Proposition de corrigé sujet : The US policy of containment in Europe
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Following WWII, Europe was totally devastated to the extent that in a speech delivered on September 19 , 1946
Winston Churchill depicted in striking terms the “vast, quivering mass of tormented, hungry, careworn and bewildered human
beings, who wait in the ruins of their cities and homes and scan the dark horizons for the approach of some new form of tyranny or
terror”. It was a way for him to highlight the fact that many areas of Europe were in ruins, that European people were suffering and
that the continent was on the verge of chaos. Rebuilding Europe, providing its starving population with food supplies and restoring
political stability was thus an emergency. The need was all the more blatant as the former allies of WWII, especially the new
superpowers, the USA and the USSR, were entering a period of hostility known as the Cold War during which each of them tried to
outpower the other using all possible means except fighting with weapons. In fact, the two sides used other countries to do their
fighting for them while competing and trying to outdo their rival in many fields ranging from sports to science and technology. In a
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speech delivered on March 5 , 1946, Winston Churchill stated that “an “Iron Curtain” ha[d] descended upon the continent”. The
term designated the boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the
Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were connected to or influenced by the Soviet Union.
They belonged to the Eastern or Communist Bloc. On the western side of the Iron Curtain were the countries that were
connected to or influenced by the USA. They belonged to the Western or Capitalist Bloc. Separate international economic and
military alliances were developed on each side of the Iron Curtain. Thus, in the wake of WWII, the USA feared that the USSR may
spread their Communist ideology to the weakened nations of Western Europe. As a result, far from reverting to its pre-war
isolationist stance, the USA decided to opt out for an interventionist stance and launched a policy of containment in Europe. We
may wonder what prompted the U.S. policy of containment in Europe, what the goals of the USA were and what means of
action the USA took to implement their policy of containment. To answer these questions, we will first see what the situation
was like in Europe following WWII. Then, we will devote our attention to the goals of the new U.S. foreign policy. Finally, we
will study the means of action used by the USA to enforce their new policy. The two documents may help us do so. Document 1 is
a cartoon entitled “Step on it, Doc!” made by Justus and published in the Minneapolis Star in 1947 whereas Document 2 is an
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excerpt from Harry Truman’s speech delivered in front of the U.S. Congress on March 12 , 1947. Harry Truman was the President
of the USA who had succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt when he died in April 1945.
In this first part, I will deal with the situation of Europe in the wake of WWII and show that it prompted a new
interventionist policy on the part of the USA.
At the end of WWII, Europe was totally devastated. Industrial and residential centers lay in ruins. European people were
starving as agricultural production had been disrupted by war. To make matters worse transportation infrastructure had been
heavily damaged. The USA, which was the only major power in the world that had been left comparatively unscathed, thus decided
to bring guidance and assistance to European nations. Indeed, the USA was convinced that there could be no political stability,
no peace and no freedom either if European economies couldn’t recover. It was a turning point in the US foreign policy as
they discarded isolationism to take a more interventionist stance. President Harry Truman considered it a duty to “ensure the
peaceful development of nations” (l.5), as it is hinted at by the following passage: “I believe that we must assist free peoples to work
out their own destinies in their own way” (l.15).
At the end of WWII the USA, aware of how serious the situation was in a ruined Europe, adopted a new interventionist
foreign policy. We will now see what the goals of this interventionist policy were.
A look at Document 1 will help us determine the goals of President Harry Truman’s foreign policy. In fact, the cartoon
clearly indicates that Communism was seen as a threat. It is symbolized by a bird of prey, a black hawk, carrying a baby armed
with a hammer with a nasty look on its face. The baby, who stands for the USSR judging from the tool he is holding, is wrapped in a
bundle which reads “chaos”. Both are flying toward Western Europe. Now then, hawks are reputed for feeding on the carcasses of
dead animals, which may be an allusion to the state of Europe which was totally devastated after WWII, and a hint at the fact that
European nations could be tempted by Communism owing to their weakened economies. Meanwhile, a fast-speeding car driven
by a doctor is rushing toward Western Europe, too. This car symbolizes the will of the US Congress to provide assistance to
Western Europe and prevent it from falling at the hands of Communists, who could only bring chaos.
The cartoon is a clear allusion to the US belief that Western Europe was threatened by a new menace, Communism,
one of the “aggressive movements that seek to impose upon them [Western European people] totalitarian regimes” (l.7-8). The
USSR, which is equated with chaos, is obviously targeted by the cartoon as it is accused of “undermin[ing] the foundations of
international peace and hence the security of the United States” (l.9-10). We can notice that the relations between the USA and
the USSR were quite tense. When President Truman declared that “[a]t the present moment in world history nearly every nation
must choose between alternative ways of life” (l.11), he actually referred to the Cold War that opposed the Western Bloc led by the
USA and Eastern Bloc composed of the USSR and its satellite states from 1945 to 1991. The two alternative ways of life mentioned
by President Truman refer to the Capitalist ideology of the Western Bloc on the one hand and to the Communist ideology of the
Eastern Bloc on the other hand. We can see that the competition between the two superpowers to spread their respective
ideologies was fierce as it is symbolized in the cartoon by the race between the US Congress and the Communists who are both
rushing towards Western Europe, trying to reach it first.
