#92 - The Truman Doctrine

* And so on March 12, 1947, before a joint session of Congress, President Truman articulated, for the first time, a comprehensive American foreign policy for the postwar world. * He did not mention the Soviet Union by name, or refer to the need to contain its power in Europe, though he did place American freedom against "totalitarian regimes." * Appealing to American universalist ideals, he declared that U.S. foreign policy henceforth must side with any nation facing aggression, anywhere in the world. * WATCH IT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=-LMXGFhfbCs * READ IT: https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/harrystrumantrumandoctrine.html * Why not the UN? * Because the U.S.S.R. would intervene. * But that’s the POINT of the UN. * International co-operation. * Here we are, a year and change after the creation of the UN, and the U.S. is already acting unilaterally in European affairs. * His key phrases: * I believe 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. * I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their own destinies in their own way. * I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes. * What about the free peoples who are resisting armed MAJORITIES? * What about the free peoples of Palestine? * You’ll notice that in his speech, Truman never mentions the Soviets by name. * But he hints at them. * He mentions Yalta and “totalitarian regimes”. * So the Soviets have officially gone from being Allied and friends to the boogieman. * BTW. * Please note that Truman in 1947 is referring to the U.S.S.R. as a “totalitarian regime”. * When people point to the U.S.S.R. and say “look! Socialism doesn’t work!” I always point out that it wasn’t actually socialism or communism - it was totalitarianism. * People seem to think that socialism has to be totalitarian. * Which is, of course, nonsense. * Australia has a form of socialism - "social democracy". * One of our two major political parties, the ALP, calls itself a democratic socialist party. * So does Finland. * So does Sweden. * None of those countries have totalitarian governments. * Socialism and democracy can go together. * Just remember that. * Back to Truman. * His speech was really just a rehash of Churchill’s “We Will Fight Them On The Beaches” speech. * Truman expanded on it. * “We will fight them on the beaches… of other countries… even if they don’t want us to." * And how did the Soviets respond to his speech? * Six days later, Nikolai Novikov, who had returned from Washington to Moscow to take part in a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, discussed Truman’s speech with Molotov. * He said The speech showed that the United States would support “reactionary regimes” in those countries where they existed, and would try to undermine the progressive regimes of Eastern Europe. * Novikov writes in his memoirs That Molotov replied with an ironical smile * Molotov said, “The President is trying to intimidate us,” “to turn us at a stroke into obedient little boys. But we don’t give a damn. At the meeting of the Council [of Foreign Ministers] we will firmly pursue our principled line.” * Origins of Cold War; an International History, 2e (2005).pdf - page 73 * Now the implications of the Truman Doctrine were enormous. * Until 1947, the U.S. had openly criticised countries that played power politics. * Now it has committed itself to playing it on a global scale. * But as a political tactic, it worked: Truman received the support he wanted from Republicans who wanted the U.S Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices