-
Period: to
Truman Presidency
Trumanś presidency was marked by actions heavily motivated by a fear of communism - a fear that was shared by many American people. Many of Trumanś policies, such as the Marshall plan, influenced US foreign policy for the remainder of the 20th century. When looking at future presidents, like Reagan, it is clear that Trumanś policies and opinions remained in the government for the entirety of the Cold War. -
Containment Policy
Used as an alternative to war between the US and the Soviet Union, the Containment Policy revolved around the idea of containing communism rather than attempting to fight it. The containment policy created the basis of all American foreign policy for the next 40 years - the entirety of the Cold War - and encouraged all future plans of the time period, such as the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. Not only did it influence our handling of European issues, but it also heavily dictated how we -
Containment Policy (pt. 2)
handled conflicts in Asia. It was believed that, just as dominos fall, if one Asian nation were to "fall" to communism, all of them would. This fear lead to the intensity with with the US protected the Asian front, as well as the European front. -
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a speech entailing that the US would give $400 million dollars to Greece and Turkey, who were fighting communism. The main goal was that the US would fight communism everywhere, not just on the home front. They would do this indiscriminately in any nations necessary in order to prevent the "communist takeover" of the world. Truman's main policy basis throughout the Cold War was based around this idea that any nation in the world was either pro-American and Capitalist, or -
The Marshall Plan
The Marshall Plan was a method used to reconstruct Europe's economy by providing 16 different European nations who were fighting communism with $13 billion dollars over the course of period of three years. The end goal of this plan was to prevent the spread of communism to Western Europe from the "iron curtain" countries of Eastern Europe. The Marshall Plan was highly successful, and ended up essentially rescuing Western Europe´s economy, earning it praise from both American and European leaders -
Berlin Airlift
The U.S. and Britain sent via air craft supplies to Germany so that they could survive after Stalin created a blockade around West Berlin. West Berlin was cut off from all road and railroad traffic. The U.S. continued to drop supplies for 11 months, greatly due to the fear that if Berlin were to fall, so would the rest of West Germany, allowing the spread of communism past Eastern Europe. On May 12, 1949, the USSR lifted their blockade, making the Berlin Airlift the first real allied ¨victory.¨ -
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was an alliance between the US, Britain, and the majority of Western European nations at the time. It marked the first time in history since the Revolutionary War that the US rejected isolationism and was willing to go to war for its allies. It marked a new era of foreign policy for America.
