Cold War Journals - Week One

The Truman Doctrine - 1947

As the Soviet threat to Eastern Europe grew, the United States tried to offset it with
containment. The goal was to prevent the spread of communism and help weak countries resist
the advances. The Truman Doctrine was President Trumans support for countries that rejected
communism. In his speech, Truman state's, policy of the U.S. to support free people...resisting
attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. The result of the Doctrine
was an immediate authorization of over 400 million dollars to aid Turkey and Greece. This also
increased the tension between the two countries and angered people who believed that the US
should stay out of other nations affairs.

Image URL: http://wwwtc.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/media/uploads/films/heroImages/truman_film_landing.jpg

Video Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmQD_W8Pcxg
The Marshall Plan - 1947
In the midst of economic turmoil in Europe in which most of the western side lay in ruins,
George Marshall, the US Secretary of State proposed that the US give aid to the European
countries that were in need. The goal of the assistance program was to provide both food,
machinery and other materials to help rebuild Europe. When Czechoslovakia was seized by the
communists, Congress immediately approved the 12.5 billion dollar program. This both
strengthened US and European ties and helped countries in need rebuild in order to stop the
spread of communism.

Image URL: http://marshallfoundation.org/marshall/wpcontent/uploads/sites/22/2014/06/marshallplanhistory2.jpg

Creation of NATO - 1949
Because the Berlin blockade increased the suspicion of Soviet aggression, NATO was formed.
NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and consisted of 10 western European
nations that joined forces with the US and Canada. The original goal was to prevent any
invasions or attacks because an attack on a NATO member would mean war with all the
members. The result of this was the Soviet Union seeing it as a threat and they formed their
own alliance (Warsaw Pact) with East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania,
Bulgaria, and Albania.

Image URL: http://russia-insider.com/sites/insider/files/field/image/nato.jpg