THE TRUMAN DOCTRINE

Through Truman Doctrine, President Harry S. Truman had an establishment that the
United States would provide economic, military and political assistance to all democratic
nations with threats from internal and external authoritarian forces. The doctrine arose from a
speech delivered by President Truman to a joint session on March 2, 1947, caused by a recent
announcement on March 3 by the British government. The British government was to seize
any economic and military assistance to the Greek government against their fight against
Greek communist party (Finkelman and Lesh). The doctrine was a success as it turned United
States to an active country in international conflict from a passive country by helping
countries with money and military aid. It was a specific measure in helping the Greece in
fighting against Soviet which was backed by Greek communist party.
The Truman administration insisted publicly that the problems were fully domestic
and the Greek government was to resolve them thus containing the conflict within the
national borders. The administration was forced by post war circumstances I developing a
wider definition of strategic interest with traditional geopolitical considerations still vital but
development of third world countries and UN made the power to receive more emphasize
than was before (Frazier). The doctrine served as a warning to the USSR, and after World
War 2, Stalin told Churchill and Roosevelt that free election was to take place in East of

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Europe to the countries liberated from Nazis by Soviets after the war. The American policy
makers highlighted the possibilities of sending troops to Greece after the indication of the
British on withdrawing their soldiers (Chafe).

During that time the U.S. government believed that the Greek communist war was
supported by the Soviet Union, and they were worried that the communist would win the
Greek civil war and the soviets would therefore influence the Greek policy. Joseph Stalin a
Soviet leader deliberately refrained from further support to the relations of Soviet-Yugoslav.
President Truman was influenced by some foreign policies to actively aid the Turkey and the
Greece. Particularly, in 1946, four setbacks reduced chances of achieving a durable post-war
rapprochement with the union; failure to withdraw troops from northern Iran by the Soviet
union in 1946; the Soviet forced the Turkish government to grant them transit and base rights
through the straits of Turkey; THE Soviets rejected the Baruch plan of international control
of weapons and nuclear energy in June 1946; and, the Soviet attempt on pressuring the
Iranian government to grant them oil concessions. The deteriorating relationship of Soviet
Union and its negative meddling of Turkish and Greek affairs gave light and acted as a
catalyst of Truman administration in reorienting the America policy (Finkelman and Lesh).

Truman anti-communisis policies were not all perfect. His diplomacy contained some
crafts with a program ill-conceived on the entire civil federal service with decisions on
prosecuting leaders of American communist party under smith law. Truman associated with
Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and rejected the totalitarianisms of the right as well as the left
advocating democratic politics and civil liberties at home and abroad. The Truman Doctrine
protected American interests in Middle East and Europe while sustaining democracy liberal
in Italy and France. Truman argument was he could not allow Soviet Union in mistreating the
nation and causing negative political and economic effects (Frazier).

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Works cited

Chafe, William H. The Achievement Of American Liberalism. New York: Columbia
University Press, 2003. Print.
Finkelman, Paul, and Bruce A Lesh. Milestone Documents In American History. Dallas, Tex.:
Schlager Group, 2008. Print.
Frazier, Robert. “Kennan, “Universalism,” And The Truman Doctrine”. Journal of Cold War
Studies 11.2 (2009): 3-34. Web.