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Background:

After WW II, the US and USSR emerged as rival superpowers.

Each nation was strong enough to greatly influence world events.

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Potsdam ConferenceJuly 1945

Final wartime conference

Big Three England = Attlee USA = Truman USSR = Stalin

Stalin promised to allow free elections in Eastern Europe

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Satellite Nations…

Stalin never allowed truly free elections.

Instead, communist governments were installed in many Eastern European nations.

Main Purpose? Protect USSR from

invasion from the West – Stalin’s “Buffer Zone”

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Containment Policy

George Kennan, career Foreign Service Officer

Formulated the policy of “containment”: US would not get rid of

communism, but would not allow it to spread.

US would “contain” communism where is already existed.

The Soviet Octopus -- Reaching everywhere

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Domino Theory

Idea that if one country fell to soviet aggression and the communist wave, others would fall as well like dominoes.

The United States had to stand against the Red Mennace

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Why might the people choose communism?

Greece suffered under NAZI rule during WWII

High percentage (almost 30%) of Greeks after WWII were in extreme poverty

Many looking for the “great leveling”

Freedom vs. Equality8

1946-1948: Greek Civil War breaks out between government and communists forces

In late 1946, the Greek government appealed to Washington and pleaded for aid from the U.S after Britain backed out. It was agreed upon and the U.S provided aid to both Greece and Turkey.

This was done for political and military reasons. It was considered vital in the balance of the Americans political power in the cold war. If Greece fell to the red army, Turkey would become an untenable outpost in the middle of the communist stronghold.

Truman’s Speech before Congress Ostensibly about the Greek

Crisis Calls on Congress to

commit millions of dollars to Greece and Turkey in foreign aid

Said that without US help, the countries will slip into anarchy, opening up the door for communist rebels to take over in Athens and Ankara

If we fail to take on “our responsibilities” – we “endanger the peace of the world…and the welfare of our own nation”

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Comrade Stalin’s Desires

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The Truman DoctrineTo promote democracy around

the world and fight the spread of oppressive regimes in which a minority controls the majority.

“One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out a way of life free from coercion.”

The Truman DoctrineTo help Greece and Turkey

resist the rebellion of an armed minority.

“Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour, the effect will be far reaching to the West as well as to the East…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 their full growth when the hope of a people for a better life has died.

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North Atlantic Treaty Organization

NATO was established by a treaty in 1949 This organization established a system of collective

defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

Original members were: United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France,

Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Greece (1952), West Germany (1955) join also

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The Warsaw Pact Communist Response to NATO.

Signed on May 1, 1955 in Warsaw, Poland

Military treaty, which bound its signatories to come to the aid of the others, should any one of them be the victim of foreign aggression.

Original Members: Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Poland,

Rumania, the USSR, and the Czechoslovak Republic.

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Change in Leaders The early 1950s saw a

change in leaders in both the US and USSR.

USA = Dwight Eisenhower wins the election of 1952.

USSR = Nikita Khruschev takes over when Stalin dies in 1953.

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Hydrogen Bomb

US exploded the 1st H-bomb on November 1, 1952 in South Pacific. That bomb completely

destroyed one island and left a crater 175 feet deep.

Russians exploded one in August 1953.

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Questions…Why did Truman frame his request in

the context of a wider international conflict?

What American interests were involved in the political fate of Greece and Turkey?

Does the Truman Doctrine still influence

the foreign policy of the United States?