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The political, military, and ideological  barre to separate the countries that are not communist and that are communist.

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To pass through the blockade of from the Europeans. Th U.S. air dropped food and supplies, ally spent over $200 million dollars to fun and operation.

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Truman Doctrine - Caleb  established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

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Truman Doctrine - Caleb  established that the United States would provide political, military and economic assistance to all democratic nations under threat from external or internal authoritarian forces.

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In a dramatic speech to a joint session of Congress, President Harry S. Truman asks for U.S. assistance for Greece and Turkey to forestall communist domination of the two nations. Historians have often cited Truman's address, which came to be known as the Truman Doctrine, as the official declaration of the Cold War.

In February 1947, the British government informed the United States that it could no longer furnish the economic and military assistance it had been providing to Greece and Turkey since the end of World War II. The Truman administration believed that both nations were threatened by communism and it jumped at the chance to take a tough stance against the Soviet Union. In Greece, leftist forces had been battling the Greek royal government since the end of World War II. In Turkey, the Soviets were demanding some manner of control over the Dardanelles, territory from which Turkey was able to dominate the strategic waterway from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

On March 12, 1947, Truman appeared before a joint session of Congress to make his case. The world, he declared, faced a choice in the years to come. Nations could adopt a way of life "based upon the will of the majority" and governments that provided "guarantees of individual liberty" or they could face a way of life "based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority." This latter regime, he indicated, relied upon "terror and oppression." "The foreign policy and the national security of this country," he claimed, were involved in the situations confronting Greece and Turkey.

Greece, he argued, was "threatened by the terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by communists." It was incumbent upon the United States to support Greece so that it could "become a self-supporting and self-respecting democracy." The "freedom-loving" people of Turkey also needed U.S. aid, which was "necessary for the maintenance of its national integrity." The president declared that "it must be the policy of the United States to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures." Truman requested $400 million in assistance for the two nations. Congress approved his request two months later.

The Truman Doctrine was a de facto declaration of the Cold War. Truman's address outlined the broad parameters of U.S. Cold War foreign policy: the Soviet Union was the center of all communist activity and movements throughout the world; communism could attack through outside invasion or internal subversion; and the United States needed to provide military and economic assistance to protect nations from communist aggression.

Not everyone embraced Truman's logic. Some realized that the insurgency in Greece was supported not by the Soviet Union, but by Yugoslavia's Tito, who broke with the Soviet communists within a year. Additionally, the Soviets were not demanding control of the Dardanelles, but only assurances that this strategic waterway would not be used by Russia's enemies-as the Nazis had used it during World War II. And whether U.S. assistance would result in democracy in Greece or Turkey was unclear. Indeed, both nations established repressive right-wing regimes in the years following the Truman Doctrine. Yet, the Truman Doctrine successfully convinced many that the United States was locked in a life-or-death struggle with the Soviet Union, and it set the guidelines for over 40 years of U.S.-Soviet relations.

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President Truman announces the Truman Doctrine | March 12, 1947 | HISTORY

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In a dramatic speech to a joint session of Congress, President Harry S. Truman asks for U.S. assistance for Greece and Turkey to forestall communist domination of the two nations. Historians have often cited Truman's address, which came to be known as the Truman Doctrine, as the official declaration of the Cold War.

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Allies- United States, Britain, Soviet Union, France

Axis powers- Japan, Germany, Italy

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A military alliance established in May 1955 between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries. The Soviet Union formed this alliance as a counter to the NATO

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NOTE TO READERS
"Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations" has been retired and is no longer maintained. For more information, please see the full notice.

The Warsaw Treaty Organization (also known as the Warsaw Pact) was a political and military alliance established on May 14, 1955 between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries. The Soviet Union formed this alliance as a counterbalance to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a collective security alliance concluded between the United States, Canada and Western European nations in 1949.

