How did the USA react to Soviet expansionism?
Truman's policy towards the USSR
Truman was very hard and precautious with Stalin, unlike Roosevelt who got along with him
he stopped the Lend-Lease aid to USSR on 11 May 1945
US shared the atomic bomb development with Britain, they had kept it from the USSR, even though they knew already because of spies inside the Manhattan Project which were passing information to scientists working on the Russian version of an atomic bomb
the long telegram
the US Ambassador to the USSR George Kennan was asked what the Soviets were doing, he sent a telegram explaining that the USSR was heavily armed and feared the outside world, it was determined to spread communism so they couldn't be a co-existence between the US and USSR
the novikov telegram
the USSR Ambassador to the US, Nikolai Novikov responded to the long telegram and warned that the US was economically strong after ww2 and wanted world domination, the USSR had to secure a buffer zone in Eastern Europe
effect of telegrams
the USSR would attempt to dominate Eastern Europe and spread communism and the US would commit to a policy of containment
Iron speach
on March 1946 Winston Churchill made a speach in which he said that the allies had spend six years fighting for the freedom from Facism in Europe, only to have half the contient now under Soviet dictatorship
the Truman Doctrine
in March 1947, Truman made a speech at the US Congress in which he promises the USA would help any country taking a stand against communism
countries of concern were Greece and Turkey
Marshall plan
Truman sent General George Marshall in 1947 to see what could be done to stop Europe from falling in communist control
Marshall recomended given Western Europe economies money to recover after ww2 and be less likely to fall into communism
it was offered to all countries but some didn't take it
the soviet response
weren't threatened by the Truman Doctrine but we were concerned about the Marshall Plan since if any European country accepted this their economy would be tied to the US and USSR would have less control
in September 1947 created the Cominform (Communist Information Bureau)
forbade the Eastern Bloc countries in his control to apply to the Marshall Aid
January 1949 created Comecon (Council of Mutual Economic Assistance)
declared the Marshall Plan to be dollar imperialism and claimed the US was using it to gain influene