American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Discussion
American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Discussion
Textbook: Sections 28.2, 29.1, 30.3, 31.3
Initial Post Instructions
Pick three (3) of the following American Foreign policies:
Marshall Plan
Berlin Airlift
Containment
Then, address the following for your selections:
Explain how each of your choices was an effective policy to thwart international communist expansion.
Based on your selections, analyze if the United States should have feared international communist subversion during the Cold War era (1945-1991)American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Discussion.
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How Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift, and Containment was an effective policy to thwart international communist expansion.
President Harry Truman viewed the communist ideology as an evil force that was attempting to gradually spread across the globe. According to Ciment (2015), the containment policy was designed to limit communism in regions in areas where it already existed and prevent its further spread. The containment policy was initially tested in Turkey and Greece in 1947. A civil war in Greece pitted government forces against Communist guerrillas, with the Soviet Union threatening to utilize force against Turkey if Moscow were not given joint control of Dardanelles. In response, Congress appropriated 400 million dollars in military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece, which assisted stabilize the two nations. American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Discussion
The Marshall Plan was instituted to offer over 12 billion dollars to help postwar European recovery under the presumption economically and politically weak countries were vulnerable party to election victories of Communist Party. By making the region stable, the US could make it harder for the spread of communism westward. The Marshall plan succeeded in stimulating an economic recovery for Western Europe (Ciment, 2015)American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Discussion.
In 1948, the Soviet Union decided to prevent food and other supplies from getting into the western sector of the city to block the influence of the US in Berlin. In response, Truman ordered the airlift of supplies into the western part of Berlin, an action referred to as the Berlin Airlift. The Berlin airlift thwarted the Soviet Union from taking control of the city. The Soviet Union eventually lifted the Berlin blockade in May 1949 and founded East Germany (Resnick & McGeehan, 2021)American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Discussion.
Analyze if the United States should have feared international communist subversion during the Cold War era (1945-1991)
The United States should not have feared international communist subversion during the Cold War era. In regions of Europe, where political and economic distress created productive territory for expansion of communism, especially in Turkey and Greece, became the focus of policy of containment. Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2002) posits that the US recognized that the spread of communism could be prevented and contained via political means. Instead of using armed warfare, the US held back communism by the policies of assisting economically weak nations. American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Discussion
References
Ciment, J. (2015). Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History. Routledge.
Marshall Cavendish Corporation. (2002). America in the 20th Century. Second Edition. Marshall Cavendish.
Resnick, E. V., & McGeehan, (2021). Regents Exams and Answers: U.S. History and Government Revised Edition. Simon & Schuster. American Foreign Policy During the Cold War Discussion