The United States envisioned to avoid soviet expansion, but democratic idealism instead. The United States gave military aid to prevent soviet expansion. Each thought that their own language, views, and ideologies were the only valuable and worthy visions. Initially, the United States mistrusted the Soviet Union after World War I for taking Russia out of the war, opposed of a communist driven state, and did not trust the soviets as an ally of Nazi Germany. Soviets distrusted Americans because of the delayed attack on Germany.
As a result of this, President Truman decided the US needed to become involved in this affair. According to author Colonel George C. Woolsey, on March 12, 1947, President Truman issued “a Presidential pronouncement declaring immediate economic and military aid to the governments of Greece, threatened by Communist insurrection, and to Turkey, under pressure from Soviet expansion in the Mediterranean area” (Woolsey 2008). Consequently, Congress allocated $400 million to aid the implementation of this doctrine. The Truman Doctrine pledged to support other countries in their struggle to resist communism. The implementation of the Truman Doctrine not only affected 1940s America, it changed the scope of our national foreign policy.
Onset of the Cold War: Clash of Ideologies The Cold War is an important milestone in the world’s history; for almost 45 years it divided the world into two antipodal camps: the West-bloc headed by the USA and the Soviet-bloc led by the USSR. While its timeframe has been more or less agreed on, its origins are still a disputable matter (cf. Cox 26-27). Naturally, the difficulty in assessment and interpretation of possible factors – political, economic, military and ideological – originates in the extreme complexity of the issue: as an international affair, the Cold War, in this or that sense, influenced the whole world. Taking into account the above-mentioned complexity of the case, this assignment focuses only on one issue: the interdependence
Communism in the Cold War "The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want, they spread and grow in the evil soil of the poverty and strife. They reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died. We must keep that hope alive." as said by Harry S. Truman on march 12, 1947 in The Truman Doctrine. While Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy all had the same same Cold War intention of ending communism, their ways of achieving their goal were different.The Cold War was an angry dispute between the United States and the Soviet Union about whether we should spread or contain communism (Ayres 817).
From 1946 till 1991, a full-blown nuclear war could have occurred on a global level between the two most powerful countries. This 45 year period was known as the Cold War because neither nation, during the duration of the war, fought directly against one another. The Cold War was actually a state of apprehension or anxiety in connection with international affairs between the United States and the USSR (Soviet Union). The United States and the Soviet Union were known as superpowers for the extensive power they held over most of the world. For instance, they had a substantial effect that changed the political culture of the world.
The week’s readings reflect the contrast between Woodrow Wilson and his predecessors, Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. Unlike Roosevelt and Taft, who preferred the “big stick” and the “dollar diplomacy” approaches to build stable democracies around the world, Wilson believed that the interventionist methods previously utilized by the United States did not have a place in his administration (Herring 2008, 378). However, Wilson’s reluctance to intervene in foreign issues and his adherence to moral diplomacy were not much different than the approaches taken by Roosevelt and Taft. Ultimately, the Wilson administration supported more military interventions than Roosevelt and Taft combined (Herring 2008, 388). The Wilson administration’s failed aspirations to avoid foreign entanglements can serve as an important source of study for current politicians wanting and supporting American isolationism.
Essay: To what extent did America cause the Cold War? The Cold War happened to be a period of time, stretching from around 1945-1991, characterized by Soviet-American tension. This tension was based off of a variety of conflicts; most of these conflicts being based off of economic clash and expansionism, along with territorial greed. Although it is argued by post-revisionists that the Cold War was inevitable due to the obvious economic differences and desire for ultimate power, the U.S. was mostly responsible for the Cold War because of its belligerent desire for the world to be without communism, and its overbearing attempts to spread its capitalism and vessels for trade across Europe. The U.S.’s belligerent desire for the world to be
The United States offered financial and military support to countries that were engaged in resisting the takeover by communist forces. The policy also allowed the United States to offer support to the forces that were trying to liberate their countries from the communist rule. Given that the communist movement was led by the Soviet Union, the Truman Doctrine allowed the United States to try and lessen their influence around the world. When the Soviet Union fell and communism largely dissipated in the late 1980s, the policy achieved success eventually (Merrill,
When Congress approved Truman’s request, he was able to send political, military, and economic assistance to Greece and other democratic nations that were under threat from Stalin (history.state.gov). Truman supported helping the Greek government because he believed that if he did not, a Communist victory in Greece would jeopardize the political stability of Turkey’s government and the Middle East would eventually fall to Communism (history.state.gov). Truman also argued that the security of the United States depended on the safety of other nations worldwide. The Truman Doctrine was efficient because Truman was able to stop Communist aggression in Greece, Turkey, and the Middle East. He was also able to prevent the Soviet Union’s
In the post-war period in the US, the Truman Administration has adopted a number of decisions that, in fact, determined the foreign policy course of the country for the entire period of the Cold War. One of the key elements of the new foreign policy became the doctrine of Truman. This doctrine proclaimed the global role of the United States in world affairs and linked world problems to the national security of the United States. Truman proclaimed that US politics should be aimed on the support of the free people in their fight with armed minorities and external pressure. Under the term ‘external pressure’ Truman implied the expansion of USSR.