Source Analysis For Cold War

Resource Description

SOURCE ANALYSIS #1

The Policy of containment was a policy devised by George F. Kennan in 1947 when the capitalist US realised that the Soviet Union had dominated Eastern Europe. The notion of the Policy of Containment was that if the US contained communism, it would not only limit the USSR’s tactical options, but it would also take away nearly all concepts of communism, as it would become stagnant and die out. When US ally the United kingdom informed the US that they were no longer in a position to fight communist insurgencies in Greece and Turkey, US President Harry S. Truman issued what would become known as the Truman Doctrine. This doctrine was a promise that the United States would do anything economically and militarily necessary in order to prevent the communist spread throughout the macro society. On the 20th of January, 1961 in US President John F. Kennedys’ inauguration address (a speech given during a ceremony which informs the people of their intentions as a leader), Kennedy outlined his commitment to continuing Truman’s doctrine of containment. Within this address, recorded via video and transcript, he personally stated that he would commit to: “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty.”