Although FDR died before the World War II ended, his influence shaped the postwar world. After years of isolation, when the US entered WW2, Roosevelt recognized that traditional world powers like Great Britain and France would no longer be strong enough to police the world. Realizing that it would be America’s responsibility to combat forces opposed to democracy, he began to make plans in a series of conferences with allied leaders, even as the war raged on.
At the Atlantic Conference, Churchill and Roosevelt issued a joint declaration of self determination, there would be no changes made in territory against the wishes of the people, self government would be restored, and they would work to reduce trade restrictions. At Casablanca, Morocco, Roosevelt advanced the doctrine of unconditional surrender from Germany and Japan, allowing that their countries be permanently transformed after the war, thus preventing the resurrection of their regimes. Unfortunately, his compromise at Yalta strengthened Stalin’s position in Eastern Europe allowing a communist government to remain in power. …show more content…
Fearing that the people would turn to Communism in the face of this devastation, he proposed a program of massive economic assistance. The Marshall Plan was a policy “directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.” “Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.” Congress quickly approved this $17 billion “investment in peace”, and American aid soon began flowing to Western Europe in the form of food, machinery, and technology. It spurred production, rebuilding of homes and businesses, and provided money to rebuild factories, construction equipment, and fuel for
At the Atlantic Conference, Churchill and Roosevelt issued a joint declaration of self determination, there would be no changes made in territory against the wishes of the people, self government would be restored, and they would work to reduce trade restrictions. At Casablanca, Morocco, Roosevelt advanced the doctrine of unconditional surrender from Germany and Japan, allowing that their countries be permanently transformed after the war, thus preventing the resurrection of their regimes. Unfortunately, his compromise at Yalta strengthened Stalin’s position in Eastern Europe allowing a communist government to remain in power. …show more content…
Fearing that the people would turn to Communism in the face of this devastation, he proposed a program of massive economic assistance. The Marshall Plan was a policy “directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos.” “Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy in the world so as to permit the emergence of political and social conditions in which free institutions can exist.” Congress quickly approved this $17 billion “investment in peace”, and American aid soon began flowing to Western Europe in the form of food, machinery, and technology. It spurred production, rebuilding of homes and businesses, and provided money to rebuild factories, construction equipment, and fuel for