Containment
Containment of the SovietUnionbecame American policy in thepostwaryears. George Kennan, a top official at the
U.S. embassy in Moscow, defined thenewapproach in the Long Telegram he senttothe State Department in 1946.Heextended his analysis in an articleunderthe signature "X" in theprestigiousjournal Foreign Affairs. PointingtoRussia's traditional sense ofinsecurity,Kennan argued that the SovietUnionwould not soften its stance underanycircumstances. Moscow, he wrote,was"committed fanatically to the beliefthatwith the United States there can be no
demanded, and obtained, a fullSovietwithdrawal from Iran, the northernhalfof which it had occupied during thewar.That summer, the United Statespointedlysupported Turkey against Sovietdemandsfor control of the Turkish straitsbetweenthe Black Sea and the Mediterranean.Inearly 1947, American policycrystallizedwhen Britain told the United States thatitcould no longer afford to supportthegovernment of Greece against astrongCommunistinsurgency.
2. DescribetheU.S.policyofcontainment in your ownwords.
permanentmodus vivendi, that itis desirable and necessary that theinternal harmony of our society bedisrupted." Moscow's pressure to expand itspower had to be stopped through "firm and vigilant containment of Russianexpansive tendencies...."
1. WhodefinedtheU.S.policyof containment?
The first significant applicationofthe containment doctrine came intheMiddle East and eastern Mediterranean.In early 1946, the United States
In a strongly worded speechtoCongress, Truman declared, "I believethat it must be the policy of theUnited
States to support free peoples whoareresisting attempted subjugation byarmedminorities or by outsidepressures."Journalists quickly dubbed thisstatementthe "Truman Doctrine." Thepresidentasked Congress to provide $400millionfor economic and military aid, mostlytoGreece but also to Turkey. Afteranemotional debate that resembled theonebetween interventionists andisolationistsbefore World War II, the moneywasappropriated.
3."I believe that it must be thepolicyof the United States to supportfreepeoples who areresistingattempted subjugation byarmed
With many of the region'snationseconomically and politically unstable,theUnited States feared that localCommunistparties, directed by Moscow,wouldcapitalize on their wartime recordofresistance to the Nazis and cometopower. "The patient is sinking whilethedoctors deliberate," declared SecretaryofState George C. Marshall. Inmid-1947Marshall asked troubledEuropeannations to draw up a program"directednot against any country or doctrinebutagainst hunger, poverty, desperation,andchaos."
4.Whose plan was to directfinancialaid to troubled Europeannations?
minorities or by outsidepressures." This is known as the_____.
a.containmentpolicy
b.DominoTheory
c.TrumanDoctrine
d.Zimmermanntelegram
Critics from the left laterchargedthat to whip up American support forthepolicy of containment, TrumanoverstatedtheSovietthreattotheUnitedStates.Inturn, his statements inspired a waveofhysterical anti-Communismthroughoutthe country. Perhaps so. Others,however,would counter that this argumentignoresthe backlash that likely wouldhaveoccurred if Greece, Turkey, andothercountries had fallen within theSovietorbit with no opposition from theUnitedStates.
Containment also calledforextensive economic aid to assisttherecovery of war-torn Western Europe.
The Soviets participated in thefirstplanning meeting, then departedratherthan share economic data and submittoWestern controls on the expenditureofthe aid. The remaining 16nationshammered out a request that finallycameto $17,000 million for a four‑yearperiod.In early 1948 Congress voted to fundthe"Marshall Plan," which helpedunderwritethe economic resurgence ofWesternEurope. It is generally regarded as oneofthe most successful foreignpolicyinitiatives in U.S.history.
5.Howmuchmoneydidnationspledge to the MarshallPlan?
a. 170,000,000
b. 1,700,000,000
c. 17,000,000,000
d. 170,000,000,000
Postwar Germany was aspecial problem. It had been divided into U.S., Soviet, British, and French zones of occupation, with the former German capital of Berlin (itself divided intofour zones), near the center of the Sovietzone. When the Western powers announced
their intention to create aconsolidatedfederal state from their zones,Stalinresponded. On June 24, 1948,Sovietforces blockaded Berlin, cutting offallroad and rail access from theWest.
6.What four countriescontrolledzones of Germany followingWorldWarII?
American leaders feared thatlosingBerlin would be a prelude tolosingGermany and subsequently all ofEurope.Therefore, in a successfuldemonstrationof Western resolve known as theBerlin
By then, Soviet dominationofEastern Europe, and especially theCzechcoup, had alarmed theWesternEuropeans. The result, initiated bytheEuropeans, was a military alliancetocomplement economic effortsatcontainment. The NorwegianhistorianGeirLundestad has called it "empirebyinvitation." In 1949 the United Statesand11 other countries established theNorthAtlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).Anattack against one was to beconsideredan attack against all, to be metbyappropriate force. NATO was thefirstpeacetime "entangling alliance"withpowers outside the Westernhemispherein Americanhistory.
8. Why was NATO formed in1949?
Airlift, Allied air forces took to thesky, flying supplies into Berlin. U.S., French, and British planes delivered nearly 2,250,000 tons of goods, including food and coal. Stalin lifted the blockadeafter 231 days and 277,264flights.
7. Describe the BerlinAirlift.
9. The acronym NATO stands forwhat?
The next year, the UnitedStatesdefined its defense aims clearly.TheNational Security Council (NSC) –theforum where the President,Cabinetofficers, and other executive branch
12. Do you agree withAmerica’scommitment to assist alliednationsanywhere in the world thatseemedthreatened by Sovietaggression?Why or whynot?
members consider national securityand foreign affairs issues – undertook afull- fledged review of American foreign and defense policy. The resulting document, known as NSC-68 (published as a top secret on April 14, 1950), signaled a new direction in American security policy. Based on the assumption that "the Soviet Union was engaged in a fanatical effort to seize control of all governmentswherever possible," the document committed America to assist allied nationsanywhere in the world that seemed threatened by Soviet aggression. After the start of the Korean War, a reluctant Truman approved the document. The United States proceeded to increase defense spendingdramatically.
10. Name the forum wherethe president and other executive branch members considernational security and foreign affairsissues.
11.What / document / committedAmerica / toassist / nationsthat
seemed / threatened / bySoviet
aggression?