Containment Policy and Domino Theory

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Containment Policy and Domino Theory

• U.S. Foreign Policy
• And the Vietnam War

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Post WWII era

• What was the political climate like following the
  end of WWII?
• How was U.S. Foreign Relations?

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The Cold War

• There was an ongoing arms race (rapidly building
  up your military and weapons) between the United
  States and the U.S.S.R.
• There was a constant fear of the spread of
  communism to other countries and nuclear war.

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George Keenan

• American diplomat and historian who recommended
  the policy of containment toward Soviet
  aggression.
• He was the foreign ambassador to the USSR during
  the 1940s and 50s.

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• Keenan telegrammed the U.S. that Capitalism and
  Communism cannot have a peaceful coexistence
  and the spread of communism should be prevented.

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Truman and Containment

• Using Keenans suggestions, President Harry
  Truman proposed the Truman Doctrine on March 12,
  1947.
• This was to send financial aid to Greece and
  Turkey in order to prevent the spread of
  Communism in those countries.

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Legacy of the Truman Doctrine

• The 400 million dollars given to Greece and
  Turkey. Allowed them to recover economically
  following the aftermath of WWII and the Greek
  Civil War.
• It worked..neither country become communist.

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The Marshall Plan

• Was the plan of Secretary of State, George
  Marshall.
• It took the ideas of the Truman Doctrine.
• This plan allowed for 20 Billion dollars to
  European countries in order to recover from the
  war.
• What do you think the benefits of the Marshall
  Plan would have been to the U.S. and Europe?
• How do you think the USSR reacted to this?

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• Russia refused the U.S. aid and stated that is
  was a ploy by the U.S. to gain allies.
• The Marshall Plan also encouraged European
  countries to buy U.S. products.

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Domino Theory

• Proposed by President Dwight Eisenhower.
• This basically stated that if one country fell
  to communism, then other countries will then
  fall to communism like dominos.

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• These combined theories shaped U.S. Policy (how
  they interacted with other countries) from the
  1940s until 1980s.
• They were a primary influence on the U.S.s
  involvement in the Vietnam War.

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• How can we see these theories in the world today?

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Comparison with Vietnam the War in Iraq/Terror

• Recently there have been many comparison between
  these two conflicts.
• Using Containment Policy and Domino Theory
  compare these theories to our current war in
  Iraq.
• (Hint Take out the word Communism in the
  definitions and insert Iraq or Terrorism)

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