Changes

==Causes==

==Causes==

The success of the wartime alliance with Britain, China and the Soviet Union led Americans to reject the isolationism of the interwar years.  Victory in 1945 and the demobilization of the world’s armies and navies brought a general sense of confidence that the wartime alliance would continue and form the leadership of the new [[United Nations]], Hopefully the UN would provide the basis for international law and the solution of all serious problems, but it never lived up to expectations.  Instead, by 1947 the wartime alliance collapsed;  The basic reason being an incompatibility in the two systems that each sought to remold the world too, either in American terms of democracy, liberal government, and capitalism, or else the Soviet goals of the dictatorship of the Communist party as the mechanism to destroy capitalism.  In immediate terms, the issue was the independence of Poland, Czechoslovakia and other central and eastern European countries that had been taken over first by the Nazis, and after 1945 by the Soviet army.   

The success of the wartime alliance with Britain, China and the Soviet Union led Americans to reject the isolationism of the interwar years.  Victory in 1945 and the demobilization of the world's armies and navies brought a general sense of confidence that the wartime alliance would continue and form the leadership of the new [[United Nations]], Hopefully the UN would provide the basis for international law and the solution of all serious problems, but it never lived up to expectations.  Instead, by 1947 the wartime alliance collapsed;  The basic reason being an incompatibility in the two systems that each sought to remold the world too, either in American terms of democracy, liberal government, and capitalism, or else the Soviet goals of the dictatorship of the Communist party as the mechanism to destroy capitalism.  In immediate terms, the issue was the independence of Poland, Czechoslovakia and other central and eastern European countries that had been taken over first by the Nazis, and after 1945 by the Soviet army.   

[[Harry S. Truman]] had no knowledge or interest in foreign policy before becoming president in April 1945, and depended on the State Department for foreign policy advice. In 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat wrote the ''Long Telegram'', in which argued for the necessity of [[Containment|containing]] the Soviet Union.  His cable resonated with President [[Harry Truman]]'s administration and Truman shifted from FDR's détente to [[containment]] as soon as [[Dean Acheson]] convinced him the Soviet Union was a long-term threat to American interests. They viewed Communism as a secular, millennial religion that informed the Kremlin's worldview and actions and made it the chief threat to American security, liberty, and world peace. They rejected the moral equivalence of democratic and Communist governments and concluded that until the regime in Moscow changed only American and Allied strength could curb the Soviets.  

[[Harry S. Truman]] had no knowledge or interest in foreign policy before becoming president in April 1945, and depended on the State Department for foreign policy advice. In 1946, George Kennan, an American diplomat wrote the ''Long Telegram'', in which argued for the necessity of [[Containment|containing]] the Soviet Union.  His cable resonated with President [[Harry Truman]]'s administration and Truman shifted from FDR's détente to [[containment]] as soon as [[Dean Acheson]] convinced him the Soviet Union was a long-term threat to American interests. They viewed Communism as a secular, millennial religion that informed the Kremlin's worldview and actions and made it the chief threat to American security, liberty, and world peace. They rejected the moral equivalence of democratic and Communist governments and concluded that until the regime in Moscow changed only American and Allied strength could curb the Soviets.  

====Containment====

====Containment====

In 1947 Truman, a Democrat, convinced the Republican-controlled Congress to support the [[Truman Doctrine]] by sending massive aid to the small country of Greece, threatened by a Communist takeover.  The rest of Europe was still in economic ruin, which Washington feared would help the spread of Communism, so the [[Marshall Plan]] was proposed to help restore the European economies.  When Stalin engineered a Communist takeover of democratic Czechoslovakia in early 1948 and forbade his satellites to accept the [[Marshall Plan]] money, Americans realized that Winston Churchill’s warnings about an “iron curtain” had come true.   

In 1947 Truman, a Democrat, convinced the Republican-controlled Congress to support the [[Truman Doctrine]] by sending massive aid to the small country of Greece, threatened by a Communist takeover.  The rest of Europe was still in economic ruin, which Washington feared would help the spread of Communism, so the [[Marshall Plan]] was proposed to help restore the European economies.  When Stalin engineered a Communist takeover of democratic Czechoslovakia in early 1948 and forbade his satellites to accept the [[Marshall Plan]] money, Americans realized that Winston Churchill's warnings about an “iron curtain” had come true.   

The strategy of isolationism had failed by 1941; the strategy of détente(or friendship) with Communism had failed by 1948.  Some argued for a strategy of direct confrontation or "[[Rollback]]"—but this was considered too dangerous, especially when the Soviets tested their first nuclear weapon in 1950.   

The strategy of isolationism had failed by 1941; the strategy of détente(or friendship) with Communism had failed by 1948.  Some argued for a strategy of direct confrontation or "[[Rollback]]"—but this was considered too dangerous, especially when the Soviets tested their first nuclear weapon in 1950.