The Containment Policy. In the fall of 1946, Greek Communists revolted against the Greek government. Great Britain had been giving military and economic aid to Greece. But the British told the United States they could no longer give enough help to the Greeks. The British also warned that they could not help Turkey resist Communist pressure.
In March 1947, President Truman declared that the United States would help any free nation resist Communist aggression (attack). Congress granted his request for $400 million for aid to Greece and Turkey. With this aid, both Greece and Turkey successfully resisted Communism. The new American policy became known as the Truman Doctrine. Aimed at Soviet expansion in Europe, the Truman Doctrine developed into the Containment Policy. The Containment Policy was designed to contain (hold back) the expansion of Communism throughout the world.
The foreign ministers of the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union met in Moscow in March and April 1947. They tried to draw up a German peace treaty. But the ministers could not agree on ways to end the occupation or on how to unify Germany.
The failure of the conference convinced U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall that the U.S.S.R. would not help Europe recover from World War II. In June 1947, Marshall proposed giving U.S. economic aid to all European nations that would cooperate in plans for their own recovery. This proposal grew into the European Recovery Program, or Marshall Plan, which began in 1948. The United States believed that a strong, stable Western Europe would block the spread of Communism. Meanwhile, in September 1947, the U.S.S.R. and eight other European Communist parties set up the Cominform, a new version of the Communist International.
Czechoslovakia and Poland wanted to take part in the Marshall Plan, but the U.S.S.R. would not let them accept U.S. aid. Instead, the Soviet Union set up the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) in January 1949. This organization was designed to unite the East European satellites economically and politically.
In June 1948, the Western Allies announced plans to unify their German occupation zones and establish the West German Federal Republic (West Germany). West Germany was formally established in September 1949. It had independence in some of its internal affairs, and it joined the Marshall Plan.
Also in June 1948, the U.S.S.R. harshly criticized Tito, the Communist leader of Yugoslavia. Tito then declared his country's independence from Soviet control.