...From 1945-1991, United Sates foreign relations were chiefly guided by containment and its philosophy. Where as strategic action would be taken to stop the spread of communism. Devised by George Keenan and adopted by Harry Truman, containment was created during the Cold War to stop the spread of Soviet influence, and communist rule. Examples of this doctrine are the war in Vietnam, Korea, Iran, and other countries where democracy seeking countries were looking for U.S support over communist governments. Although containment was heavily influenced within the U.S foreign relations principles, there are a few examples where U.S policy was not guided by Cold War thinking. The first example comes from negotiations between the U.S and Russia, called...
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...“The Truman Doctrine” says, “More than 1,000 villages had been burned, 85% of children were tubercular” (Truman). Europe was in bad shape during the Cold War. Ayers, et al. defines the Cold War as an era of tension between the United States and the Soviet Union conflicting mainly communism( Ayers, et al. 8--) President Truman led the United States during the beginning of the Cold War. President Eisenhower took office after Truman which left President Kennedy as the last president to lead during the Cold War. These leaders created many policies and uses of aid during their time in office to stop the spread of communism. While all of the U.S. Cold War Presidents dealt with the containment of communism, Truman emphasized giving economic aid, Eisenhower emphasized more military use, and Kennedy emphasized the idea of Flexible Response. All three presidents main goal was the containment of communism. American Anthem Reconstruction to the President says the containment policy was implemented to stop the spreading of communism. This policy was created by George F. Kennan in the late...
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...Thesis: The U.S had many policies that affected the cold war. A few of these policies were Containment, Truman Doctrine, and the NSC-68. During the Cold War the United States came up with away to isolate or contain the spread of communism and it was known as Containment. According to Quizlet this policy “stated that communism should be kept from spreading, but not attacked at its source. Intended to keep other countries from falling under the control of the USSR.” The policy affected the American foreign policy by causing tension. This policy also affected the cold war by causing relations with the U.S and the Soviet Union to be very untrustworthy and antagonistic. Ultimately this would lead for aid and support when avoiding communist....
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...Was the Korean War a turning point in the Civil War? The Korean War was thus a turning point in the development of the Cold War in that it marked a shift in the focal point in the development of tensions, from Europe to East Asia, with many indirect conflicts being largely confined to Europe. The Korean War was the first time that communism and capitalism were to fight against each other. It was hence a turning point in the development of the Cold War — instead of tensions developing between the two countries directly, the conflicts are now manifested through a proxy, which is Korea. This not only altered the field of rivalry between the two superpowers from Europe to Asia, but also changed the method through which the two powers conflicted. While the Cold War in Europe was "fought" mainly through all means short of direct armed confrontation, the Korean War saw the escalation of the conflict to a "hot war”. The idea of puppet states emphasized that the Korean War conflict was merely the Cold War fought on another front, with USSR and USA in control. It is also evident that the two superpowers were control in Korea. The US manipulated the United Nations (which was a first real test) so as to send a mostly American force into the region to address its strategic goals of preventing a possible domino effect and executing NSC-68. Stalin’s limited aid and lack of restraint against Kim also led to the prolonging of the war, but could also be seen as Stalin being hesitant to become...
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...How did the Cold War develop between 1944-53? 1947 – Truman Doctrine (March) Marshall Plan (June) 1948 – Communist regime established in Czechoslovakia (Feb) Berlin blockade begins (June) US relationship with Europe after WWII: * Truman was under pressure to adopt a more hard-line approach towards communism following Kennan’s Telegram and Churchill’s ‘Iron Curtain’ speech and the threat of communist takeover in Greece. * No suggestion that the US envisaged any long-term military or political entanglement in Europe beyond the time it took to establish political and economic reconstruction there. * Each side regarded the other as a threat to national security and being expansionist and a global strategic threat. * By September 1946 the emergence of the Cold War was seemingly irreversible. Why Truman introduced his Doctrine (first step containment?) * Keep the SU from aiding the Greek communist movement * Protect democracy and freedom in response to Soviet aggression and ideological expansionism in Eastern Europe * Demonise SU and Communism * Threaten and provoke USSR * Truman wanted a Cold War because that would justify the US’s role as a defender of the freedom and function as world power * Develop the US’s global economic power – if the US is protector, other sates would be militarily and economically dependent of the US – close trade relations. Truman emphasised in his doctrine the differences between Capitalism...
