How successfully were the Truman doctrine and Marshall Plan in containing communism in Europe?

Why was the Truman doctrine introduced?

At the end of the war the US had assumed that Britain would play a major role in the eastern mediterranean. However, Britain by 1947 were facing economic crisis. They were facing India, Palestine, and Egypt. As the process of negotiating the peace treaties wore on Britain was forced to continue to station troops in Germany, Itlay, the Middle East and Asia. The situation was made worse by the poor weather conditions in Britian. Heavy blizzards and extremely cold weather brought transport, industry and coal mining to a halt for several weeks. As a result Britain had run out of funds and so on the 21st February the British informed the US that the British financial and military aid to both Greece and Turkey would end by the 31st March.
This was particularly unwelcome news for US who were concerned by the civil war which had broken out in Greece; caused in part by Stalin's encouragement and support to the communists against the British backed non-communists. Truman feared that Soviet influence would also begin to spread to Italy when allied forces withdrew. To secure areas vulnerable to Soviet pressure Truman needed money....

The Truman Doctrine

In order to get money Truman needed the support of the Congress. He persuaded Congress by delivering a deliberately dramatic speech designed to appeal to Congress. In this speech Truman stressed the seriousness of the international situation and how Europe was increasingly being divided into two mutually hostile blocks.




What was the Marshall Plan?

Truman believed that poverty was one reason why countries turned to communism. He identified a range a problems across Europe including large debts and an extreme lack of food. Many countries were still having to ration bread. In Britain during the harsh winter there was so little coal that the electricity was turned off for a period each day. Churchill describe Europe as 'a rubble heap, a breeding ground for hate'. Truman therefore persuaded the Congress to grant $17billion for aid to Europe.

How successful was the Marshall Plan?

Some historians have suggested that the Marshall plan achieved only limited success due to the range of problems facing each different country. A conference was called in Paris to identify what aid was required. The Soviets attended but left after it became clear that they were unable to achieve unconditional aid. The Soviets saw it as a direct threat on communism and accused the USA of dollar diplomacy. Under Soviet pressure many Eastern European countries declined the offer of financial aid.
The USSR effectively declared war on Marshall aid by introducing Cominform - an organisation to coordinate communist parties throughout Europe. In addition in 1949 Comecon was established to provide economic aid to countries in Eastern Europe.

Therefore, the response of the USSR to the Marshall Plan made future agreements between the USA and USSR impossible and it entrenched the division of Europe.