During 1946, George Kennan had written the famous Long Telegram. This Telegram was one of the most influential pieces of work that was done during the start of the Cold War. At the begging of it, Kennan had focused on explaining the history of how the Soviet Union’s Marxian ideology came to be. Kennan then informed about the policy containment. This policy gives a way for the United States to keep the Soviet Union at bay. The policy such as George Kennan’s would overall not work. Within George Kennan’s famous Long Telegram, he focuses on explain the history of the “subtle evolution” of Marxian ideology and its effects on the Soviet leaders. In the telegram, Kennan informs, “…yet the attempt must be made if that conduct is to be understood and effectively countered.” In order for the United States to counter the Soviet Union’s communism, a person must understand the basics of how the Soviet Union had gotten to the point that they did. Without fully understanding, the United States would be at a disadvantage with handling the Soviet Union. By adding the information about the “subtle evolution” of Marxian ideology, George Kennan was able to have an effective argument within his telegram. …show more content…
This policy was a way to keep the Soviet Union from spreading communism. Within the telegram, Kennan states, “…they [the Russian leaders] are highly conscious that the loss of temper and of self-control is never a source of strength in political affairs.” In order to prevent the spreading of communism, it is a necessity for the containment policy to be a constant diplomatic approach, so the Soviet Union does not see this policy as an attack. The Soviet Union sees aggression as a weakness; furthermore, they will utilize this weakness against the United States. According to Kennan, containment should be the official policy, as it would prevent a war with the Soviet
During the period of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union entered into a conflicting era of confrontation. It created an environment of hostility, competition and security on both ends. It was a war on propaganda, economic, diplomatic haggling and intermittent military clashes. There was no actual warfare among the nations it was at a competition to see who's government ideology was the "strongest". The United States had many goals but one successful one was to prevent communism from spreading, so they took preventive measures to help prevent communism from spreading a lot more than it had been.
After the Yalta Conference, Winston Churchill stated that, “this is certainly not the liberated Europe we fought to build up. Nor is it one which contains the essentials of permanent peace” (Document A). The US knew that the, “Soviet policy... [would] be directed toward weakening of power and influence and contacts of advanced Western nations” (Document B) and that something had to be done to stop the spread of communism. The US felt that communism could be a threat to the peace of the world and capitalism so they needed to show that they would take any measure to stop the spread of communism. This led to efforts such as the Berlin Airlfit where the US sent supplies to thousands of East Berliners who were suffering to drum up support for the US in a communist state.
Its impact toward the united states economy, on one hand, shows a sign in this policy that has been created to help and not hinder any goal the states was trying to achieve. Although there was some minor problem in how it has negatively affected the united states and its people. The new policies have over all help as well as improve the united states economy in one hand, on the other hand, provided them the protection and safety as well as military weapon for war. This policy overall been successful due to the fact of achieving the goal of president Eisenhower in one hand of containing and preventing communism from spreading. As well as Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles goal in the policy to reduce military cost on the united states economy.
In an effort to stop communism from spreading, the United States and its allies practiced containment. Containment is the act of keeping something harmful under control, this meant that the United States and its allies will get involved if they needed in order to stop communism from spreading. The U.S and its allies managed to help several countries from falling into communism, but they also suffered their hardships and lost many men during a war to protect their allie, South Korea. On February 1946, the United States, State Department received a telegram, the telegram seemed to give of two warnings.
This tug of war between Roosevelt representing an interventionist minority and the isolationists in Congress resulted in little effective headway made in either direction until the United States was once again forced into a world war. In President Harry Truman’s speech, The Truman Doctrine, given on the twelfth of March, 1947 before a Joint Session of Congress, Truman voiced, “I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures.” After World War Two, the United States realized that a lack of involvement and aid for war torn countries allowed communism and totalitarianism to spread. The Soviet Union took control of many Eastern European countries, and this was called the Iron Curtain by Winston Churchill. Unlike in World War One and the beginning of World War Two, Truman had support from more well liked figures such as George F. Kennan and George C. Marshall. Kennan’s idea was based around providing economic and financial aid to struggling countries, and this heavily shaped the plan America would use.
As a former Vice President, Secretary of Agriculture and Secretary of Commerce, Henry A. Wallace, a strong proponent of the New Deal and advocate of a more lenient Soviet Union policy which ultimately became controversial within the Democratic Party. Although Wallace’s criticism of President Harry S. Truman’s resulted in his dismissal, he nevertheless, actively voiced his criticisms during the Cold War. In “The Path to Peace with Russia,” Wallace criticized America’s foreign policy, while asking to judge the Soviet Union interests against those of the United States. Henry believed the United States involvement in the reconstruction of the Soviet Union could have helped the economies of both countries only if the mentality of international affairs could have been shifted. Wallace’s private letter, primarily to influence President Trumans’ thinking was achieved by creating a world where the United States was without their air bases, weapons and the atomic bomb and a Soviet Union who had “[created] a level of armed strength far exceeding anything in their previous history.”
