Truman Foreign Policy Flashcards
What were Truman’s policies to end WW2?
- Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki (August 1945): Justified as a means to end the war quickly and avoid a costly invasion of Japan.
- Japan’s Surrender (2 September 1945): Led to the U.S. occupation of Japan under General Douglas MacArthur.
What was the Truman Doctrine?
- Pledged U.S. support for countries resisting communism (initially aimed at Greece & Turkey).
- Marked the official start of containment policy.
In March 1947 - Truman asked Congress for $400 million in economic assistance for Greece and Turkey
- Truman Doctrine remained in place for the next 40 years
What was the Marshall Plan?
(1948-1952):
- Idea of Sec. of State George Marshall (not given Truman’s name as he believed it would fail in Congress)
- The European Recovery Program (ERP) gave $17 billion in aid to rebuild Western Europe.
- Strengthened alliances and prevented the spread of communism.
What was the Berlin Airlift?
(1948-49):
- The US and UK combined their zones, discussing the same with France, therefore Stalin set up a blockade
- East Berliners could see how West Berliners were more affluent
- After Stalin blockaded West Berlin, the U.S. and its allies supplied the city via air for nearly a year (324 days, 275,000 flights, 1.5 million supplies)
- NATO was created, in April 1949
- Blockade lifted, 12th May 1949
- Demonstrated U.S. commitment to resisting Soviet expansion.
When was the creation of NATO, and what was it?
(1949):
First peacetime military alliance for the U.S.; committed to collective security against the USSR.
When was the Korean War?
1950-53
What were Truman’s foreign policy abilities?
- Strongly anti-communist and much less willing to work with Stalin than Roosevelt has been
- Lacked experience in foreign policy and his blunt-talking Southern style could cause issues
Who was Truman’s key advisor and what did he believe?
- Secretary of State Dean Acheson
- Believed in the Truman Doctrine and the ‘domino theory’
- Part of the group that proposed NSC-68
What was NSC-68?
Proposed shifting defence spending from $13 billion to $50 billion following the USSR testing a nuclear weapon in 1949
What was the ‘Iron Curtain’?
Truman believed the Iron Curtain in Europe: coined by Churchill, the imaginary line dividing Europe between Soviet influence and Western influence
What was the Yalta Conference?
(4-11 February 1945, Roosevelt)
- Roosevelt met with Stalin and Churchill in Yalta
- Roosevelt and Stalin worked together while Churchill and Stalin had poor relations
- They agreed to split Germany into 4 zones (US, British, French and Russian)
- Free elections allowed in liberated countries in Eastern Europe, notably Poland
- USSR invited to join the UN
- Nazi war criminals would be tried after the war
- USSR to join war with Japan after Germany was defeated
What was the Potsdam Conference?
(17th July - 2nd August, Truman)
- Truman lacked Roosevelt’s charm, was less willing to work with Stalin
- More tension and less agreed at this conference
- Truman did not discuss the plan to drop the atomic bombs on Japan with Stalin (Hiroshima happened 4 days after the conference)
- Confirmation of: ‘zones of occupation’; Nazi war criminals to be put on trial; free elections of Poland
- Nazi Party and State (in Germany) to be eliminated
- USSR, US and UK could take reparations from their ‘zone of occupation’
What important Post-war peacemaking events were there?
- Sept 1945: Council of Foreign Ministers from USA, USSR, UK, China and France met in London. Aim to draft a peace treaty- not achieved
- Dec 1945: Foreign ministers of Big 3 met in Moscow, disagreement over Iran
- Feb 1946: Stalin’s speech suggested the inevitability of a Communism vs Capitalism war
- Mar 1946: Churchill- ‘Iron Curtain has descended in Europe’
- Jun 1946: Council of Foreign Ministers met in Paris. Peace treaties for many European countries but not Germany
How was ‘containment’ applied in Japan?
- 9th August 1945; the second atomic bomb dropped by the USA
- 14th August; Emperor Hirohito surrendered
- 2nd Sept; surrender accepted
- 350,000 US troops occupied Japan led by MacArthur
- American spending boosted the Japanese economy
Why was Japan of importance?
- Following the communist revolution in China (1949)
- Then Korean War in 1950
What did the US do in China?
1946- peace between the nationalist (Chiang Kai-shek) and communist (Mao Zedong) collapsed and China had a civil war. America supported Chiang Kai-shek with $2 billion
1949- Mao and his Communist forces wom, Chiang fled to Taiwan. From there his government represented China at the UN until 1971
Was China a success or failure for Truman?
- Truman seemed to have failed based on his doctrine
- Republicans spoke of the ‘loss of China’
- Fear grew of a ‘domino effect’ in Asia
What happened in Indo-China?
- Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were French colonies
- In 1930 Ho Chi Minh set up the Indo-Chinese Communist Party and fought against French occupation
- During WW2, Japan invaded and occupied Indo-China
- Ho Chi Minh expected support for his demand for independence after the war (after all the US had pledged support for self-determination)
- The US backed the French, covering 3/4 of their costs, seeing Vietnam as crucial to the Cold War and preventing the ‘domino effect’.
What were the events of the Korean War?
- Korea was divided between the countries that liberated it from the Japanese: the USSR from the North and the US from the South
- The 38th parallel was the notional border. The UN tried to reunite the country but the USSR resisted this
- In the South the US organised elections and Syngman Rhee wom
- In the North Kim Ill Sung was placed in power by the USSR. He wanted sovereignty over the whole of Korea
- US troops had left the South a 100,00 strong NK army invaded
- The US led a UN invention commanded by MacArthur. His attack was successful pushing deep into NK. China responded, backing NK as the UN forces approached their border
What was the aftermath of the Korean War?
- Truman aimed to unite Korea and ‘roll back’ Communism. However North Korean and Chinese forces pushed back the US-led troops
- MacArthur (who wanted to attack China) fell out with Truman over the running of the war
- MacArthur called for the use of the atomic bomb and openly complained about Truman’s approach. Truman sacked him.
- Truman’s approach ratings fell to 22% and he decided not to contest the 1952 election
- By 1953 the border was again roughly on the 38th parallel. 138,000 American men were dead or injured