The USA totally rejected Communism. That’s why President Harry Truman defined his own foreign policy, known as the
Truman Doctrine, which viewed Communism as an ideological threat that had to be met anywhere in the world. The goal of this
new foreign US policy was to contain the spread of Communism while maintaining its own influence and ideology over the world.
The cartoon is a clear example of the US anti-Communist propaganda which made Communism synonymous with chaos while the
USA claimed their goal was “the creation of conditions in which we [the USA] and other nations [would] be able to work out a way of
life free from coercion” (l.1-2). This idea is lavishly used in President Truman’s speech who hammers his point regarding the US
willingness to “help free peoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity” (l.7) against “attempted subjugation
[…] by outside pressures” (l.13-14).
Following WWII, the USA launched a policy of containment whose goal was to prevent Communism from spreading
to Western Europe. It was crucial for the USA to provide assistance to Western Europe to ensure peace and freedom and thus
prevent Western European countries from falling at the hands of Communist regimes. We will now see what means of action they
resorted to so as to implement their policy of containment.
In the cartoon, we can see that the USA is depicted as a doctor rushing to bring assistance to Western Europe threatened
by Communism. A question arises: what cure did the US doctor find to help Western Europe? In other words, how did the USA
implement its policy of containment?
Part of the answer can be found lines 5-6 when President Harry Truman reminds Congressmen that “[t]o ensure the
peaceful development of nations, free from coercion, the United States has taken a leading part in establishing the United
Nations”. The United Nations which replaced the ineffective League of Nations promoted by President Wilson following WWI was
created in 1945 to promote international cooperation. After WWII it provided humanitarian assistance to European people.
Besides, in his speech, Harry Truman declared it was the duty of the USA “to support free peoples who are resisting
subjugation by armed minorities” (l.13-14). In fact, from 1945 to 1947, the USA provided military assistance to Greece and Turkey
to fight Communist aggression. Other military alliances were developed between the USA and the countries supporting it such as
NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
However, the keystone of the Truman Doctrine in 1947 was the Marshall Plan. In his speech, Harry Truman declared
that US “help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly
political processes” (l.16-17). The Marshall Plan, also called European Recovery Program, was meant to rebuild the economies
and spirits of Western Europe thus paving the way to the restoration of political stability and blunting the advances of
Communism in that part of the world. Sixteen European nations eventually benefited from it. After assessing their own needs,
they received $13 billion in aid, consisting of shipments of food, staples, fuel and machinery from the USA. Marshall Plan funding
ended in 1951 and actually enabled the economies of the assisted nations to recover and even grow at an unprecedented rate. It
must be noted that the USA also encouraged European nations to reach an agreement thus paving the way to the shaping of the
European Union.
The USA thus resorted to military assistance as well as economic and financial aid via the Marshall Plan to contain the
spread of Communism in Western Europe.
At the end of WWII, there was a new world order with the USA and the USSR emerging as the two superpowers. Both
were willing to spread their influence and ideology in the world, which led to the beginning of the Cold War. President Harry
Truman considered Communism as a threat for Western Europe, which prompted him to define a new interventionist foreign
policy whose goal was to contain the spread of Communism and promote Capitalism instead. To help Western European
nations take their future into their own hands and to preserve peace and freedom, the USA took different means of action such as
military assistance but above all economic and financial assistance with the Marshall Plan. The US government was actually
convinced that an economically prosperous Europe would stop the advance of Communism. Competition between the USA and
the USSR would soon find its battleground in Korea where President Truman sent troops to fight against the Communists who had
established a “People’s Republic” in North Korea.
Alternative introduction – shorter:
At the end of WWII, Europe was in ruins. Aware that the combination of poverty, suffering and political instability could
lead to further conflict, the USA decided to take a more interventionist stance. They deemed it all the more necessary as the Soviet
Union was already attempting to spread its influence over Western Europe. In March 1946, Winston Churchill delivered a speech in
which he mentioned the Iron Curtain, namely an invisible line dividing Europe between those countries willing to support
Communism and those countries willing to remain free. This marked the beginning of the Cold War, a period of hostility between
the two superpowers during which each of them tried to spread its influence and gain new allies. The Truman Doctrine, whose goal
was to contain the spread of Communism, was born in this context. We may thus wonder what prompted the USA to implement its
policy of containment in Europe, what the goals of this policy were and what means of action were used to enforce it. To answer
these questions, we will first see what the situation was like in Europe following WWII. Then, we will devote our attention to the
goals of the new U.S. foreign policy. Finally, we will study the means of action used by the USA to enforce their new policy. The two
documents may help us do so. Document 1 is a cartoon entitled “Step on it, Doc!” made by Justus and published in the Minneapolis
th
Star in 1947 whereas Document 2 is an excerpt from Harry Truman’s speech delivered in front of the U.S. Congress on March 12 ,
1947. Harry Truman was the President of the USA who had succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt when he died in April 1945.