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04/22/2004
The Truman Doctrine
*Hott Spotts will return 5/6*
I was reading a speech by President Harry Truman the other day
and I thought there were more than a few parallels to the war and
reconstruction effort in Iraq. No doubt, one year after the fall of
Saddam Hussein the coalition faces a daunting task in
establishing a beachhead of democracy in Iraq. But it’s easy to
forget that in the immediate aftermath of World War II, there
were many similar problems across the globe, one of which was
in Greece where communists threatened to overthrow a shaky
government. President Truman decided to draw a line in the
sand with an aid request under the guise of support for any
democracy threatened by outside interference. It was to be called
“The Truman Doctrine.”
In practice, the United States didn’t act against communist
takeovers in Eastern Europe during this period, but Truman did
react against the invasion of South Korea later on. The speech
below emphasizes economic stability and orderly political
processes to assist those resisting subjugation.
And while the communists were eventually defeated in Greece, a
few years thereafter Greece and Turkey clashed over Cyprus.
After about 50 years of division, this April 24, Greek- and
Turkish-Cypriots go to the polls to vote on a referendum for
reunifying the country. So the following is timely on more than
one level. It’s also just a good history lesson.
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March 12, 1947
The gravity of the situation which confronts the world today
necessitates my appearance before a joint session of the
Congress. The foreign policy and the national security of this
country are involved.
One aspect of the present situation, which I wish to present to
you at this time for your consideration and decision, concerns
Greece and Turkey.
The United States has received from the Greek Government an
urgent appeal for financial and economic assistance. Preliminary
reports from the American Economic Mission now in Greece and
reports from the American Ambassador in Greece corroborate
the statement of the Greek Government that assistance is
imperative if Greece is to survive as a free nation.
I do not believe that the American people and the Congress wish
to turn a deaf ear to the appeal of the Greek Government.
Greece is not a rich country. Lack of sufficient natural resources
has always forced the Greek people to work hard to make both
ends meet. Since 1940, this industrious and peace-loving
country has suffered invasion, four years of cruel enemy
occupation, and bitter internal strife.
When forces of liberation entered Greece they found that the
retreating Germans had destroyed virtually all the railways,
roads, port facilities, communications and merchant marine.
More than a thousand villages had been burned. Eighty-five
percent of the children were tubercular. Livestock, poultry and
draft animals had almost disappeared. Inflation had wiped out
practically all savings.
As a result of these tragic conditions, a military minority,
exploiting human want and misery, was able to create political
chaos which, until now, has made economic recovery impossible.
Greece is today without funds to finance the importation of those
goods which are essential to bare subsistence. Under these
circumstances the people of Greece cannot make progress in
solving their problems of reconstruction. Greece is in desperate
need of financial and economic assistance to enable it to resume
purchases of food, clothing, fuel and seeds. These are
indispensable for the subsistence of its people and are obtainable
only from abroad. Greece must have help to import the goods
necessary to restore internal order and security so essential for
economic and political recovery.
The Greek Government has also asked for the assistance of
experienced American administrators, economists and
technicians to insure that the financial and other aid given to
Greece shall be used effectively in creating a stable and self-
sustaining economy and in improving its public administration.
The very existence of the Greek state is today threatened by the
terrorist activities of several thousand armed men, led by
Communists, who defy the Government’s authority at a number
of points, particularly along the northern boundaries. A
commission appointed by the United Nations Security Council is
at present investigating disturbed conditions in northern Greece
and alleged border violations along the frontier between Greece
on the one hand and Albania, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on the
other.
Meanwhile, the Greek Government is unable to cope with the
situation. The Greek Army is small and poorly equipped. It
needs supplies and equipment if it is to restore the authority of
the Government throughout Greek territory.
Greece must have assistance if it is to become a self-supporting
and self-respecting democracy.
The United States must supply that assistance. We have already
extended to Greece certain types of relief and economic aid but
these are inadequate. There is no other country to which
democratic Greece can turn.
No other nation is willing and able to provide the necessary
support for a democratic Greek Government.
The British Government, which has been helping Greece, can
give no further financial or economic aid after March. Great
Britain finds itself under the necessity of reducing or liquidating
its commitments in several parts of the world, including Greece.
We have considered how the United Nations might assist in this
crisis. But the situation is an urgent one requiring immediate
action, and the United Nations and its related organizations are
not in a position to extend help of the kind that is required.
It is important to note that the Greek Government has asked for
our aid in utilizing effectively the financial and other assistance
we may give to Greece, and in improving public administration.
It is of the utmost importance that we supervise the use of any
funds made available to Greece, in such a manner that each
dollar spent will count toward making Greece self-supporting,
and will help to build an economy in which a healthy democracy
can flourish.
No government is perfect. One of the chief virtues of a
democracy, however, is that its defects are always visible and
under democratic processes can be pointed out and corrected.
The Government of Greece is not perfect. Nevertheless it
represents 85 percent of the members of the Greek parliament
who were chosen in an election last year. Foreign observers,
including 692 Americans, considered this election to be a fair
expression of the views of the Greek people.
The Greek Government has been operating in an atmosphere of
chaos and extremism. It has made mistakes. The extension of
aid by this country does not mean that the United States
condones everything that the Greek Government has done or will
do. We have condemned in the past, and we condemn now,
extremist measures of the Right or the Left. We have in the past
advised tolerance, and we advise tolerance now.
Greece’s neighbor, Turkey, also deserves our attention.
