Soviets Tighten their Grip on Eastern Europe After the war, Soviets made it clear that they were a nation of enormous economic and military strength They, unlike the U.S. however, had suffered much devastation on their own land. 20 million Soviets had died, half of them being civilians Because of these deaths, they felt as though they were owed Eastern Europe If they had this land, they felt they could better prevent future attacks from the west.

Soviets Tighten their Grip on Eastern Europe Stalin implemented communist governments in countries such as Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Poland These countries became collectively known as “satellite nations”. This meant they were dominated by the Soviet Union In early 1946, Stalin announced another war was imminent and that communism and capitalism were incompatible

U.S. Establishes a Policy of Containment Americans decided it was time to stop “babying the Soviets”. George Kennan introduced a policy of containment. This meant taking measures to prevent any extension of communist rule to other countries This guided Truman’s foreign policy Europe was now divided into two: mostly democratic western Europe and communist Eastern Europe

Iron curtain: this meant the division between the two sides in Europe Iron curtain: this meant the division between the two sides in Europe. Churchill called the division this in a speech Stalin said that Churchill’s speech was a call to war

The Truman Doctrine U.S. began to contain the Soviet influence in Greece and Turkey. Britain was sending economic and military support to both countries in order to prevent a takeover Britain was soon hurting by the amount of aid being sent and how much money had been spent in WWII. They asked the U.S. to takeover giving aid Truman accepted this and asked Congress for $400 million for economic and military aid for both Turkey and Greece.

The Truman Doctrine The Truman Doctrine was a statement he gave that “it MUST be the policy of the United States to support free people who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressure” Congress agreed and approved the aid. Congress also said that the doctrine was essential to keeping Soviet influence from spreading.

The Marshall Plan Western Europe was pure chaos People were living in refugee camps, factories were bombed or looted The governments were attempting to figure out what to do to help That winter was the coldest in centuries This caused damaged crops and frozen rivers. The frozen rivers prevented water transportation and caused a fuel shortage

1947: George Marshall, Secretary of State, proposed that the U. S 1947: George Marshall, Secretary of State, proposed that the U.S. provide aid to all European nations that needed it. This move would be a move against hunger, poverty, desperation and chaos. This plan gave Europe hope for the future Over the next 4 years, 16 countries received around $13 billion in aid. 1952: Western Europe was flourishing and the communist party had lost its appeal.