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...The Cold War which lasted from 1947-1991 was waged around the policy of containment, the democratic idea to limit communism to the areas already under Soviet control. President Truman of the United States passed the Truman Doctrine whose foundation was in containment. America’s fear of communism was so great they implemented their policy across the globe. Throughout the Cold War, the United States never had physical confrontation with the Soviets, but America fought to end the spread of communism in China, Germany, Cuba, Guatemala, Korea, and Vietnam. The communist ideals of Karl Marx inspired revolutionaries in Russia, such as Vladimir Lenin, and his socialist reforms began to spread across Eastern Europe and Asia in the 1920s. Chinese...
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...Famine, war, and ultimate destruction is the theme for the 1950’s and 60’s. The us after world war 2 became aware of the soviet agenda to spread communism. This lead to a policy of containment. Which was the main reason for the cold war. The cold war unlike any other war was not fought with bullets but with word of mouth and how that can change the ideologies of country. The cold war lasted from 1945 till 1991 making it the longest conflict in us history. During the cold war the us tried to contain communism by providing aid , going to war, and political games of chicken. The us combated communism using airdrops full of critical supplies. In document B it describes how the us supported the democratic east berlin by sending supplies. This was done because of the soviet blockade of supplies to east berlin on June 27,1948, because it was completely surrounded by communist neighbors Airdrops were used to bring supplies such as food and coal this gave east berlin the supplies it needed to fight back communism. This combated communism by making it seem less attractive than a capitalist society....
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...Since the emergence of the United States as a dominant world power after World War Two it has only ever been challenged on a governmental, militarily, and economical basis once. This grand enemy of the United States was known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR or SU for short). For almost fifty years these two great superpowers competed for influence over the resource rich third world, and many a times almost brought the planet to nuclear war. What is rarely addressed as the cause of such conflict however, is the distinct nuclear and pragmatic character of the US and SU competition. It is likewise neglected that both superpowers were functioning not from an ideologically true mind set, but from one of pragmatic world domination....
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...APUSH Cold War Lecture Notes Define Cold War- • An era of distrust, threat of nuclear war. & ideological expansion between the superpowers, USA & USSR. What change occurred with Stalin between the Yalta and Potsdam Conferences? • He agreed to allow self determination in Eastern Europe, He extended his control over eastern Europe to create a buffer zone between USSR and its future enemies. What major decisions were difficult to agree upon at the Potsdam Conference? • Because Britain, France, the USA, & USSR could not agree on German war repararations Germany was divided into occupied zones at the Potsdam Conference. What is the Iron Curtain? • Imaginary boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War 2 Define the US policy of Containment • Strong resistance to the USSR would stop Russian expansion & the spread of communism. The 3 parts to the Containment plan- define each one. Truman Plan • Offered U.S. military and economic assistance to any nation threatened by communism. NATO Plan • Created to provide collective security for Western Europe, the USA, Canada, Greece, & Turkey Marshall Plan • Offered aid to help Europe recover Stalin responded to Containment with the Berlin blockade- what was the Berlin blockade? • USSR responded to Containment by cutting off all traffic to Berlin in East Germany ...
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...Atomic Shield Vs. The Iron Curtain Post-World War II attitude transitioned from relief to immediate paranoia and suspicion. World War II was responsible for roughly 55 million deaths. The most devastating war in modern history led to a great shift in power around the world. Many questions regarding the future of Europe arose. The Cold War was caused by a clash between capitalist and communist ideologies that ultimately led to the United States winning the Cold War. The Cold War was a post-World War II stalemate between the world’s two reigning superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States. The world now saw opposition between the United States’ capitalist visions verses the Soviet Union’s communist visions. Various roots contributed to the start of the Cold War. Even before the end of World War II, suspicions of the Soviets were present. In October 1917, a revolution in Russia led by Lenin Bolshevik and the communists alarmed many Americans. The Communists had seized power and often used violence to achieve their goals. With a Marxist view, they rejected religion and the idea of private property. It was obvious that the Soviet Union wanted to spread communism throughout the world. After World War II, there loomed a danger of appeasement, because of the familiar events that occurred with Hitler and Germany. Hitler made demands that allowed the Nazis to expand further, and many believed that the Soviet Union was more fixed on...
