The Communist Threat & The Cold War

The Cold War: My Q’s How did the actions of the Soviet Union and China spark fears of communism? What was the policy of Containment? How did the Marshall Plan and NATO help contain communism?

Argument After WWII After defeating Hitler, the U.S. and the Soviet Union (Communist Russia) argued over the fate of Eastern Europe. Stalin, the Communist Dictator of the S.U., decided to go against former agreements and take control of Eastern Europe by implementing Communist governments in these countries without free elections. These countries under the control of the S.U. were often called “satellite” countries. Stalin, by doing this, not only believed that he would help out the S.U. economically, but that he would protect his country from future invasions from the West, which actually happened in both WWI & WWII.

Truman’s Response President Truman was not pleased at all with Stalin’s decision to take over Eastern Europe. He declared that such an action violated past agreements made between the two countries. He thought that these Eastern European countries should have the freedom to decide what kind of government they wanted. He also knew that since these countries were controlled by the S.U. and communists that America’s economic interests would be jeopardized in the area.

The Iron Curtain & Containment British Prime Minister Winston Churchill also condemned Stalin’s takeover of Eastern Europe, declaring that an “Iron Curtain” had fallen over those countries. George Kennan, an special adviser to the president, stated that America should apply “long-term, patient and vigilant containment” of the Soviet communism. Because of this statement, America’s policy of dealing with communism around the world became known as “Containment.” This policy basically meant keeping communism where it was and fighting against communism where it newly appeared.

Containing Communism In March 1947, Greece and Turkey were coming under the influence of communism and the Soviets. To shelter these countries and future countries from communism, the U.S. Congress and the president announced the Truman Doctrine. The Truman Doctrine declared that any country that came under threat from communists could receive millions of dollars to help fight communists. The Marshall Plan was another American policy meant to curtail communism’s appeal. According to the Marshall Plan, America gave war-torn European countries with bad economies billion dollar loans to help rebuild, convincing many Europeans to take the American side of the Cold War.

NATO & The Warsaw Pact In 1949, the United States joined ten other European countries and Canada in forming the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This international organization denounced communism and threatened the Soviets that an attack against one member nation would be treated as an attack against all members. The S.U. responded by developing an atomic bomb and creating the Warsaw Pact, which was the Soviet and Eastern European equivalent of NATO. Similarly, this Pact threatened that an attack against one member nation would be treated as an attack against all members

Communist Revolution in China The U.S and S.U. competed for economic and political dominance in Asia. However, America was dealt a huge blow in 1949 when Mao Zedong’s communist forces defeated Chiang Kai-Shek’s pro- American forces in China. Now communists dominated most of the Asian continent and other nearby countries were likely to follow, including Korea. Afraid to not actively intervene in Korea, the Americans and Truman decided to ensure that Korea would not fall under the influence of the “commies.”