The Truman Doctrine?s Impact in Cold War Strategy By the middle of the twentieth century?s fifth decade, the world had been jolted by two catastrophic wars; a seven- year economic disaster and the recognition that weapons of mass destruction existed. Where blood had been spilled through hand to hand combat dating back to trench warfare, the realization that thirty years hence, blood bones and the complete human identity could be vaporized helped create a climate of distrust between former allies. The architects of postwar Europe, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt and Soviet Premier Josef Stalin, acting as a triumvirate of supreme commanders, negotiated on behalf of their countries? interest in redefining the geographic boundaries of Europe. The contrast in nationalistic views exposed by Stalin and Churchill would begin the journey to what became known as the ?Cold War?. The strategies utilized by both the United States and Great Britain were designed to thwart the Soviet Union?s attempt to expand puppet Communist regimes over conquered territories. Winston Churchill would write in his memoirs an entry dated May 10th, 1945, ?The Soviet menace had already replaced the Nazi foe?.
As part of that strategy, a statement of purpose or ?doctrine? exposed by President Harry Truman played a role in defining U.S. interests. This paper will explore the impact of Truman?s decree in meeting America?s foreign policy needs. No one more clearly than Churchill had foreseen the threat to the future of Eastern Europe and the impending Cold War brought about by Russian intervention. Churchill thus directed his energies toward limiting the postwar territorial expansionism of Stalin and his communist cohorts by defining a plan which divided territory among the three allies before the final guns were silenced in an October 1944 meeting with Stalin in Moscow, the proposal to divide up the conquered territory was scripted out on a half sheet of paper. This became known as the ?percentage agreement?, in which the Balkan countries of Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland were to be divided either fifty-fifty, seventy five- twenty five, ninety-ten or one hundred to none. As eye witnesses reported, Stalin viewed the paper offered by Churchill, ? took this blue pencil and made a large tick on it? It was all settled in no more time than it took to set down?. (Lukacs 58-59).
The Term Paper on Eastern Europe Stalin War Soviet
... the war against Japan as soon as Germany surrendered. The now ailing, Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin all agreed that Germany should be divided into ... with the somewhat ignorant Truman. The Western Allies made the mistake of allowing Soviet expansion into East Europe, particularly at the Yalta ...
It was fatefully, one of the last agreements Churchill would be able to negotiate singularly with Stalin. The Russian leader, President Roosevelt and later President Harry Truman), would come to understand that Great Britain?s were severe as a result of the war. Not only had they lost their claim to a worldwide Empire, they had also lost their will to fight as a consequence of the six years of turmoil. The impression that Great Britain was tired and weak allowed the United States and the Soviet Union to negotiate as if they were the senior partners to the agreements at Yalta and Potsdam. Churchill?s senior military aide, General George Brooke had been traveling with him near the front lines along the Rhine River on March 26th, 1945 when he wrote in his diary of the Prime Minister?s mood, ? I feel he considers a sudden and soldierly death at the front a suitable ending to his famous life? freeing him from the never-ending worries which loom ahead with our Russian friends and others??(Lukacs 79).
Churchill was by far the more distrustful of Russian expansionism, primarily because it impacted Great Britain?s sphere of influence on the continent. The geographical closeness of Stalin?s essential annexation of Finland posed a political as well as economic threat. As historian Martin Walker states, ?[t] here was as yet no clear division between Communists and non-Communists in Europe?(53).
The Term Paper on Five Year Plan Stalin State Soviet
By 1928, Stalin had ousted Trotsky and the rest of the Left opposition. In four years, Stalin had single handedly taken major steps away from Lenins collective leadership and free inter party debate and replaced them with his autocratic dictatorship. Stalin began to secure predominant power over the communist party and the state by destroying passive opposition from the peasantry and former Lenin ...
The more countries that come under Soviet domination the fewer trading partners and political allies London had to line up against the Russian bear. Communistic governments in Greece, Turkey or Italy would threaten the British sphere of influence in the Middle East. Consequently, when Churchill delivered his famous ?Iron Curtain? speech in Fulton, Missouri on March 7th, 1946, he laid bare the future adversarial relationship between the West, (The United States, Great Britain, France) and the East (The Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc nations).
