The Spread of Communism in Europe
Beginning of 1947. Moscow has put its hand on a significant part of Europe and seeks to dominate its continental part. Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Albania already have purely communist governments, and communists are entering governments in Czechoslovakia, France, Finland, Hungary, Italy, and Belgium, and holding key positions in them. In Greece, the northern part of the country is controlled by the so-called “Democratic Army” created by the communists, and “maquis” — guerrillas controlled by the Communist Party operate in Spain, with their bases located in the territory of France near Toulouse.
The number of the Red Army on European territory alone exceeds 4 million “bayonets” (and there are also the forces of the Ministry of State Security (Soviet Union), the Ministry of Internal Affairs, border guards, etc.); for a country with a population of about 170 million, this is an enormous figure, more than twice as large as the armed formations that can be afforded in peacetime. The latest T-54 tank has been put on the conveyor (the one currently being taken out of storage in Russia for the war with Ukraine); tens of thousands of tanks are ready to jump to the West. And in Great Britain, the leader of the Labour Party, Clement Attlee, who came to power with a promise to “build socialism even better than Stalin,” launched a massive nationalization campaign and sold the USSR a license to produce the best jet engines in the world, including those for supersonic fighters. If anything is restraining the Kremlin from seizing all of Europe, it is the presence of nuclear bombs in the United States and a large strategic aviation fleet. However, on December 25, 1946, the first Soviet nuclear reactor (copied from the American one) was launched, and intensive work is underway on the Soviet (also copied) nuclear bomb. The strategic bomber Tu-4 (a copy of the American B-29) is being prepared for its first flight. However, on December 25, 1946, the first Soviet nuclear reactor (copied from the American one) was launched, and intensive work is underway on the Soviet (also copied) nuclear bomb. The strategic bomber Tu-4 (a copy of the American B-29) is being prepared for its first flight.
Truman’s Speech: assistance to Greece and Turkey
And so, in this situation, on March 12, 1947, US President Harry Truman delivered a programmatic speech to the US Congress on the obligation of his country to help countries that have become or may become victims of Soviet aggression. Truman named Greece and Turkey as the first among them.
“Greece is a poor country. When the liberation forces entered Greece, they found that the Germans had destroyed practically all the railways and roads, port facilities, means of communication, and the merchant fleet. More than a thousand villages were burned down. 85% of children are sick with tuberculosis. Livestock, poultry, and aquatic life have almost completely disappeared. Inflation has wiped out practically all savings. Currently, the very existence of the Greek state is threatened by the terrorist activities of several thousand armed persons, controlled by Communists, who challenge the authority of the government in a number of areas. The Greek army is weak and poorly equipped. Greece needs help to become a self-sufficient and respected democratic country,” emphasized Harry Truman.
Truman does not idealize the Greek government: “The Greek government operates in an atmosphere of chaos and extremism. It has made many mistakes. Providing assistance to this country does not mean that the United States justifies everything the Greek government has done or will do.”
At the same time, he emphasizes, “the disappearance of Greece as a free state will have a profound impact on those European countries whose peoples are struggling with enormous difficulties to defend their freedom and independence, seeking at the same time to rebuild the ruins caused by the war. The collapse of free institutions and the loss of independence would be disastrous not only for them but for the entire world. Disillusionment and possibly complete catastrophe would quickly become the fate of neighboring peoples who are striving to preserve their freedom and independence.” Therefore, the US should help Greece, and along with it, Turkey, which avoided the disasters of war but faced problems “carrying out the modernization of the country necessary to maintain national territorial integrity.” As it is known, Stalin sought to fulfill the long-standing dream of Russian emperors — to capture Constantinople and the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits. At first, he tried to negotiate this with Hitler, and then with Churchill and Roosevelt. The real threat of Soviet invasion hung over Turkey, so the latter turned to the US for help.
Greece and Turkey did receive this assistance. Moreover, its financial part was not in the form of loans, but as grants, without repayment. These countries also received assistance in the form of goods, equipment, weapons, and medicine. At Truman’s request, Congress sanctioned the dispatch of instructors and experts — both civilian and military and allocated funds necessary for training specially selected Greek and Turkish personnel. As a result, significant and timely aid stopped the implementation of the Kremlin’s aggressive plans.
The current left-wing professors of Western universities claim that Truman lied, since “the guerrillas in Greece were supported not by the USSR, but Yugoslavia, whose relations with the Soviet Union were quite tense (and almost completely severed a year later), and the USSR demanded not control over the Dardanelles but guarantees that this strategic strait would not be handed over to the enemies of the USSR, as happened during World War II.” This lie, unfortunately, is posted on the Ukrainian-language Internet portal “This day in history,” but it is refuted by another article on the same portal authored by Volodymyr Lukyanuk, which states that “the Communists created the Democratic Army of Greece, which, with military support from the USSR, Bulgaria, Albania, and Yugoslavia, began a new civil war that ended in defeat when in the spring of 1949, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union gave a direct instruction to the Communist Party of Greece to cease resistance.” Well, during the war, neutral Turkey only allowed civilian ships to use the straits; however, in reality, only Axis powers made use of this. As for Stalin’s plans, their extreme aggressiveness is proven by numerous documents.
Let’s return to Truman’s speech. It outlined the general principles of a geopolitical doctrine that later became known by his name.
See also: Foreign voices of Russian propaganda: who and how justifies Putin in the world
Truman’s view on totalitarianism and independence
“One of the main objectives of the foreign policy of the United States is to create conditions under which we and other nations of the world can develop a way of life free from coercion. To guarantee peaceful, coercion-free development of states, the United States has taken a leading role in the formation of the United Nations. This organization has been created to provide all its members with freedom and independence for a long time to come. However, we will not achieve our goal unless we are willing to help freedom-loving peoples secure their free institutions and territorial integrity from aggressors who seek to impose their totalitarian regimes upon them. Totalitarian regimes imposed on people as a result of direct or indirect aggression undermine the foundations of international peace and therefore the security of the United States. At this stage of world history, almost all countries must choose their way of life for themselves. However, too often this choice is unfree. One way of life is based on the freedom of the majority and is characterized by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of personal freedom, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression. The second way of life is based on the will of a minority, imposed by force on the majority. It relies on terror and oppression, controlled press and radio, rigged elections and suppression of personal freedoms. The policy of the United States should be to support free peoples who are resisting outside pressures or armed minorities seeking to subjugate them. I believe that we must assist free peoples to work out their future. I am convinced that our assistance should be primarily provided through economic and financial resources, which are essential for economic stability and ensuring the normal course of political processes. By providing assistance to free and independent states in preserving their freedom, the United States affirm the principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” Harry Truman states.
Truman considers totalitarian regimes a global evil, especially those “imposed from outside”. The current Western ideological framework avoids the term “totalitarianism,” operating with the concept of “authoritarian regimes,” under which fundamentally different political systems are subsumed. By the way, Turkey at that time had a classical authoritarian regime, but totalitarianism imposed from outside would have been much worse for the country.
Truman’s logic is based on the idea that primary independence is crucial, first and foremost the removal of the threat of totalitarian occupation, and then dealing with political freedoms, economic progress, and fighting corruption… More than 75 years have passed since the proclamation of the Truman Doctrine, but it is not outdated at all. On the contrary, its provisions are highly relevant due to Russia’s traditional Soviet-style geopolitical strategy.
Originally posted by Serhii Grabovskyi on the Day (Kyiv). Translated and edited by the UaPosition – Ukrainian news and analytics website
See also: Failed state
