What Was The Marshall Plan Dbq

During the course of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union entered with similar goals in mind. Their alliance, therefore, was formed solely based on mutual interest. After the second World War came to a close, future post-war plans for Germany were discussed in the Yalta and Potsdam conferences 1945. Soviets were frustrated by the U.S. not viewing them as holding just position of power. The United States had been suspicious of Soviet influence spreading throughout the world. In fact, President Harry S. Truman was suspicious of Joseph Stalin’s (Soviet dictator) intentions, after failing to allow free elections in Eastern Germany. Both nations were polarized in differentiating views; one favoring a capitalist democracy (U.S.) and

Marshall. Also known as the European Recovery Program, this plan offered a financial recovery to Western Europe. After World War II, Europe and Asia were left in complete ruins. When Congress accepted Truman’s request for a $17 billion dollar aid, much of Europe recovered over a four year span (ushistory.org). This act may be seen as entirely humanitarian, as explained by Marshall: “Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos. Its purpose should be the revival of a working economy,” (Document C). Marashall’s intentions were only to provide the basic necessities a country needs in order to function; however, it also simultaneously prevented the spread of communism. The Marshall Plan supported the development of stable democratic governments in Western Europe, connecting to the policy of containment. Communism threatened to expand as the Soviets influence spread to much of Eastern Europe. Western Europe faced no serious threat of possible communist control. Soon, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created in 1949 by the United States, Canada, and several Western European nations to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. The establishment of this document further ensured that the spread of communism would not be tolerated, as the nation's associated with this treaty will protect themselves from possible

It was soon decided that Germany were to be broken up into four zones, the Allied powers making up the Western portion while the East would be controlled by the Soviet Union. The Berlin Airlift, also known as the Berlin Blockade, was an operation orchestrated by the U.S. aiding those in Berlin with supplies needed to keep the city running. Berlin was completely surrounded by Soviet zones; Russia closed all highways, railroads, and canals that led west Germany to west Berlin. This move was put into place in order to make food and other such supplies entirely feasible to those who lived in Berlin. Their hopes were to eventually take capitalist influences (Britain, France, and the U.S.) out of the city in order for it to be overrun by communist control. This operation successfully lasted more than a year, helping Berlin as the U.S. delivered more than 2.3 million tons worth of cargo (history.com). The significance of the Berlin Airlift was that it demonstrated to the Soviet Union that the western Allies would not simply allow communism take territories that choose to be democratic. The U.S. was prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to maintain West Berlin’s independence. This idea is further detailed in a photographed image shown on Document B, representing one of the many thousand planes that dropped supplies to those in need within