The Events of Cold War and Truman's Doctrine on Communism

Were the U.S. actions during the early Cold War consistent with U.S. values? Yes, because the U.S. had the idea to defend themselves by saying big threats if the Soviet Union would fight the U.S. The US government was given the order to give out big threats towards the Soviet Union, due to the orders from the U.S. government, they had made it clear to others that they needed to make nuclear bombs to protect themselves and prevent communism to spread. They also created the Truman Doctrine to prevent the spread of communism.

Nuclear threats were made to scare people like the Soviet Union and China, it was the way to make other countries be cautious in the way to not hurt the U.S. in any way, and to prevent communism from spreading. The other countries were on top of getting the nuclear bombs in on construction. Those threats were nuclear threats to the whole world, and it caused so much panic, that the “Doomsday Clock” went a few minutes close to the end of the world. The document “The Race to Develop Weapons of Mass Destruction” stated, “shortly after the Soviet atomic test, American scientists began discussing plans for a new type of bomb. It would be based not on splitting atoms the technology used in the atomic bomb—but on fusing them. Known as a hydrogen bomb, or H bomb, this weapon would be far more powerful than an atomic bomb.” Shortly after the Soviet atomic test, American scientists began discussing plans for a new type of bomb. It would be based not on splitting atoms the technology used in the atomic bomb—but on atom fusing.

The United States also created the policy called “MAD” and the name means “Mutual Assured Destruction” or it can go by Mutually Assured Deterrence, and it was the doctrine for the military strategy like it was a big huge scale on the use of nuclear weapons. A document had stated something about MAD by the name of Robert Wilde said, “The theory is based on the fact that nuclear weaponry is so devastating that no government wants to use them. Neither side will attack the other with their nuclear weapons because both sides are guaranteed to be totally destroyed in the conflict. No one will go to an all-out nuclear war because no side can win and no side can survive.” This policy helped in preventing communism to spread in Europe during that time.

The Truman Doctrine was a foreign policy whose purpose was to contain the so-called Soviet Expansion when the cold war was happening. That was announced by the 33rd U.S. President, Harry S. Truman. The President presented the document to the US of what he believed would stop the spread of communism. This was all announced by the president in 1947, the question is was it important? The answer is, YES! The reason it's so important is that the Truman Doctrine “implied American support for other nations allegedly threatened by Soviet communism. The Truman Doctrine became the foundation of American foreign policy, and led, in 1949.”

The historian John Lewis Gaddis, a former professor, agreed with the US acting consistently with it’s US ideals, particularly the spread of communism. In his book, Origins of the Cold War, Gaddis praised the key decisions made by the United States during this dangerous and potentially catastrophic era. He mentioned, “By 1995, the number of democracies and representative governments had quintupled (increased 5 x) since the beginning of the Cold War in 1945, a historic development for which the United States and its allies (and even some activists within communist systems) deserve much credit.”

There is a lot on the Cold War and how the U.S. actions during the early Cold War were consistent with U.S. values, especially with preventing the spread of communism. But the question is was it all worth the war, it’s a touchy subject, and hard to explain how there were major faults that might have caused the Cold War. It’s a big question that should’ve been asked more than anything else. The fact of the matter is this Cold war was a big waste of breath and people were fighting and making the world’s biggest threat, and it’s the tie-in for Nuclear.