Containment
Mathew Attalla
Thomas Valencia
US History
5 April 2015
The Policy of Containment Containment was a United States policy to prevent the spread of communism abroad. This policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Africa, and Vietnam. Soon after the end of World War II, it became clear that the Soviet Union was going to try to expand its territory. Starting in 1945 it began to force communist governments upon East European nations. In 1946 the Soviet Union also stirred up communist rebellions in Greece and Turkey. President Truman and his advisors developed a policy called "containment" aimed at keeping communists "bottled up." The containment policy was a strategy initiated and executed by the US that aimed at preventing the Soviet Union from spreading communism to non-communist countries. The US provided military support as well as economic and/or technical assistance. At the time, the Soviet Union were influencing many non-communist countries through their power and sheer size so by blocking the USSR, the US was able to prevent the expansion of communism. The containment policy proved to be a success and failure in the cases of Vietnam, Cuba and Korea. At first, America felt at ease with the containment policy seeing how it started to take effect in Europe due to the Marshall Plan which poured money into the European countries so the majority of people did not turn to communism. However, the USA discovered a sudden appearance of communism in Asia, a continent thought to be the last place the soviet union would look to introduce communism. The Korean War is an example of how the containment policy was a success. Once the Japanese invasion of Korea had ended after the second world war, Korea had elected their first president of the Republic of Korea, Syngman Rhee. Up in the North, the North Korean People's Army was officially activated, previously being ruled by Soviet troops. All
Thomas Valencia
US History
5 April 2015
The Policy of Containment Containment was a United States policy to prevent the spread of communism abroad. This policy was a response to a series of moves by the Soviet Union to enlarge communist influence in Eastern Europe, China, Korea, Africa, and Vietnam. Soon after the end of World War II, it became clear that the Soviet Union was going to try to expand its territory. Starting in 1945 it began to force communist governments upon East European nations. In 1946 the Soviet Union also stirred up communist rebellions in Greece and Turkey. President Truman and his advisors developed a policy called "containment" aimed at keeping communists "bottled up." The containment policy was a strategy initiated and executed by the US that aimed at preventing the Soviet Union from spreading communism to non-communist countries. The US provided military support as well as economic and/or technical assistance. At the time, the Soviet Union were influencing many non-communist countries through their power and sheer size so by blocking the USSR, the US was able to prevent the expansion of communism. The containment policy proved to be a success and failure in the cases of Vietnam, Cuba and Korea. At first, America felt at ease with the containment policy seeing how it started to take effect in Europe due to the Marshall Plan which poured money into the European countries so the majority of people did not turn to communism. However, the USA discovered a sudden appearance of communism in Asia, a continent thought to be the last place the soviet union would look to introduce communism. The Korean War is an example of how the containment policy was a success. Once the Japanese invasion of Korea had ended after the second world war, Korea had elected their first president of the Republic of Korea, Syngman Rhee. Up in the North, the North Korean People's Army was officially activated, previously being ruled by Soviet troops. All