U.S. President Harry Truman became extremely concerned over what he saw as the unending spread of communism throughout Europe during the late 1940s. To counter this, he committed to a policy of ‘containment’. What was this, and how did it affect East-West relations?
Key Words:
Policy = A set of actions a government wants to take in order to deal with something.
Containment = The idea of containing something in a certain area.
Following the collapse of Nazi Germany in May 1945, the USSR brought Eastern European countries under its control by ensuring governments that were sympathetic to communism and Stalin were put into power. These countries became known as the ‘satellite states‘. Although the USA and Britain had agreed that this area could be a Soviet sphere of influence at the Tehran Conference, they were deeply concerned at what they considered to be the ruthless spread of communism throughout Europe by the USSR.
To make matters worse, it became increasingly likely that Greece would fall under Soviet influence in 1946. This was unacceptable to the West as it was agreed at the Yalta Conference that Britain would have influence over this country. A civil war between the Greek government and Greek communists was tearing the country apart. Although Britain had 40,000 soldiers stationed in the country and gave money to the Greek government to strengthen them, it looked increasingly likely that the communist rebels would prevail. The situation then became far worse when, in 1947, Britain told the USA that it could no longer afford to support the Greek government in its fight against communist rebels. From here, Truman knew that it was up to the USA to defend capitalism in Europe.
In March 1947, Truman announced his support for the Greek government in a speech, and announced that $400 million would be given to Greece and Turkey to help protect them from communist uprisings. This was the first time the USA had gotten involved in the affairs of Europe, and therefore posed a major turning point in US foreign policy. In his speech, Truman argued that the world was becoming divided into two camps – the capitalist, free camp, and the communist camp, which was not free. Truman explained that the USA would use its economic and military power to stop more countries falling into the communist camp. This commitment to the containment of communism is what is known as the Truman Doctrine. It would last for the remainder of the Cold War.
The Marshall Plan
Truman understood that the best way to defend capitalism from communist threats was to strengthen capitalist governments in Europe. One of the core ways in which this happened was through providing economic aid to European capitalist countries. This was because many of these countries (such as Britain, France and West Germany) were suffering with unemployment, poverty and hardship following WWII.
Following the Truman Doctrine, Truman’s Secretary of State, George Marshall, announced his Marshall Plan in June 1947. This Plan saw the US give $17 billion dollars to Western European countries between 1948-53 to help them rebuild after the War. The aid was given in the form of cash, machinery, food and technology. In return, the countries that supported the aid agreed to purchase US goods and allow US companies to invest in their countries.
Source A: Total funds received from the Marshall Plan in Europe
UK – $3.2 billion
France – $2.7 billion
Italy – $1.5 billion
West Germany – $1.4 billion
Netherlands – $1 billion
Greece – $694 million
Austria – $677 million
Belgium/Luxembourg – $556 million
Denmark – $271 million
Yugoslavia – $109 million
Portugal – $50 million
The consequences of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan
Western Europe recovered quickly after WWII
Due to the high and rapid amount of aid that was given to Western Europe by the USA, Western European countries recovered quickly after the War. Unemployment fell and the standard of living improved quickly. This reduced the threat of any communist uprisings in Europe. No Western European country fell to communism following the economic aid.
The divide between East and West Europe grew
As Western countries improved dramatically with US aid, Eastern European countries were barred from this aid. Initially, Poland and Czechoslovakia were due to receive aid from the USA under the Marshall Plan, but this was overturned by Stalin as he did not trust Truman’s intentions.
Stalin believed the USA was building its own empire in Europe
Stalin believed that the USA were trying to become even more powerful by creating an American ’empire’ in Europe by giving countries ‘free money’. Stalin called this ‘dollar imperialism’. He thought that this would mean that more US soldiers would be stationed in Europe, putting the USSR at an even greater threat.
Exam-style questions based on this content
Explain two consequences of the Marshall Plan [8 marks]
Explain the importance of the Marshall Plan in the development of the Cold War [8 marks]
Mr Lupton History 