Date: March 12, 1947
On this day with SHAC: President Harry S. Truman of the United States of America enacted what would become known as the Truman Doctrine, a legal combatant against the resistance of Communism. The Truman Doctrine was a response to a crisis. Behind it lay the Communist/Soviet takeover of many of the countries of Eastern Europe by “salami tactics” – which, Truman alleged, was in breach of Stalin’s promises at the Yalta Conference. To make matters worse, in February 1947, the British government – which had been helping the Greek government resist Communist rebels – announced that it could no longer afford to keep its soldiers in country. It seemed to Truman and his advisers that, if they did nothing, it was only a matter of time before the Communists took over another country.
Truman began by outlining the situation in Greece. “Assistance is imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation,” he told Congress. “Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting and self-respecting democracy.” Without help, Greece would fall to Communism. Nearby Turkey, he added, was in a similar situation. Getting involved in Greece, Truman knew, would go against the belief of many Americans that America should not get involved in European affairs. Therefore, the key part of his speech was designed to explain and justify his change in foreign policy to Congress.
First, he reminded Congress that the US had fought the Second World War and joined the United Nations to protect freedom and democracy (an involvement which, he said, had cost the United States $341 billion). Next, he claimed that the power of Communism was growing, and fast. And so, he told Congress that the nations of the world were faced with a choice. This section of the speech is very famous, in which Truman defined the Cold War as a conflict between good and bad, and as a choice between capitalism and Communism, dictatorship and democracy, and freedom and oppression. With all these ideas and choices outlined, the Truman Doctrine pushed back against the USSR and the Communists of the Cold War.