Truman Harry S.

« The Truman Doctrine By proposing a program of $400 million in military and economic aid to back anti-Communist forces in Turkey and Greece, United States President Harry Truman created aprime model for Cold War containment of Communism.

Truman’s critics claimed that he was being unduly alarmist for suggesting that the effect of failure would be “farreaching to the West as well as to the East,” and some also blamed his words for promoting anti-Communist hysteria in the United States.

Most U.S.

historians, however,view his response as an appropriate reaction to Soviet expansionism.

Herbert S.

Parmet Truman Doctrine March 12, 1947 Mr.

President, Mr.

Speaker, Members of the Congress of the United States: The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today necessitates my appearance before a joint session of the Congress.

The foreign policy and the nationalsecurity of this country are involved. One aspect of the present situation, which I present to you at this time for your consideration and decision, concerns Greece and Turkey. The United States has received from the Greek Government an urgent appeal for financial and economic assistance.

Preliminary reports from the AmericanEconomic Mission now in Greece and reports from the American Ambassador in Greece corroborate the statement of the Greek Government that assistance isimperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation. I do not believe that the American people and the Congress wish to turn a deaf ear to the appeal of the Greek Government.… The very existence of the Greek state is today threatened by the terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by Communists, who defy the government'sauthority at a number of points, particularly along the northern boundaries.

A Commission appointed by the United Nations Security Council is at presentinvestigating disturbed conditions in northern Greece and alleged border violations along the frontier between Greece on the one hand and Albania, Bulgaria, andYugoslavia on the other. Meanwhile, the Greek Government is unable to cope with the situation.

The Greek army is small and poorly equipped.

It needs supplies and equipment if it is torestore authority to the government throughout Greek territory. Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting and self-respecting democracy.

The United States must supply this assistance.

We have alreadyextended to Greece certain types of relief and economic aid but these are inadequate.

There is no other country to which democratic Greece can turn. No other nation is willing and able to provide the necessary support for a democratic Greek government. The British Government, which has been helping Greece, can give no further financial or economic aid after March 31.

Great Britain finds itself under the necessityof reducing or liquidating its commitments in several parts of the world, including Greece. We have considered how the United Nations might assist in this crisis.

But the situation is an urgent one requiring immediate action, and the United Nations and itsrelated organizations are not in a position to extend help of the kind that is required.… No government is perfect.

One of the chief virtues of a democracy, however, is that its defects are always visible and under democratic processes can be pointed outand corrected.

The government of Greece is not perfect.

Nevertheless it represents 85 percent of the members of the Greek Parliament who were chosen in an electionlast year.

Foreign observers, including 692 Americans, considered this election to be a fair expression of the views of the Greek people.… Greece's neighbor, Turkey, also deserves our attention.

The future of Turkey as an independent and economically sound state is clearly no less important to thefreedom-loving peoples of the world than the future of Greece.

The circumstances in which Turkey finds itself today are considerably different from those of Greece.Turkey has been spared the disasters that have beset Greece.

And during the war, the United States and Great Britain furnished Turkey with material aid.Nevertheless, Turkey now needs our support. Since the war Turkey has sought additional financial assistance from Great Britain and the United States for the purpose of effecting that modernization necessaryfor the maintenance of its national integrity.

That integrity is essential to the preservation of order in the Middle East. The British Government has informed us that, owing to its own difficulties, it can no longer extend financial or economic aid to Turkey.

As in the case of Greece, ifTurkey is to have the assistance it needs, the United States must supply it.

We are the only country able to provide that help. I am fully aware of the broad implications involved if the United States extends assistance to Greece and Turkey, and I shall discuss these implications with you atthis time. One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United States is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations will be able to work out a way oflife free from coercion.

This was a fundamental issue in the war with Germany and Japan.

Our victory was won over countries which sought to impose their will, andtheir way of life, upon other nations. To ensure the peaceful development of nations, free from coercion, the United States has taken a leading part in establishing the United Nations.

The United Nationsis designed to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its members.

We shall not realize our objectives, however, unless we are willing to help freepeoples to maintain their free institutions and their national integrity against aggressive movements that seek to impose on them totalitarian regimes.

This is no morethan a frank recognition that totalitarian regimes imposed on free peoples, by direct or indirect aggression, undermine the foundations of international peace andhence the security of the United States. The peoples of a number of countries of the world have recently had totalitarian regimes forced upon them against their will.

The Government of the United Stateshas made frequent protests against coercion and intimidation, in violation of the Yalta agreement, in Poland, Rumania, and Bulgaria.

I must also state that in anumber of other countries there have been similar developments.. »