The Truman Doctrine free essay sample

According to womb. Historiographers. Co. UK/ Truman_doctrine, The Truman doctrine happened March 12, 1947. It was a speech by President Harry S. Truman. The Truman Doctrine gave economic and military aid to Greece and Turkey because they were threatened by communism. At this point in time there was already a policy trying to contain communism called the Containment Policy. The Containment Policy was a reaction to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to expand communist influence in Eastern European, China, Korea, and Vietnam.Similar to the containment policy the Truman doctrine of the United States was to support free people who are resisting being conquered by armed minorities or by outside pressures, which was said directly by President Truman. Truman had to convince congress that a crisis in two far away countries would threaten the security of the United States, and that four hundred million dollars was needed to save Greece and Turkey. We will write a custom essay sample on The Truman Doctrine or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This was going to be a very difficult task because the republicans had gotten into power in 1946 by cutting taxes and aid to overseas. Students Truman, Secretary of State George Marshall and undersecretary Dean Achaeans, who later became secretary of state, had to figure out a way to get America to understand that they needed to aid Greece and Turkey. Truman, Marshall, and Achaeans were among the most influential people in congress. Cohesions loyalty and coaching certainly raised Traumas confidence in foreign affairs but also elevated the authority of the brilliant entrepreneur at his side (Besides 106). The two mens partnership had much to do with the success and clarity of Traumas foreign policy (Besides 106).Dean Achaeans devised the policy, and wrote the request to congress for aid to Greece and Turkey. A speech that stressed the dangers or totalitarianism rather than Soviet aggression and marked fundamental change in American foreign policy has become known as the Truman Doctrine. Achaeans said If the Soviets can win in Greece and in Turkey then they would be in a position where there would be soviet pressure on Italy, on the Mediterranean, and once that pressure was established there would pressure Western Europe and pretty soon the United States would be standing alone. Achaeans figured he only way to get the republicans i n congress and the Americans on board for sending aid overseas was to scare the everyone. Scare them in the sense that if they do not send aid overseas that the United States would be alone and wouldnt have allies because they can potentially be conquered by communism spread by the Soviet Union. The beginning of the Truman Doctrine, President Truman began to outline the situation in Greece. He told congress Greece must have assistance if it is going to survive as a free nation, and become a self-supporting and a self-respecting democracy.Truman explained that without help Greece would shortly fall to communism and if Greece fell to communism Turkey would not be far behind. The key part of President Traumas speech was to explain and justify his change if foreign policy to congress. In order to do this he reminded congress that the Ignited States has fought World War II and joined the United Nations to protect freedom and democracy. Next he told congress that communism was growing. President Truman defined the Cold War as a conflict between good and bad, as a choice between capitalism and communism, as dictatorship and necromancy.Truman believed it must be the policy of the United States to support countries who resisted communism. Undersecretary Dean Achaeans explained to Truman that if the United states let one country fall to communism the surrounding countries would also fall to communism like dominoes. After Achaeans explain this to Truman, Truman then introduced that idea to the rest of the congress and American people, according to http:// history. State. Gob/departmentally/ Truman. The Truman Doctrine basically led into the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan was to contain communism by eloping the economies of Europe to get stimulated again. The Cold War could have ended much worse if congress did not let the United States spend four hundred million dollars and aid Greece and Turkey. The Cold War could have only been avoided only if the Soviet Union had not been possessed by the convictions both of the infallibility of the communist world and of the inevitability of the communist world (Bellman 131). The Truman Doctrine is a primary source. It is a primary source because it was a speech by the president that is on video and there were many witnesses.It was a fact that he Soviet Union was trying to spread communism and it can be proven by government documents and policies. The Truman Doctrine is also an extremely reliable source because it is a proven fact that the United States President Harry S. Truman did make the speech and the United States did offer aid to Greece and Turkey so they did not fall to communism. One can find the Truman Document in the government archives today. Considering the fact that this was by the President of the United States it was written and spoken in the English language therefore, none of it was interpreted wrong. The Truman Doctrine free essay sample President Harry S. Truman defined United States foreign policy in the context of Its new role as a world superpower. Many historians consider his speech to Congress as the words that officially started the Cold War. The Truman Doctrine was a major break from U. S. Historical