The Political Situation at the end of the war

Transcript:The Political Situation at the end of the war:
The Political Situation at the end of the war Congressional elections on 7th November 1944. With the war going well for the US and its allies, Franklin D Roosevelt is re-elected for the 4th time (a record) with Harry S Truman as his running mate House of Representatives and Senate are both Democrat holds or gains FDR dies in office on April 12, 1945. Vice President Harry S Truman assumed office as president and oversaw the acceptance of surrender by the Axis powers. Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union and Molotov his Foreign Minister. The Truman Doctrine The name arose from a speech by President Truman to both houses on March 12th 1947. In light of the deteriorating relationship with the Soviet Union during 1946 The appearance of Soviet meddling in Greek and Turkish affairs The withdrawal of British military and economic assistance to Greece President Truman requested that Congress provide $400,000,000 worth of aid to both the Greek and Turkish Governments and support the dispatch of American civilian and military personnel and equipment to the region. A break with traditional avoidance of foreign intervention during peacetime The Truman Doctrine committed the United States to actively offering assistance to preserve the political integrity of democratic nations when such an offer was deemed to be in the best interest of the United States. The Marshall Plan Europe After World War II Post-war Europe was in dire straits: Millions of its citizens had been killed or seriously wounded. Many European cities had been almost completely destroyed. This included the UK. Transport infrastructure – railways, roads, bridges, and ports – had suffered extensive damage during airstrikes, and the shipping fleets of many countries had been sunk. Reports provided to Marshall suggested that some regions of the continent were on the brink of famine because agricultural and other food production had been disrupted by the fighting. In fact, it could easily be argued that the only world power not structurally affected by the conflict had been the United States. Gen George C Marshall, 50th US Secretary of State The Marshall Plan Formulation of the Plan Marshall visited Europe following the Truman speech in March 1947 to see the devastation for himself. He made a major speech in June 1947 at Harvard University outlining his proposals for structural aid to Europe. The speech contained virtually no numbers and was a challenge to European