Доктрина Трумена, etc

Stalin wanted to establish a buffer zone of pro-Soviet states in Eastern Europe in order to prevent the recurrence of invasions such as those undertaken by Germany during the war. More over, at the conclusion of World War II, Stalin demanded partial control of the Dardanelles, a strategic passage between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

It was Mr. Churchill who in his famous speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri on March, 5, 1946, observed about an iron curtain that had “descended across the Continent”.

President Truman took a strong stance against the Soviet territorial advances, advocating a policy of containment (политика сдерживания). Under this policy, the USA wouldn’t attempt to change the post-World War II situation in Europe. But it’d work to prevent further Soviet expansion through peaceful & military means.

In 1946-47, the United States and the Soviet Union moved from being wartime allies to Cold War adversaries. During that time, Soviet imperialism in Eastern Europe, its delayed withdrawal from Iran, and the breakdown of Allied cooperation in Germany provide the backdrop of escalating tensions for the Truman Doctrine.

One of the manifestations of the Cold War was the nuclear arms race.

In 1946, Harry Truman proposed a plan to the United Nations to require the USSR to cease construction on any atomic weaponry saying that only then would the US destroy its growing arsenal.

The Soviets rejected this plan & both sides rushed to develop weapons of mass destruction. Сахаров – водородная бомба.

The nuclear arms race, thereby, can be regarded as the first step of the US containment policy against the USSR.

In 1947 Britain, weakened by its failing economy, had to withdraw its support from Greece, where the communists-inspired Civil War was raging, & from Turkey. Greece & Turkey were left to mercy of USA: in February 1947, Britain formally requested the United States take over its role in supporting the Greek government.

In February 1946, Kennan, an American diplomat in Moscow, sent his famed "Long Telegram", which predicted the Soviets would only respond to force and that the best way to handle them would be through a long-term strategy of containment that is stopping their geographical expansion. President Truman used Kennan's Containment policy as the basis for what became known as the Truman Doctrine: aid would be given to both Greece and Turkey, to help cool the long-standing rivalry between them.

The Truman Doctrine was an international relations policy set forth by the U.S. President Harry Truman in his speech on March 12, 1947, which stated that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent them from falling into the Soviet sphere. President Harry Truman told Congress the Doctrine was "to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures as totalitarian regimes represent a threat to international peace and the national security of the United States”.

President Truman made the proclamation in an address to the U.S. Congress amid the crisis of the Greek Civil War (1946–1949). Truman insisted that if Greece and Turkey did not receive the aid that they needed, they would inevitably fall to Communism with consequences throughout the region. Because Turkey and Greece were historic rivals, it was necessary to help both equally, even though the threat to Greece was more immediate.

American policy makers recognized the instability of the region, fearing that if Greece was lost to Communism, Turkey would not last long. Similarly, if Turkey yielded to Soviet demands, the position of Greece would be endangered. That is, it was a regional domino effect threat that guided the American decision.

Thus, the policy won the support of Republicans who controlled Congress and involved sending $400 million in American money, but no military forces, to the region. The effect was to end the Communist threat, and in 1952 both countries (Greece and Turkey) joined NATO, a military alliance that guaranteed their protection.

The Doctrine was informally extended to become the basis of American Cold War policy throughout Europe and around the world. It shifted American foreign policy toward the Soviet Union from détente (a relaxation of tension) to a policy of containment of Soviet expansion. In 1950, Truman signed the top-secret policy plan NSC-68. The contained much harsher anti-Communist rhetoric. NSC-68 explicitly stated that the Communists planned for world domination.

The Truman Doctrine was the first in a series of containment moves by the United States, followed by economic restoration of Western Europe through the Marshall Plan and military containment by the creation of NATO in 1949.

Marshall Plan (подробненько):

The Need. Europe was devastated by years of conflict during World War II. Millions of people had been killed or wounded. Industrial and residential centres in England, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Belgium and elsewhere lay in ruins. Much of Europe was on the brink of hunger as agricultural production had been disrupted by war. Transportation infrastructure was in shambles. The only major power in the world that was not significantly damaged was the United States. Aid to Europe. From 1945 through 1947, the United States was already assisting European economic recovery with direct financial aid. Military assistance to Greece and Turkey was being given. The newly formed United Nations was providing humanitarian assistance. In January 1947, U. S. President Harry Truman appointed George Marshall to be Secretary of State. In just a few months, State Department leadership under Marshall with expertise provided by George Kennan, William Clayton and others crafted the Marshall Plan concept, which George Marshall shared with the world in a speech on June 5, 1947 at Harvard. Officially known as the European Recovery Program (ERP), the Marshall Plan was intended to rebuild the economies and spirits of western Europe, primarily. Marshall was convinced the key to restoration of political stability lay in the revitalization of national economies. Further he saw political stability in Western Europe as a key to blunting the advances of communism in that region. The European Recovery Program. 16 nations, including Germany, became part of the program and shaped the assistance they required, state by state, with administrative and technical assistance provided through the Economic Cooperation Administration (ECA) of the United States. European nations received nearly $13 billion in aid, which initially resulted in shipments of food, fuel and machinery from the United States and later resulted in investment in industrial capacity in Europe. Marshall Plan funding ended in 1951. Results. Marshall Plan nations were assisted greatly in their economic recovery. From 1948 through 1952 European economies grew at an unprecedented rate. Trade relations led to the formation of the North Atlantic alliance. Economic prosperity led by coal and steel industries helped to shape what we know now as the European Union.

20. Highlight the main developments of the Cold War in the 1950-1960s: the Korean & Vietnam wars, the Caribbean crisis.

Чуть-чуть о Холодной Войне: During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union fought together as allies against the Axis powers. However, the relationship between the two nations was a tense one. Americans had long been suspicious about Soviet communism and concerned about Russian leader Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical rule of his own country. For their part, the Soviets resented the Americans’ decades-long refusal to treat the USSR as a legitimate part of the international community as well as their delayed entry into World War II, which resulted in the deaths of tens of millions of Russians. This led to an overwhelming sense of mutual distrust and enmity. Postwar Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe fueled many Americans’ fears of a Russian plan to control the world. Meanwhile, the USSR perceived American approach to international relations as interventionist. In such a hostile atmosphere, no single party was entirely to blame for the Cold War; in fact, some historians believe it was inevitable.

The Korean War began On June 25, 1950, when some 75,000 soldiers from the North Korean People’s Army crossed the 38th parallel - the boundary between the Soviet-backed Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the north and the pro-Western Republic of Korea to the south. This invasion was the first military action of the Cold War. By July, American troops had entered the war on South Korea’s behalf.