Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Truman's policy of containment
- The Potsdam
Conference
(July 1945)
- Truman distrusted
Stalin and was
determined to
stand up to him.
- Truman feared that
the Soviets would
attempt to take
control of Eastern
Europe.
- This was backed up by the fact
that they had liberated many
East European countries by this
point, including Poland,
Hungary, Bulgaria and
Romania. However, the Red
Army remained in these
countries.
- Truman wanted free elections in
Eastern European countries
occupied by Soviet troops. Stalin
refused to submit to US
pressure believing it was
unwelcome interference.
- This led to Truman
taking a tougher
stance against the
USSR.
- Stalin wanted massive compensation that would
have totally and permanently crippled Germany
- Truman disagreed as he saw a revived Germany as a
barrier to possible future Soviet expansion
- George Kennan & The Long Telegram
- Kennan was the Deputy Chief of
Mission in the US Embassy in
Moscow - this telegram gave a
detailed report of Soviet motives.
- Sovet motives stated by Kennan were:
- Soviet policy was a continuation
of hostility to the outside world
- The USSR would use every possible method to
smash democracy in the Western world.
- The Soviet leaders were fanatics that could not be trusted.
- The Soviet government were determined
to expand and must be stopped
- He developed the idea of CONTAINMENT
- The Truman Doctrine
- 12th March 1947 Truman made a
speech to Congress - this became
known as the Truman Doctrine
- Stated it was the policy of the US ‘to support free
people who are resisting attempted subjugation
by armed minorities or by outside pressures’
- The US accepted that Eastern Europe was now
largely Communist - the aim was now to stop
more countries from becoming Communist.
- The Marshall Plan
- This was an economic extension of the Truman Doctrine.
- It was devised by
George Marshall
- It was officially called the
European Recovery Programme
- The recovery of the European economies meant
there would be a market for American goods.
- The US feared that economic distress in countries such as Britain,
France and Italy would push these states towards communism
- The USSR responded by establishing COMINFORM & COMECON