American History – Harry S Truman – 3
The Truman doctrine
- The 1st important step in the direction of combating communist danger was taken by President Truman in March 1947, to check the ever increasing intervention by the communists in Greece
- The Greeks had been liberated from the Germans in 1944 by the British troops
- In 1946 elections were arranged under an international commission to install a popular government in the country
- In these elections the rightist party won a substantial victory
- The Russians who had refused to participate in supervision of election, condemned the election results and instigated the communist states of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria to engage in constant fighting on the Greek borders
- As Britain was in the throes of an economic crisis and could not continue to protect the Greece America stepped into the breach
- President Truman advocated his famous Truman doctrine in his message to congress on March 19 1947 to seek congressional sanction of money for assisting Greece and Turkey
