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Truman Doctrine: Soviet Union
built 267 days ago
The 12 March 1947 announcement of the Truman Doctrine marked the beginning of a new, aggressive American posture toward the Soviet Union. The administration of President Harry S. Truman abandoned efforts to accommodate the Soviet Union, which had emerged as America's principal rival after World War II. Now the two superpowers engaged in the Cold War. The doctrine called on Congress to approve $400 million in military assistance for Greece, which was fighting communist insurgents, and neighboring Turkey... believed to be threatened by Soviet subversion. The doctrine was formulated after Britain indicated it no longer had the wherewithal to support the royalist Greek government. But during the previous year, the Truman administration had grown increasingly suspicious of Soviet intentions as the nations of Eastern Europe disappeared behind what the former British prime minister Winston Churchill had termed the "iron curtain."
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The Truman Doctrine's critical role in the formulation of the U.S. policies of Soviet containment and European recovery which, built on a national consensus, remained in place until the collapse of the U.S.S.R. and the end of the Cold War;
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In 1901, when Truman graduated from high school, his future was uncertain. College had been ruled out by his family’s financial situation, and appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point was eliminated by his poor eyesight. He began work as a timekeeper for the Santa Fe Railroad at $35 per month, and in his spare time he read histories and encyclopedias. He later moved to Kansas City, where he worked as a mail clerk for the Kansas City Star, then as a clerk for the National Bank of Commerce, and finally as a bookkeeper for the Union National Bank. In 1906 he was called home to help his parents run the large farm of Mrs. Truman’s widowed mother in Grandview, Missouri.
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On 12 March 1947, US President Truman announced what became known as the Truman Doctrine to contain Soviet communism. The trigger was events in Greece, where the government was losing against pro-Soviet partisans. The results were momentous. They included the Marshall plan for rebuilding Western Europe and Nato.
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Doctrine enunciated by U.S. President Harry S Truman in a speech to Congress on March 12, 1947, proclaiming a U.S. commitment to aid noncommunist countries to resist expansion by the Soviet Union. Truman, announcing this plan to contain communism, declared that American policy was "to help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes." He asked Congress for $400 million to defend Greece and Turkey from Soviet aggression. Congress approved the request in May 1947, signaling a departure from the former policy of noninvolvement in European affairs.
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On Dec. 31, 1946, President Truman declared an end to the period of World War II hostilities. Early in 1947 the British said they could not support the Greek government after March 31. Many diplomats feared that the Soviet Union would then spread its power throughout the Middle East. President Truman met the problem by asking Congress for 400 million dollars to aid Greece and Turkey. Congress appropriated the money. This policy of aid, popularly known as the Truman Doctrine, was an American challenge to Soviet ambitions throughout the world.
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