Presidential Palace in Warsaw where the Warsaw Pact was signed

The Warsaw Pact supplemented existing agreements. Following World War II, the Soviet Union had concluded bilateral treaties with each of the East European states except for East Germany, which was still part of the Soviet occupied-territory of Germany. When the Federal Republic of Germany entered NATO in early May 1955, the Soviets feared the consequences of a strengthened NATO and a rearmed West Germany and hoped that the Warsaw Treaty Organization could both contain West Germany and negotiate with NATO as an equal partner. Soviet leadership also noted that civil unrest was on the rise in Eastern European countries and determined that a unified, multilateral political and military alliance would tie Eastern European capitals more closely to Moscow.

The original signatories to the Warsaw Treaty Organization were the Soviet Union, Albania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the German Democratic Republic. Although the members of the Warsaw Pact pledged to defend each other if one or more of them came under attack, emphasized non-interference in the internal affairs of its members, and supposedly organized itself around collective decision-making, the Soviet Union ultimately controlled most of the Pact's decisions. The Soviet Union also used the Pact to contain popular dissent in its European satellites, for example in Hungary in 1956, in Czechoslovakia in 1968, and in Poland in 1981.

By the 1980s, the Warsaw Treaty Organization was beset by problems related to the economic slowdown in all Eastern European countries. By the late 1980s political changes in most of the member states made the Pact virtually ineffectual. In September 1990, East Germany left the Pact in preparation for reunification with West Germany. By October, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Poland had withdrawn from all Warsaw Pact military exercises. The Warsaw Pact officially disbanded in March and July of 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

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Milestones: 1953-1960 - Office of the Historian

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NOTE TO READERS "Milestones in the History of U.S. Foreign Relations" has been retired and is no longer maintained. For more information, please see the full notice. The Warsaw Treaty Organization (also known as the Warsaw Pact) was a political and military alliance established on May 14, 1955 between the Soviet Union and several Eastern European countries.

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Provided aid to the recipients essentially on a regular basis, with larger amounts given to major industrial powers, such as West Germany, France and Great Britain. This was based on the belief of Marshall that the recovery in these larger nations was essential to overall European recovery.

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Europe After World War II

Post-war Europe was in dire straits: Millions of its citizens had been killed or seriously wounded in World War II, and in related atrocities such as the Holocaust.

Many cities-including the industrial and cultural centers of London, Dresden, Berlin, Cologne, Liverpool, Birmingham and Hamburg-had been partly or wholly destroyed. Reports provided to Marshall suggested that some regions of the continent were on the brink of famine because agricultural and other food production had been disrupted by the fighting.

In addition, the region's transportation infrastructure-railways, electric utilities, port facilities, roads, bridges and airports-had suffered extensive damage during airstrikes and artillery attacks, and the shipping fleets of many countries had been sunk. In fact, it could be argued that the only world power not structurally damaged by the conflict had been the United States.

The reconstruction coordinated under the Marshall Plan was formulated following a meeting of the participating European states in the latter half of 1947. Notably, invitations were extended to the Soviet Union and its satellite states.

However, they refused to join the effort, allegedly fearing U.S. involvement in their respective national affairs.

Truman Approves the Marshall Plan

President Harry Truman signed the Marshall Plan on April 3, 1948, and aid was distributed to 16 European nations, including Britain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, West Germany and Norway.

To highlight the significance of America's largesse, the billions committed in aid effectively amounted to a generous 5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product at the time.

What Was the Marshall Plan?

The Marshall Plan provided aid to the recipients essentially on a per capita basis, with larger amounts given to major industrial powers, such as West Germany, France and Great Britain. This was based on the belief of Marshall and his advisors that recovery in these larger nations was essential to overall European recovery.

Still, not all participating nations benefitted equally. Nations such as Italy, who had fought with the Axis powers alongside Nazi Germany, and those who remained neutral (e.g., Switzerland) received less assistance per capita than those countries who fought with the United States and the other Allied powers.