Stopping the spread of Communism through military and nonmilitary ways. The Soviets had expansive tendencies. The Soviets wanted to isolate West Berlin from the West and take them over. From Document A, In these circumstances it is clear that the main element of any United States policy
Many realized that the Soviet Union was a terrible foe to face, as George Kennan, a respected American diplomat, noticed. He said in “The Sources of Soviet Conduct,” “This means
Lippmann criticizes Kennan when he says, “Mr. X offers us the prospect of maintaining such a coalition indefinite until—eventually—the Soviet power breaks up or mellows because it has been frustrated. It is not a good prospect” (224). Lippmann thinks that it is necessary for the US to intervene or else the Soviet Union’s power will spread. However, Lippmann dislikes the idea of waiting for the Soviet power to diminish. Lippmann emphasizes that Kennan’s plan is too hopeful; Kennan’s proposal calls for the US to have tremendous economic power, the strength to restrain the Soviet Union wherever it intruded, and the patience to wait for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Kennan 's 'long telegram ' and ideas on Containment are what is thought to have been a major factor in the transition from alliance to Cold War between the Soviets and the US. Below are outlined some of Kennan 's key points on the sources of Soviet Conduct such as Communist ideology and the potential ways for the US to deal with the Soviets, including the idea of 'containment '. One key point was that it was Kennan 's belief that in order to understand Soviet aims and conduct we must look at the Communist ideologies and beliefs. The Soviets strongly believed that Capitalism was an evil plague that threatened Communist ways of life and needed to be eventually overthrown.
In the so-called cold war era, along with the rise of the Soviet Union and the elevation of intensity between Communism and the Capitalism, the continuity of freedom is in the critical moment. John F. Kennedy wisely combines the technique of juxtaposition as well as specify to illustrate the seriousness of the situation as well as the actions America is going to take to his audiences— American people, Soviet Union’s leaders, and the rest of the world—in his inaugural speech on January 20, 1961. Juxtaposition is a technique that placing of two items side by side to create certain effect, reveal an attitude, or accomplishes some other purpose. By employing the technique of juxtaposition, J.F.K. clearly tells the entire nation that America will “pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, and oppose any foe to ensure the survival and the success of liberty.” This technique is pretty convincing because it underscores the writer’s thought that America will defend freedom from any potential hazard and effectively conveys to his audience that since the principal of America spirit is based on the freedom, so they may agree with J.F.K. that all people should keep the freedom whenever
"But it is hard to imagine how the U.S. government could have prevented a Communist victory short of getting involved in a massive military intervention, which would have been risky, unpopular, and expensive"(Tindall 964). "The discovery of the Soviet bomb in 1949 triggered an intense reappraisal of the strategic balance of power in the world, causing Truman in 1950 to order the construction of a hydrogen bomb, a weapon far more powerful than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, lest the Soviets make one first"(Tindall 964). The onset of the cold war the ideology drove more of the Soviet behavior. "American 's traditional commitment to democtatic capitalism, political self determination, and religious freedom conflicted with the Soviet Union 's preference for spheres of influence on its periphery, totalitarianism at home, and state mandated atheism"(Tindall 970). Kennan stressed that U.S. needed to be responses to the Soviet adventurism.
Kennan released the “Long Telegram,” which not only added fuel to the growing fire of fear, but also convinced the U.S. that an economic response in Europe was necessary. Within the Long Telegram, Kennan outlines some of the post-war Soviet objectives, describing the Soviet Union’s expansionist and aggressive intentions towards the West and the inevitable conflict between both sides. Kennan also emphasized the extreme importance of a strong and persistent resistance against the Soviet Union. He stated that the Soviet Union is “highly sensitive to logic of force. For this reason it can easily withdraw — and usually does when strong resistance is encountered at any point.”
By having this policy in control, the U.S. was determined that it would at least prevent communism from spreading in other parts of Asia since it already started a war in the
Western Europe had been devastated by World War II: shortages of fuel, food and industrial capital goods, a drastic drop in foreign trade and the threat of inflation meant the region was in a fragile economic and political position. In this context, increased political and economic cooperation were deemed necessary in order to reconstruct a Europe ravaged by war – which led to the creation of several international organisations (many of which are still operative today). “The US began to change its policy towards the USSR in 1946–47 as its perception of the USSR’s intentions and reliability as a post-war partner who would adhere to agreements was re-evaluated” (Dedman, 2010). The Marshall Plan (1947) was set in motion by the US in order to prevent