The Truman Doctrine: The Causes Of The Cold War
In the aftermath of World War II, growing tensions and rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union resulted in the Cold War. Having lasted for much of the second half of the 20th century, this state of economical, political and propaganda-based confront, with a lack of military conflict and open hostility, is considered a turning point in modern history.
The root cause of the conflict was fundamentally the belief in completely opposing ideologies. The confrontation between capitalism and communism led to an international power struggle that left the world on the brink of disaster.
To counter Soviet geopolitical hegemony in the context of the Cold War, Harry S. Truman, President of the United States, developed the Truman Doctrine,
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The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio; fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms.” The proposed measures, applied to Greece and Turkey, aimed at “(…) help[ing] free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes. …show more content…
The American public was not interested in increasing the country’s involvement abroad. However, two weeks before the speech, media coverage of the issue exploded, constantly emphasizing how vital it was to stop Soviet expansion and how only the United States could save Western Civilization. Public opinion on the matter changed radically. The Congress was also fairly easy to persuade, as the speech, passionate and reasonable, presented very clearly the intervention’s importance. The bill stating this historic change, know as Public Law 75, was signed in May 22, 1947.
The Truman Doctrine set the guidelines for the path future foreign policy should follow. It was indeed a turning point, setting the terms of the relationship with the USSR and the world. As Truman himself stated, “This was, I believe, the turning point in America’s foreign policy, which now declared that wherever aggression, direct or indirect, threatened the peace, the security of the US was
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