Cold War Ideology and Policies

Cold War Ideology and Policies

In this paper I am going to describe how the Cold War ideology that crystallized after WWII changed wartime alliances that had existed during the war and how American Cold War policies and practices influenced international relations from the late 1940's to the mid 1950's.

During WWII the United States and the Soviet Union were allies. Most of Europe was destroyed or in ruins which left the United States and the Soviet Union as the two reigning superpowers and also mortal enemies. Since the defeat of Germany and Japan that left no superpower in Europe or Asia to stop the Soviet Army. With no superpower in Europe or Asia the United States was afraid of the Soviet Union to start dominating with its communist beliefs. Stalin recognized that with Germany and Japan defeated that the borders on the east and west were secure from invasion which led Stalin to advance the interests of the Soviet State and his own regime.

In 1947 Great Britain announced that it would no longer support the Greece and Turkey governments. Without British aid, the communist movement was going to take over those countries. This is when Harry S. Truman decided that the United States should step up and help out. He went to Congress and asked for $400 million in military and economic aid. This later became known as the Truman Doctrine.

The Truman Doctrine many have helped Greece and Turkey but it also left Western Europe in the "dark". Without any aid from the United States this could let the communists seize power in Germany, Italy, and France. In June 1947 Secretary of State George C. Marshall invited all European nations to request assistance to rebuild their economies. It became know as the Marshall plan.

To protect West Germany and nations from the North Atlantic through the Mediterranean Basin the United States created the NATO alliance.