12 marzo 1947 anni - The Establishment of the Truman Doctrine

Descrizione:

In response to perceived expansionist tendencies of the Communists in both Greece and Turkey, President Harry S. Truman established the Truman Doctrine that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

Although it's not named, Truman established this doctrine with the Soviet Union in mind. What's interesting is that although the Communists in Greece had foreign backing, it wasn't that of the Soviets, but of Communists from other Balkan nations, specifically the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavian involvement was a particular annoyance of Joseph Stalin, who had made a deal during the war that Greece would lie under British influence. This issue, along with several others, would result in the Tito-Stalin split, in which Yugoslavia would be placed into the interesting position of both being a Communist State, all the while not falling under Soviet influence, as well as receiving western aide through the Marshall Plan.

However, regardless of whether or not Stalin was backing the communists, there was still a variety of other issues that influenced Truman's choices. Such issues included those of the Soviet-related incidents in Iran, such as the Soviets’ failure to withdraw their troops from northern Iran in early 1946 and the Soviets' attempts to pressure the Iranian Government into granting them oil concessions while supposedly fomenting irredentism by Azerbaijani separatists. There was also Soviet pressure in Turkey, where they attempted to force the Turkish Government into granting them a base and transit rights through the Turkish Straits. Finally, there was also the Soviet Government’s rejection of the Baruch plan for international control over nuclear energy and weapons in June 1946.

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