trends of isolationist foreign policy. His speech led to the Cold War policy of containment. Moreover, it served as a precedent for future U. S. Logic of interventionism. According to Stephen Ambrose, an important quote from Traumas speech, l believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures, stands as all encompassing and would define American policy for the next generation and beyond. l Faced with Strong opposition, Truman Was still able to achieve a consensus in Congress aimed at quelling the communist threat through active foreign policy and involvement. We will write a custom essay sample on The Truman Doctrine or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The Truman Doctrine not only demonstrated the new foreign policy of the U. S. But also helps to explain American foreign policy since the Doctrines inception. At the end of World War II, the military and foreign policies of the White House were moving in opposite directions. Militarily, the U. S. Adopted a position of rapid demutualization after the war. Meanwhile, Truman had a strong desire to meet the communist threat head on. Congress, however, did not share Traumas view of needing to meet the Communist challenge wherever it appeared. For example, Senator Robert Taft, a prominent Republican senator, expressed the current mood when he objected to any attempt by the Administration to divide the world into communist and anti- communist zones, for he did not want war with the Soviet Union. As for the sentiment of the American public, there was no denying that the majority of the American people did not want to embark on a Crusade. With opposition from not only the American public but also from Congress, President Truman had to take action in order to convince Americans of the reality of the Soviet threat, in addition to the threat of communism in general.In fact, Truman was even told that he would need to scare the hell out of the American people. He did just that with the Truman Doctrine. Truman showed the American people a legitimate threat to their way of life by creating the idea of us-versus-them, th e communist way of life versus the American capitalist lifestyle. From that point on, everyone was classified as either a IS. S. Supporter or as a communist. The Truman Doctrine fulfilled the American desire for all wars to be epic battles between light and darkness, good versus evil, which in the end unified most dissenters to Traumas cause.Nevertheless, the stipulations outlined in the Truman Doctrine did not accurately depict the development Of American society. In 1947, the U. S. Was a place of free institutions, representative government, and freedom of religion, in which society direction was strongly influenced by the will of the majority. However, the U. S. Was not a place that guaranteed individual liberties for everyone nor freedom from oppression. Yet even if Traumas words were not an accurate depiction of the direction of American society, they undoubtedly affected its progress.The Truman Doctrine facilitated future foreign entanglements such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War, which were justified by the need to defend inherent freedoms of foreigners, even though the freedoms of Americas own citizens were not guaranteed for all. Surely, when black soldiers were sent to these places of conflict to help fight for the freedoms of others, freedoms that they themselves did not possess at home, the irony did not go unnoticed. Another example of the Truman Doctrines inconsistencies with American society is found in the witch hunts of Senator Joseph McCarthy.Once again, while Truman spoke of protecting other peoples of the world from political oppression, he did not rotate US. Citizens from those very oppressions. In the Tidings Committee Report, which criticized McCarthy, it is written that: The spectacle (McCarthy) is one we would expect in a totalitarian nation where the rights of the individual are crushed beneath the juggernaut of static and oppression; it has no place in America where government exists to serve people, not to destroy them. S This statement demonstrates the extent of the problem in American society just a few years after Truman gave his speech concerning the superior freedoms present in the American way of life. Although developments in American society contradicted what Truman articulated in his 1 947 doctrine, the ideals he highlighted are, and have always been, ones that Americans like to think are deeply rooted in what it means to be a U. S. Citizen living in the land of the free. At the time Truman gave his speech, the three most important factors influencing his policy formation were the American monopoly on the atomic bomb, the disastrous state of Western Europe due to World War II, and the domino effect. It is debatable whether or not the U. S. Monopoly on the atomic bomb in the late 1 sass really put Americans at an advantage when dealing with the Soviets, however, its effect on the formation of U. S. Foreign policy is not. The creation of the atomic bomb, coupled with the idea that the Soviets could get their hands on this weapon, amplified the consequences of going to war with the Soviet Union.In fact, it alluded to the possible mutual destruction of the U. S. And the U. S. S. R. , as well as the planet, in doomsday scenarios feared by many. The state of Europe at the time was also an important factor because if the LLC . S. Did not take on the communist challenge there would be no one left to defend the free world. Since Western Europe played that same role earlier during both World Wars, it was time for the U. S. To take over, as Western Europe was devastated by WI.