The notable exception was West Germany: Though all of Germany was damaged significantly toward the end of World War II, a viable and revitalized West Germany was seen as essential to economic stability in the region, and as a not-so-subtle rebuke of the communist government and economic system on the other side of the "Iron Curtain" in East Germany.

In all, Great Britain received roughly one-quarter of the total aid provided under the Marshall Plan, while France was given less than one fifth of the funds.

Cold War

In addition to economic redevelopment, one of the stated goals of the Marshall Plan was to halt the spread of communism on the European continent.

Implementation of the Marshall Plan has been cited as the beginning of the Cold War between the United States, its European allies and the Soviet Union, which had effectively taken control of much of central and eastern Europe and established its satellite republics as communist nations.

The Marshall Plan is also considered a key catalyst for the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance between North American and European countries established in 1949.

Impact of the Marshall Plan

Interestingly, in the decades since its implementation, the true economic benefit of the Marshall Plan has been the subject of much debate. Indeed, reports at the time suggest that, by the time the plan took effect, Western Europe was already well on the road to recovery.

And, despite the significant investment on the part of the United States, the funds provided under the Marshall Plan accounted for less than 3 percent of the combined national incomes of the countries that received them. This led to relatively modest growth of GDP in these countries during the four-year period the plan was in effect.

That said, by the time of the plan's final year, 1952, economic growth in the countries that had received funds had surpassed pre-war levels, a strong indicator of the program's positive impact, at least economically.

Political Legacy of the Marshall Plan

Politically, however, the legacy of the Marshall Plan arguably tells a different story. Given the refusal to participate on the part of the so-called Eastern Bloc of Soviet states, the initiative certainly reinforced divisions that were already beginning to take root on the continent.

It's worth noting, too, that the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA), the secret service agency of the United States, received 5 percent of the funds allocated under the Marshall Plan. The CIA used these funds to establish "front" businesses in several European countries that were designed to further U.S. interests in the region.

The agency also allegedly financed an anti-communist insurgency in Ukraine, which at the time was a Soviet satellite state.

By and large, though, the Marshall Plan was generally lauded for the desperately needed boost it gave America's European allies. As the designer of the plan, George C. Marshall himself said, "Our policy is not directed against any country, but against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos."

Still, efforts to extend the Marshall Plan beyond its initial four-year period stalled with the beginning of the Korean War in 1950. The countries that received funds under the plan didn't have to repay the United States, as the monies were awarded in the form of grants. However, the countries did return roughly 5 percent of the money to cover the administrative costs of the plan's implementation.

Sources

Department of State. Office of the Historian. Marshall Plan, 1948. History.state.gov.
The Marshall Plan. The George C. Marshall Foundation.
Truman and the Marshall Plan. Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.

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The Marshall Plan: Definition, Date & Cold War - HISTORY

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The Marshall Plan, also known as the European Recovery Program, was a U.S. program providing aid to Western Europe following the devastation of World War II.

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When the 48 countries came together and settled an agreement to not argue or start any wars ever again.

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The United Nations (UN) was created at the end of World War II as an international peacekeeping organization and a forum for resolving conflicts between nations.

The UN replaced the ineffective League of Nations, which had failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War.

The UN was established on October 24, 1945, with headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, and reflected the rise of the United States to global leadership in the postwar period.

Negotiating a postwar world order

In 1944, delegations from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the Republic of China-four of the main Allied powers in World War II-met in Washington, DC to negotiate the parameters of the postwar world and to discuss the establishment of the international organization that would become known as the United Nations (UN).

The United Nations replaced the League of Nations, which had been created at the end of the First World War to provide states with an international forum for the peaceful resolution of disputes. Even though US President Woodrow Wilson was one of the key supporters of the League of Nations, the United States never officially joined the organization due to intense opposition from isolationist members of Congress. The League of Nations ultimately proved ineffective in preventing the outbreak of another world war and was formally dissolved in 1946.

