The USA’s Policy of Containment, 1947–49 (WJEC Eduqas GCSE History): Revision Note

Summary

The defeat of Nazi Germany saw the wartime allies of the USA and the USSR become enemies almost immediately. All of the countries that had been liberated from the Nazis by the Soviet Union remained under Soviet control. Fearful of communism spreading throughout the world and making its superpower rival even more powerful, the USA decided to step in to prevent any more communist takeovers. This policy became known as the Truman Doctrine and was named after the US President, Harry S. Truman. A key part of the Truman Doctrine was the Marshall Plan, which saw billions of dollars given to European countries in danger of falling to communist takeovers.

Why did the USA and USSR become rivals after 1945?

• The USA and the USSR had fought alongside each other to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan during the Second World War

  • However, without common enemies, they very soon became rivals

  • After the war, the two countries became known as the superpowers

  • They had very different beliefs and were organised in completely different ways

• The USA is a capitalist country

  • Capitalism is an ideology where everyone is free to own property and businesses to make money

  • By 1941, the main capitalist countries were the USA and Britain

• The USSR was a communist country

  • Communism is an ideology where all property is owned by the state to ensure that everyone has a fair share

  • By 1941, the main communist country was the Soviet Union

• Many Americans had a great fear of communism and were concerned about what the USSR would do after the Second World War ended

• In 1945, the USA dropped two atomic bombs on Japan

  • Josef Stalin, the leader of the USSR, believed atomic bombs would soon be used to threaten the Soviet Union

    • Stalin set about trying to get an atomic bomb as soon as possible

    • He also took control of much of Eastern Europe

Why did Stalin want control of Eastern Europe?

• The Soviet Red Army had liberated many countries in Eastern Europe from Nazi control at the end of the Second World War

  • Stalin wanted to keep control of these countries to act as a ‘buffer zone’ between the East and West

    • These countries were called satellite states because of how they seemed to orbit the Soviet Union

• The US President, Harry S Truman, became more and more concerned as each country fell under Soviet control

Containment of Communism

• There were fears that more countries, such as Türkiye, Greece and Italy, could soon become communist and fall under the influence of the USSR

  • Truman’s policy to stop the spread of communism to any other countries became known as containment

The Truman Doctrine

• Truman believed that poor and struggling countries that were rebuilding after the Second World War were more likely to be attracted to Communism

  • In 1947, he announced that the USA would not return to the isolationist policy it had before the war

  • Instead, it would intervene in any and every country that was in danger of becoming communist

    • This foreign policy became known as the Truman Doctrine

The Marshall Plan 

• Truman realised that the USA would need to help poorer countries with financial aid to prevent them from becoming communist

• After a visit to Europe, General George Marshall told Truman that ‘every’ country in Europe was at risk of turning to Communism because of how poor they were

  • He recommended that the USA provide these countries with economic aid to turn them away from communism

    • The US Congress passed the Marshall Plan after Czechoslovakia became communist in 1948

The Impact of the Marshall Plan

• The Marshall Plan gave away $13 billion to 16 European countries in Western Europe

• American money helped prevent Italy, Greece, Türkiye or any other European countries from turning communist

• However, it increased tensions with the USSR

  • Stalin called the Marshall Plan ‘dollar imperialism’ because of how the USA was trying to expand its ‘empire’ using money

  • The Marshall Plan had divided the West from the East:

    • Satellite states were in support of the Soviet Union

    • Recipients of the Marshall Plan supported the USA