The mental imagery generated by the word ?enslavement? crystallized the threat for most Americans. The wording was something directly related to what they had either learned about in school, the enslavement of the blacks in The Civil War period, or their parents/grandparents might have lived in and brought horrible memories to mind. What America and Great Britain had already witnessed during the first half of 1946 was the establishment of pro-Communist governments in the Balkan states, Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. This situation proved to be the kick off point for the Cold War and ultimately started the movement toward the Truman Doctrine announced before Congress on March 12, 1947. The United States? view of Stalin as expressed in FDR?s own characterization was that of an ?Uncle Joe?, who could be handled and perhaps even sways to see the American point of view on a united Europe after the war. In truth, this viewpoint was shortsighted based on the calculated moves Stalin made to secure his control over the vanquished Axis powers. Stalin had been exposed to two German invasions of mother Russia and he was resolute that Germany would never be able to make a third. In that regard, Roosevelt, Churchill and Truman agreed with him. The method of securing a weakened Germany was to prepare for long term occupation and rule with an iron fist. Stalin?s view of security was summarized in his belief that ?everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach? (Lukacs 121).
By having troops stationed in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia and the eastern sector of Germany, a large geographic buffer had been constructed between those capitalistic countries of Western Europe and the United States and his homeland. To maintain total control of his newly acquired lands, Stalin encouraged the establishment of a secret police. This organization served to crush party opposition before it could flourish and, with the exception of Hungary, succeeded quite well for two generations. It was quite fortunate that Harry Truman had been a student of history in light of what had been doing on in Europe and what was to come in the Far East, when he came President, following FDR?s death. Truman wanted to continue the dream Roosevelt held of a ?reunited Europe?, minus a militaristic Germany. All three Allies agreed that Germany should never possess the method and material to wage war again. As Walker quotes, The negotiations over the outstanding issues of Poland and the other Eastern European countries proved difficult and divisive. As the new Secretary of State James Byrnes reported to the three leaders on July 28: ? The U.S. has unfortunately found that if it agrees with the Soviet delegation, the British delegation does not agree, and if it agrees with the British, the Soviets would disagree. (Op.cit. P.397) What the Allies could not agree on was the normalization of the rest of Europe, since Stalin had taken immediate steps to see that could not happen based on Russian security needs. The response to this new form of political aggression would trumpet the first salvos of the Cold War. The trigger, which prompted action, was the chaotic economic situation in Greece.
The Essay on Soviet Union Country Countries People
There are many events worthy of our recognition but some will be remembered for many years to come. Fifty years from now, every person in the world should remember the year in which the Soviet Empire collapsed. The Soviet Union was one of the most dangerous and most feared of all the countries in the world during the time it existed. The Soviet Union was the largest country in the world because of ...
As stated earlier, Churchill proposed and Stalin accepted the division of territory on the ?half sheet of paper? in the Moscow meeting of 1944. By 1946 however, the percentages in most of those territories was 100% Soviet, 0% Allied. This naturally caused alarm for Churchill and Truman, who perceived any further communist expansion as a threat. That situation materialized in Greece, when rioting broke out in late 1946 due to the near collapse of the post war relief efforts. Since Great Britain had been the predominant western force in the Mediterranean for decades, Greece and Turkey came under their control with the surrender. The British economy was itself a disaster at war?s end and maintaining two economically deprived offspring made a bad situation worse. Throughout 1946 pressure mounted in Britain to cease aiding the Greeks and Turks and keep the aid home. Thus, the British government turned to their closest ally, which happened to be the wealthiest country on the globe, to ?assume the burden? (Walker).
The Essay on Should Harry S. Truman Have Dropped The Atomic Bomb?
“I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me.” Harry S. Truman, our thirty-third president of the United States, spoke this on April 12, 1945. This was a significant day in which two major things happened; President Franklin D. Roosevelt died unexpectedly, and Harry S. Truman was sworn in as president. Henry L. Stimson, Roosevelt’s secretary of war, who later became ...
