Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine
In February of 1947, Britain informed the United States that it could no longer provide
financial aid to Greece and Turkey. The U S had been monitoring Greece economically and their
political problems, paying close attention to the rise of the Communist-led insurgency known as
the National Liberation Front, or the ( Trumanlibrary2011). They were also monitoring events taking
in Turkey. Turkey 's government was week and they were being pressured by the Soviets to share
control of the Dardanelle Straits” ( Trumanlibrary2011).
Secretary of State Dean Acheson expressed to Congress and state department officials the
domino theory. Acheson made it known that more was at stake than just Greece and Turkey, and that if
those key states should fall, Communism would likely spread south to Iran and as far east as India
( Trumanlibrary2011). In March, of 1947, President Truman asked a joint session of
Congress for an excessive amount of funds for military and economic assistance for Greece and Turkey
and established the Truman Doctrine, that would guide U.S. diplomacy for the next 40 years
(Trumanlibrary2011).
President Truman declared, "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" ( Trumanlibrary2011).
Aide to Greece and Turkey by Congress indicated the beginning of cold war foreign policy. That later
was referred to as containment.
He also took measures to contain Soviet influence in Europe, including the Marshall Plan and NATO .
Containment required detailed information about Communist activity, and the government
increasingly relied on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As an extra measure of security he also
approved a statement of containment policy called NSC 20/4 in November 1948, the first statement of
security policy ever created by the United States ( Bowen, 2011).
In February of 1947, Britain informed the United States that it could no longer provide
financial aid to Greece and Turkey. The U S had been monitoring Greece economically and their
political problems, paying close attention to the rise of the Communist-led insurgency known as
the National Liberation Front, or the ( Trumanlibrary2011). They were also monitoring events taking
in Turkey. Turkey 's government was week and they were being pressured by the Soviets to share
control of the Dardanelle Straits” ( Trumanlibrary2011).
Secretary of State Dean Acheson expressed to Congress and state department officials the
domino theory. Acheson made it known that more was at stake than just Greece and Turkey, and that if
those key states should fall, Communism would likely spread south to Iran and as far east as India
( Trumanlibrary2011). In March, of 1947, President Truman asked a joint session of
Congress for an excessive amount of funds for military and economic assistance for Greece and Turkey
and established the Truman Doctrine, that would guide U.S. diplomacy for the next 40 years
(Trumanlibrary2011).
President Truman declared, "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" ( Trumanlibrary2011).
Aide to Greece and Turkey by Congress indicated the beginning of cold war foreign policy. That later
was referred to as containment.
He also took measures to contain Soviet influence in Europe, including the Marshall Plan and NATO .
Containment required detailed information about Communist activity, and the government
increasingly relied on the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As an extra measure of security he also
approved a statement of containment policy called NSC 20/4 in November 1948, the first statement of
security policy ever created by the United States ( Bowen, 2011).
References: HYPERLINK "http://www.foreignaffairs.com/"http://www.foreignaffairs.com, John Lewis Gaddis, 1974 (Gaddis, 1974) Mary Baldwin College, Prof. Gordon L. Bowen, Ph.D. , Foundations of U.S. Cold War Policies:The Truman Doctrine ( Bowen, 2011) HYPERLINK "http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/doctrine/large/index.php"http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/doctrine/large/index.php ( Trumanlibrary2011) Intervention and Revolution ,The United States in the Third World., Richard J. Barnet, 1968 (Barnet, 1968 ) springtimeofnations.blogspot.com/2012/04/armenian-genocide-debate-turkey-na...