How did the United States react to Soviet expansionism? Flashcards
What influenced the USA’s reaction?
Iron Curtain Speech Ideologies Appeasement of Hitler Kennan's Long Telegram The USA desired to not go into a depression and therefore it took control of European markets. Communist parties in Greece Soviet pressure in Turkey Chance of communism in Italy and France
What was the Iron Curtain Speech?
The speech was made by Winston Churchill in March 1946, from Fulton Missouri.
The Soviet Union is unpredictable and due to the Iron curtain, they have little idea what is actually going on on the other side. There are many great cities and a greater population that is trapped behind that curtain in an unfair system.
What was Kennan’s Long Telegram?
George Kennan: US diplomat and expert on Soviet Affairs. Based in Riga, Latvia before the Second World War, his Long Telegram” and 1947 article for the journal Foreign Affairs, written anonymously as “Mr.X had a huge impact on Truman’s doctrine of containment.
He views Russia as hostile, and insecure. The reason for the hostility is all rooted in the insecurity of the USSR, from having been invaded many times.
To continue to establish their control they feel like they have to do all that violently. Marxism teaches that any conflicts in society can not be handled peacefully.
Due to this, he believes that the US and the USSR could nearly never have a peaceful settlement and that any attempts to do so are futile.
What happened in Greece and Turkey?
The fact that Britain could not stand their ground against the Soviet Union in Greece and had to retreat, gave him insight into the military capabilities of the Soviet Union and about the capabilities of those geographically closest to them if anything happened. This pretty much led to a Soviet takeover in Turkey. Greece has access to the mediterranean sea, if it is communist then Stalin could put a base in the country.
Yugoslavia and Bulgaria were supporting the communists in Turkey. This would worry the US because it shows the USSR’s influence on these countries and the USA’s fear of communism. Turkey has access to the Black Sea, and the Dardanelles, which is always warm and has space for many battleships.
Stalin demanded military bases in both countries, which shows that he is trying to expand his army and influence.
What was the Truman Doctrine?
The Truman doctrine was a speech given by President Truman in March 1947.
It was about Soviet expansionism and how it needed to be stopped. Any country that had a threat from the armed minority to the free people, the USA would help them.
The US-made an open-ended promise about how they were going to help the people in Eastern Europe and contain communism. This became known as the policy of containment.
The “containment” began when the USA gave 400 million dollars in military aid to Greece.
It was an excuse to set up military bases all over the world. It was a tool for military expansion.
What were the consequences of the Truman Doctrine?
It was a direct attack on communism and with the rising tensions between the two states, it seemed like a direct attack on the USSR. It was a declaration of war in their eyes, and an excuse to increase militarism.
They saw that it wouldn’t be long before the US invaded the Soviet Union.
Stalin set up COMINFORM to link all of the communist parties together in Eastern Europe to those around the world.
It was an excuse to control the countries by military and economic force, due to the expansion of militarism. Everywhere the USA goes, the market for the USA increases, and the US market increases, the interest for American products increases.
Greece defeated the communist uprising and Turkey successfully resisted Soviet pressure, which also seemed like a direct attack on communism.
The US was now also responsible for a commitment to being a major player in international affairs for the foreseeable future.
What was the Marshall Plan?
The Marshall Plan of June 1947 was also as the European Recovery Programme (ERP)
Since Truman believed that communism spread through poverty, he told Congress that Europe needed 17 bill dollars to combat poverty.
“Our policy is directed against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos”
It was also known as the economic method to contain communism but also built American markets in Europe, tying the European markets to the US. The money was given to the countries so that they would buy American goods, so what they needed was provided by the US.
The Plan was mainly directed at the Western European countries but Eastern European countries were welcome to take part.
The US had a very strong influence over these countries. The Soviet Union saw this as a method of controlling the countries in Europe.
How could the Marshall Plan be a cause of the cold war?
The whole point of the Marshall Plan was to strengthen European economies, lifting them out of poverty so that they would not become communist.
This was, as Stalin saw it, a direct attack against communism and showed the West’s intolerance of different ideologies despite the good things that Stalin had done.
Stalin also felt that Truman was trying to take over the European markets, and making them dependent on the USA, this seemed contradictory to him because he was trying to do the same thing but in a different way.
The US was trying to take control of Europe through its markets. The sources make the aid seem like bait to lure the European countries in, from the Soviet perspective. This can be seen by the magnet in the first cartoon labeled “Marshall aid”
In the second cartoon, the life vests look like harnesses to trap the receivers of the aid and give them guns to use against the Soviet Union. Since the US is building bases in all of these countries. This seems like a direct threat to the Soviet Union so they prohibited the Eastern European countries from taking part.