The United States played an instrumental role in the founding of the United Nations. The UN Charter, with its emphasis on peace, security, international law, economic development, and human rights, reflected the influence of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who shared a vision for the postwar world. In 1941, the two leaders drafted the Atlantic Charter, which declared that there would be no territorial aggrandizement as a result of the war, that postwar international relations would be cooperative, and that disputes between states would be resolved through peaceful negotiation and not the use or threat of force. The Atlantic Charter eventually became the basis for the UN Charter.

The extent of US involvement in the creation of the United Nations, as well as the location of its main headquarters in New York City, demonstrates the rise of the United States to global leadership in the postwar period.

The structure and function of the United Nations

The United Nations has several main bodies that serve different purposes. The Secretariat is the main administrative organ of the UN. It commissions research and applies the findings of studies to making the UN a more effective and efficient organization.

The General Assembly is the main deliberative body of the UN. Every country that is a member of the UN is represented in the General Assembly. The UN General Assembly convenes annually to deliberate and vote on important issues affecting world peace and security. The General Assembly can only make recommendations to member-states; it cannot make binding decisions, nor can it enforce those decisions - only the Security Council has the authority to do that.

The Security Council is composed of five permanent members-the United States, Great Britain, France, Russia, and China- which were the five main Allied powers in the Second World War. There are also ten non-permanent seats on the Security Council that rotate between different countries every two years. The purpose of the Security Council is to peacefully resolve international conflicts and prevent the outbreak of war. UN Security Council resolutions are binding and are enforced by UN peacekeepers, which are military forces contributed by member-states.

The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) was created to promote international economic and social cooperation and development, particularly in the developing world, or what was referred to during the Cold War as the "Third World."

Finally, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the judicial organ of the UN. At its headquarters at the Hague, Netherlands, the court hears legal disputes between states and issues opinions on legal matters submitted by members of the General Assembly or other UN agencies.

The United Nations in the Cold War

Because the Soviet Union and the United States both held permanent seats on the UN Security Council, as the Cold War heated up, disunity between the two great powers interfered with the international organization's basic peacekeeping mission. This was partly due to the dual nature of the UN as a forum for negotiating disputes among states and a platform for influencing international opinion. The Soviet Union and the United States both used the UN as a propaganda platform, to win hearts and minds in the Cold War. Many of the proposals submitted by US and Soviet officials were aimed primarily at criticizing each other, and since each superpower had a veto in the Security Council, disputes could not be resolved unless both Cold War rivals agreed, which was rare. This had the effect of stalling negotiations and prolonging conflict.

The evolution of the UN

In the 1950s and 1960s, decolonization, or the process by which former colonial territories became independent states, transformed the composition and functioning of the UN. During this time period, dozens of newly independent countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East joined the United Nations and sought to redirect the energies of the organization toward easing the transition to independence. As a result of the activism of states referred to during the Cold War as the "Third World," the UN took on additional responsibilities for economic, political, and social development, and the monitoring and enforcement of fundamental human rights.

What do you think?

Why was the United Nations founded? What does the UN Charter tell us about its main goals?

How did the Cold War affect the functioning and purpose of the United Nations?

How did the UN evolve over the course of the twentieth century?

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The United Nations (article) | World War II | Khan Academy

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The United Nations (UN) was created at the end of World War II as an international peacekeeping organization and a forum for resolving conflicts between nations. The UN replaced the ineffective League of Nations, which had failed to prevent the outbreak of the Second World War.

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The U-2 was argument between the U.S and the Germany, because of the war they started to threaten each other about making a deadly bomb, and threatening to use it on each other.

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Additional Links Back to the 1960s
The U-2 Incident

Shot down by a Soviet surface to air missile on the morning of May 1, 1960, CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers had been on a top secret mission: to over fly and photograph denied territory from his U2 spy plane deep inside Russia. His fate and that of the entire U2 program remained a mystery for days. The story of the U2 incident; its prologue and aftermath reveals one of the most fascinating and compelling stories of the cold war.

