stalin made at the Yalta and Potsdam conference, which served to limit Stalin’s power and control over Europe. President Truman became even more concerned after receiving George Kennan’s Long Telegram in February 1946. This telegram was sent by the US ambassador in Moscow, reporting on the destructive intentions of the USSR. Truman made his policy clear the next year as he declared that it was America’s duty to intervene and help countries in protecting themselves against communist attacks. However, the policy of containment did not prove to be as effective as it was hoped. More failures than successes resulted during the cold war.
The first steps the US took in containing communism were unofficial: There were several disagreements reached during the Yalta conference (Feb 1945) and the Potsdam conference (July 17th 1945).
These disagreements were ones that concerned Stalin’s requests such as Soviet policy in Poland, size of reparations from Germany, and naval bases in the Straits (Dardanelles).
These requests were all to increase Soviet influence over Europe, and by disagreeing to these, the US clearly made her point to contain communism. The containment of communism by agreements proved to have been the most effective compared to other methods and policies.
After receiving the Long Telegram, Truman became even the more concerned about containing communism. However, it was not until March of the next year that he made his policy clear. On March 12 Truman made a speech as a response to the UK’s request of aid in dealing with the Greek civil war, where communists were taking over the country. In Truman’s speech he announced that they would provide military aid to countries under attack by communist forces. After this, the communists in Greece were defeated.
The Term Paper on Soviet Union Communism One Communist
Are We Familiar With Communism Enough The most devastating social order of the modern society is communism. From its founders Karl Marx and Fredrick Engels, who gave communism its philosophical meanings, to Vladimir Ili Lewin (Lenin), who gave it power after the October revolution in 1917, until today the communism hasn t changed its primary meaning and the ideology. World War II, the Cold War, ...
However, the US had not been concerned with Europe all the more until Czechoslovakia fell to communism in March 1948. It failed to identify the spread of communism in Europe, and only after another country’s fall was it able to recognize that post-war Europe in poverty was an ideal breeding ground for communism and called on decisions such as the Marshall Aid. The Marshall Aid provided financial loans and grants to European countries to get its industries going and recover from poverty. After the Marshall aid we have seen less frequent victories of communism.
The Berlin Blockade was where the US took firm action towards the containment of communism. Berlin, just as Germany, was divided into four zones where the West occupied one part and the USSR the other. In order to get Western troops out of Berlin, Stalin organized a blockade which lasted from June 1948 to May 1949. Roads in and out of Berlin were blocked and to deliver supplies the West organized an airlift. Hundreds of planes flew in and out, sometimes carrying about 13,000 tons of goods each day, and the number of troops also increased. By this, the West was able to prevent Stalin from taking over the entire Berlin.
The US was then too focused on containing communism in Europe and ignored the communist threat in Asia. China fell to communism in October 1949. The US had previously financed the nationalist leader Chiang Kai Shek for his campaigns and battles against the communists led by Mao Zedong, but did not send any troops to the country. As a consequence, one of the biggest countries in Asia became communist.
When the Korean War exploded in June 25th 1950, the US had learned its lesson and committed troops to the peninsula. Korea was divided by two where the North was communist led by Kim Il Sung, while the south was capitalist led by Syngman Rhee. Five days later Truman sent troops to Korea under the UN banner. After a long period of battles, on July 27th 1953, an armistice was agreed. The US was successful in preventing the South from becoming communist but failed to reunify Korea. Still there were able to complete their initial objective. China, who also joined the war was given a lesson whereby she was called an enemy of the UN and was put on an embargo from capitalist countries.
The Essay on The Vietnam Warlbjs War
... assistance from the outside. The war in Vietnam thus became a test of U.S. resolve in fighting Communism and President Johnson's reputation ... the Communists control of a significant area but also would suggest that the United States could not protect other countries against ... terms, no matter how many hundred thousand white, foreign (U.S.) troops we deploy. (McMahon 217) In response to Balls opposed ...
In 1956 there were several uprisings from the Eastern European countries. In the Hungarian revolution, the people rose against communism advocating human freedoms. They were highly hopeful that the West would have lent a hand, but their call was ignored and soon a battle exploded as the Soviet Red Army marched into Budapest and killed around 4000 Hungarians to bring back discipline. The US’ excuse fell upon the Suez Crisis, where the UN had to make important decisions dealing with the UK, France, Egyptians and Israelis. This shows once again the incompetence of the US’ policy of containment.
The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 was the closest time the world was to experience a nuclear war. The Soviets built a missile base in Cuba, which proved to be extremely treacherous to America’s safety. During the Crisis, US president JFK attempted to negotiate with the Soviet leader Krushchev. These negotiations have proved to be effective as the USSR withdrew all their missiles on the 28th of October. As seen from the successes in Yalta and Potsdam in containing communism it seems possible that the US is more proficient in dealing with communism by direct negotiations.
The Vietnam War marked a clear failure of the US’ policy if containment. The US was involved in Vietnam since the Geneva conference. Vietnam, alike Korea, was divided into half, where the North was communist led by Ho Chi Min, while the South was Capitalist with Ngo Dinh Diem until 1963 when he was assassinated because of his corruption. The US had then taken control of the South. Before 1964 the US had only sent advisers to the South to deal with the guerilla activities. After the Gulf of Tolkien on August the 2nd 1964, the US began to commit large numbers of troops. After unending bombing campaign, an armistice was signed and the US withdrew from Vietnam. Just when the US believed in another success, the North launched a last offensive, uniting Vietnam becoming a communist state. As Vietnam fell, Laos and Cambodia did as well. This was seen as an enormous failure to the US. Not only did it not prevent Vietnam from becoming communist, but cause two other countries to fall as well.
The Term Paper on To what extent was Mikhail Gorbachev responsible for the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union?
Many Historians contributed the fall of Soviet Union directly to Mikhail Gorbachev and his reforms. They argued that Gorbachev’s Glasnost, (openness) and Perestroika, (restructuring) directly led to uprisings within the Soviet Union, and its Soviet republics that brought the downfall of Soviet Union. This is however a very shallow analysis of the downfall of the Soviet Union. For one to truly ...
The US was not very successful in containing communism. Minor events were hindered, but communism has seen more success. The US was more successful towards the beginning of the Cold War when it was more determined. They succeeded in preventing Greece from falling to communism, along helping the European economy to take away the chance from the Soviets to spread communism, and saved South Korea from communism. However, in the later years they’ve seen numerous failures, such as China, Hungary, and Vietnam, excluding the Cuban Missile Crisis which proved to be a success.
