I believe that these two sources are very useful to a historian studying the Marshall Plan, as they clearly demonstrate the distinctive differences between the Soviet response and the American response to the Marshall Plan and the motivation behind it, and therefore help a historian to understand why it was so controversial and caused a lot of tension between the two superpowers. Source A presents the Orthodox view toward the Marshall Plan, from George Marshall the creator himself. This source is very useful to a historian, it tells us that the USA clearly felt that it was necessary for them to launch the Marshall Plan to help Europe recover from the war as this would be beneficial to the USA, after William Clayton returned from a fact-finding …show more content…
This source is very useful to a historian, it explains the Soviet response to the Marshall Plan, and they believed it was a clear example of American economic imperialism. They believed the Americans were trying to undermine the Soviet sphere of influence in Europe by taking over countries and making them dependant on the US dollar so that they could not turn to communism, if they did they would face the risk of having their aid stopped. From my own knowledge, I know that one condition of receiving the aid was that countries would have to share their economic information with the USA. The soviets believed that the Marshall Plan was an attempt to place countries under their economic and political control, as demonstrated by the fact they had to share economic information. The plan was perceived as having ideological reasons and the USA were trying to control countries by making them reliant on the dollar and through fear of this money being taken away if they turned to Communism, undermining and posing a clear threat to Soviet influence in eastern …show more content…
Source A presents the American response to the Marshall Plan, including the motivation for its creation being to revive a working economy in the world to prevent chaos, loss of peace and an unbalanced economy. Source B then presents the Soviet response to the Marshall Plan, suggesting that it was a clear threat to its influence in Eastern Europe and it was an attempt to spread their economic and political control. Clearly the superpowers had totally different responses to the creation of the Marshall Plan, and the sources express these responses from both sides in great
At the end of the Second World War, the European economy was devastated and the continent was in despair, and there was no political or economic stability in the region. Secretary Marshall believed that a politically stable and an economically strong Europe could serve the best interests of the United States. In June of 1947, Marshall revealed his mega plan for his European economic recovery program, also known as the “Marshall Plan”, which would, modernize industry, boost trade and make Europe prosperous continent again. The plan was a big success that laid the framework for a rebuilding of war ruined Europe and the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Marshall was not only dedicated to building a strong defense to safeguard the freedom and security of our nation, but also determined to find peaceful solutions to world conflicts.
Soviet Union and United States wanted to put the halves back together, but had different ideas of how the government should be run, which caused tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States to escalate. The United States thought that the Soviet Union wanted to spread communism to surrounding nations. The United States focused on communism, to start, President Harry S Truman created a foreign policy called the Truman Doctrine to defend the Soviet's political pushes. With the policy established, the United States would contribute any forces or supplies needed to those nations under fire from outside and in-house forces. The plan was set to defend areas anywhere from Asia to Europe.
Truman also prompted the Marshall Plan, which provided significant amounts of U.S. aid to the corrupt economies of Western Europe and also vetoed the Taft-Hartley Labor act. This act helped expand federal control over labor quarrels and allowed the government to force a hiatus if a strike was considered horrendous to national security or well being [3]. Truman also intervened with American troops in the conflict between North Korea and South Korea and also supported the creation of the state of Israel in the Middle East. In short, Truman’s foreign policy created some of the basic principles and commitments that marked American foreign policy for the rest of the 20th century
Secretary of State George Marshall gave a speech explaining a plan for European recovery which known today as The Marshall Plan. It states that if the United States does not do whatever it takes to help restore normal economic health to the world, “there can be no political stability or peace.” (Document
Truman’s Policy of “Containment” was made in March 1947.Truman’s Policy had economic, cultural, and political aspects. The Political aspect of his policy was the Truman Doctrine which said that the United States of America would support free peoples who are resisting subjugation by armed minorities or by outside forces or pressures. The cultural aspect of this doctrine was the freedom and choice government versus totalitarian and no choice government, so pretty much, you never got to choose anything and you were forced to do the things that the Soviet Union wanted you to do. Then lastly the economic aspect of this doctrine was the Marshall Plan which said that it would prevent countries from falling to communists and it would aid the Americans. The Marshall Plan also gave $17 billion to 16 countries(not the soviet union).
