In the Twentieth century the United States followed a policy of containment in response to communism. This policy of containment is generally regarded as directed towards the former Soviet Union, however there were other targets. The Peoples Republic of China was one of these countries. After World War II, China broke into civil war, with the communist party becoming the dominate structure of China. The period during this conflict and afterwards heavily strained the relations between the two countries. Conflicts such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War are primary aggressors of the hostile relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. The Peoples Republic of China was directly involved in the Korean War, by sending …show more content…
The containment policy followed under the idea that communism could result in a “domino effect”. It was thought and believed that if a nation state were to fall into communism and become a communist state, that the surrounding countries were much more likely to do so, similar to dominoes knocking one another down. It was believed that the best way to combat communism was to help prevent the spread. The United States did various things as a result. The United States passed various legislations with the aim of preventing the spread of communism such as the Truman Doctrine and The Marshal Plan. The United States provided fiscal relief to help rebuild build Europe so that the governments would not fall under communist influence and rule. They particularly did this in Eastern Europe, like countries such as Greece and Turkey. Containment also played roles in areas like Central America and South East Asia. Containment also influenced the United State’s decision to get involved with certain military conflicts such as the Korean War. The most important military conflict that the United States got involved in this regard was the Vietnam
The Marshall Plan demonstrated US commitment to stop communism by providing economic and financial aid to Europe. A Strong Europe would lead the United States to create NATO to oppose Soviet aggression. NATO is a military alliance between western democracies and an attack on one is an attack on all (Doc C). The Soviets would create the Warsaw Pact in response and cold war tensions would rise again. Truman would intervene in the Korean War to stop the spread of communism and the Domino Effect (Doc E). The US is practicing containment with US Troops fighting in proxy
Following WWII, the spread of communism was viewed as a threat that would divide the world into two opposing camps. As such, the threat of a military alliance between China and the USSR posed a threat to the US global hegemony and US shipping and commercial
The writer of this article is the professor of China-US relations in Cornell University. So this is a relatively reliable source. I think the relationship between the U.S. and China can also reflect U.S. Attitude towards communism after the cold war. I can use it in the extending of my term
Containment Policy 1945-1953 America used a variety of methods to contain Soviet influence between 1945-1953. Methods such as Propaganda and flexing of muscle became essential as America justified its policies and actions as part of the struggle to save Capitalist Ideology from the Communist oppressors. Ideology was the main source of conflict between the USA and USSR. This difference in ideology led inevitably to distrust between the two superpowers. The USSR believed in a state controlled economy which discouraged free enterprise, antithesis of America's economic system; the encouragement of free enterprise and the privatization of industry.
Containment was very important for the United States during the Cold War as they tried to prevent the spread of communism onto their country. Containment was necessary as the Soviet Union started growing its influence of communism through Eastern Europe, including countries such as China, Korea, and Vietnam. This was the result of Germany invading the Soviet Union twice in the past thirty years. A diplomat named George Kennan suggested the policy of containment as he states in his famous journal article in 1947 called “The Sources of Soviet Conduct” that “In these circumstances it is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of long-term, patient put firm and vigilant containment of Russian
Truman’s Policy of Containment was the U.S. working to stop the spread of communism. A political tool for Truman’s policy is the Truman Doctrine. His Doctrine is where the U.S. would aid countries around the world who are fighting communism. The Marshall Plan is an economical tool for Truman’s policy. In the Marshall Plan 17 million dollars was given to 16 countries in Europe, not the Soviet Union.
