After the World War 2, the strategy of the West towards Soviet block crystallized as a “Policy of Containment”. Critically analyse. (200 Words)
Policy of Containment was a United States policy to prevent the spread of communism abroad.
After reaching an agreement at Yalta, USSR, established governments which owe allegiance to Russian in Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. The USA countered these moves by Truman Doctrine, and Marshall Plan. Congress helped Truman with $400 million for aid to Greece and Turkey. With this aid, both Greece and Turkey successfully resisted Communism.
Tensions that produced the Cold War were the result of a set of misconceptions on both sides. USA, had persuaded by wartime government propaganda to admire the Russians as stalwarts anti-fascists, were naively disillusioned when they discovered that their erstwhile allies were in face not democrats. They feared Russians were hatching on weakness of Western Europe. However, scholars were convinced that soviets were not willing to undertake any such campaign, primarily because they were economically and military incapable of doing so.
President Truman’s by his “Containment Speech,” he influenced the American government to break free from Isolationism and stop the threat of spreading communism in Europe.
Korean War of 1952 and H-bomb fear made both US and USSR forming political and strategic pacts, viz. NATO, SEATO and Warsaw Pact. Cold War in 1952-62s reached its peak resulting Cuban missile crisis.
Even though there was no physical fighting between America and Russia there was always a fear of either Russia or America shall launch their nuclear war heads on each other.
Thus, the policy of Containment influenced the Cold War in a negative way by increasing the tensions primarily between the US and Russia.