The future of Turkey as an independent and economically sound
State is clearly no less important to the freedom-loving peoples
of the world than the future of Greece. The circumstances in
which Turkey finds itself today are considerably different from
those of Greece. Turkey has been spared the disasters that have
beset Greece. And during the war, the United States and Great
Britain furnished Turkey with material aid.
Nevertheless, Turkey now needs our support.
Since the war Turkey has sought financial assistance from Great
Britain and the United States for the purpose of effecting that
modernization necessary for the maintenance of its national
integrity.
That integrity is essential to the preservation of order in the
Middle East.
The British Government has informed us that, owing to its own
difficulties, it can no longer extend financial or economic aid to
Turkey.
As in the case of Greece, if Turkey is to have the assistance it
needs, the United States must supply it. We are the only country
able to provide that help.
I am fully aware of the broad implications involved if the United
States extends assistance to Greece and Turkey, and I shall
discuss these implications with you at this time.
One of the primary objectives of the foreign policy of the United
States is the creation of conditions in which we and other nations
will be able to work out a way of life free from coercion. This
was a fundamental issue in the war with Germany and Japan.
Our victory was won over countries which sought to impose their
will, and their way of life, upon other nations.
To ensure the peaceful development of nations, free from
coercion, the United States has taken a leading part in
establishing the United Nations. The United Nations is designed
to make possible lasting freedom and independence for all its
members. We shall not realize our objectives, however, unless
we are willing to help free people to maintain their free
institutions and their national integrity against aggressive
movements that seek to impose upon them totalitarian regimes.
This is no more than a frank recognition that totalitarian regimes
imposed on free peoples, by direct or indirect aggression,
undermine the foundations of international peace and hence the
security of the United States.
The peoples of a number of countries of the world have recently
had totalitarian regimes forced upon them against their will. The
Government of the United States has made frequent protests
against coercion and intimidation in violation of the Yalta
agreement, in Poland, Rumania, and Bulgaria. I must also state
that in a number of other countries there have been similar
developments.
At the present moment in world history nearly every nation must
choose between alternative ways of life. The choice is too 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, guaranties 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 it must be the policy of the United States to support
free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed
minorities or by outside pressures. I believe that we must assist
free peoples to work out 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.
The world is not static, and the status quo is not sacred. But we
cannot allow changes in the status quo in violation of the Charter
of the United Nations by such methods as coercion, or by such
subterfuges as political infiltration. In helping free and
independent nations to maintain their freedom, the United States
will be giving effect to the principles of the Charter of the United
Nations.
It is necessary only to glance at a map to realize that the survival
and integrity of the Greek nation are of grave importance in a
much wider situation. If Greece should fall under the control of
an armed minority, the effect upon its neighbor, Turkey, would
be immediate and serious. Confusion and disorder might well
spread throughout the entire Middle East.
Moreover, the disappearance of Greece as an independent State
would have a profound effect upon those countries in Europe
whose peoples are struggling against great difficulties to
maintain their freedoms and their independence while they repair
the damages of war. It would be an unspeakable tragedy if these
countries, which have struggled so long against overwhelming
odds, should lose that victory for which they sacrificed so much.
Collapse of free institutions and loss of independence would be
disastrous not only for them but for the world.
Discouragement and possibly failure would quickly be the lot of
neighboring peoples striving to maintain their freedom and
independence.
Should we fail to aid Greece and Turkey in this fateful hour, the
effect will be far-reaching to the West as well as to the East. We
must take immediate and resolute action.
I therefore ask the Congress to provide authority for assistance to
Greece and Turkey in the amount of $400,000,000 for the period
ending June 30, 1948. In requesting these funds, I have taken
into consideration the maximum amount of relief assistance
which would be furnished to Greece out of the $350,000,000
which I recently requested that the Congress authorize for the
prevention of starvation and suffering in countries devastated by
the war.
In addition to funds, I ask the Congress to authorize the detail of
American civilian and military personnel to Greece and Turkey,
at the request of those countries, to assist in the tasks of
reconstruction, and for the purpose of supervising the use of such
financial and material assistance as may be furnished. I
recommend that authority also be provided for the instruction
and training of selected Greek and Turkish personnel.
Finally, I ask that the Congress provide authority which will
permit the speediest and most effective use, in terms of needed
commodities, supplies and equipment, of such funds as may be
authorized.
If further funds, or further authority, should be needed for
purposes indicated in this message, I shall not hesitate to bring
the situation before the Congress. On this subject the executive
and legislative branches of the Government must work together.
This is a serious course upon which we embark. I would not
recommend it except that the alternative is much more serious.
The United States contributed $341,000,000,000 toward winning
World War II. This is an investment in world freedom and world
peace. The assistance that I am recommending for Greece and
Turkey amounts to little more than one-tenth of 1 percent of this
investment. It is only common sense that we should safeguard
this investment and make sure that it was not in vain.
The seeds of totalitarian regimes are nurtured by misery and
want. They spread and grow in the evil soil of poverty and strife.
They reach their full growth when the hope of a people for a
better life has died. We must keep that hope alive.
The free peoples of the world look to us for support in
maintaining their freedoms. If we falter in our leadership, we
may endanger the peace of the world and we shall surely
endanger the welfare of our own nation.
Great responsibilities have been placed upon us by the swift
movement of events. I am confident that the Congress will face
these responsibilities squarely.
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Hott Spotts will return May 6. Heading to the Far East and
will report from there at that time.
Brian Trumbore
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