During the Cold War, America's basic policy was that of "containment" of the Soviet Union. The policy of containment was based upon several principles. First, the Soviet Union wanted to spread socialism to all areas of the world. However, it was felt that the leadership of the Soviet Union felt no particular rush to accomplish their goal. "The Kremlin is under no ideological compulsion to accomplish its purposes in a hurry. Like the Church, it is dealing in ideological concepts which are of a long-term validity, and it can afford to be patient. (Hook and Spanier, 42)." In other words, the Soviet leadership believed that, since their ideas were the correct ones, they would eventually prevail, and thus, no direct confrontation would be
and the Soviet Union. During the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the “domino theory” sums up American foreign policy during the Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy administrations. The “domino theory” essentially argues that if a particular country in a region succumbed to a communist regime then the surrounding countries would eventually follow suit. Prior to the Vietnam War, the U.S. desperately tried to prevent nations around the world to fall to communist rule and strengthen the Soviet Union. The Marshall Plan and the permanent stationing of over 100,000 troops in West Germany helped prevent the spread of communism in Europe and the Korean War helped prevent communism and Chinese influence taking over the entire Korean peninsula.
The policy of Containment was a strategic plan that the United States used during the Cold War to inhibit the spread of Communism by the Soviet Union. George Kennan published an article in the magazine Foreign Affairs that proposed the West develop a policy of “containment” toward the Soviet Union. Kennan had 3 goals, Restoration of the balance of power, the reduction of Soviet Power Projection and Modification of the Soviet Union’s concept of International Relations. It was believed that if communism was contained and prevented from spreading then the Soviet Union would be forced to change from within.
The United States and the Soviet Union were the superpowers in the world at this time. Both countries had powerful economies and both had harnessed nuclear energy and weapons. The two powers began to dominate Europe because they wanted to draw European countries to their governments of Democracy or Communism. The policy of containment was a United States effort to keep the Soviet Union from expanding Communism outside their territory and where it already existed. The United States tried to keep the Soviet Union out of the Middle East, south East Asia, and Western Europe.
The United States policy of containment was successful, it both discouraged the spread of communism and prevented the spread of it on more than one occasion. The United States’ policy of containment was successful, as it deterred the spread of communism, smaller communist nations were powerless in comparison and forced to collaborate with larger nations in order to further their agenda of spreading communism. In addition, when there were attempts to spread the influence of communism the United States was there to defend the liberty that democracy provided and to vanquish the communism, in it’s infancy to prevent its growth. This can be seen on more than one occasion in history.
The U.S. response to the devastation of Western Europe can be considered a part of the U.S. policy of containment. The Korean War took place in 1950 – 1953 and was an example of the US cold war policy of containment its basic effort was to minimize the spread and continuation of communism. The Korean War show how far the U.S. would have gone to prevent communism from growing larger. The U.S. got further involved in Korea when china became communist in 1949 when just before the U.S. spent just over 2 million dollars to just prevent this from occurring.
Imagine if you lived in a place where you had no freedom and was ruled by a terrible man named Joseph Stalin. That is what it was like in many countries until America’s policy of containment. The United States made a policy of containment because they didn’t like the idea of communism. Communism is where you have no freedoms and you were under the rule of a dictator. The three main reasons for how did the US contain communism are: the Berlin airlift, Korean war, and finally the missile blockade in Cuba.
As I understand the historical connection between China and United States, they were and in some sense still are both rivals, which began with Mao Zedong driving American-supported Chang out of China soon after the unconditional surrender of the defeat of aggressive Imperial Japan in 1945. Mao took over China and forced Chang to beat a hasty retreat to Taiwan Island. Then in l950, the world witnessed the fierce armed confrontation between Mao led China versus the United Nations' forces with the full backing of United States during the three year Korean War which eventually became a stalemate to this day. Then there was another world-shattering war between U.S. and Communist Soviet-China over the devastating Vietnam. So China had been at
China and U.S. relations are complex, but it is important to attribute historical context when analyzing contemporary issues. Prior to China establishing their global role as a superpower, their nation endured nearly a century of humiliation which began in the 1800s and concluded in the mid-1900s. Although they’ve redeemed their nationalism, the intrusion of Western imperialism created tension and hostility which lasted for years after. Also, the United States’ response to local Chinese events, such as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, negatively impacted their relationship because it was an example of how American media and officials utilized knowledge about particular Chinese events and disseminated various rhetorical messages in response.