This essay will try to analyze and understand whether Harry Truman would have been pleased with the ongoing of his doctrine and whether it was a success or failure in the long run. To do so, the case studies of Berlin, Eastern Europe, Korea and the Cuban Missile Crisis will be used to view the different aspects from the period of 1945 to 1962(approximately).
The Truman Doctrine was created by Truman himself in May 1947. This doctrine said that the USA should provide countries under the threat of a Communist invasion with money, expert advice and if necessary military equipment. Truman had accepted that all of Eastern Europe had become Communist but did not accept this would spread any further. His doctrine later became known as the Policy of Containment.At the end Second World War, Berlin was captured by the Russians.
Stalin wanted to cripple Germany but the Allies had the job to reconstruct it economically and socially. Therefore Germany was divided into 4 sectors, an American, a French, a British and a Soviet. The same was done with Berlin which was in the Soviet sector. Berlin was divided because it was seen as an important city for Germany and an 'Oasis' for the eastern world.
Stalin thought that the Allies used their areas as a provocative act where they would show how close they could get to Russia. Stalin consequently decided to set-up a Blockade in Berlin where he cut electricity supply and blocked roads leading towards and out of the Soviet Section.The allies overcame this problem by setting up an air lift where supplies were flown in the three major airports of the allied sectors (airplanes were landing almost every three minutes, day and night). They also used this method to see whether the Soviets would shoot down their planes causing a conflict. Eventually they didn't.
This was a success for containment but to what the evidence shows, it shows how the allies were prepared for any action that the Soviets would have taken.The negative point of this situation was that the Allies were powerless in front of the Soviets. When the Soviets cut the electricity provision to the Western sector, the Allies didn't have the power to do anything. This showed how the Russians could spread their power under the allied nose without allowing them to do anything to stop this.In conclusion, the Berlin problem can be seen as a success for Containment because, as the evidence shows, the allies were capable to cope with any of the problems that the Soviets created to pose problems with the Allied sector of Berlin.
After the Potsdam conference, Stalin took under his 'communist sphere of influence' most of the Eastern European countries such as Czechoslovakia, Poland and Ukraine. This meant that all the countries in this zone became communist and part of the COMINFORM. The USA didn't appreciate this.In Czechoslovakia, all of the anti-communist leaders were expelled from the country and Jan Masaryk, a pro American Czech minister was found dead under his open window. Americans immediately suspected of an assassination by the Soviet government but instead, these affirmed that he had committed suicide.
In reprisal, the Americans passed the Marshall Plan which poured into the country and to other Eastern European countries $17 billion. This was a great success for containment as it helped these countries attempt to stop communism. This worked especially in Greece where the Monarchists were helped to stop the Communist opposition. By February 1950, the Royalists were in total control of Greece.The bad side of these actions were that these governments were always very unstable and many revolutions rose up.
Small scale conflicts rose up in the countries and communists gained even more power.In conclusion to this point we can say that Truman wouldn't have been happy with this because money would have been spent directly from the USA's pockets. This money would have been wasted into countries which became communists; this means that the USA was providing money to the Communists indirectly.During the 1950s, China became communist and the communist influence spread right into Korea. The Northern part of the country was communist whilst the south was anti-communist (capitalist). In September 1950, the North Koreans troops moved south and pushed the South Koreans into a small corner.
The USA didn't approve this move and put forward a resolution for the UN to pass. This resolution condemned the N. Koreans actions. This resolution passed since the USSR wasn't there to use its veto.The positive points about the USA actions in this conflict are clear. The USA managed push the North Koreans back up in October 1950.
The problem was that they had got too close to the Chinese border which meant that the Chinese felt menaced and got involved in the conflict. In January 1951 the Chinese pushed back the UN troops. The conflict ended in July 1953 when the UN settled the borders on the 38th parallel, dividing Korea in half. This was a success for containment because it stopped the 'Domino Effect' (domino theory).
The 'no' argument regarding this conflict is that the USSR became even more irritated with the USA and UN. This was one of the sparks that helped the development of the Cold War.To conclude, the sources suggest that it was a success for containment since the North Koreans were kept in North Korea and Communism didn't spread to the south, blocking the Domino effect.The problem that brought the world closest to a nuclear war was the Cuban Missile Crisis. Cuba brought on to the island approximately 100 nuclear warheads, some long, some short range. The USA saw this as an act of war.
They were scared that the Russians would have used them on the USA to kill 80 million Americans. The USSR on the other hand, said that they were allowed to place Weapons of Mass Destruction since the USA had placed theirs in Turkey, just next to the USSR.The final solution to this conflict was to impose a naval blockade which worked. This contained Communism given that the Russians retreated and allowed the UN to follow the process of dismantlement of the WMDs'.
The USA had managed to keep Communism away from American borders. The opposing argument is that the USA didn't manage to hold back the Soviets in the first place. They allowed them to approach the USA that much with WMDs'.Conclusively, the evidence tells us that this was a success for containment even though it put many Americans in fear. Truman wouldn't have been happy.
He would have taken a much harder course of action.In conclusion to this essay, the four points tell us that Truman would have been happy in the long run with what his fellow Presidents of the United States that governed after him because they did what they could to contain communism from spreading further than in Asia and Eastern Europe.
