The Truman Doctrine

After WWII: Only power that could rival the U.S. was the Soviet Union. Bear – used in to symbolize Russia in cartoons, articles, plays to imply that Russia is “big, brutal and clumsy.” The United States emerged from World War II as by far the world’s greatest power. The U.S. boasted the world’s most powerful navy and air force. The U.S. accounted for half the world’s manufacturing capacity. It alone possessed the atomic bomb. The only power that in any way could rival the U.S. was the Soviet Union, whose armies occupied most of eastern Europe, including the eastern part of Germany. Like the United States, the Soviets looked forward to a world order modeled on their own society and values. Soon after WWII ended, the alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union broke down and was replaced by a struggle between Communist and non-Communist nations. This struggle hecame known as the Cold War. After WWII: Only power that could rival the U.S. was the Soviet Union.

February 1945 – Yalta Conference (Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin meet to discuss postwar Europe) Key decisions: Democracies would be est., all liberated European and former Axis satellite countries would hold free elections. Germany – divide Germany into four “Allied Occupation Zones” & divide Berlin into four zones Differences arose among the wartime Allies even before the war had ended. In the final months of the war, Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin, and FDR had met at Yalta, a resort in the Soviet Union. There, Stalin promised to hold free elections in the parts of Eastern Europe under his control. At the time, Soviet troops were occupying most of Eastern Europe.

However, upon achieving victory in 1945… Soviet authorities in Poland organized an election which constituted nothing more than a sham. 2) Pro-communists govts. established in Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria What? We didn’t shake on it! Instead, Stalin proceeded to establish Communist governments in these nations. He realized that free elections would result in non-Communist governments. Stalin wanted to construct a ring of friendly countries to protect the western borders of the Soviet Union.

The United States feared the spread of communism The United States feared the spread of communism. You will learn more about why after performing a close reading of the Truman Doctrine (get excited!!)

It’s AMERICAN FOREIGN POLICY TIME!!!

U.S. also pledges to help rebuild Japan industrial base Impact of the Truman Doctrine on the U.S. and other countries: Marshall Plan – U.S. contribute billions of dollars to finance the economy recovery of Europe U.S. also pledges to help rebuild Japan industrial base A few months later, Secretary of State George C. Marshall pledged the United States to contribute billions of dollars to help finance the economic recovery of Europe. The so-called Marshall Plan aimed to combat the idea, widespread since the Great Depression, that capitalism was in decline and communism the wave of the future.

Berlin Airlift (send supplies to West Germany) Impact of the Truman Doctrine and the tensions with the Soviet Union on the U.S. and other countries: Berlin Airlift (send supplies to West Germany) Led the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 The Marshall Plan was a huge success. It helped countries such as France, West Germany, and Italy recover from the war. American dollars built new factories, schools, hospitals, railroads, and bridges. The focus of Cold War hostility now shifted to Germany. At the Yalta Conference, the Allies had agreed to divide Germany into four zones. American, British, French, and Soviet troops would each control one of the zones. Germany’s capital city, Berlin, which lay inside Soviet-controlled territory, was also divided into four zone. In June 1948, the Soviets set up a blockade around Berlin – preventing delivery of food supplies to West Berlin’s two million residents. The Allies responded with a massive airlift – sending cargo planes to deliver tons of supplies to the people. The Soviets called off the blockade in May 1949. A divided Germany and Berlin remained a focus of Cold War tensions – a wall was constructed in 1961 and stood for 28 years as a symbol of a divided Germany and a divided Europe.

Impact of the Truman Doctrine and the tensions with the Soviet Union on the U.S. and other countries: In April 1949, as Cold War tensions rose, the United States and other Western nations established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a formal military alliance to guard against a Soviet attack. Members of NATO agreed that an attack on one member would be considered an attack against the entire group. In response, the Soviet Union and the satellite nations of Eastern Europe formed their own alliance, the Warsaw Pact, in 1955. U.S. & Canada + 10 western European nations establish the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) pledging mutual defense against any future Soviet attack

Exit Slip: Why, in March of 1947, did Truman ask Congress to send money to Greece and Turkey?