Containment Policy

The "containment policy" was the United States’ new strategy for preventing the spread of Communism after World War II. The basic concept was to ensure other countries were not enticed in the ideology of Communism. I have identified the three primary people and three events I believe were central to the concept of the containment policy. The three people were Harry Truman, George Marshall and George Kennan and the four events were the “long telegram”, the Truman “doctrine”, and the Marshall Plan, and the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

George Kennan worked for the Department of State as a charge d’affaires in Moscow and was very knowledgeable of the Soviet Union. It was his now famous “long telegram” that is credited with setting the foundation for the concept containment and Truman Doctrine. Kennan believed the Soviet Union would continuously try to expand communism to other weaker countries. Kennan specifically said in the telegram he thought the Soviets approach would be to “weaken power and influence of Western Powers on colonial backward, or dependent peoples.” Kennan continued to write the Soviet Union was “impervious to logic of reason,” it was “highly sensitive to logic of force.” Therefore, it would back down “when strong resistance is encountered at any point.” The United States and its allies, he concluded, would have to offer that resistance.

Truman's "doctrine" was a term derived from a speech President Truman gave to congress on March 12, 1947. The Truman Doctrine was almost immediately implemented when President Truman asked Congress for $400 million in military and economic aid for Greece and Turkey in March 1947. The first test of the new policy was deemed a success when the Communists were defeated in the Greek Civil War in October 1949; and the foreign aid helped strengthen the Turkish economy. Furthermore, the Truman Doctrine set the foundation for the creation of the Marshall Plan and the creation of...