Policy of Containment, Domino Theory and the emergence of Peaceful Coexistence

Question 1

policy of containment

Answer 1

break away from America’s traditionally isolationist foreign policy
supported intervening anywhere to stop the spread of communism
included supporting anti-communist regimes, creating anti-communist alliances and intervening in conflicts
e.g. truman doctrine and marshall plan, CIA backing coups in Iran, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic
some times led to the US supporting corrupt dictatorships just to avoid communism

Question 2

domino theory - dwight eisenhower quote

Answer 2

“You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is a certainty that it will go over very quickly” April 7, 1954

Question 3

domino theory

Answer 3

developed in the 1950s in the US
theory that if one country fell to communism, so too would all surrounding countries
became a rationale for the policy of containment

Question 4

peaceful coexistence

Answer 4

after Stalin’s death in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev took over
undertook a policy of ‘destalinisation’ and peaceful coexistence
hoped that communism and capitalism could coexist without spiralling into war
Khrushchev still wanted to compete for influence in newly independent nations
U2 spy incident in 1960 marked the end of peaceful coexistence