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...After World War II, the American government actively engaged with the communist government of The Soviet Union. Politicians and the public alike could not form a practical foreign policy because they did not fully understand the complexities of Soviet ideas and power. America desperately needed help. George Kennan, on the other hand, was a scholar of Russian history and political thought, a diplomat in Moscow, and a leader in the State Department. His expertise offered insight into the well-known foreign policy of containment. Kennan, through his policy of containment, sought to uphold American national interests amidst the growing threat of the USSR and an ignorant American public. In "The Sources of Soviet Conduct", George Kennan aimed to...
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...Cold War Ideology and Policies Shaunte Johnson HIS/135 May 8, 2011 Tabitha Otieno Cold War Ideology and Policies The Cold War involved controversy between the Communist nations led by the Soviet Union and the democratic nations led by the United States. It is fought by all means- propaganda, economic war, diplomatic haggling and occasional military clashes. (TK Chung) The United States and the Soviet Union had deep-rooted ideological, economic and political differences. The United States and the Soviet Union have very different ways of running their government. In the United States the people are able to voice their opinions on political issues, and the Soviet Union is formed by the Communist party, where the people do not have that right. After the war, the Communist was gaining control of the post-war elections. The Russian influence increased in eastern and central Europe, a lot of the United States politicians were looking forward to the Soviet Union cooperating. President Roosevelt believed that Eastern Europe would keep their promise, and set up freely-elected parliamentary governments. The United States and the Soviet Union relationship continued to deteriorate. The Policy of Containment was written by George Kennan. In this telegraph, Kennan argued that it would be impossible to reach any agreements with the Russian leaders, including Stalin. The idea of containment was to provide the United States with a plan on how to respond to the Soviet’s Union behavior...
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...Americans. When America emerged from the second world war, shining and victorious, enjoying the most prosperous post war period ever, Europe was a country ravaged by war and looking for strong leadership and aid of any sort, providing a climate ripe for revolution. Americans took as truth the notion that the USSR, if they had enough weapons and men, would try to conquer the US or replace them as world leader. Propaganda posters painted communists in an unflattering light, as monsters among men, furthering America’s desire to put down the threat communism had to America. McCarthyism magnified the paranoia felt during this era. The extremely high costs of military expenditure and the military ventures around the globe from Korea, through Indochina to the Grenadines is one negative aspect of the era of containment. These conflicts cost millions of lives and in the two major conflicts of Korea and Vietnam you could argue that the US gained a draw and a loss. The policy of containment kept a cold war from becoming a hot war, in that if war ensued, it would be a frenzied bloodbath as both sides were well armed and passionately believing in their practices, and that nuclear weapons would be involved. War was kept from brewing over the edge, and was put off until Gorbachev came into power. The policy of containment also forced communist countries to spend heavily on defense, which eventually wrecked them economically. The Cold War itself was a massive economic waste, two nations...
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...major loss of 27 million Soviet soldiers, the Soviet Union wanted to prevent any further casualties. Therefore, the Soviet’s policy was the expansion of not only the country itself but also communism. With major disapproval of communism, the US made a policy of containment which prevented the Soviet Union and Soviet communism from spreading. Thus marking the beginning of the Cold War, which will last from 1947-1991....
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...The fall of the Soviet empire has presented various political and economic opportunities and threats to the world, for these reasons it’s considered one of the major events taking place since the Second World War. The Soviet fall besides various internal factors has been facilitated by US and Western counter parts to attempt to contain further Communism. The Truman doctrine was a US strategy to halt expansion of Soviet Union in the course of the Cold War. In this doctrine the then US President Harry S. Truman vowed to contain the spread of communism in the world particularly in Europe. This doctrine encouraged the US to back every country with both economic and military assistance if the Soviet Union or communism threats its stability. The aim of this paper is to review The Truman Doctrine was one of the significant historical approaches deployed between 1945 and 2008 that has had both negative and positive outcomes for the world. Historical Background In order to analyze the Truman doctrine and its different elements, it is necessary to consider the complex historical context in which it originated, and one that explains how a president such as Harry Truman, laid the foundations seated on the principles of the emerging American political realism after the Second World War (Bostdorff, 2008). The creation of international organizations like the UN itself and its Security Council, had brought hope back to the role, they were going to have to condition the behavior of the great...
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