Title: How Did the Cold War Affect U.S. Foreign Policy? | The Classroom
Headings: How Did the Cold War Affect U.S. Foreign Policy?
How Did the Cold War Affect U.S. Foreign Policy?
Origins of the Cold War
The Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and Containment
Containment and the Flexible Response
The Evil Empire
Thawing Relations

Content: Tensions temporarily eased when the nations became unlikely allies in World War II, but reemerged with a vengeance as the U.S. demonstrated its nuclear power and the Soviet Union swallowed up Eastern European nations into its "bloc." The former allies quickly became enemies again. The Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, and Containment
By 1947, the U.S. had developed a clear policy of containment toward the Soviet Union, striving to prevent the spread of communism through economic, diplomatic, and military measures. Through the Marshall Plan the U.S. used nearly $13 billion in aid to fight communism by helping war-torn Europe return to prosperity. Similarly, during the struggle over Germany's capital, Berlin, the U.S. airlifted over 2.5 million tons of supplies to West Berlin until the Soviet Union lifted its blockade. The U.S. also established NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization), a diplomatic and military alliance with Western European nations. NATO members pledged mutual protection against the communist threat and military cooperation to contain communism. Additionally, the Truman Doctrine promised monetary and military aid to support any "free peoples" resisting "subjugation by armed minorities or outside pressures." The doctrine helped relieve conflict in Greece and Turkey (1947) and justified U.S. military intervention in Korea starting in 1951. Containment and the Flexible Response
Succeeding Truman, President Eisenhower initially adopted a tough stance against the Soviet Union and dramatically increased the U.S.'s stockpile of nuclear weapons.