Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1945-1960
Iron Curtain
Winston Churchill defined the term Iron
Curtain: the divide in Europe between those
countries influenced by democracy and those
influenced by Communism
Containment Policy
George F. Kennan wrote an
aritcle in Foreign Affairs
magazine stating that the
Soviets wanted to destroy
America and its way of life
It argued that the Soviets were
threatened by America and
wanted to expand to protect
themselves
He created containment
theory: the U.S. needs to
stop Communism from
spreading
Truman Doctrine
Truman first exercised the
containment policy when Turkey
and Greece came under Soviet
pressure in 1947 when
Communists tried to start
revolutions in both countries
The Truman Doctrine stated:
the United States will assist all
democratic nations fighting
communism by giving them aid
(money, weapons)
The policy would continue until
the 1980s
Marshall Plan
The United States created the
Marshall Plan that provided $12
billion to 17 different countries in
Europe its goals were:
Help Europe recover from World
War II (so we could trade with
them again)
Limit Communist influence in
Western Europe
Berlin Airlift
When the US, Britain, and France
announced they were going to
unify their occupied areas of
Germany many Germans flooded
over to these areas to escape
communism
To prevent this, Stalin ordered a
blockade of all roads leading to
West Berlin
Truman responded by instituting
the Berlin Airlift that flew in
food and supplies to Berlin for 15
months
Stalin lifted the blockade in a
major victory for the West
NATO
Warsaw
Pact
United
Kingdom
France
East
Germany
West
Germany
Soviet Union