TASK 1

USA propagandaThe Americans were frightened of communism because their political systems were fundamentally different, meaning that conflict would be inevitable. The United States wanted a world of free trade, which would also help the U.S. economy avoid a post-war depression, and to introduce the democratic system of government to newly independent countries.

A Communist Source

• The Soviet Union and the United States wanted two fundamentally different post-war worlds. The Soviet Union wanted to be surrounded by "communist-friendly" countries, which the USSR would have a great amount of control over and that would act as a buffer zone in the event of another war.

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The Policy of Containment

It was a foreign policy strategy created by the USA after WWII. Truman warned the world of the evils of communism that threatened the democratic freedom of the Americans. The US, like the Soviet Union wanted a world modeled on their own country’s society and values. It was a strategy plan that the U.S. used in the Cold War to prevent the Soviet Union from spreading Communism by providing either military support, economic and/or technical assistance to noncommunist countries. Its aim was to contain the domino effect of the growing influence and power of the Soviet Union over other noncommunist countries’ political system from moving towards communism within its existing limits.

Truman Doctrine

• The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by U.S. President Truman on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere. Truman stated the Doctrine would be "the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures”.

The Marshall Plan

• The Marshall Plan is also called the European Recovery Plan. It was enacted by the US in 1947 as a way to help rebuild Europe after World War II. The genius behind the plan was George Marshall, who was at the time the US Secretary of State.

The other part of the Marshall Plan was meant to prevent communism from gaining a stronghold in war torn countries

TASK 3

Source: The Marshall Plan