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When the 2nd World War was over, Europe was a "rubble-heap, a charnel house, a breeding ground of pestilence and hate" (Winston Churchill, May 14, 1947).
The communist menace grew larger and larger. Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, East-Germany, Romania, Austria and Czechoslovakia were under Russian occupation and Greece and Turkey where also under Soviet pressure.
Truman soon realised, that communism was only a dictatorship and the enemy of the free world. (As he would say in his inauguration speech of his 2nd term, "Communism is based on the belief that man is so weak and inadequate, that he is unable to govern himself".)
Eastern Europe had already disappeared behind the Iron Curtain, but there was still the chance of saving Western Europe, Greece and Turkey. He decided to give Greece and Turkey a huge financial aid to counter the Russian controlled communist influence, who were once more in Russian history a try to get access to the mediterran sea.
On March 7, 1947 he held a famous speech in the Senate about the American-Russian relations: "At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is often not a free one.
One way of life is based upon the will of the majority, and is distinguished by free institutions, representative government, free elections, guarantees of individual liberty, freedom of speech and religion, and freedom from political oppression.
The second way of life is based upon the will of a minority forcibly imposed upon the majority. It relies upon terror and oppression, a controlled press and radio, fixed elections, and the suppression of personal freedoms. [...] I believe that we must assist free people to work their own destinies in their own way. I believe that our help should be primarily through economic and financial aid which is essential to economic stability and orderly political processes. [...] Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour, the effect will be far reaching to West as well as to the East. We must take immediate and resolute action."
The Senate approved his plan by a vote of 67 to 23, and it was the first step of the new "Truman doctrine", which meant not to tolerate communistic aggressions in democratic countries.
The financial aid soon showed effect, and Turkey and Greece seemed to be secured. But still the Soviets had no will in agreement with the USA, and Truman felt that more had to be done to stabilise Europe.
So he gave General Marshall the order to create an "European Recovery Program", the ERP, or as it was called by media, the "Marshall plan" (some also called "Truman plan", but the President always refused the honour and said, that it was Marshall who had worked it out in details). The costs of the ERP were huge: 17$ billion but the Senate approved it. General Marshall also offered financial aid to the countries behind the Iron Curtain, but they rejected the "imperialistic US-Propaganda".
Truman went on a speaking-tour across the country to convince the people of the necessity of the Marshall plan, and so most Americans were quiet satisfied with the new, international doctrine of the United States. Privately Truman argued for the ERP by comparing it with the estimated costs for a war with Russia: 400$ billion. He was very proud of his policy and wrote into his diary: "We are the first in history who feed and support the conquered. Our neighbours are not afraid of us."
When the ERP started in 1948, the World already spoke of a Cold War, since there were no more talks between the 2 world powers. In spring 1948, Czechoslovakia was invaded by Russian forces and proclaimed a new "people's republic". It became clear to Truman that, "The will for peace must be backed up with strength" and therefore he thought of establishing an alliance of the free Western counties.
The situation became critical, when in June 1948, the Russian set up a blockade around Berlin, which was in Soviet-controlled area. The clear intention of the USSR was to force a withdraw from Berlin, but Truman wanted to make a sign of strength. He rejected his advisers proposals of armed convoys or counter-provocations to maintain the supply of the former German capital. He invented the "Berlin Airlift", which was a full-scale airlift of supplies flown in by American machines. This turned out to be his most brilliant strategic move during the Cold War and it was strongly affecting West-European morals. The airlift became a success, and in May 1949 the Russians lifted the blockade.
Truman would celebrate this as his victory. More than once in this few years the world had been close to a war, but he had prevented it with success. The Marshall-plan, the Truman doctrine, the NATO and the Berlin Airlift, were undoubtedly his most brilliant decisions, and as Churchill later would regard, "This man had done more for the free World as any other in history".
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