On February 21, 1947 a formal request came to the State Department asking for America to take the task over. Acting Secretary of State Dean Acheson received the documents and briefed new Secretary George Marshall, who in turn alerted President Truman of the crisis. Within a four-day period, the decision was made to go forward and assist both countries with emergency supplies and money. In a speech before Congress on March 12, 1947 the main tenants of the ?Truman Doctrine? announced to America. The critical passage of Truman?s speech was the following: I believe 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. (Walker 49) The world heard about in the newspapers the following day. By bailing out Greece and Turkey, the United States effectively supplanted Great Britain as the head of the Western world in this area and set the stage for an extended period confrontation with the Soviets. The support was solely to be economic in nature. If asked, the United States would commit military advisors to train native militia?s. The military would also oversee the reconstruction of basic infrastructure as had been done in Japan. As the President stated in his address, The Greek Army is small and poorly equipped. It needs supplies and equipment if it is to restore the authority of the Government throughout Greek Territory. (Committee on Foreign Relations: S.938 pg. VII)
President Truman had committed us to the policy of ?Containment?, which had been popularized in Washington by George Keenan, a member of the diplomatic staff in the Russian Embassy in Moscow. Keenan was the famous author of the ?Long Telegram? a 5000+ word document which gave his impressions of Soviet Foreign Policy. That policy was focused on disrupting the balance of power in the Western world. The telegram came to the State Department in early 1946 with ominous predictions about Soviet intentions: To undermine the political and strategic potential of major western powers?? and ?for Communists to work toward the destruction of all forms of personal independence, economic, political or moral in foreign countries (May 5) Since President Truman was aware of this general Soviet strategy, when disaster loomed in Greece Truman and his staff were ready to ensure a democratic government would remain. This would hopefully stop Russian expansion into the region. In his speech before a joint session of Congress on March 12, 1947 the President asked for $400,000,000 million worth of economic aid for both Greece and Turkey. Also, this was needed for the military advisors ?for the purpose of supervising the use of such financial aid? and the instruction and training of selected Greek and Turkish personnel?. (S.938 pg.XI).
The Essay on Ronald Reagan President Policy Economic
Ronald Wilson Reagan Ronald Reagan had a very successful life. He was the 40 th president of the United States (1981-1989). He was an actor for 30 years before he became involved with politics and starred in more than 50 movies. Reagan was born on February 6, 1911 in Tampico, Illinois. Early Life Reagan was raised by his traveling shoe salesman father John Reagan, and his mother Nelle. John was an ...
Reaction to the President?s request was swift and vocal. Several senators from the Foreign Relations Committee, notable Democrat Claude Pepper of Florida and Democrat Edwin Johnson, of Colorado, doggedly advised the United Nations and not the United States should take the lead in providing support to Greece and Turkey. Pepper was adamant that U.S. military advisors should not be used within the boundaries of either country. During Committee hearings, he even quoted a Gallup Poll printed in the Washington Post stating that ?the majority (of Americans) expressed regret that the problem of Greece was not put to the United Nations in the beginning?(S.938 pg. 107).
Also, the public was not in favor of sending military advisors to train Greek and Turkish soldiers. Consequently, six amendments were added to the original Congressional Draft authorizing the expenditure. These amendments dealt with items allowed to be purchased (food, construction equipment, and medical supplies).
Also, wording was added to satisfy some critics, ?tying in the relief as part of the United Nations goals? (S. 938 pg. 221-224?. The public support for the aid package was overwhelming. The issue of military advisors was not. The more famous Marshall Plan followed the announcement of the Truman Doctrine within that year. This was a direct financial and economic aid package to Western Europe designed to get them back on their feet through a vigorous rebuilding effort. Economically sound countries were not the breeding ground for Communist Party breakthroughs reasoned Truman and he was correct. The policy of Containment would be strengthened as each country in itself got stronger. Further evidence of the power of Truman?s Cold War policy of using economic means to stop Russian goals occurred on Monday June 28, 1948 with the Berlin Airlift. When Stalin had decided the Allied presence deep inside the Eastern Zone of Germany was a threat he ordered the starvation of the city by blockading all roads into and out of Berlin around the Allied sectors. Truman again was forceful in ordering a round-the-clock air relief campaign, which lasted seven days a week for eleven months. As David McCullough writes in his biography, Truman, ?the Berlin Airlift was about to become one of the most brilliant American achievements of the postwar era, strongly affecting?the whole course of the Cold War??(McCullough 631).
The Essay on The Berlin Airlift Cold War
... the first time that military airlift was used as a tool for nation policy. This was also ... United States as a joint occupying power in Berlin derive from the total defeat and unconditional surrender of Germany" (Cold ... impose a blockade upon the people of Berlin" (Cold 48). America, France, and Britain all decided ... but when he died Vice President Truman moved up. Truman disliked the USSR very much and ...
From Korea, to Vietnam, Hungary, Cuba, China, Afghanistan, back to Germany and the Soviet Union itself, the interests outlined in the Truman Doctrine versus what Stalin and his successors waged against the Capitalists were deadlocked. A great debt is owed to President Truman, his staff, the United Nations, and the men who fought in battle. The Truman Doctrine served as a starting point for the Cold War, which ultimately ended with the collapse of the Communist rule and the disbanding of the Soviet Union. Truman helped save the Western world with his aid to Greece and Turkey in 1947.
