The war ended and the world was thrown into new territory, there were essentially two superpowers left in the world. Great Britain, France and Germany were all decimated either financially and/or physically, leaving only the United States and Russia to duel o

On Friday, February 21, 1947 the British Embassy in Washington D.C. alerted the United States Department officials that Great Britain could no longer provide financial aide to Greece and Turkey. This was a huge problem for the anti-communist government of the United States. Both Greece and Turkey had rapidly deteriorating economies, and perhaps more problematic was the rise of Communist led parties in each country. The U.S. had been monitoring the situation in the two countries before Great Britain sent word of their inability to aide Greece and Turkey. So on March 12, 1947 Harry S. Truman revealed a newly devised policy of foreign policy. This doctrine outlined a new stance being taken by the United States regarding eastern countries and the rise of communism. “If we falter in our leadership, we may endanger the peace of the world—and we shall surely endanger the welfare of our own Nation.” . That was the last line of the speech that Truman gave to the joint sessions of congress on March 12, 1947. The aide outlined in Truman’s speech is not a significant amount monetarily, four hundred million dollars were sent as aide to both Turkey and Greece. What this new doctrine put forth by Truman did was allow for the United States to publicly standout against Russia and stand up for any democratic or free country in the world. Many historians feel that this new foreign policy is what kept the United States so strong for many years. Lynn Boyd Hinds and Theodore Otto Windt Jr. in their book the Cold War as Rhetoric viewed the Truman Doctrine as neatly thought out and very necessary to increase both Truman and the United State’s authority as a world power. These two authors go on to state that in this doctrine it is clear and evident that communism in evil and since Russia is the largest proponent of communism they not only pose a legitimate threat to every country in its surroundings, but more importantly to the security of the United States itself . A very patriotic view of the Truman Doctrine may be a correct one but it is most certainly not the only opinion among authors and historians to date. Roger S. Whitcomb in his book argues that the Truman Doctrine needlessly harmed the United States and Soviet Union relations. Whitcomb among others argues that the Truman Doctrine was a poor decision on the president’s part. He maintains that this doctrine presents a far too oversimplified view of the world. Russia as communist-evil and the United States as anti-communist-good are childish. Whitcomb further argues that this doctrine increased dramatically the hatred toward the United States by the Russians, and hastened the militarization of the Cold War . Since the Truman Doctrine was carried out and regardless of what side you take on its importance, it is apparent that the new foreign policy at the very least fueled the Cold War.

The Cold War, which essentially began in 1945 after the end of WW II, has been analyzed and over analyzed. Since the Cold War lasted for so long, engulfed in it is many other important historical factors. Midway through 1948 the Soviet Union began to blockade the City of Berlin. This obvious slap in the face to the post war agreement between Russia and the United Nations. This would turn into the Berlin Crisis, Truman played a crucial role in this crisis no matter which side you take. Harry Truman, a big advocate of the United Nations, acted by most accounts cautiously when it came to Berlin. Avi Shlaim wrote a book about the United States and the Berlin blockade where he defines why he thought Truman was cautious about Berlin. According to Shlaim there is not question that the airlift of supplies into Berlin was necessary and Truman and Great Britain did not act cautiously on that regard; it was however the fact that Truman decided to airlift instead of breaking the blockade forcefully that is debated in his book . Shlaim throughout the Berlin Crisis was preoccupied with

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