Imagine if you lived in a place where you had no freedom, and you were ruled by a man like Joseph Stalin. That is what it would be like in many countries if it weren’t for the United States’ policy of containment. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union wanted to take over other countries and make them have the government system of Communism. The United States didn’t like that, because they thought their governmental system of Democracy was better. As a result, the U.S. adopted a policy of “Containment”.
As document A states “ I therefore make this proposal: We are willing to remove from Cuba the [missiles] which you regard as offensive…” so this shows that they were really afraid that with one wrong move the United States would just blow all those countries, they were going to give the United States what they wanted. This shows that they were willing to give something up because they knew that the United States had the upper hand. So then Soviet Union ended up giving something up making the United States more superior from document A “We in making this pledge, will promise not to invade Turkey…
In document H, George C. Marshall is giving his speech about foreign policy. “Our policy is directed not against any country… but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.” He offered the Marshall Plan to aid in the aftermath of WWII. Now that the United States has become one of the stronger world powers, the effort to keep other nations afloat has become one of the priorities by top officials such as Marshall and Harry Truman. They created this idea of containing communism.
It was Western Europe that was fundamentally important for US national security. The United Kingdom and a number of other European countries have taken active foreign policy steps to intensify US European policy. Europe needed economic assistance and military support. However, such a policy of Europe found understanding within the United States, which resulted in the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The Marshall Plan, according to many researchers, is a practical embodiment of the Truman Doctrine.
The New Deal was a domestic policy implemented by the newly elected Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1933, in response to the Great Depression in America. The main aims of the New Deal were; to give relief towards the unemployed, recover and rebuild the US economy and reform to create a more fair and just society. The New Deal dealt with problems in the US while influencing foreign policy. Being controversial in parts, there was opposition to some of its policies. This essay discusses its impact politically, economically, socially and on foreign policy to see if the New Deal was a turning point in American History.
The Soviet Union began demanding adjustments to its relations and control over Turkey, as well as Iran. Though Stalin backed down at the threat of U.S. Naval forces, his actions led to the containment policy. This policy is used to prevent the spread of communism. Later, in 1947, the United States took over the responsibility of providing economic aid to Turkey and Greece and announced that they would be helping the nations affected by Communism. The Marshall Plan was put into effect later that year and it offered reconstruction aid to much of Europe.
A. Explain the major causes of the Great Depression There were an innumerable of causes to the Great Depression from the Black Tuesday, economic policies and even a drought in America. To kick off the Great Depression the stock market crashed and $40 billion dollars in American assets were lost in the blink of an eye on what is recalled as Black Tuesday. This affected nearly 700 banks that all eventually failed and caused the many other banks that were able to stay afloat to become reluctant to loan any money out. Without new loans, there was no new money to be spent, causing the government to enact economic policies. The Smoot-Hawley Tariff was created in 1930 to enforce heavy taxes on American Trade to help prevent American Companies
The plan itself brought about a lot of change and focus on industrialization. This would help the U.S. protect itself from the invasion of the USSR and communist ideas in
According to author Colonel George C. Woolsey, on March 12, 1947, President Truman issued “a Presidential pronouncement declaring immediate economic and military aid to the governments of Greece, threatened by Communist insurrection, and to Turkey, under pressure from Soviet expansion in the Mediterranean area” (Woolsey 2008). Consequently, Congress allocated $400 million to aid the implementation of this doctrine. The Truman Doctrine pledged to support other countries in their struggle to resist communism. The implementation of the Truman Doctrine not only affected 1940s America, it changed the scope of our national foreign policy. As reported by professor Dennis Merrill at the University of Missouri, “The administration 's concern over communism domino effect, its media-sensitive presentation of the doctrine, and its mobilization of U.S. economic and military power to modernize unstable regions, marked the advent of a modern U.S.
At the end of the second world war there was an argument about who was more responsible for the cold war the Soviet Union or United States. Many people thought that the Soviet Union was responsible because the ruling insecure the nation. The Soviet Union wanted to expand and influence the world wide. " Instead of continuing Roosevelt