The Cold War and Us Diplomacy

Truman's term in office started after Roosevelt had died 3 months into his fourth term. Truman's presidency was eventful in foreign affairs, with the defeat of Nazi Germany and his decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan, the founding of the United Nations, the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe, and the Truman Doctrine to contain communism. President Truman was avidly participating in foreign affairs. This paper is going to focus on the topics surrounding the Truman Doctrine. "At the end of WWII it was immediately apparent that Russia meant to draw as many countries as it could into its sphere of influence, if not into actual dominance" (Spalding, 2005). Both the British and the Americans became alarmed as country after country did, indeed, fall under Russian influence. During the War, the British had been a moderating force in the middle and Far East. But the cost of the war had drained them. As hostilities ended in the joint effort to defeat Hitler, Russia's intentions very soon became obvious. President Harry Truman, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, after many conferences, decided that steps had to be taken to stem the advance of Communism. Churchill had long been suspicious of the Soviets, and it did not take long for Truman to achieve the same level of mistrust.

This led to Truman's crusade to contain the expansion of communism throughout the world. Truman was hard-nosed when it came to the Soviet Union. He had never liked, nor trusted, Stalin, and he did not believe that Communism was anything other than dictatorship. The U.S. just defeated the Nazi's with the fall of Hitler. Truman had an initiative when he became President; he let the Soviet leaders know that he would not put up with Soviet attempted expansion into Europe or Asia following the war. By 1947, Truman had developed a policy that was more than just getting tough with the Russians according to (Widmaier, 2007). The Truman Doctrine proclaimed that the United States would not tolerate Russian expansion into any areas that were not already under Soviet control. This became known as the Containment Policy.

Truman was quick to put his policy to the test in 1947 when the Soviets stepped up their support for the Communists in Greece, Italy, and France. In March of 1947, Truman asked Congress to appropriate $400 million in military assistance to the pro-Western governments in Greece and Turkey according to (Ferrel, 1996). It soon became evident to the Soviets, that Truman and the U.S. would not sit by while they tried to expand their system of takeover in areas of Europe and Asia. The Doctrine also led to the development of the Marshall Plan which was also known as the ERP. This Plan addressed the problems of the post war era in Europe, and intended to stop the spread of communism. The plan was to modernize and more or less westernize business practices using American influence and improving efficiency. These actions help western European states politically reconstruct themselves with the aid of America.