Essay
Essay on whether Truman's foreign policy was driven by his desire to preserve the peace.
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AQA A-level History Essay Component 2Q ( American Dream) A* essay
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‘Truman’s foreign policy was driven by his desire to preserve the peace’ Explain whether youagree or disagree with this view. (25 marks)
Throughout his entire presidency Truman’s aim regarding foreign policy was containment;
the idea of preventing the spread of communism. He went about this using different methods
all of which were peaceful highlighting his desire to preserve the peace. My main argument
will be in agreement with the statement that Truman’s foreign policy was driven by his desire
to preserve the peace. The three main factors proving this will be Truman’s foreign policy in
Europe, Truman’s foreign policy in Asia, and Truman’s responses to other countries that
posed a threat.
Truman’s foreign policy was driven by his desire to preserve the peace. His peaceful aim is
shown through his foreign policy in Europe. One of his most notable foreign policy efforts in
Europe is the Marshall Plan which was enacted in 1948. The Marshall Plan was a plan to
help aid countries in Europe, including ones under soviet union control, in their economic
recovery following the devastation caused by the war. Over $15 billion was given to
European countries to not only help rebuild their economies, promote democracy, strengthen
the countries against communist threats, and therefore peacefully reinforce the policy of
containment without deploying any troops or violence. Another piece of foreign policy that
shows that Truman’s foreign policy was driven by his desire to preserve the peace is the
1947 Truman Doctrine. The Doctrine famously provided economic and military aid to
countries, specifically Greece which received $400 million, that were under communist
threat. Instead of fighting these threats of communism with violence, the Doctrine committed
the United States to stop the spread of communism through aid and peaceful means,
therefore, proving that Truman’s foreign policy was driven by his desire to preserve the
peace. The last example of Truman’s foreign policy in Europe preserving the peace is the
establishment of NATO in 1949. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a military and
defense alliance formed by 12 countries in Western Europe and Northern America. The
original purpose of NATO was to protect its members from any possible attack from the
Soviet Union. By creating NATO in 1949, Truman successfully was able to fulfill his policy of
containment peacefully; any smaller nations under threat were protected and the soviet
union would be put off from any attacks as they would have to deal with all countries in
NATO. Overall, Truman’s foreign policy in Europe was driven by his desire to preserve the
peace and as a result of this, he was able to fulfill his policy of containment peacefully.
Truman’s foreign policy was not driven by his desire to preserve peace, in fact, Truman’s
foreign policy resulted in destruction and violence in many instances. An example of
Truman’s foreign policy not preserving peace and instead, causing destruction was the 1945
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bombings resulted in the deaths of more
than 220,000 people and millions of Japanese people were victims of radiation poisoning.
The bombings also increased tensions between the Soviet Union and the US as Truman
failed to inform Stalin of his plan to bomb Japan in order to end the war. His secrecy over the
atomic bomb caused mistrust and implied superiority over their Soviet ally. Therefore, by
carrying out the bombing in Japan, Truman destroyed the lives of many and did not preserve
the peaceful relationship Roosevelt had with Stalin. Preserving the peace was not his main
desire with foreign policy, Truman was more concerned with having control. Another
instance of Truman’s foreign policy not preserving peace was in the Korean War. During the
war, General MacArthur, who commanded UN troops, orchestrated the attack on Incheon;
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