The Importance Of The Truman Doctorine And The Marshall Plan Flashcards
Why was president Truman worried about the influence in the Soviet Union?
❑ The Soviet Union’s Red Army still occupied much of Eastern
Europe. They were therefore still seen as a threat to peace.
❑ Truman was worried that the people in Stalin’s satellite
countries would easily accept the ‘Communist’ way of thinking. They were living in poverty and destruction and Communism promised to share wealth from the rich to help the poor. Millions of people in eastern Europe would support the idea of communism with the hope of improving their lives. This would make communism, the Soviet Union and Stalin even stronger. It would also threaten capitalism in the west. Truman wanted a plan to stop this
The Truman doctrine
President Truman came up with a set of
ideas, called a ‘doctrine’, to stop the spread of communism in Europe. These ideas were known as the Truman Doctrine.
❑ It followed the idea of CONTAINMENT – To keep Communism in the Soviet
Union and not letting it spread.
❑ Truman’s idea was to give money and military support to any country in Europe that wanted to fight off the influence of Communism.
The Truman doctrine 1947
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On 12th March 1947 , President Truman announced that he would provide economic help to countries such as Greece and Turkey which were being threatened with Communism by the Soviet Union. He promised them $400 million .
Truman sent American soldiers to Greece and Turkey to prevent them being influenced by Communism.
Truman made a clear statement about the differences between democracy (the ability to vote) and communism, which he believed was a dictatorship . He told the world that democracy offered freedom and choice. He then said that Communism forced ideas onto people.
He compared capitalism and communism to ‘ good and evil’ .
America was able to afford the economic aid as it had joined the war late. It had not been destroyed like many other countries in Europe such as Britain and
France.
What was the Marshall plan?
The Marshall Plan was named after the US Secretary of State George Marshall. After Truman had set out the Truman Doctrine , George Marshall set out a plan to give money to countries in Europe that were needing help after the destruction of war. If the populations in each country were better off and happier, they would be less likely to support communism. The Marshall Plan gave economic aid to countries that had been hit by war. For example, Britain, France, West Germany, Belgium, Italy, Austria. The USA gave $12.7 billion dollars between 1948-52.
❑ The British Foreign Secretary called it a ‘ Lifeline to sinking men, giving hope where there was none ’.
❑ Money was also offered to the Eastern European satellite states controlled by Stalin, but Stalin refused the money so these countries did not gain anything from America.
