The Truman Doctrine -1947

Seite 1

Between 1945 and 1949, the USA tried to contain (stop) the spread of communism, starting with Europe, but then around the globe. The USA believed that the USSR was determined to expand and that the USA should use any means possible to stop it.

Greece (the first country to get US help against communism):

1945-47 there was a civil war in Greece between Greeks who wanted to turn the country communist and those who didn't

Britain helped the anti-communist Greeks, but by 1947, Britain could no longer afford to continue to keep troops in Greece and so they asked for help from the USA

The USA provided money to keep the British troops in Greece

Turkey:

Stalin demanded partial control of a passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean which belonged to Turkey

Britain had supported Turkey but when this ended, USA sent military aid to ensure Turkey kept control of the passage

Seite 2

In 1947, President Truman outlined the USA's response in what became known as the Truman Doctrine

"I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation (takeover) by armed minorities or by outside pressures" - President Truman 12th March 1947

The policy was designed to stop the spread of communism- it was called containment, meaning the US wouldn't return to isolationism but would play a leading role in the world

This was driven by a belief in the 'Domino Theory'- the USA should prevent one country from falling to communism to stop others from doing the same thing

It was believed that it was America's duty to protect democracies from the threat of communism. It would do this by providing aid, money, advisors or even weapons to any country threatened by communism

USA showed this policy in action when it installed missiles in Turkey- the USSR had no such missiles and therefore saw this action as hostile