Figure 1.1 "Truman asks 400 million to aid Greece and Turkey"
Context and Ideology
By the end of World War 2, the adaptation of nuclear weapons as intercontinental bombs and the destruction of Europe and its empires in Africa and Asia brought an end to traditional American foreign and defense policy. The world was much smaller and more dangerous than it had been barely half a century ago, propelling the major powers to at least agree on a few things regarding military force. Attempting to deter future conflicts, the United States signed an international agreement with forty-six other nations, leading to the creation of the United Nations (UN). The US also signed various treaties and entered alliances for the "defense of the Western Hemisphere."1 Meanwhile, back home, a new American defense policy shaped into being, one that focused on deterrence, called for military force and the "political will to threaten their use, and to use them if deterrence failed."2 At the same time, a strained relationship with the Soviet Union tested this new policy as Russia attempted to increase its sphere of political influence globally, starting in Eastern Europe.
In response, President Harry S. Truman provided aid to European countries such as France and Italy to help abolish their Communist parties. When Great Britain notified the US that it could no longer support Greece and Turkey against Communist rebels and Russian pressures, Truman requested Congress $400 million in military and economic assistance. Calling it "the Truman Doctrine," the President described his request as part of a new "diplomatic principle" that focused on backing other nations against "totalitarian regimes," also known as containment.3 In this way, America replaced Great Britain as the "Western player in the 'Great Game'" of Anglo-Russian competition. This rivalry between the two young, global powers had roots in ideological differences; the two nations viewed it as a "clash between principles with [...] national futures tied to the success of [...] capitalism and socialism, individual liberty and state security, religious freedom and scientific materialism, and international diversity and the ultimate victory of the Communist commonwealth."4
Purpose
It was this commitment to counter the "Communist threat" that dragged the United States into a massive rearmament effort, a costly intervention in Vietnam and the Korean peninsula, and even a space war, to name a few. Thus, the purpose of most of the domestic propaganda campaigns during the Cold War predictably focused on villainizing Communist States and their ideologies and increasing support for war while eliminating counterpropaganda. Even though presidents did not always believe that the Soviets were aiming for world domination,5 each understood the necessity of appearing "manly" and proving he had a spine.6 However, for the first time, America was also painted as the villain by its communist enemies at an international level. Put on the defensive, the US government soon found itself busy shaping the country's image both at home and abroad.7 To add to the complexity, fast-developing technology allowed for more accessible and quicker dissemination of propaganda. At the same time, the broader scope of media also exposed audiences to a wider array of opposing viewpoints, making it much more challenging to address counterpropaganda. In addition, given the high speed of mass communication, "official" propaganda was hard to control, and correcting any mistakes on the part of the propagandists became a complicated challenge.8
