Harry S. Truman, through what came to be known as the Truman Doctrine or Containment Policy, announced the United States dominant position in ceasing the spread of communism. In his speech to congress on the twelfth of March 1947, Truman specifically called for four hundred million dollars in financial aid to be delivered to Greece and Turkey, both of which he suspected were threatened by a possible communist invasion. Cowie, a well-noted author, considers Truman’s speech to be the trigger for the transition of the Cold War from a temporary state to a permanent quarrel as it directly states America’s aggressive approach towards communist countries.
Congress responded to Truman’s appeal by allocating the required funds along with US troops to administer the reconstruction. In an extract from Truman’s address America’s adoption of the dominant role in the anticommunist conflict is evident.
“The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and want. They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife. They reach full growth when the hope of the people for a better life has died. We must keep that hope alive.”
The Marshal Plan was also established upon similar principles. The American Secretary of State George C. Marshal produced the Marshal Plan, or European Recovery Program in 1947, aspiring towards the rehabilitation of European nations devastated by the war. Highly regarded authors, Theodore Wilson, along with David Painter commonly conclude that the European recovery program was primarily enforced in order to promote American capitalism. Americans believed that a more prosperous Europe would erode the appeal of communist parties ensuring that capitalism would prevail.
The program was instilled upon sixteen Western European nations and while it was offered to the largely communist East the assistance was rashly refused. In total over thirteen billion American dollars were invested in the economic recovery of Europe and the political promotion of American capitalism.
The notorious anticommunist politician Joseph McCarthy played a large role in America’s distraught attack on communism. Preceding 1950 the unknown Wisconsin Senator made his public debut after overtly revealing his possession of a list containing fifty-seven state department employees associated with the communist party. In conjunction with FBI official Edgar J. Hoover, McCarthy was involved in numerous accusations towards citizens assumed to be communicating with or a part of communist parties. Many later made comparisons between McCarthy and the FBI to Hitler and his Gestapo, in relation to his relentless mission to exterminate communism throughout America. Hoover Claimed that,
“Every American communist was and is, potentially an espionage agent for the Soviet Union”
McCarthy’s tactics included treating communists as criminals and according to online historian Ellen Schrecker, this enhanced their public image as threatening to America’s national security.
This witch-hunt and anticommunist hysteria later became known as McCarthyism. Professor Ralph Brown, a Yale School lecturer, conducted a systematic survey of the economic damage bought about by the McCarthy era. He concluded that well over ten thousand people were relieved of their jobs as a result of McCarthy’s crusades. This sum however is noted not to be including those who resigned, failed applicants, and men and women who were ostensibly dismissed. Nonetheless, McCarthy proceeded to successfully ignite a nation wide belligerent anticommunist campaign.
The Cold War dominated international relations in excess of forty years and was indefinitely predominantly characterized by the tension between capitalism and communism. Cowie maintains that it was this atmosphere of mutual accusation and suspicion that fueled the Cold War for such a hostile period in history. America’s anticommunist defense tactics, McCarthyism, the Marshal Plan, and the Truman Doctrine signified their immense fear of left wing philosophies.
Bibliography
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http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthyism.htm
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http://www.writing.upenn.edu/wafiries/50s/schrecker_age.html
- Hammer, J.(1980). ‘History in the Making’.Macmillan Education: London
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/mccarthyism
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Harrison, S.(1987). ‘Conflict in the 20th Century’. Macmillan Education:Hampshire
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