Foreign Policy Of Containment Essay

The United States adopted the foreign policy of containment when entering the Cold War. The policy of containment was a system that worked to hamper the growth of the communist sphere of influence, presented by the Soviet Union in the late 40s. The four strategies (in order of occurrence) the United States took to obtain and practice the policy of containment were the Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Berlin Airlift and the National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The magnifying power of communism posed a great threat to the Western Hemisphere. President Harry Truman recognized the emerging issue and appeared before Congress on March 12, 1947 to propose an answer for the disseminating methods of communism. Truman requested that the the U.S. help eastern countries facing communist pressures. Congress responded to his wishes with millions of dollars to aid Greece and Turkey. The doctrine helped the countries to increase economic and political power as well as protect them from the near control of the USSR and communism. The Marshall Plan was considerably the most impactful practice of American containment. After World War II, many nations were in grave need of economic help due to the numerous shortages of …show more content…
In the summer of 1948, Joseph Stalin blockaded West Berlin from West Germany, believing that West Berlin would fall to communism because of limited resources. America controlled West Berlin and for many months provided the people with food and goods through an airlift. Over the course of the years after the airlift, many individuals living in East Berlin traveled to West Berlin, after they witnessed the positive leadership of the U.S. This eventually led to the Berlin Wall being set up in 1961. The Berlin airlift represented that America would take any necessary means to shield the Western Hemisphere from the evils of