LAD#36: Truman Doctrine

Summary: After the fall of the Axis powers in 1945, a new enemy would dominate U.S. foreign policy. Having recently fought a war on the side of the U.S.S.R., direct confrontation was unlikely, but a new war had begun. Containment was king in this Cold War, a doctrine initiated by Harry S. Truman.
Greece would be the first target of this new doctrine. The impoverished Greeks had been ravaged by war, with an idle U.N. unable to do anything against the threat of Russia in Northern Greece.
 Greece, as Truman stated, was in desperate need of U.S. resources in order to oust communism and rebuild their country.
Turkey was another nation that required aid in order to modernize and democratize. The U.S. was quick to give Turkey such aid. 750 million dollars were sent to Greece and Turkey after the Second World War by the U.S. The doctrine helped the United States affirm what it saw itself as; a promoter of peace and liberty. Granting fledgling nations the resources they needed became a precedent in years to come, as well as the suppression of communism throughout the world.