By 1946 the Americans started to adopt the policy of ‘containment’. On March 12, 1947, President Truman gave an address to Congress that would later be known as the Truman Doctrine. He called for $400 million to aid to Greece and Turkey in quelling guerrilla uprisings, some of which were communist. More significant than the request itself was the broader aim of Truman's speech. He articulated the concept that would shape the entire Cold War: containment. Truman asserted that the Soviet Union, like Germany before it, sought world domination.
As William Chafe has written of containment policy: “...containment ceased to be a specific and precise response to a particular situation and, instead, became a diffuse, universal rationale for resisting any change in the international status quo...The result was a massive distortion of reality”. The Truman Doctrine divided the world into two kinds of political systems: Free and Oppressive. To not contain the Oppressive would be to invite another Hitler to take power. This was the first major method the USA used to contain Soviet influence.
The Truman Doctrine soon evolved into the Marshal Plan-June 1947. The Marshall Plan provided the second half of the Truman Doctrine. It was the other pea in the containment pod. At a Commencement speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, Secretary of State George C. Marshall called for massive aid to European countries struggling with the economic burden of reconstruction after the war. Marshall's plan directly liked U.S. aid to bolstering a certain “way of life” against the threat of communism. The plan provided 17 billion dollars in aid in a period of 4 years. In return for this the Europeans would increase production and reduce tariffs. The Plan was a big success as aid came in the form of goods, loans up to 1952. US Machinery poured in and helped build European factories to get back to normal. Also, America believed that a prosperous Western Europe would be a buffer zone for USSR expansionism.
In response to the Marshall Plan, The Molotov Plan was initiated by the USSR which also established the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) to help the economic consolidation of socialist countries. Thus the Marshall Plan and the COMECON heralded the “cold war” in international relations between the US and the Soviet Union.
The Eightieth Congress, 1947-1948, enacted the National Security Act. This Act exemplified a particular aspect of the Cold War, and permanently altered the way the U.S. engaged in foreign conflicts. The National Security Act essentially allowed for war-like actions on the part of the U.S. government without declarations of war; it created ways the government could act politically and militarily in secret in other countries. In April 1950 the National Security Council broadened the abilities of covert government with the NSC-68 document. The document called for a four-fold increase in the US defense budget from 13.5-50 billion dollars. The Nuclear Stockpile increased from the 150-759 warheads. NSC-68 argued that Moscow sought to employ the “methods of the Cold War” and the techniques of “infiltration and intimidation” in order both to overthrow Western institutions, and to establish its world domination. NSC-68 committed America to assisting any nation anywhere that seemed threatened by Soviet expansion.
Tensions between these 2 nations only surface as US advisers such as Kennan miss-interpertated USSR’s determination to prevent the scenario of WWII happening again, as an attempt to overthrow Western Capitalism. Americans like Walter Lippmann stated that if the Americans withdrew from Europe, the Russians would do likewise. Thus, America’s methods of containment led to a creation of a Cold War culture.
Ideology was the foreground in the battle against Communism. America preyed on its belief that the Russians cannot be trusted and that they “cannot afford any more compromises, we will have to stand at every point” (Niebuhr). Thus, this resulted in the extensive use of Propaganda and ideology to justify its actions. America began a series of tasks by making use of Propaganda by funding Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty to broadcast throughout Western and Eastern Europe. This was to express and promote democratic values and institutions and free-market economies. Radio broadcasts not only covered news reports with their anti-communist spins but also had short dramatizations that played on American's sentiment. Hence, when conflict arose the USA could justify its motives and actions and portray Soviet security as expansionism.
America also wanted to contain Soviet influence on the home front. The Red Scare deprived communists of their First Amendment rights, permanently destroyed several radical political organizations had impacted American civilians and government. Julius and Ethel Rosenburg had being executed for sending Nuclear Arms agreements to the Soviets during WWII. In February 1950 McCarthy announced that communists had infiltrated the State Department. He gave a list of names within the government that he believed were working for the Soviet Union. Americans became sycophantic and sacked moderate people from influential positions. As La Feber says “The 1960’s generation paid in blood and treasure for the excesses of the early 1950’s”.
America’s military shows how America is prepared to go to extreme methods to ‘Contain Soviet Influence’ (Le Fever). When the Berlin Crisis erupted in 1948, America risked war to protect its ideology. Berlin was divided into four separate occupation zones, though its was a resenting symbol for Stalin as it lied in the middle of East Germany, like an Island of Democracy with in Communism. The USA wanted a prosperous and wealthy Germany as a barrier against Russia, Stalin wanted the to control Berlin as he still feared German invasion. Thus, America negotiated to introduce the Deutschmark in Germany, and as talks broke down, America still went ahead with its plan to introduce the Deutscmark. Stalin was furious at the thought of a re-emergence of a strong Germany and thus, besieged the city and cut it off from receiving supplies. The USA saw it as an opportunity to win the support of West Germany and turn it to an Ally and hence, the Allies begun an airlift for almost a year. In September 1949, Russia accepted defeat and reopened the roads.
The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington on April 4, 1949 by the United States, Canada and Western Europe. Greece and Turkey became its members in February 1952. In order to achieve the objectives of the Treaty, the parties were expected to maintain and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack. The NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) aimed at strengthening the morale of Western Europe, and at halting the Soviet expansion westwards. NATO proved to be effective, as the Communists could not make any territorial gains in Europe or in the Atlantic area, after April 1949. Thus, America begins making alliances to prevent the spread of Soviet influence in Western Europe.
Military might is also shown with the defence of South Korea by the United States. The ‘loss’ of China to Communism upset America’s interest with Asian trade and influence. America became determined not to loose Korea and Japan to Communism. Thus, with the onset of the Korean War in 1950-1953, America allowed Japan to re-arm its forces only for self-defence. America became sycophantic and began using military might to prevent the spread of Soviet influence in Asia.
The Korean War turned into a major confrontation between the two super powers. In June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea. The UN Security Council called for a cease-fire and for the withdrawal of North Korean troops. The US President Truman sent American naval and air forces to give the South Koreans “cover and support”. Though the Korean War had begun between North Korea and South Korea, it turned into a war between North Korea and the US. By the end of 1950, it became a war between the US and Communist China backed by the Soviet Union. The Chinese launched an offensive against the positions under the command of the United Nations. An armistice was signed on July 27, 1953. The cold war hostility continued and led to further tensions. The war led to an increase in arms produce and the development of the Hydrogen Bomb by the USA and USSR. It produced further hostility as alliances were developed like SEATO and in 1955 the Baghdad Pact linked up 5 nations with the USA.
The Korean War had yet again turned the focus back on Germany. This time, at the London Conference of 1954, West Germany was permitted to join NATO. In 1955 it became a member of NATO and the following year East Germny joined the Warsaw Pact. USA armed West Germany with 400 000 soldiers as a barrier against the USSR. Thus, the wars and methods of containing Soviet influence always reverted back on the focus of Germany.
America had used a variety of methods to contain Soviet influence. These methods did not prove successful as each attempt nations from Communism backfired. The Marshall Plan and the defence of South Korea were counter-reacted with the Molotov Plan and the Soviet “Buffer Zone”. Thus, America’s containment policies only hindered the implementation of the true ideas “containment”, which concluded with the strengthening of Soviet influence around Europe and the world.
(1984 words)
Angeles María Tessey - 3° “B”
