The “Doctrine Truman ” corresponds to the set of economic, diplomatic and military strategies of global reach.
They were carried out by the government of the United States of America from 1947 onwards. The aim was to prevent the proliferation of communism and ensure the full functioning of capitalism world in the face of the maneuvers of Soviet policy.
To learn more:Communism and Capitalism.
Historical Context
With the end of World War II , in 1945, Europe was completely in ruins.
She urgently needed support to recover from the war, honor her debts and resume consumption.
The United States and the Soviet Union become the hegemonic international nations and the greatest military powers.
They began to draw war-torn nations into their respective spheres of influence.
The following year, in March 1946, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill harshly criticizes the Soviets and their control over Eastern Europe.
He foreshadowed the political rupture to come, as he claimed that the Soviet Union was the next enemy after the Nazis.
In January 1947, diplomat George Frost Kennan (1904-2005) forwards to Truman's Secretary of State, George C. Marshall (1880-1959) the report that supported the doctrine of containment.
Consequently, President Harry S. Truman (1945-1953) presented the “Truman Doctrine” to the US Congress, initially to support Turkey and Greece in civil war and safeguard US interests in those regions.
At the same time, the US canceled the demobilization of its troops and started rearmament, a factor that triggered anarms race between the two powers.
On March 12, 1947, President Truman addressed the National Congress warning of the communist threat and affirming the commitment that the US should make in the fight against the Soviets.
Therefore, financial aid would come between 1947 and 1951, through the Marshall Plan , in a substantial amount (more than 135 Billion dollars corrected to the present day) for the reconstruction of Europe.
On that occasion, Soviet leader Josef Stalin (1879-1953) refused the invitation to join the Plan, further aggravating the split.
It is worth mentioning that the Truman Doctrine aimed to protect world capitalism, while the Marshall Plan sought to strengthen and expand the capitalist system.
Meanwhile, in the US, Senator Joseph Macarthy (1908-1957) undertook a national hunt for communists, in what became known as Mccarthysm (1947 to 1957).
World tension increases when, in 1949, the USSR tests its first atomic bomb, which led to the immediate creation of the US-led capitalist military bloc, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
US military action is very intense under the Truman Doctrine, with military interventions in wars:
- Korean War (1950-1953)
- Vietnam War (1955-1975)
- invasion of Cuba (April 1961)
- Iran War (1980 and 1988)
- Guatemala Civil War (1960 and 1996)
In 1952, the US detonates the first hydrogen bomb to intimidate the USSR. The answer was the creation of an identical weapon in 1955, the same year the Soviets celebrate the Warsaw Pact , the military alliance of the socialist bloc.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the US government encouraged military coups in countries that were at risk of being dominated by socialism.
However, this policy of international intervention begins to lose strength with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German reunification (1989) and with the disintegration of the Soviet bloc in 1991.
To learn more see also the articles:
- World War II
- McCartism
- Warsaw Pact
- Fall of the Berlin Wall
Key Features
The main measure undertaken by the USA, in the light of the Doctrine, was the financial aid to capitalist countries that agreed to US terms for granting loans .
On the other hand, US diplomats carried out their own struggle to win over allies in the ideological war against the Soviet Union.
However, in “dangerous” situations, the US interfered militarily at any point it deemed necessary.
Thus, during the entire period of the Cold War (1947 and 1989), US policy restricted the expansion of socialism, especially in the most fragile capitalist countries and susceptible to the socialist system.
To learn more :
- Cold War
- Socialism
- Cold War Conflicts