Containment in the Cold War was significant because it was a major factor of American foreign policy for decades, especially in relation to conflicts, such as: Korean War and Vietnam War. The Cold War lasted from the end of World War II in 1945 until the early 1990s, and was one of the most significant events of the 20th century. At its heart, the Cold War was essentially a ‘face off’ or competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in the years following World War II. This conflict between the two major superpowers led to different foreign policy strategies, including the policy of containment.
CONTAINMENT IN THE COLD WAR – SUMMARY
Containment was a foreign policy strategy used by the United States in the timeframe of the Cold War. More specifically, the United States used the policy of containment against the Soviet Union from the mid-1940s until the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s. As a strategy, containment involved the United States working to prevent the spread or influence of Soviet communism. This is because, during the Cold War, the Soviet Union was following a policy of expansionism in which it attempted to spread its influence to other regions of the world. In the competitive nature of the Cold War, the United States wanted to prevent this from occurring and worked actively to contain Soviet expansionism.
In general, the United States used several different techniques to carry out its policy of containment in the Cold War. First, the United States intervened militarily throughout the Cold War in events such as the Korean War and Vietnam War. Second, the United States offered financial assistance to nations with the goal of preventing the spread of Communism. This is best displayed with the implementation of the Marshall Plan. Third, the United States used espionage and CIA operations to try to influence countries from allowing the spread of communism into their borders.
CONTAINMENT IN THE COLD WAR – HARRY TRUMAN
While the United States used the policy of containment throughout the entirety of the Cold War, it is most often associated with the presidency of Harry S. Truman. Truman became the 33rd President of the United States in April of 1945 following the death of then President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Furthermore, Truman remained as President of the United States until 1953. Truman is a very historically significant President in the history of the United States. First, he oversaw the end of the fighting in World War II and was responsible for the use of two atomic bombs against Japan in August of 1945. Second, Truman was the President of the United States at the start of the Cold War and helped form American foreign policy, including the use of containment. Out of this emerged the ‘Truman Doctrine’, which is the idea that Soviet expansionism should be resisted and contained wherever it occurs.
The Truman Doctrine was followed by the United States throughout the course of the Cold War and was an important reason for America’s involvement in events, such as: the Berlin Blockade, Korean War and the Vietnam War. In general, historians refer to this as ‘containment’ because the Truman Doctrine involved the United States trying to contain Soviet expansionism wherever it emerged.
At the start of the Cold War in the mid-1940s, Truman feared that communism, as an ideology, would spread throughout Europe and the rest of the world. For example, after World War II both Greece and Turkey were facing financial crises. Due to their proximity to Soviet territory and the rise of communism in recent decades it was feared that the two countries might fall into the Soviet sphere of influence and become communist. In a speech in 1947 on the crisis facing both countries, Harry S. Truman stated:
“I believe that it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid, which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes.”
In this passage, Truman is promoting the idea that the United States should financially support the two nations to avoid them turning to communism. This approach by Truman formed the basis of American foreign policy throughout the remainder of the Cold War in the form of containment, which historians refer to as the Truman Doctrine.
Another example of American containment during the Presidency of Harry Truman was the Marshall Plan. Following the events of World War II, Joseph Stalin’s Soviet forces captured and held control over the Eastern European territory that they ‘liberated’. United States President Harry S. Truman, along with others, viewed this as a threat to the democratic world, because it saw the ideology of communism spreading throughout Europe. Truman was concerned that many other nations would ‘fall’ to communism and threaten democracy around the world.
In response, Truman argued that the United States and its allies should actively combat the spread of communism. As such, the United States worked to help rebuild Europe following the destruction of World War II. It was hoped that by rebuilding Europe, the United States could help prevent European countries from turning to communism.
In order to rebuild Europe, the United States implemented the economic policy called the European Recovery Program, although it is commonly known as the Marshall Plan. The plan took effect in April of 1948 and over a course of four years it saw the United States commit $12 billion (approximately $120 billion in today’s currency) dollars to rebuild Western Europe. The plan was named after Secretary of State George Marshall, who supported the economic recovery of Europe in the hopes that it would prevent the spread of communism and restore Western European democracies. At its heart, the Marshall Plan saw countries receive financial support when they adopted free market economic principles and opened their countries to free trade. Thus, it was aimed at containing communism economic policies and preventing the spread of communism into parts of Europe.
CONTAINMENT IN THE COLD WAR – AFTER HARRY TRUMAN
While the American foreign policy of containment is often most attributed to Harry Truman, it was used continually throughout the rest of the Cold War. As stated above, the United States attempted to stop the spread of communism in both Korea and Vietnam. The Korean War and the Vietnam War were pivotal moments in the history of the Cold War, as they are both considered to be examples of a ‘proxy war’. Essentially, a proxy war is a conflict in which the two superpowers fought each other in an indirect fashion, as they did not want to risk a direct war with each other. This is because it was feared that a direct war between the United States and the Soviet Union could result in the use of atomic weaponry. Regardless, the United States intervened in both Korea and Vietnam with the goal of preventing the spread of communism.
In fact, one of the main reasons for American involvement in both the Korean War and the Vietnam War was the Domino Theory. Based on the Truman Doctrine and American containment, the theory held the idea that if Soviet communism was able to spread into a single country, then it had the potential to spread to all of the other surrounding countries. The basic idea was that the American’s needed to prevent the first domino from falling (country turning to communism) in order to prevent the spread of communism. American containment was based on stopping communism any place it spread to, and as such, the domino theory helped explain the perceived need for the United States’ involvement in international issues.