Anxious to avoid a surprise nuclear attack, President Eisenhower was growing increasingly nervous over rapid Soviet technological achievements. By 1954, the Soviets had demonstrated a thermonuclear bomb as well as the means to deliver it with their long-range jet-powered Bison bomber. Could a Soviet ICBM be far behind?

Urged on by his Technological Capabilities Panel, Eisenhower could not wait another five or six years for the advent of photographic spy satellites to settle the "bomber gap" and other national security issues. He needed answers about Soviet intentions and technological capabilities right now. Moreover, since, typical intelligence tradecraft was ineffective against the communist bloc, and no other means were readily available, a high-flying reconnaissance plane was Eisenhower's only hope.

In late 1954, Eisenhower approved project AQUATONE; a plan for the CIA to develop and deploy a long-rage spy plane capable of flying, with the President's personal approval, beyond the reach of Soviet interceptors and surface to air defenses. Fortunately, development of a plane ideally suited for the task was already well under way. While an obvious choice for the CIA's clandestine mission, the Lockheed CL-282, designed by Clarence 'Kelly' Johnson was originally rejected by the air force as a reconnaissance platform due to its lack of armament, traditional landing gear and maneuverability. Johnson's design, essentially a jet-powered glider, utilized a single engine and could carry its civilian pilot and camera in excess of 70,000 feet unarmed, unmarked and, so it was hoped, undetected by Soviet air defense radars.

Work on the aircraft began in secret at Lockheed's Skunk Works almost immediately and without a signed contract. A CIA check arrived at Johnson's Santa Barbara home sometime after an official contract for 20 airframes - minus engines was signed. Final performance design specifications would allow the U-2 to sustain 2.5gs with a maximum speed of Mach 0.8 or 460 knots at a service altitude of 70,600 feet with an absolute maximum altitude of 73,000 carrying a payload of 450 lbs.

In the early summer of 1955, Lockheed chose deserted Groom Lake (later known as Area 51) in Southern Nevada as the U2 flight testing site. The dry lakebed at Groom proved ideal. Bordered by the Emigrant Valley's mountain range and Nevada Test Site, it was protected from prying eyes and interference. Lockheed constructed a makeshift base at Groom consisting of little more than a few shelters, workshops and trailer homes in which to house its small team. The first U2 flew at Groom on August 4th, 1955, a mere 8 months after contract approval, on time and under budget. U2s under CIA control began over flights of Soviet territory in July, 1956.

Submitted by Museum volunteer Gary Roberson
Sources:
Pedlow, Gregory W., Welzenbach, Donald E., McDonald, J. Kenneth "CIA and the U2 Program 1954-1974" Diane Publishing 1998

Beschloss, Michael R. "Mayday: Eisenhower, Khruschev and the U2 Affair" Harper & Row 1988

Walker, Martin, "The Cold War: A History" Henry Holt & Company 1993
Brief footage of a U2 plane in action. Gary Powers, Jr. radio interview with Steve Crilley on Radio FM4 in Vienna, Austria on December 1, 2007.
Voice of America interview with Francis Gary Powers Jr. (Translated in Russian), circa November 2001.

Buy Operation Overflight by Francis Gary Powers
Download a partial reading of Operation Overflight read by William Hope
Originally broadcast by the BBC, May 2000.

Information in German on the Glienicker Bridge where Francis Gary Powers and Rudolph Abel were exchanged on Feb 10, 1962.

For additional information click here.
Note: Links to external sites will open in new browser windows and are not endorsed by The Cold War Museum.

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Additional Links Back to the 1960s Shot down by a Soviet surface to air missile on the morning of May 1, 1960, CIA pilot Francis Gary Powers had been on a top secret mission: to over fly and photograph denied territory from his U2 spy plane deep inside Russia.

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National Atlantic Treaty Organization formed in Washington D.C. on April 4, 1949. 12 members of the nations Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States. it was based on an agreement when the war was over.

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A state of political hostility between countries characterized by threats, propaganda, and other measures short of open warfare.